Football News: Everton vs Liverpool April 2018 Derby Review

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Everton vs Liverpool - in a drab affair lacking quality from both sides this is how I saw it:

Karius - made an excellent first half save, distributed reasonably well, and did what he had to do when called upon.

Klavan - operated as a makeshift left back for much of the game and never really looked comfortable. Doesn't have the ability on the ball and, out wide, he struggles with pace and positioning. He wasn't terrible by any means but it is not his natural position and it clearly shows.

Clyne - there have been some posters on here who have been calling for him to return to the team. My issues with him post injury are the same as the ones I have pre-injury: a lack of contribution in either the attack or defence. The lad was a passenger who did not deal with their limited attacks nor added anything to ours.

Lovren - I thought he was excellent midweek, this was a dodgy display and, for me, I thought he was poor. Got bullied a couple of times, positionally wasn't at his best and looked flustered. The lad needs to find more consistency.

VVD - decent. Aerially he won plenty of balls again. His distribution was poor today but his composure is far more calming. I know we had a clean sheet so perhaps it looks like I am being harsh on our defence? The brutal truth is that Everton were so poor for so much of the game, that is why they failed to score.

Henderson - industrious in midfield, hard working, passing was OK though not to his usual high standards. I thought he was a lot more under stated today, probably needed to make his presence more known.

Milner - lots of energy, started out wide to being with and put in a typical performance. Quality was lacking in his delivery today but his energy helped.

Wijinaldum - a decent performance today, very neat in possession and broke up play on numerous occasions. Quietly effective. My ire with him is that he always plays it safe. Sometimes a player needs to get his head up and play a killer ball or take a man on - Wijinaldum does not do that, especially if their is a 5 yard pass on instead. He has the ability, so I would like to see him be more dynamic. He was decent today though.

Mane - looked leggy today, pretty ineffective though still managed to cause their defence some problems. No surprises that he was substituted - certainly looks less of a player when Salah and Firmino are not playing along side him (though in fairness I think this would happen with most players) .

Ings - very, very lively and full of energy. Thought his work rate was top notch and that it caused Everton a lot of headaches. Still lacking the goalscoring touch though but really feels like its a case of 'when' he scores rather than 'if'.

Solanke - I do not see what others see in the lad. Does not hold the ball up particularly well and displays some pretty poor technique in terms of passing, first touch and dribbling. Doesn't seem to have a predators instinct either. I would have Ings as a back up striker 10 times out of 10 over Solanke.

Subs:

Oxlaide-Chamberlain - started brightly when he came on with a good, direct run and shot. Faded afterwards though and really didn't do as well when confined to the wing. OK but could have made a bigger impact.

Firmino - it was a terrible mistake by Klopp to play him on the left hand side. Totally unsuited to that position and it showed in that he had next to no involvement in the game (except for losing possession and giving away a few fouls).

TAA - barely enough time to do anything.

Klopp - OK but I think looking back this will be seen as an opportunity missed. Everton were awful for 85 minutes of this game and, with some tweaks in tactics and strategy, could have been a win. As it was we also looked poor and a 0-0 scoreline reflects the quality that was on show. It was also another midday kick off in which we didn't really seem at the races, the players can and should do better.

Referee - weirdly lenient allowing multiple fouls to go unpunished and failing to book Everton players for some pretty poor challenges. Rooney, Bolasie, Coleman, the list goes on they should of all seen yellow yet the referee seemed adamant that he was not going to produce a card. Thought his decisions favoured Everton however he did allow the game to flow and had no impact on the final result - given the standards of officiating these days we should probably be thankful!

Conclusion - This was a derby to forget which was punctuated by a distinct lack of quality - the changes to our team made a noticeable difference to the momentum of our play and the midfield, whilst hard working, never looked to have the vision to create a clear cut chance - the attack looked like they wouldn't have scored even if they had a clear cut chance. Defensively we were shaky and unconvincing, especially near the end, but managed to keep a clean sheet.

Sometimes ugly results are required and today was as ugly as it gets. Everton, I have to say, were very poor though - the big hoofs forward by Pickford, for the entire game, were a grim tactic to watch. This is, for me, the worst Everton team to watch in terms of how they play football, I understand why so many fans are disgruntled at having Allardyce as manager.

A draw isn't a disaster though and both teams would have probably taken that before kickoff. Most eyes are on our second leg tie with City but I really hope the players remember the importance of the league - Chelsea are not out of the running for a CL spot and we cannot afford to get complacent, I'd expect better in our next league outing.

Written by Seano_ April 07 2018 17:28:38