Post-match thoughts v Everton

Written by kirsikka

The starting lineup seemed pretty obvious for once, with the inclusion of Brooks on the bench the unexpected positive bonus. With so many familiar faces, the hope would be it would mean our press would be mostly in place and partnerships working from the off. However, football took the opportunity to show us there’s nothing logical about this game.

Everton is not a happy place right now, with a poorly run club struggling on and off the pitch. All we needed to do was get at them from the off and it’d quickly turn toxic. Instead, we may as well have sent them a “Get Well Soon” card and a bunch of grapes such were our attempts to try and help them get better.

Our press was on the one you find in depressive rather than impressive. If anything, we were letting Everton do to us what we aim to do to others. They pressured high as a group to force mistakes, and we fell into the trap time and time again.

Last week I slightly bemoaned us not playing some quick long balls to take advantage of the runs Evanilson was making. Today, we overcompensated like a man who drives a Lamborghini. Except our balls were aimless rather than targeting the clever runs we ignored seven days ago. Horrible.

I’m starting to wonder if Dyche’s gravelly voice is some kind of Jedi mind trick to which everyone AFCB-related has no defence. Our record against his teams is mostly abysmal, but it isn’t just that. Even when we get a result we still often look abject.

Our performance away to Everton last season was probably the worst of the lot. After today, their fans must wonder how it is we aren’t getting relegated on eight points every season. I hope and doubt we’ll look that bad again between now and May.

Overall, until they scored, scrappy is the best way to describe the match as a whole. Low quality from both sides, but we were the worst of the two offenders.

At the moment Kluivert is on FM and Evanilson 2G. Not even the same technology, never mind wavelength. This is something we need to work on fast as that’s a key partnership.

The goal when it came wasn’t inevitable, instead, it was gifted. A set piece came in, the ball fell loose and one of our players, I didn’t catch who, tried to clear it but instead wildly spooned it out wide. The ball was banged back in and it fell to an unmarked Everton player to shoot home. All so preventable.

The PL is a cruel and unforgiving place. If we carry on sending out presents it’s going to make the season a long, hard slog.

You can see the difference a goal makes – Everton instantly went from looking poor to skipping past defenders, breaking at pace, and interplaying the ball around us as though we were fielding ten outfield wheelie bins.

With the crowd now totally behind the team and their players brimming with confidence, we were all over the place.

The second was more panicking defending punished but let’s be honest, it could and should have been three, four maybe even more. They completely let us off the hook.

To be critical of AI, he didn’t intervene fast enough. No player changes at half time. None immediately after the first goal. It took about eight minutes after the second to see fresh faces. Strangely passive on his part considering what we were seeing on the pitch.

Finally, the changes came on and, although they didn’t make an immediate impact going forward, they at least stopped the onslaught. Slowly, slowly we started taking a bit more control of things and looking a bit better without creating anything decent.

In my notes I was about to say that never mind Pickford, Everton could have put Thomas Tugoose in goal and we still wouldn’t have scored when almost out of nowhere a Dango cross was poked home by Semenyo.

Bang! In a moment everything changed. It may have taken until about the 87th minute but they were suddenly nervy with a restless crowd expecting the worst and waiting to pounce on the players they were meant to be supporting, scouse phlegm pebble dashing the pitch such were the andry and despairing shouts.

And then it happened again, this time a great cross from Sinisterra and that man mountain of a goalscorer Lewis Cook swept aside the entire Everton defence as he planted a header home. Either that or he made an excellent late run into the box and took advantage of being unmarked to score well. More of that from him please!

Suddenly, absolute chaos reigned… it looked like we might snatch it but Pickford made a couple of excellent saves. Did I say Thomas Tugoose? Forget that, This Is England’s goalkeeper.

There was still time for one last chance and incredibly Sinisterra nodded home a winner to complete a late comeback for the ages. We were nowhere for 87 minutes and are now 3-2 ahead. What just happened? How?

Let’s be honest, that was an absolute heist. I imagine the players will spend the week fielding calls from organised crime syndicates from across the world on the best ways to commit a robbery.

We deserved nothing but a thrashing until the 87th minute. We come away with three points. After the week we’ve had from VAR and officials, maybe the deity of football decided to intervene on our behalf?

Kepa Watch
I was a little worried when the first cross came in from a corner and he was absolutely miles away from it and just collapsed to the ground hoping for a free kick. He’ll soon learn that whilst he may get a decision like that at Chelsea, he won’t at AFCB.

It looks like he wants to command his area but he never quite managed it today. Still, the intent is there.

Made a few decent saves. Not perfect, but not a bad start for someone’s first match of the season.

Selected Player Watch

— Christie and Cook —
Lost the midfield battle today. Heavily. But they never stopped because in football you never know. Keep going and sometimes things will turn. Today was one of those days.

— Semenyo —
Once again not his best match but once again he scored. If he carries on tormenting defenders in one game and then scoring in the matches where he isn’t playing so well then he’s going to have some season.

— Dango —
Ok, it wasn’t the goal he deserved after what had gone before, but his assist sparked the comeback. I hope he takes great pleasure and pride in that. I know some have been fans of Tav’s start to the season, but I’m in the opposite group, and based on what we’ve seen in the last seven days, I’d be starting Dango ahead of him in the next match.

— Araujo and Evanilson —
When you first start going out with someone, you can be dazzled by those initial flashes of attraction but over time you become more familiar with their flaws. Football transfers can be a bit like that as well. No need to go in too hard on them today. It was a bad, bad, bad day at the office for a lot of players out there. Draw a line under it and let’s see what they’ve got next time out.

AI and Tactics Watch

Footballers are not automatons. Sometimes, everything can look good on paper, but it just doesn’t click. That was today’s lineup and that performance was one where we needed intervention from the bench. With five subs available, there are plenty of options in the modern game but AI was too slow to take the nuclear option that was clearly required, instead tinkering with other things.

Subs won’t always change a game but there are days when you need to roll that dice early. That we got away with it shouldn’t alter that viewpoint. We didn’t get what we deserved today, and we can’t rely on an Everton-style collapse every week.

Dyche outthought AI today and he didn’t really have an answer that worked with the starting XI. The subs did make a difference though.

All that said, this will be a day that lives with us fans for decades to come. My dog is thinking of getting me an appointment with a therapist as it thinks I have issues after the way I celebrated like a lunatic when that winner went it. My wife just shook her head sadly at her life choices.

We go into the international break on five points which is healthy after three matches and also eases the pressure a little for the tough games to come.

Oh, and today will be one of those rare days when I do tune in to watch MOTD. Just to enjoy that ending all over again.

Your say…

DangerousDave said…

Really nice summary.

I think you’re being incredibly generous to Cook and Christie though, I wouldn’t even say they lost the midfield battle because it didn’t even feel as though they were in it in the first place! Perhaps that is a tad hyperbolic but it really did feel as though the pair of them were just passengers watching the game pass them by today. Take Christie for the second goal, he just pulled out of a 50/50 on the edge of the box. And he was the better of the two!

I think it’s only fair to say how bad Senesi was today too, he was all over the place. The moment Huijsen and Smith came on the whole team just calmed down. Huijsen really does look impressive, I don’t think Iraola cannot play him next to Zabarnyi in the next game. He was only on a short time but his reading of the game looks to be of a seriously high level.

I’m less worried about Araujo and Evanilson. Players coming into a new league are always going to have games like today. I didn’t even think Evanilson did a lot wrong really, he just received next to no service. When he did get on the ball he linked play decently enough and his movement was always good. For some reason we rarely tried to find him, instead choosing to knock hopeful balls down the channel to Tavernier.

On the subject of Tavernier, I do not understand the logic of playing him on the left at all, it limits him almost exclusively to shifting the ball onto his left foot and hitting hopeful crosses into the box, from what I can see. The moment he is able to cut infield he looks so much more comfortable to me and the team benefits from it hugely.

I also don’t think you can’t start Dango at left back in the next game. I know it was a small sample but he put in one of the most impactful cameos I’ve ever seen. He should have had two assists to his name if Tavernier had put away that guilt-edged chance!

Sinisterra was also almost immaculate when he came on, not just the goal and assist but everything he did was so classy.

I have never seen three substitutes (Huijsen, Dango and Sinisterra) make such a dramatic impact on the game. We went from being absolutely battered to absolutely battering them in an instant and it was down to these three. All of them deserve to start the next game, along with Smith too. – To join the conversation, click here.