Posts Tagged ‘Tim Howard’

Moyes feared for Everton

This could turn our season, says Benítez

• Liverpool can now get on a winning track, says Benítez
• David Moyes claims Everton deserved more

Rafael Benítez described Liverpool’s 2-0 victory at Everton today as a possible “turning point” in the club’s season but admitted that his team were indebted to Pepe Reina’s goalkeeping in a match which Everton largely dominated.

“Derbies are always difficult and important and to win could be a boost for the rest of the season,” the Liverpool manager said. “We are higher in the table now and we will see if we can keep winning. This could be a turning point.”

Liverpool’s win was sealed by Dirk Kuyt’s 80th-minute goal; the scoring was opened by a Javier Mascherano shot that ricocheted off Joseph Yobo to wrong-foot the Everton goalkeeper, Tim Howard, after 12 minutes. The result extended Everton’s miserable run to one win in 11 games, leaving them fifth from bottom of the Premier League. Their manager, David Moyes, spoke with a sense of injustice.

“Until they made it 2-0 I can’t remember them having a single other chance, apart from one header in the first half,” he said. “The players worked extremely hard and I thought they deserved more. I don’t know how many times Liverpool had been in our half before the first goal but it wasn’t many. We were trying to set the pace, making it difficult for them, and at half-time I just felt that if we did the same again maybe our luck would change. In the main we kept them quiet, so it’s difficult not to get anything from the game.”

• Everton 0-2 Liverpool: Andy Hunter’s report
• Read Sean Ingle’s minute-by-minute report
• Daniel Taylor: Lady luck stayed with Liverpool
• Martin Kelner: Liverpool put Sky on the back foot

Benítez, who said Reina’s performance had been “amazing”, acknowledged that Everton had been the better side for long spells. He was asked whether he thought his team had been lucky to win.

“Clearly it was a difficult game,” he said. “Everton were direct and playing a set-piece game from the beginning and it was very difficult to control. They are big and good in the air. We had to show character and tried to play on the counter-attack. Sometimes our possession was good but other times it was not so good and they were on top of us. We had to show character but maybe at the end we had more control.”

At 1-0, with Everton pressing, Reina produced a double save to keep out Tim Cahill’s header and a follow-up from Marouane Fellaini.

“It was a great save,” Benítez said. “Today Pepe showed he is a world‑class goalkeeper. We had to defend a lot of throw-ins, free-kicks and corners against a team that is good in the air, and that is not easy. It was not only his saves but the way he helped his defenders, too. When we signed Reina we knew he was a good goalkeeper but he is learning and improving all the time. For me, he is one of the best keepers in the world and he showed that again today.”

Paul Wilson: Where have all the great goalies gone?

Only a handful of countries at next year’s World Cup will have a stellar goalkeeper, so maybe England will be fine

When George Cohen was quoted the other day suggesting that to win a World Cup you need a great goalkeeper, someone the rest of the team can fully trust, the initial reaction must have been the same all over the country: “That’s England scuppered in South Africa, then.” Not even Fabio Capello can produce a Gordon Banks or a Peter Shilton out of the hat.

On second thoughts, however, things may not be as bad as all that. England are not the only custodially challenged country in the world, and great goalkeepers may be at a premium in next summer’s World Cup.

If you don’t believe that, try this simple test. Name the France goalkeeper. Or the Argentina one. And yes, that does make the questionable assumption that both of those teams are going to be in South Africa. What about Germany, or Holland? Try naming half a dozen goalkeepers who will be No1 choices at the World Cup. This is normally a fairly straightforward task since, once established, goalkeepers tend to stick around for years, and the ancient wisdom that there is no substitute for experience in major tournaments is particularly true of the man between the posts.

Now, though, the only household-name World Cup goalkeepers, the only ones you can be fairly sure will be first name on the teamsheet followed by 10 others, are Italy’s Gianluca Buffon, Spain’s Iker Casillas and Brazil’s Júlio César. Before disgruntled Everton and Fulham fans write in, let’s allow Tim Howard and Mark Schwarzer on to the list for the United States and Australia respectively, even if those two excellent goalkeepers have not quite reached the distinction of being synonymous with their country in the way that Peter Schmeichel used to be for Denmark, or Oliver Kahn was with Germany.

In addition to their prominence with their national teams, the first three also regularly appear for leading clubs in the Champions League, which may explain why they are much more familiar than Mariano Andújar, say, of Argentina and Catania, or Steve Mandanda, of France and Marseille, both of whom are striving to be their nation’s No1. Argentina and France have won the World Cup but are trying to reach South Africa with goalkeepers with limited international experience and not a great deal of exposure to top-level club football. Germany, after the era of Kahn and Jens Lehmann, currently favour René Adler, a 24-year‑old with two caps, who plays for Bayer Leverkusen. Holland needed to bring Edwin van der Sar out of retirement when Maarten Stekelenburg was injured in qualifying.

England’s own goalkeeping situation must appear similarly obscure to overseas eyes. David James is the name that will be most recognised, though like Paul Robinson he owes that more to his international mishaps over the years than a commanding run of form in the England goal or regular Champions League exposure. England’s Champions League clubs all have foreign goalkeepers, which is possibly why so much hope was invested so quickly in Ben Foster, with sadly predictable results. Of the English top four only Petr Cech is a regular for his country – who are struggling to make the finals – and what is noticeable about all of the goalkeepers from whom Capello must pick is that they play for lower-table clubs with little hope of reaching the Champions League, unlike the vast majority of his outfield selections.

There just aren’t that many top-level keepers around any more. Ask Sir Alex Ferguson, who will shortly have to address the task of replacing Van der Sar, and who was auditioning a couple of goalkeepers per season until he realised, through Fulham buying him, that he could have had one of the best all along.

Ferguson has been telling everyone Foster is certain to be the next big thing, though when last interviewed on the subject he tellingly wandered off topic. How he must pine for the days when a mere £530,000 could secure the services of a goalkeeper such as Schmeichel. The chances are United will be taking an interest in the goalkeepers on show in South Africa next year, perhaps most notably Russia’s Igor Akinfeev, should his country qualify.

Goalkeepers can emerge during World Cups and sometimes not live up to their billing afterwards – Fabien Barthez springs to mind – though on the whole, if you review the list of past winners, Cohen’s rule seems to hold good. Not too many World Cups have been won by teams with dodgy keepers.

Ferguson not so wiley with this attack

Sir Alex Ferguson lashing out after a poor result or performance is not really news any more, though what has been genuinely surprising over the past week is the number of people prepared to excuse his behaviour on the grounds that it was only a wheeze to deflect attention from his players’ shortcomings.

Not such a clever wheeze, though, because everyone immediately saw through it. Calling Alan Wiley’s professional standards into question after the 2-2 draw against Sunderland was universally agreed to be unfair and unnecessary, and Fergie was left looking sour and silly. He is supposed to be the master of this sort of thing, but just came over as a bad loser even though Manchester United did not even lose. The incident served to show how little actually separates the man at the very top of his profession and the one-eyed touchline amateurs of the FA’s Respect promos.

Far from accepting he is in the wrong, Ferguson is preparing to defend himself, and what remains of the Respect campaign seems likely to perish in the crossfire. Instead of wrecking an initiative he originally said he would support, Ferguson could do referees and himself a favour simply by issuing an apology. Regardless of whether he is subsequently banned or fined. Wiley deserves a great, big fat one and Ferguson could win back a lot of his standing just by clarifying exactly who it was that had the senior moment at Old Trafford last Saturday.

Doubtless admitting weakness will be as difficult for Ferguson as it was for Jimmy Cagney at the end of Angels with Dirty Faces, though the positions are broadly similar. When you are the man everyone looks up to, you have to be seen to do the right thing.

Fulham 2-1 Everton

Damien Duff is a footballer who deserves a change of fortune. After a nightmarish spell at Newcastle United, which was scarred by physical injury and psychological torment, he transferred to Fulham in search of the good times.

As he departed Craven Cottage today, he could feel them roll once again. The winger had been part of the Republic of Ireland’s vital World Cup qualifying win away to Cyprus last Saturday, which has set them fair for a play-off shot at the finals in South Africa and, back on domestic duty, he settled this encounter in his team’s favour with a searing late drive, which careered beyond the clutches of the Everton goalkeeper Tim Howard and flew into the bottom corner. It was some way to register his first goal for Fulham and not even the knock that forced him off before full-time could dampen his afternoon.

It was the proverbial game of two halves. Everton led through Tim Cahill’s header and they appeared ready to close out a much-needed victory, having entered the game with two defeats from three in the Premier League. Cahill’s goal was his 38th for the club in the Premier League and half of that tally have been from headers.

But instead Fulham rallied and, after Paul Konchesky’s heavily deflected effort had restored parity, Duff got the goal that kick-started their season. It was Fulham who secured the second win of their League campaign.

David Moyes, the Everton manager, was left to reflect on what might have been. He had given a vote of confidence to the right-back Tony Hibbert and the left-winger Steven Pienaar, persisting with them in his starting line-up and leaving the expensive new signings John Heitinga and Diniyar Bilyaletdinov on the substitutes bench. Competition for places at Goodison Park has been ratcheted up a notch.

Moyes’s faith in the young midfielder Jack Rodwell also remains apparent. The home-grown hope continues to start ahead of Marouane Fellaini and it was Rodwell who almost fashioned the breakthrough in a stop-start and generally niggly first half. He tried his luck from long-range and, when the shot deflected off Aaron Hughes, the Fulham debutant goalkeeper David Stockdale had to change directions in a flash to block.

The referee, Peter Walton, was too central to the action in the first half for the neutral or, indeed, the two managers; Moyes threw his arms about in exasperation on the touchline. Walton’s decision to penalise Danny Murphy for a foul on Pienaar, however, was indisputable – the former Liverpool midfielder was booked on what seemed to be the totting up procedure – and, from the free-kick whipped in by Leighton Baines, Everton forged ahead. Cahill pushed off Brede Hangeland and rose above Dickson Etuhu to power home his header. Fulham’s fans in the Hammersmith End, who were forced to endure the Australian’s celebratory boxing routine with the corner flag, appeared unaware that Cahill appeared to have started his run from an offside position.

The home team’s best efforts in the first half came from Clint Dempsey but when he jumped to meet Duff crosses, he could not direct his headers or fashion sufficient power. Everton might have extended their advantage before the interval but Hughes made a saving tackle on Leon Osman, after he had burst on to Pienaar’s ball forward.

Fulham had Andy Johnson back earlier than expected from a collarbone injury to face his old club but, together with Bobby Zamora, he struggled to escape the shackles of Sylvain Distin and Joseph Yobo. Zamora’s muscular tussle with Yobo was one of the features of the afternoon; the Fulham striker felt that Yobo wanted the shirt off his back long before the full-time whistle.

It was incumbent on the home team to raise the tempo in the second half, to give the crowd something to feed off and they did just that. They stepped on to the front foot and made it clear that Everton would not have it all their own way yet the equaliser nonetheless carried a heavy slice of luck.

Murphy’s free-kick from the edge of the penalty area struck the defensive wall but Konchesky’s effort on the rebound flicked off Distin and wrong-footed Howard. It was Konchesky’s second goal in 85 appearances for the club.

Everton were undermined further soon afterwards when they lost their captain, Phil Neville, following a sickening clash with Etuhu. Both players leapt in for the ball but Etuhu, following through, clattered his studs into Neville’s left leg. After lengthy attention from the physiotherapist, Neville was carried off on a stretcher.

Fulham entered a purple patch and Duff’s goal was the crowning moment. Everton knew it was not to be their day when Fellaini, on as a substitute, headed too close to Stockdale from point-blank range and, from the rebound, Murphy cleared off the line from Yobo. There was still time for Hughes to make another saving challenge on Yakubu, who had been sent on by Moyes as Everton went for broke.

Everton 1-6 Arsenal

David Moyes’ stance on Joleon Lescott embodies the best of his Everton team: stubborn, strong and refusing to yield to the harsh financial rulings of the Premier League. One brutal annihilation, however, has exposed to doubt the principles that have served Moyes and his club so well. As they state with faith at Arsenal, Arsène Wenger knows and on the evidence at Goodison Park, there are merits in selling the uncommitted to Manchester City.

If there was a blot on the landscape for Mark Hughes this weekend it came in the wonderful declaration from Arsenal that a Champions League invitation will not be sent north on a platter. Yet there were no hasty predications from Wenger afterwards. This was the heaviest home defeat recorded in the league at Goodison since Arsenal inflicted an identical scoreline here in 1958 and the worst opening day result in Everton’s history, and the Gunners had only to find their immaculate stride on occasion.

In Denilson’s exquisite opener, swept into Tim Howard’s top corner after a neat exchange between Cesc Fábregas and Nicklas Bendtner, and the Arsenal captain’s first goal on a glorious counter, there was confirmation of Wenger’s belief in football as art. The remainder of the rout stemmed from Everton’s abject failures. Control, distribution and energy were all beyond Moyes’ team on Saturday and with their famed defensive resilience also in pre-season, they merely proved what Arsenal can do when confronted with an aberration. The turmoil at Goodison will delight Hughes.

Moyes entered this season with hopes of closing the gulf on Ferguson, Benítez, Ancelotti and Wenger. He ended day one drawing comparisons with Bryan Gunn, sacked after the opening week of the season by Norwich City following a 7-1 home defeat by Colchester United.

“I don’t think there’s much point in me shouting and bawling about that. I think they know all round that it just wasn’t acceptable,” said a pale and visibly shocked Everton manager. “There was a manager sacked for seven after one game so I’m not immune to that either. I’m the same. We’ve lost six so it’s no different for me than it is for any other manager. I’ll need to pull my socks up and try and do better with the players that I have got. It’s my responsibility to make sure those players do perform on the pitch and they didn’t perform so I take that responsibility.”

But Everton’s problems do not rest on the training ground. They stem from Lescott’s head “being twisted” by the opportunity to double his £40,000-a-week wages at City and desire to go, a determination that cuts through the unity upon which Everton thrived last season. Unlike Arsenal, Everton do not have the squad to compensate for serious losses and the bottom line is that City have not met Moyes’s valuation on Lescott, unlike Wenger’s for Emmanuel Adebayor or Kolo Touré. Should Hughes follow up his many words on the subject with a bid in excess of £20m, however, it would be self-defeating not to cash in. “I think one or two are not focused correctly,” Moyes admitted. “I have to make sure I get them back focused. Maybe I’ve not done that. I’ll need to have a look at things I’ve done over the last week or two.”

Moyes’ £30m valuation of Lescott was not assisted here by the Premier League debut of Thomas Vermaelen, Arsenal’s £10m recruit from Ajax and comfortably the finest defender on display. Conceding at least five inches in height to Marouane Fellaini, Vermaelen comfortably contained his fellow Belgian while anticipating danger expertly and typified the robust edge about Arsenal that impressed arguably even more than their result.

“It certainly wasn’t an easy debut,” Vermaelen insisted. “It was a very physical game and a new style for me to handle. In Holland they play more football, like we do at Arsenal, but this was more physical and every Arsenal player did their job extremely well. The most positive thing was how united we were as a team. We were very strong in the physical part of the game and that will be important for us this season. Our spirit is very good and it is even better after this result.”

Once Denilson denied Fellaini an equaliser on his goalline, Arsenal strolled to three points. The unmarked Vermaelen prospered from the first serious lapse in Everton’s defence to head Robin van Persie’s free-kick past Howard. William Gallas did likewise four minutes later from Fábregas’s set-piece. Two minutes after the restart the Arsenal captain galloped through a hole to convert a sublime counter involving Denilson and Van Persie and was allowed the freedom of Goodison to convert from 20 yards to spark a rush for the exits among the home support. Fábregas celebrated by holding aloft an Arsenal shirt in memory of his former Spain Under-21 colleague, Daniel Jarque, who died of heart failure last week. Eduardo completed the torture for Everton from close range before Louis Saha converted the meekest of consolations. Arsenal departed to applause on all sides.

The breakdown

THE MANAGERS

David Moyes

Selection Everton’s team picks itself due to the lack of options. This was Moyes’s cup final team with the exception of Jô for Saha Tactics The customary 4-4-1-1 began competently but resorted to too many long balls Game-changing Moyes made a triple substitution in the 57th minute that was more symbolic than tactical, with the game over by half-time

Arsene Wenger

Selection Chose the strongest starting XI available and gave a Premier League debut to £10m summer signing Vermaelen in central defence

Tactics Song dominated in the holding role, allowing Fábregas and Denilson to support the front three frequently Game-changing The game panned out so perfectly he withdrew Fábregas, Van Persie and Bendtner in readiness for Celtic

THE PLAYERS

Everton Lescott’s performance was not to blame for Everton’s humiliation but team spirit was undoubtedly lacking. Cheered and jeered in equal measure by the Goodison faithful, even while on the ball, he was a serious distraction

Arsenal A hugely encouraging league debut from Vermaelen and, on this evidence, an improvement on Touré. Strong and with more game intelligence than his predecessor in the Arsenal defence

KEY MINUTE

The 36th, when an unmarked Vermaelen headed home Arsenal’s second and Everton began to disintegrate

SUSPENSIONS

None