Everton FC correspondent Joe Thomas reflects on another traumatic Merseyside derby defeat
Jordan Pickford reacts after he is shown a yellow card during the Premier League match between Everton and Liverpool at Hill Dickinson Stadium. Photo by Liverpool FC/Liverpool FC via Getty Images
Jordan Pickford reacts after he is shown a yellow card during the Premier League match between Everton and Liverpool at Hill Dickinson Stadium. Photo by Liverpool FC/Liverpool FC via Getty Images
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In the aftermath of the Merseyside derby defeat, my instinct was to try and seek the positives for Everton.
That is not unusual - the big picture is my focus during my immediate post-match responsibilities, whether it is good or bad.
And there were positives to take if - and I appreciate it is a big if - anyone was able to look through the disappointment and agony of the result and how it unfolded.
For all their frailties, Liverpool went into the derby as favourites - I checked the bookies before kick-off and they were clear and unanimous on that. I thought there was an angle, and David Moyes agreed when I put it to him, in the severity of the disappointment being a symbol of just how far Everton have come in a short space of time. Everton finished 36 points behind Liverpool last season. A win would have put them within two points with five games to go and even now the gap is only eight.
That does matter, it is significant, Everton have made progress and, galling as the outcome may have been, it is important not to lose sight of the context they are operating within. Now the dust has settled, I am not convinced it is the angle, though.
There is a compelling and fair story of Everton suffering repeated cruel blows - a penalty that could have been given, a disallowed goal in which the correct decision came but only after a wasted outpouring of emotion, injuries to Beto and Jarrad Branthwaite - two of the best players on the day.
But I think serious thought is probably now required on how Everton approach these games. If you expect bad things to happen - and believe me, everyone I know expected that late corner to yield agony - then perhaps they are more likely to. For Everton to start faring better in these games, maybe it is time to try and seize control of the narrative rather than allow the prevailing one to dominate minds and hearts.
There is, I feel, a tendency to go into derbies with trepidation. Yes, it felt like Everton had a chance of a big result but the consensus from those I spoke to was that is when derbies are at their most dangerous.
Some historically bad Everton sides have achieved good results against some excellent Liverpool teams in recent years, at home at least, and the win under Sean Dyche and the draw salvaged by James Tarkowski last season were extra-satisfying because they were so unexpected.
While Everton were still the underdogs on Sunday, it felt they were perhaps as close to Liverpool as they have been almost since Moyes’ first spell.
Perversely, that typically raises the fear factor. As history has shown everything tends to go wrong - Everton have won just two derbies since Mikel Arteta and Tim Cahill’s heroics in 2010.
There have been some bad performances in that time and some missed opportunities. There has also been some atrocious luck and some abysmal refereeing. That Everton are so good at finding such horrific ways to lose this match inspires understandable anxiety. And as for long-term frustration with the officials in these games, Moyes raised that himself at Finch Farm on Friday.
Maybe the real reality check Everton need is that many of those things will continue for a long time. Liverpool are a team with a £700m turnover, the Premier League champions who spent £440m improving from a position of immense strength. If derbies are to be decided by a moment of magic, more of those moments should fall Liverpool’s way because they will typically have more world class players on the pitch. If they are to be decided by controversial decisions then more of those calls will probably fall Liverpool’s way because those at the top end of the table do seem to get more in their favour.
I say this because if Everton always fear ‘the bad thing will happen’ then maybe acknowledging that could provide a source of freedom. If crushing disappointment is inevitable then why not be bolder, more proactive and ambitious when the opportunity presents itself? Everton might still lose derbies in traumatic fashion but if that is going to happen anyway then at least they lose while having a go. And that way, they would probably win more games - they can’t really be any worse off.
This thought process comes from Sunday’s game because it was a missed opportunity for Everton. After the equaliser, Liverpool ended up with their third choice goalkeeper, one yet to make a Premier League appearance and who was playing with the sun in his eyes. Yet Everton barely tested him.
As the game descendedinto the frenetic chaos of the final 30 minutes, Everton’s central midfield was overrun and yet Moyes did not change it. The energy of Tim Iroegbunam might have been helpful, perhaps the presence of Merlin Rohl, whose best attributes we are yet to see in Royal Blue. Maybe the guile of Carlos Alcaraz. Could we have seen Tyler Dibling with Iliman Ndiaye moving up top as Thierno Barry’s struggles unfolded? Could we have seen Dewsbury-Hall drop into the central midfield - his favoured position - and Iliman Ndiaye in the 10, with Dibling out wide?
Such decisions would have been a gamble, they may have led to calls of recklessness had they backfired. They could also have exposed a struggling Liverpool team, tested an inexperienced goalkeeper and paved the way for an incredible win. Everton lost in terrible fashion anyway. One of the many reasons it was so tough to take was the sense they could have done more to win it themselves.
None of this is to say Everton were not unfortunate. To have a goal disallowed is one thing but to have it ruled out AFTER those amazing celebrations was gut-wrenching. To go behind after being so clearly the better side was a sucker-punch.
To suffer the devastating loss of Jarrad Branthwaite, the best player on the pitch, was horrendous.
Some of the commentary after the game has focused on Everton being unable to respond to adversity. I thought they did that pretty well, the only problem was there is only so long you can swim against the current and by the 100th minute it felt Everton had been doing that for an eternity.
I also thought the refereeing was, to say the least, frustrating. It was astonishing that Ryan Gravenberch avoided a booking in the opening minutes. The sight of Virgil van Dijk clattering into Idrissa Gueye should not have yielded a booking for Jordan Pickford alone and Dominik Szoboszlai was lucky to escape after climbing over the back of Ndiaye after being mugged of the ball by the Senegal international. Those decisions mattered because it allowed those players the chance to play with more freedom in the later stages of a close game.
I think it was a good shout for a penalty, too. When I thought it was shoulder to shoulder I understood Chris Kavanagh’s refusal but on later inspection it is clear Curtis Jones also collides with Dewsbury-Hall’s left leg. At which point, with Dewsbury-Hall through on goal and Jones nowhere near the ball, I struggle to understand why it was not a spot kick.
So this is not me saying Everton do not have legitimate grievances but, like I prefaced that passage with, they often do.
Which is why I think a change of attitude is needed. It is possible to focus on misfortune and decisions but there is also a strange comfort in putting these moments at the door of someone else, to claim Everton lost to factors beyond their control. To make real progress, Everton have to look at how they were also complicit in that result.
They missed good chances in that opening 25 minutes, they did not test Woodman, they did not correct the issues in midfield and they allowed Liverpool to seize the initiative in stoppage time. Could they have avoided that result? Maybe not. But at least they might have gone down in flames rather than with a whimper.
*A version of this article first featured in the Royal Blue newsletter, available here