If Bill Shankly wouldn’t open his curtains to see Everton playing at the bottom of his garden, then it’s fair to assume that Rafa Benitez would hardly bother to pop on his specs to watch the Toffees knocking neat one-twos across his solid oak dining table; such is the Spaniard’s apparent disdain for Liverpool’s Merseyside rivals. Yet, due to his erratic recent conduct, the credibility of the former Valencia coach’s various opinions has seriously nosedived – none less than his assessment of David Moyes’ men.
Everton stand accused of boring, stultifying and – shock, horror! – defending, their way up to sixth place in the Premier League on the back of a nine-game unbeaten run. That they haven’t lost a game since their unfortunate 2-3 reverse in early December’s “Thriller with the Villa” speaks volumes for the deep reserves of fortitude and ability at the Goodison Park club. Taking into consideration the paucity of forward options Moyes has been forced to deal with – Yakubu, Saha, Vaughan are all M.I.A – that achievement should be heralded all the more.
Since his switch from Preston in 2002, Moyes has made a name for himself as an accomplished maximiser of relatively meagre resources.
Arch-critic Benitez has had a net spend of £100m-plus, with his predecessor Gérard Houllier reportedly getting through £120m (with sales of approx. £57m) during his tenure. In his first six years at the Everton helm, prior to last summer, Moyes had spent just less than £80m and recovered £52m – effectively at an annual cost of around £5m. At a time when finances are especially thin on the ground and a healthy chunk of his squad is laid up with injury, it seems that the taciturn Glaswegian has, once again, come into his own.
Due to his reticent nature, Moyes is generally shy with the superlatives, but didn’t hesitate to apportion full credit to his two defensive bedrocks following the Toffees’ 1-1 draw with Arsenal on Wednesday night. Joleon Lescott and Phil Jagielka were both “outstanding” and “out of this world”, according to their manager. Jagielka continues to draw praise as one of the Premier League’s apparently ‘unsung heroes’, but it is the consistently brilliant Lescott – the duo’s senior partner – who has shone the brightest since his overdue switch inside from left-back.
Boyhood Liverpool fan Leighton Baines has now come good in the position vacated by Lescott. Elsewhere: in midfield; Phil Neville is a limited player, notoriously so, but a solidly dependable one. Record-buy Marouane Fellaini has split opinion, but the aerial threat the lanky Belgian offers in absence of Everton’s recognised front-men has been invaluable to the cause. Leon Osman and Steven Pienaar’s assiduous endeavour on the flanks has allowed much-admired creator-in-chief Mikel Arteta to shine in his preferred central role.
It is, of course, the goal-getting efforts of Tim Cahill which grab the majority of the headlines. To watch the versatile Australian’s adept penalty-box manoeuvres at attacking set-plays is to watch a master at work. His prodigious spring, and uncanny knack of appearing ethereally from off-radar to bulge the net, makes Cahill an invaluable asset to a decidedly workmanlike outfit.
It is exactly how Moyes has sculpted these key players, as well as those in the margins, into an unassailable unit which is most noteworthy aspect of their recent ascent. Without an established target-man, Everton have adopted a set-up which could be crudely described as a 4-6-0 formation. Fellaini, when available, has provided an unlikely attacking fulcrum; with Cahill, Pienaar and Osman breaking forward at will to join in on the team’s rare forays forward.
Over the course of the last few seasons – as the vast majority of Premier League line-ups have moved away from the long-established 4-4-2 – it has become fashionable to flood the midfield and leave one man up front to plough a lone furrow. Though borne of necessity rather than careful invention, Everton’s forward-less formation is not in itself revolutionary.
Facing a similar injury crisis as they challenged strongly for the 2006/07 Serie A scudetto, Luciano Spalletti’s Roma used Francesco Totti (typically a classic no.10) as a nominal centre-forward; supported by quick, able runners from midfield such as Mancini, Taddei and Simone Perrotta. Often, Totti would drop into his more conventional position, leaving the team bereft of a single out-and-out striker. The ploy worked to some success, as the Romans played some of the most enterprising football throughout Europe that year. In a slightly different case, Manchester United featured a fluid front-line of Wayne Rooney, Carlos Tevez and Cristiano Ronaldo on many occasions last season – often with all three working outside the penalty box; leaving the team entirely without an old-fashioned no.9.
Such justification for their current style won’t appease Everton’s harshest critics though. In the aftermath of the second 1-1 Merseyside derby draw within a week, and in sharp response to Benitez’s harsh appraisal of the Everton approach, Moyes went on the offensive with characteristic maturity and distinction. He said: “This is a great club, and we do things with dignity and style. I take great pride with how the players are performing at the moment – the resilience they are showing.”
It’s not hard to surmise, then, that his high-flying side are made very much in the image of their resolutely single-minded manager. On Saturday evening, the immovable object which is Everton’s back four (or perhaps back five, six, seven...) meets the irresistible force of Manchester United. Ironically, an unlikely Toffees win at Old Trafford would play nicely into the hands of Rafa’s boys across Stanley Park. Moyes won’t care about that for one moment though. Instead he’ll concentrate fully on once again making the most of the hand he’s been dealt.
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