Another hard-luck story for profligate Blues

SOS report back from the Midlands; Wolves 0 – 0 Everton, Molineux.

After the fantastic 2-0 win at Eastlands in midweek had given this Everton side a platform to really go and have a crack at a 7th place finish that had looked way out of reach a week ago, it was somewhat typical of the Blues to come away from Molineux with not much more than a hard-luck story and a bunch of ‘what if’s’.

After a promising opening 15 minutes in which Moyes’ men looked sharp and motivated – Leon Osman missing an absolute gilt-edged chance with a pathetically weak attempt from 6 yards – the first half was allowed to fizzle out somewhat and slip away from our grasp.

Make no mistake, Everton never looked in any danger of losing this game at any point – enjoying complete control of the encounter and a defence led by the imperious Phil Jagielka never looked out of it’s comfort zone once.

The trouble was, despite this being an absolute ‘must win’ game in the context of our season, the real drive, determination and urgency to go and get the job done was never quite there – until it was way too late.

Aside from the Osman miss, Everton’s best chance of the half came when Louis Saha smartly peeled off his marker to bring down a long punt from Sylvain Distin before cutting inside to unleash a left-footed rasper that rattled the Wolves bar from some 20-yards.

With no changes in personnel at half-time it was no surprise that the early exchanges of the second half followed a similar pattern.

By this point it was abundantly evident that Mick McCarthy’s Wolves would be absolutely delighted with a point and camped deep in their own half, content with hitting hopeful balls to the workhorse Kevin Doyle, the invitation was there for Everton to really get the bit between their teeth and push on.

Bafflingly though for the travelling Blues masses, and particularly odd when you consider the absolute need for a 3 point return from this game, it never really happened.

A succession of half-chances came and went, Saha just failing to get the required contact with a header and Pienaar and Osman taking turns with a couple of pathetically weak efforts from range, but the onslaught that you would have hoped for and indeed expected just never materialised.

As Saha cut an increasingly forlorn and disinterested figure as the half progressed – beaten embarrassingly easily to virtually every aerial ball by Craddock and Berra all afternoon – I was at a loss as to why it took until the 76th minute to see any movement from the bench given the importance of taking 3 points from this game.

When Yakubu finally was introduced it made little difference in truth. Whilst the Nigerian certainly looked more interested than his French colleague and certainly offered more positive movement off the ball, it was to little effect as, bafflingly, the team simply refused to push forward as a unit, instead still seemingly fearing leaving the back door open and creating a chasm between the forwards and midfield all too often.

The really poor Leon Osman was finally replaced by young Dan Gosling – presumably in the hope that the youngster could reproduce his trademark Johnny On The Spot routine – and then finally, on 86, Diniyar Bilyaletdinov was the final throw of the dice replacing Jack Rodwell.

Eventually, with just 5 minutes left, the Blues finally did move further up the pitch and camped Wolves in around their own area and then the chances started to flow, albeit way, way too late.

A couple of tame long-rangers were followed up by a great chance for Tim Cahill as the Aussie attempted an overhead whilst falling backwards under pressure and then finally Dan Gosling put the seal on a ‘disappointing’ afternoon, failing to sort his feet out after a great knock-down from Cahill which really should have seen the ball lashed home first time.

As that chance slipped by and the clock ticked down, it was that all too familiar feeling of having been let-down yet again that was prevalent as a bunch of mainly dejected Blues left the ground.

A quick mention for the opposition to finish; Wolves are a good club with a good manager and decent fans. All the best to them for the rest of the season and I have to say, I will be delighted to see them remain in the Premier League – where they undoubtedly belong.

Player Ratings:

Howard – 7 – Brave to continue with thigh injury

Neville – 6 – Solid enough defensively, usual lazy distribution

Jagielka -7 – Never troubled and no coincidence that clean sheets have returned with the Jag

Distin – 7 – Followed up a good display at City with another classy performance

Baines – 7 – Close to an 8, superb display in front of Capello. A proper footballer with a great winning attitude, more like this please.

Pienaar -7 – We would have been absolutely lost as an attacking threat without him. Contract. Sort. Now. Pagar!!

Rodwell -6- Nice in flashes but overall not involved enough

Heitinga -7- Yet again played his role superbly, a quality player with a great attitude.

Osman -6- Poor from Ossie, woeful finishing and falling over too much again.

Cahill -6- Toiled well but low on guile.

Saha -5- Long range effort aside, pathetic display from ‘The King’. Dispossessed far too easily and had an all-round lazy day. Should have been replaced much earlier.

Subs:

Yak, Bily, Gozzer – all 6, too little too late