Spurs head to Merseyside for the first time this season as they take on the Toffees at Goodison Park. Everton have enjoyed a renaissance under new manager Marco Silva, who nabbed the talented Richarlisson from his old club Watford and has had the good sense to play Spurs old boy Gylfi Sigurdsson in his proper #10 position. Andre Gomes is a classy midfielder on loan from Barcelona who has been linked with Spurs in the past and Lucas Digne has fit in nicely at left fullback. It should be a cracking game under the lights at Goodison as both managers like to play attacking football. No doubt Poch will rotate the side with a heavy dose of fixtures on the horizon.
Lloris Trippier Sanchez Alderweireld Davies Winks Sissoko --- Eriksen Dele Kane --- Son Or it might be the 4 2 3 1, pretty fluid front 6. Everton look a bit lightweight in the centre, Tom Davies alongside Andre Gomes. Both skilful but neither what you'd call an enforcer, they can be got at in a battle. Big game for Mousa then, he's the one player in either side who stands out physically.
From the BBC match tracker: "A guy in the main stand at Goodison is drowning out the commentary at times with his booing - sounds like a Scouse vuvuzela. He's not happy about the referee. At all." lol
I managed to miss the first 20 minutes and on tuning in saw we looked on the back foot, Everton providing excellent pressure. Goal within seconds of me coming to that recognition. I really think we were fortunate on the no-goal call. But, we've responded as champions since that moment. Quality play, taking advantage of errors, skill and rampant attitude. Disappointing to give up a genuinely well played second goal. Still, we look like proper champions. We need some January investment to add depth to the team, to not have a late swoon to exhaustion.
This game was like when you arm wrestle your dad and he lets you win a bit in the beginning but then he crushes you soon after. Everton thought they could compete with the big boys. Now they're not even in the top half of the table.
I LOVE that prognosticators will make great ballyhoo about "Team in First on Xmas Day wins the League (except maybe Liverpool)." The pressure falls squarely on 'Pool to remove the monkey and Man City to show their early season invincibility. We can't fly entirely under the radar, of course. But, we are definitely the odd man out in the narratives. There's only so many minutes in each football TV show, only so many column inches that writers want to write, readers want to read. We will always be the last story included, first story the editor minimizes. Until we end up in first place (should we be so fortunate) the pressure should be reasonably mild.
I used to quite like Everton. Historic club, local owners, proper old stadium, not red. Then they came over for a friendly with the Union and I was exposed to the most shocking racist behavior from some of their fans and I realized I had romanticized them quite a bit. Bloody hell, Spurs are good though, eh?
Yeah, there's this narrative that Liverpool fans are the biggest ****s in the world, whilst Evertonians seem somehow exempt - even though they're basically cut from the same cultural cloth. I, too, have always tended to see Everton as a club that's easy to respect and appreciate, for pretty much the same reasons. I've only been to Goodison once, and I loved it. But maybe if they'd been able to parade scouse culture around the big stages in Europe - as opposed to friendlies in Philly and Columbus (I saw them at Crew Stadium years ago) - they'd have the same reputation. Slightly ironic that Heysel kept them home, then, eh? Hmmm … that's some fairly ungenerous stuff I've written, there. I probably shouldn't hit 'post reply'. On the other hand, putting it there will give the people of Merseyside the opportunity to disprove some unsavory stereotypes by not demanding a retraction, hounding me out of my job, or just tracking me down and giving me a good kicking. I'm kidding, I'm kidding. Frankly, if we're to judge any club on their worst ambassadors, none will come off terribly good. I've definitely seen some behavior at Spurs that was embarrassing, to say the least. So … so surmise: I love Goodison Park.
Our movement off the ball was our best of the season so far, reminiscent of some of the football we played in the 16-17 season. Everton were without their midfield enforcer, Idrissa Gaye, and it showed as we were able to dominate the middle of the park. Why they played with such a high defensive line was beyond me but I'm not complaining. Unfortunately, the ref missed Pickford's shocking tackle on Dele, hopefully he will be ok for the upcoming fixtures. Elsewhere, Kyle Walker had one of those days that he has never been able to shake out of his system, but maybe he still has a soft spot for his old team...