Michael Ball tackles the big issues at Hill Dickinson Stadium following Everton's 2-2 draw away to Hull City
Everton's Jarrad Branthwaite during the 2-2 draw at Hull City
Everton's Jarrad Branthwaite during the 2-2 draw at Hull City
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I was pleased with David Moyes’ comments after Everton’s 2-2 draw at Hull City because he made it clear that he wasn’t happy with the levels. He was disappointed with what he’d witnessed but now he’s got to find a solution and everyone has accountability, both the manager and the players.
With Vitalii Mykolenko out, it was always going to be an issue over who played left-back. Could James Garner go in there or maybe Ainsley Maitland-Niles?
Perhaps we could have experimented with three centre-backs? Although that seems to be a system that David Moyes is not keen on.
Either way, I didn’t like the thought of splitting James Tarkowski and Jarrad Branthwaite up as they have been an effective partnership.
When I saw the starting line-up, it was quite a head scratcher to see Branthwaite at left-back. I understand why David Moyes has done that, but I was also thinking, oh no, I don’t really want to see the player putting in those extra yards up and down the wing with his dodgy hamstring history.
I thought Jarrad did some things okay, but you can see it’s not his natural position. He got found out in the build-up to Hull’s first goal as he didn’t do his job properly.
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The game started in typical fashion after an international break – and this last one has been longer than ever. It was almost like starting the season again, blowing off the cobwebs.
I thought Everton were quite boring in their approach in the first half and I wanted them to be more exciting in their play. I felt they could pass the ball sharper to up the tempo and put Hull on the back foot.
We didn’t really go for the jugular and I think that’s been our style so far this season where when we have been on top, we haven’t really tried to punish teams with loads of shots or loads of crosses. We take the safe option, come back and started again, passing the ball backwards and sideways, it felt like a friendly match.
In the second half, you’re thinking, let’s push on. and have a go. But there’s a lack of concentration by not just from one player but quite a few.
When Everton make a mistake, it feels like they tend to get punished and that could be behind the mentality of playing it safe and a reluctance to be braver in their play. It frustrated me because you shouldn’t have to go one-nil down before you wake up and start playing a bit faster.
Once we’d got ourselves 2-1 up though, we should have been able to see the game out. Unfortunately, we couldn’t do that and there were more mistakes.
Thierno Barry took possibly his most difficult chance but before that he’d had a couple of headers that he probably should have done better with. That opportunity from the Branthwaite cross, you want your striker to at least get a touch on that and if it had gone in, things could have ended up very differently.
It was a strange game, but it felt like two points dropped. Okay, we remain unbeaten but how can we turn these draws into wins?
There are now tough matches against Chelsea and Arsenal coming up.
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