Michael Ball tackles the big issues at Hill Dickinson Stadium following Everton's 2-1 defeat to West Ham United
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I said after the Liverpool game, we didn’t want the derby defeat and the manner in which we lost the game to derail Everton’s season, but it felt like that type of performance at West Ham. We were very flat.
I’m thinking what can David Moyes do between now and the end of the season because we don’t want to give up on a European push. However, some players aren’t stepping up to the plate and seem to be going through the motions, like they want the season over and done with.
It’s another disappointing end to a game for Everton, ensuring we’ve suffered back-to-back defeats. Since the fantastic performance against Chelsea and returning from the three-week break, we’ve only picked up one point.
What Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall said about needing to take accountability was right, but it’s now a case of how we find a solution to that. What’s really concerning for me is given the height in our team, we’ve now conceded more soft goals after what happened against Virgil van Dijk in the derby and two goals against Tottenham Hotspur earlier in the season.
We’re missing Jack Grealish plus Jarrad Branthwaite and Beto, who show strength and character when we do set-pieces. It shows the weakness in the squad when key players are out and accountability needs to happen.
I often feel that this group of players don’t seem to sense when an opponent is really under pressure. The atmosphere felt very nervy for West Ham and we had an opportunity to make it even more difficult.
Instead, we seemed to just sit back and that first half felt like a flip flops pre-season affair with nothing to play for. We didn’t appear to display any belief or character to try and go on and win the game.
We didn’t make it difficult for West Ham, it was easy for them, and they didn’t have to do much to go ahead. In many respects, we didn’t really start playing until the last 10 minutes when we started showing a bit of intensity and enthusiasm because before that, we were just going through the motions.
If we want to be dreaming about getting into European competitions, you’ve got to be ruthless and smell blood. Rather than apply a strategy of doing what the opposition don’t want us to do, we sat back and let them get into a rhythm.
If we’d had worked that little bit harder and done our jobs correctly, the goals wouldn’t have happened. For the first phase of the winning goal, Vitalii Mykolenko had Jarrod Bowen by the corner flag but let him turn.
Then, in the second phase, he let Bowen win the header. Those are two occasions where if Mykolenko was stronger and took more accountability, the goal doesn’t happen, but Bowen showed more determination and hunger.
Also, the first goal. With the amount of stats and data now in football, clubs look at every potential weakness in the opposition and areas they can exploit.
It’s another headed goal from inside our six-yard box, and it’s a free header. What’s the solution?
I’ve said it many times in my column over the years, Jordan Pickford is a fantastic goalkeeper bur his weak spot is on crosses. He very rarely comes out to try and claim them.
I’m not saying he’s got to come out all the time, but I think his starting point needs to change. He starts on the goal-line then goes backwards.
He did it for the Van Dijk goal and West Ham’s opener. It happened a couple of times against Spurs.
I feel his starting point needs to be two or three yards – perhaps even more? – further forward to force the corner-kick taker to deliver the ball a lot deeper into the box. Then it’s got to be an unbelievable header to try and cause us a problem.
Opponents will know to put the ball on Pickford. He likes getting involved with the opposition.
Also though, I’d like to think the referees might actually see a grab here and there.
For the Van Dijk goal, I thought there were two arm pulls on James Tarkowski. Somehow, the referee said he didn’t see anything.
I singled Thierno Barry out after Liverpool, but Beto’s injury meant that he got rewarded with a start at West Ham. Speaking in his pre-match press conference, David Moyes had said that while he wasn’t going to give the team away, he had other options in that area.
Barry had an opportunity to turn his fortunes around after having a bit of a bust-up on Instagram over the fan situation at Arsenal. However, if you’re looking lethargic and disinterested, you’re not going to convince David Moyes, or any potential suitors for that matter.
A player who seems to be sulking after the first bit of negativity against them is not very appealing. Football is a roller coaster of a career, with big ups and downs, but it’s a question of how you go about that and to me, Barry doesn’t look like he’s going about it the right way.
We want to see more energy from him. He did a few good touches here and there, good, but that’s your bread and butter, that’s the norm.
It shouldn’t be a surprise that we actually see him control the ball. If you put everything into the game, you feel better afterwards and there’s no self doubt when you’ve put blood, sweat and tears into a display.
Everyone who has reached Premier League level will have had to have worked really hard to got there, so don’t let it slip. Recruitment is so difficult, but you’ve got to get a certain type of player, especially for Everton Football Club.
Look at Beto. We know he hasn’t got everything, but what he has got is heart.
He loves putting that royal blue jersey on, he works hard every time he does so, and he causes problems for opponents. He’s trying, he’s putting his best out there, so Evertonians will forgive him if it doesn’t always come off.
Yes, we want talented players, gifted individuals like Grealish all around the pitch, but we know where we are right now. To be an Everton player, you need to be able to dig in and role your sleeves up.
You can’t be a passenger, and unfortunately that’s what Barry looks like right now. That should be a concern both for him and David Moyes who will now be wondering whether he can trust him for the remainder of the season.
Handball penalty decision was a farce but Everton VAR checks feel different than opponents' ones
The decision not to award Everton a penalty for handball was mind-boggling. It’s an absolute farce.
Mateus Fernandes had his hand on his hip, then he reached out for the ball. It’s not even accidental.
We’re at the stage now where you have to laugh because if you don’t, you’d cry. The amount of these decisions that go against us is truly staggering.
We saw over the weekend, some referees couldn’t wait to give a penalty for certain clubs and then the decision got overturned by VAR. What’s the point of VAR though if you can watch that back and still not give a penalty?
VAR killed our brilliant celebrations following Iliman Ndiaye’s goal against Liverpool. Yes, it was offside so that’s correct and we understand that, but when full-time officials get basic decisions like that wrong, it’s laughable.
Every time there’s a check for us, it seems to be over very quickly. But when it’s against us – for example, James Tarkowski’s equaliser in the derby last season – it goes on for several minutes like they’re looking for any slight detail to try and overrule it.
Other teams and their fanbases will have their issues, but it feels like it’s an agenda against Everton. Even Ref Watch on Sky Sports said it was a penalty, so you know it’s bad!
When you’re playing football, you just hope for a fair and strong referee for both sides. You know that in some games, you’re not going to be at your best, but you just want the referee to be fair.
It’s not like you’re asking the referee to give you help, you just want them to do their job. We all know that goals change the momentum of games and if we’d had scored from the penalty spot, we might have gone on to win.
The whole atmosphere in the stadium could have changed with West Ham and their fans getting a lot more nervous. The club are going to reach out to the PGMOL, but we’ve been here before.
Nothing ever happens. We’ll get an apology, a bit like when they admitted we should have had a penalty against Arsenal when Thierno Barry was fouled, but that doesn’t help Everton for their European push.