Bohemians 1 – 1 Everton – a thoroughly depressing night

A thoroughly depressing night that only served to highlight the glaring deficiencies that have been in our squad for a quite sometime now. Some people might say that this was just a friendly but it was arranged because we had a Premier League game postponed, this was not an exercise to get fit, it was to help find match sharpness and as such I was expecting us to play with a Premier League type tempo but that never really materialised.

First, a little bit about our opponents. Up to a couple of years ago Bohemians (or Bohs as they are known) were the best team in Ireland but monetary problems, mainly because of a deal to buy their ground which fell through, has meant that their budget has been slashed in the last season or so.

They still have some experienced players who would have won a lot of trophies in Ireland but most of them were sat behind me in the stand as their manager Pat Fenlon gave a run out to some of their fringe players. They currently lie fifth in the 12 team Premier Division 10 points behind the leaders and most of their younger players would be part timers signed on amateur contracts.

For us, there was no Baines, Jagielka, Cahill, Saha, Yakubu or Yobo so we started in a 4-5-1 formation with Mucha in goal, a back four of Hibbert, Duffy, Heitinga and Garbutt. Anichebe on the right and Barkley on the left filled the wide positions while captain on the night, Arteta, Fellaini and Rodwell were in the centre with Beckford up front.

It took Barkley only a couple of minutes to get on the ball and show some silky touches, there is no doubt that he is a hugely talented boy. It was noticeable that his first instinct when he gets the ball was to attempt to move forward albeit by cutting in from the left into the centre. It was refreshing to see, he still got caught out a couple of times not tracking his runner and at times seemed almost lazy in getting back to help out Garbutt but they are things that you teach, his plus points are much harder to pass on to players.

The tall and rangy Duffy probably should have done better with a free header from an Arteta corner after just three minutes but Everton had started nice and brightly.

It was all one way traffic in the early stages so it was no surprise that Everton broke the deadlock after nine minutes. Rodwell picked up the ball in midfield and took off on a great surging run, the kind he just doesn’t do enough of, and carried the ball fully 50 yards down the right. His cross wasn’t the best but when Bohs only cleared as far as Barkley, he dinked a ball to the back post for Fellaini to nod down and Beckford was left with a simple finish from inside the six yard box.

That should have been the signal for Everton to push on and build up some confidence ahead of the season opener against QPR but as the half wore on, the old failing of a lack of imagination in the final third was there for all to see.

Sure, Everton kept the ball nicely and the likes of Fellaini, Arteta, Rodwell and Barkley were involved in some pretty little triangles around the halfway line but where did it get us? On the occasions that we tried to move forward our progress was halted by Beckford’s inability to hold up even the most simple of passes. Anichebe on the right hand side was no better and his 30 yard effort on 29 minutes that cleared not only the crossbar but also the stand behind the goal summed up Everton’s lack of ideas.

With those two continuing to struggle, it was almost as if our midfield decided not to pass the ball forward at all and instead we had endless, pointless passing that got us nowhere at all. Only Barkley looked willing to take on a man but as he was coming into the congested centre to do that, space for him was at a premium. It would be easy to castigate our central trio for not getting forward and not getting past Beckford but we badly need somebody up top capable of holding up the ball. Beckford has his strengths but holding up the ball is not one of them and that makes him totally unsuited to the lone striker role.

Bohs offered little in the way of attacking threat apart from a Keith Buckley effort that deflected off Heitinga and went narrowly wide and a 35 yard shot from Mark Rossiter that was nowhere near the goal.

In the last five minutes of the half, Barkley cut in from the left and dragged a right footed shot wide of the upright and then Beckford headed harmlessly wide after Hibbert and Anichebe had combined well on the right.

The half time whistle blew soon after and the teams headed for the dressing rooms to get a break from the terrible Irish weahter. David Moyes made five changes at the break with Howard, Distin, Osman, Vellios and Shkodran Mustafi coming on for the completely untested Mucha, Duffy, Barkley, Beckford and Heitinga.

The first thing that sprung to mind when Mustafi appeared on the pitch was that he is way too small to be a centre back in the Premiership. I actually thought it was Adam Forshaw in the warm up before the game and I think we are completely wasting our time on a centre half that looks smaller than the likes of Jags and Heitinga. Of course there have been players his size who have made it but they are few and far between, I guess we will have to wait and see but his first touch that he scuffed out for a corner when attempting to pass back to Howard didn’t inspire confidence.

There was a change of formation at the start of the second half with Vellios partnering Anichebe up front and Rodwell moving to the right, Arteta to the left and Osman and Felli through the middle. There weren’t many positives on the night but the performance of Vellios was definitely one. He holds the ball up far better than either of Beckford or Anichebe, is quick and has a great attitude. I don’t know if he would score enough goals but he looks more suited to the lone striker role than either of that pair.

Anichebe shot narrowly wide in the 57^th minute and then Garbutt teed up Rodwell whose shot from eight yards was destined for the back of the net but for a brave block by a Bohs defender.

A cross from the opposite side by Hibbert was then determinedly met by Vellios but he couldn’t find the target.

Bohs took two of their better players off on the half mark but five minutes later found themselves level. Luke Garbutt had shown a much greater willingness to get forward in the second half but was badly caught when a crossfield pass picked out journeyman striker Anto Flood. Garbutt backed off and backed off until Flood was at the edge of the box and he curled a left footed shot past Howard. Think of an Irish league version of Norman Whiteside’s goal in the 85 cup final and you wouldn’t be too far off.

In response, Garbutt crossed for Vellios but the big Greek striker once more couldn’t find the target from close range.

Moyes introduced Neville, Baxter and Bilyaletdinov for the last 20 or so minutes but nothing he tried increased the level of the Everton performance.

Vellios and Osman did at least force the home goalkeeper into a couple of saves, the first shots on target since Beckford’s goal, in the final stages but both were comfortable and so confident were Bohs that they brought on a young goalkeeper for his debut in the final five minutes.

All in all, this game didn’t tell us anything we didn’t know. The side is crying out for quality in the wide areas and a striker to act as a focal point for our play. To get those kind of players there are players who are bringing very little to our squad who could be jettisoned and we simply have to do something in the remaining weeks of the transfer window. We are almost totally reliant on Baines to create our chances and it’s not too over the top to say that a long term injury to him (please God no) could mean us struggling in the bottom half of the table. Where else are the goals going to come from?

The team has gone badly stale and desperately needs new faces to freshen it up, money is obviously tight but we have an abundance of central midfielders and a 10m winger who brings almost nothing to the side. We have to get rid of some of the deadwood to get the players we need or else it’s going to be a very long season.

Everton: Mucha (Howard h/t); Hibbert, Duffy (Mustafi h/t), Heitinga (Distin h/t), Garbutt; Anichebe (Baxter 68), Rodwell, Arteta (Neville 68), Fellaini (Bilyaletdinov 68), Barkley (Osman h/t); Beckford (Vellios h/t).

Ger McNally