The Derby yesterday was a proper Derby match, plenty of passion, plenty of controversy and a bit of banter – exactly how these games should be. I’m not going to write an exact match report but I will focus on the bits I found most interesting for one reason or another.
It seems Everton have a mental block when it comes to beating Liverpool at the moment, even when they play well they just can’t seem to do it. If I wanted to provoke I could easily say they dived, cheated, ran to the ref demanding cards, threw things at our players, benefitted from a very late very wrong linesman’s call and yet they still couldn’t beat us. But that’s not really my style, I’d rather look at things in a slightly more analytical way.
First goal, Suarez was obviously determined to score and when the ball deflected in off Baines he gleefully ran over to the Everton bench and dived in celebration. I’m not saying it was overly wise but I certainly don’t think there was anything wrong with it, Moyes had spoken at length about Suarez before the game and now Suarez had his reply, I don’t think Moyes can complain about the celebration and as far as I’m aware he didn’t so in this case fair play to both men, it’s banter between opponents on Derby day and football is all the better for it.
Second goal, great free kick, great header, enough said.
Osman’s goal, Jones did well to punch the ball in a crowded six yard box but I think punching it out to the edge of the penalty area pretty much central wasn’t good, though the finish through the crowd still wasn’t easy and was very well executed. I think had this goal not come so soon we would have settled into our lead and probably won the game but we didn’t concentrate properly and Everton took full advantage.
The equaliser, just seemed like none of our defenders were in the right positions and the ball evaded them all. There was more than a touch of fortune in the goal, coming from a throw in that should have been Liverpool’s but was awarded the other way, but let’s be honest, over the course of ninety minutes there’s always going to be a corner or throw in awarded the wrong way at some point – that’s football, and we should have defended better.
Raheem Sterling committing a foul after being booked. Tim Howard came racing out to the ref to ask for a second yellow card, which the ref didn’t produce. If the officials handed out yellow cards for fouls that innocuous most games, never mind Derby games, would finish 5-a-side. Howard didn’t cover himself with glory in trying to get the teenager sent off, and neither did Mirallas when asking the referee for an earlier yellow card. Sterling’s game tailed off after this and he played with a fear that he hadn’t shown previously, I think he was possibly more concerned with not being sent off than he was with concentrating on playing his normal game but the young man will learn from this and emerge mentally stronger for it.
Phil Neville getting booked for diving. All the headlines pre match were centred around David Moyes saying if people like Suarez keep diving then supporters will stop going to the games. And then his captain dived. Again, fair play to Moyes for apparently having a go at Neville at half time, but you have to ask had a free kick been awarded and scored from, would the morally perfect Scot have instructed his team to stand aside and allow the reds an equaliser, or would he have celebrated like they’d won the league? I’ll leave you to pick your own answer. Another little aside from the dive, there have been comments recently saying it’s foreigners who have introduced diving to the game but it’s worth pointing out that Phil Neville helps coach the England under 21 squad so if he carries on like this we could have the next generation of England stars coming through thinking this is acceptable behaviour. Also his shocked reaction to being booked didn’t seem to be so much ‘are you seriously accusing me of diving?’ as it did ‘but this happens all the time ref, why are you punishing me?’.
Brendan Rodgers’ half time changes. Joe Allen is an excellent holding midfielder, sharp in the tackle, full of energy and efficient with the ball when he has it. But he’s short. Everton played Fellaini behind Jelavic right in Allen’s area of the pitch and hit long balls in the air to him, which Allen just couldn’t compete for. Bringing on the extra centre back to allow Coates to come forward and challenge Fellaini was key to keeping the blues at bay for the second half. We don’t usually play with three centre backs but on this occasion the manager read the game well and adjusted his team accordingly, and while it didn’t win us the game I’m sure it prevented us from losing it.
Fellaini kicking Joe Allen (twice) while he was on the floor. Allen fouled Fellaini, the ref gave the free kick, the two remained tangled and Fellaini kicked the Welshman twice, not with real power but it was a petulant action and on another day he could have been shown a red card. But he wasn’t and fair play to the ref for letting the game flow, it’s a Derby and there should always be room for a bit of niggle.
Coins being thrown at Luis Suarez. This is the second season in a row things have been thrown at our players from the same end and it needs dealing with and not just accepting as part of a hostile Derby game. Suarez put the coin in his right boot and I’m sure if his final goal had been allowed to stand he would have pointed out that it was scored with the coin.
Suarez fouling Distin and getting booked. This wasn’t a clever challenge and it looked painful, but it was never a leg breaker or anything like that, I actually thought it was a straight forward yellow card but the Everton manager saw it differently, and after a few replays I still think a red card would have been a bit extreme but it’s not a tackle I’d like to see put in on one of our players.
The injury time ‘winner’. Great free kick, great header down, great finish. A few seconds later the Everton defenders half heartedly appeal for offside and the linesman is clearly too scared to allow the goal to stand so he raises his flag for offside, not wanting to be responsible for a controversial winner. Replays show Suarez wasn’t even close to being offside and the linesman has a perfect view. When Everton played at home to Newcastle they scored a perfectly good goal that was ruled out because the officials weren’t 100% convinced the ball had crossed the line, and oh, how they screamed for video technology that night. Those same voices were silent this Sunday evening……
Post match interviews. Phil Neville apologised for diving, his excuse? “I’m not used to being in that part of the pitch”. If Suarez had said that after the Stoke game it would have made the headlines on the back pages of every paper and people would still be laughing about it now. Brendan Rodgers expressed his disappointment at the disallowing of the late goal and defended Suarez over his tackle on Distin, and didn’t go into any detail when asked about diving, though I’m sure he would have loved to really put the boot into Neville. Personally I think he should have also spoken about Fellaini kicking Allen but he didn’t. David Moyes said Suarez should have been sent off and the late goal wasn’t offside but shouldn’t have been a free kick anyway. No mention of if Suarez should have gone then so should his own big haired Belgian. No mention of Liverpool getting a dodgy free kick but Everton getting their equaliser via an incorrect refereeing call. And no mention of Everton supporters being driven away from the game by the actions of the club captain.
All in all a great Derby game, probably fantastic for the neutrals, and to be honest I thoroughly enjoyed it myself.
I feel I also must make mention of Everton’s playing style. They played long, direct high balls to Jelavic and Fellaini on many occasions, but they also got the ball out wide and tried to get crosses in. Ok, so the basis of their game seems to be having tall forwards who are good in the air, but the way they tried to get the ball to them varied regularly which makes them difficult to play against as you’re not sure how their next attack will develop. Mixing your play is vital in outwitting your opponents and many teams could learn from the Toffee’s approach yesterday.
Bring on the return fixture at Anfield!!
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