The first half performance by Totteham was shameful. Drab, slow and lacklustre. Injury time of just one minute is usually an indicator of just how poor and uneventful the game was up to that point. Every time Dembele had the ball, Everton harried with two players and won back possession. What worries me is that I saw that pattern after the first 20 minutes, yet nothing was done about it (reshuffle, close support, quick offload). When the toffees attacked out flanks, they ensured there were 4/5 bodies supporting the attack, and our rigid formation meant that the three defending players were outnumbered continuously.
I’ve seen a lot of Everton this year, and by their standards they were not playing 100%, which really highlighted just how unsparkling we’ve become.
Our quicker attacking players queue up parallel with the opposition’s offside line like athletes waiting for the starting pistol, rather than timing their runs and cutting defences apart with an element of fluidity.
Second half seemed to be going the same way as the first until the goal, and then we decided to defend until the end. Don’t get me wrong, I’m as delighted as the next fan with the win, but the performance has carried on from the Man City match. Another team with a couple of fit strikers would have put us to bed today.
Next up Newcastle United away. My prediction (and I hope I am wildly wrong) 3-3.
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