Well Blues, it’s been one hell of a week hasn’t it?
Before the start of the week it seemed that, for the most part, people had accepted a throwaway loss to our rivals from across the park.
It seemed that most people were pessimistic about our chances against Manchester United in the FA Cup semi-final tie, yet still held hope that the squad would be able to galvanise themselves and rise to the challenge.
Sigh.
It’s difficult to put into words what actually transpired during the 180 season defining minutes that mattered most in the past week, but it’s clear which way frustrations should be directed.
Roberto Martinez, how you have fallen from grace.
It’s just mind-blowing how an average Liverpool side, and the worst Manchester United side of the last ten years, were both able to comfortably disable Everton, knocking them aside like a parked car in a hurricane.
Similar to the display shown at Anfield on Wednesday, yesterday’s performance at Wembley was unstructured, without discipline. Wayne Rooney was allowed to run the game, pulling the strings like a masterful puppeteer, threading passes and creating runs against our precarious defensive line.
Clearly missing the experience and quality of Gareth Barry in midfield, the backline was often left exposed and duly exploited by the raw pace of Manchester United’s forwards. Thrown into the deep end without a sufficient buoyancy aid, Darron Gibson was clearly unfit and struggled throughout, which once again makes me question Roberto’s tactical approach as there were much better options to fill Barry’s void, than the injury-prone Irishman.
Fielding Muhamed Besic at right back seemed to be a sensible approach to the worrying injury crisis plaguing our backline before the game, but it turned out to be an approach that failed as the Bosnian was torn to pieces on numerous occasions. Roberto’s reluctance to stray from his modus operandi cost us with poor positional play from players wielded in unfamiliar areas.
Then we have Lukaku. Poor Lukaku.
Poor Lukaku, who couldn’t score any of the 47 chances presented to him. Granted, a slight exaggeration, but the point still stands. A self-professed world beater, Romelu squandered chance after chance. Poor touch, too slow to unleash, mistimed leap, poor connection – a catalogue of aspects of his game that were not on point.
Poor Lukaku certainly shouldn’t have missed the penalty. Admittedly, it was a good save from arguably one of the best goalkeepers in world football but I’m beginning to question the Belgian’s mettle. It isn’t the first time he’s missed a penalty in a high stakes game after all, gifting Bayern Munich the 2013 UEFA Super Cup with a poorly taken spot kick at the Eden Arena.
For all of Martinez’s defensive criticisms the one gift he seems to impart on his teams is the speed and precision to burst forward on the counter attack, throwing men forward to capitalise on high opposing backlines.
When was the last time we saw that happen?
The tempo was non-existent. Ross Barkley has played the last two games with the handbrake on, his foot far from the accelerator.
Without a clear gameplan in place, the Blues inevitably crumbled under the pressure and anyone who can honestly say that the brief second half resurgence represents a sign of changing times need to have a good hard look in the mirror.
Anthony Martial’s winning goal typifies Everton’s season on the whole. The Frenchman’s injury-time effort was the fifth time the Blues have either lost or drawn due to a goal conceded after the 90th minute this season.
The kings of anxiety, Everton just don’t have the players that can comfortably grind out a result. They don’t have the manager to enforce strength and resilience into the dying embers of the game.
Our season is done, there is nothing left to play for. Hopefully we’ll see the back of the Catalonian in the not too distant future.
Thanks Roberto, but your time is up.
