Stadium of Light stalemate ensures Everton enter another international break with a familiar sense of frustration.
Sunderland 1 Everton 1 – Frustration On The Menu As Blues Pick Up Tab
By @Markthablue
I really wanted this report to be about a win against one of the leagues worst sides – albeit Sunderland are improving – but thanks to a multitude of factors; key players not performing, a borderline corrupt refereeing performance and a ridiculous obsession with overplaying meant yet again we enter an international break with a sense of frustration.
I’d sooner have 1% possession – if that’s possible – and win the game rather than 99% and produce next to nothing. The lack of pace in our side needs to be addressed, we seemed to attack in installments, telegraphed and predictable.
I’ve spoken about this before but Roberto Martinez, who we all know is such an avid believer in this system, really could do with a plan b. At times we are simply to easy to play against.
Statistically the signs are there that we are getting grips to with our Europa and Premier league schedule; we had lost both games in the league following our two opening Europa games but a 3-1 win at Burnley and a draw at Sunderland at least suggest we are starting to marry the two successfully. Quality wise our play continues to be as bipolar as ever, fluidity followed by the strangers on a train impression is frustrating to say the least.
Romelu Lukaku looked like he had turned a corner against Lille but he reversed right back around the corner with a display every bit as hair pulling as it was jaw dropping last Thursday.
The inconsistencies of a 21-year-old are hard to watch but surely some middle ground can be found either side of the sublime or ridiculous. In all honesty Lukaku, aside from Lille at Goodison, produced a performance that typified his season. The search for consistency goes on for the Belgian as it does Everton.
We clearly played the better football but all style and no substance is not going to result in a successful season for us. The lack of ruthlessness simply has to be addressed. Sunderland may be improving but this was a game we should have won.
Everton suffered a huge blow in the 13th minute as the influential Gareth Barry suffered a serious looking injury after a late and reckless challenge from Jordi Gomez. Barry left the field on a stretcher with a possible leg break thankfully being ruled out by Martinez after the game. But there’s no question we are going to be missing Gareth Barry for the foreseeable future.
Barry is pivotal for us, his drive and and ability to dictate play is truly underrated. He is more than just a defensive midfielder for us and will be sorely missed.
The timing of injuries to our key players has been awful this season. I accept we had more than enough quality to put Sunderland to bed here but for me there is no question injuries and Europa have played a part in our snoozy start to the Premier League season.
Everton started the game keeping the ball well and looked to turn that possession into goals with Eto’o and then Barkley threatening as Bridcutt blocked the youngsters goal bound effort to keep the score at 0-0.
Sunderland grew into the game and Everton were thankful to Tim Howard for keeping out a Gomez low drive with his legs. Howard would later ram that gratitude back down our throats with an awful wall arrangement leading up to Sunderland’s opener. But that’s for another paragraph.
Everton started the second half in a controlled and confident manner and really should have taken the lead early in the half. Lukaku seized upon Bridcutt’s negligent back pass but a touch that made Amokachi’s close control look like Messi’s, allowed Pantilimon to smother the ball at his feet.
More composure, frankly any composure from our Belgian striker and the blues would have taken an all important lead.
Lukaku almost made amends with a powerful drive that Pantilimon tipped onto the post and soon after Coleman had a penalty claimed turned down by the scandalous Lee Mason.
Not necessarily for that decision but in a performance as anti Everton has you could wish to see, this guy basically forgot the rules of football in one of the worst refereeing performances of the decade.
Trying to even up one stinking decision after another with his two wrongs make a right approach, Mason was losing the plot big style. In all honesty he should have sent off both Jordi Gomez and Connor Wickham.
Wickham was clearly the last man and denying a clear goalscoring opportunity in bringing Coleman down. I’m no bookworm but even I know this is a red card offence. No questions asked. Incredibly Mason saw fit to keep him on.
Gomez staying on the pitch was similarly laughable. Shortly after having taken care of Gareth Barry he was then guilty of simulation that wouldn’t have made it into a cheap Sci-Fi Channel movie. Going down in comical fashion under Jagielka’s challenge and in full view of referee Mason.
The ex-Wigan player should have been rewarded with a red card but Mason duly obliged with the leniency and Sunderland amazingly ended the game with eleven players on the pitch. Twelve if you count the hardly subtle Mason.
This is not an excuse. We were in control but were not good enough in the final third. Our key players weren’t at their best for the umpteenth time this season but it was unmistakable the agenda Mason had against the blues here.
The comedy value of Mason’s shockingly bad performance came from the Sunderland fans. Displaying that they needn’t bother turning up at the Mensa Christmas party by reacting to favorable decisions as if THEY had been hard done to. Incredible delusion from the Sunderland supporters leaving me with the thought it must be Everton who bring out the delusion in others. Unbelievable.
Exasperation turned to out-and-out anger on 67 minutes when Gomez, the guy who should have been testing out his Secret Santa soap and Glory Gift set in the Sunderland early bath section, was brought down by Baines just outside the box and Larsson duly made the most out of it as he placed his 25 yard curler inside Howard’s near post.
My verdict on Howard…… I hope Roberto signs a new keeper in January because our American shot stopper is simply becoming a liability. Let’s face it, becoming is generous. We badly need a commanding goalkeeper if we are to move forward.
Sunderland’s goal was ridiculous as it was obvious to blues everywhere the wall was in the wrong place.
Take nothing away from Larsson’s quality strike but he seemed to have his options enhanced by Howard’s wall. Not to mention the American’s positioning.
Everton reacted positively to going a goal down and were deservedly level on 75 minutes. Leighton Baines converting low from the penalty spot under the dive of Pantilimon. Not the most convincing penalty you’ll ever see admittedly but it found the back of the net.
FT: Sunderland 1 Everton 1
We hadn’t played great and there were so many frustrating aspects to our play but no way we deserved to lose this game. The goal owed a lot to Samuel Eto’o’s marvelous pass to Coleman who was brought down by Wickham.
Eto’o may well have had a quiet game but there can be no questioning of his influence on the pitch. Always offering advice to teammates, and still with the quality to ultimately help us rescue a point on a day of exasperation for Evertonians.
Long may this kind of influence be present on the pitch as I’m convinced Eto’o will be invaluable for us the more the season progresses. A class act.
James McCarthy, who has been a sensation this season, carried on his own personal excellent form rounding off a high energy, all action display with a game saving last-ditch clearance to deny Wes Brown a Sunderland winner. This despite struggling in the last minutes of the game with what looked to be a hamstring strain.
The full-time whistle had blown and in the end a frustrating result could truly have been much worse.
McCarthy took on the mantle in Barry’s absence with another great performance. If only the blues as a collective unit could perform as consistently as the Irish international has since August. He has been outstanding this season and long may it continue.
The lack of width in our play is making us predictable, we have no outlet. For all the criticism Deulofeu received for his selfishness and wastefulness we did benefit from the width he gave us.
Sadly lacking both the pace and width to create more space for our attackers, far too often we tried playing through the eye of a needle, across the footballing equivalent of the M25 at times. With Lukaku back to his depressingly familiar trait of not being able to hold the ball up, we found it hard to gain momentum going forward.
Id honestly like to see Martinez sign a winger, a goalkeeper and another striker as the bare minimum in January. We need more attacking options. I thought Steven Naismith deserved to start against Sunderland but I can see why he didn’t. Roberto will rotate but for me I’d have kept Naismith in the starting eleven at the Stadium of Light.
The players who came back, namely Barkley, arguably one my favorite players, just wasn’t at it. We truly need our best players performing as we expect them too and it just hasn’t happened consistently enough all season.
Lets hope Gareth Barry’s injury is just a scare and no more. We need his quality in the middle but in his absence here’s hoping Besic finally steps up – if given the opportunity – and puts in a strong argument for a regular first team spot.
So we enter another international break on the back of a frustrating result. We’re still within touching distance of where we want to be but its going to be tough for us until our big players start to perform as they should week-in-week-out.
We need the Barkley’s and Lukaku’s to step up and start delivering consistently. It’s not a slight on Barkley who has had a stop start season but the reality of our situation is we need our match winning players performing at their best. Also, the sooner Kevin Mirallas is back the better.
Amazingly we moved above Spurs and Liverpool with this point. It sounds great in any other season but such is the outright weirdness of this, the most random of Premier League campaigns. it only means 10th place for the blues.
Despite everything and all our inconsistencies, we find ourselves just four points off fourth place. The springboard remains intact and we just need to gather some real momentum to jump off it.
“I was pleased with our reaction and character. The know-how and understanding and not panicking. The table doesn’t reflect the potential we have internally.” Roberto Martinez
That potential needs to become performance if we are to justify our talent in a season begging to take off.
Sin Miedo
Mark Ellis