Everton 1 Liverpool 4: Blues humiliated in another derby defeat
What a dreadful night at Goodison Park as Everton slumped to yet another hugely embarassing derby loss against Liverpool.
No one is surprised at this result and most Everton supporters were expecting something like this to happen, but even so it still hurts so much to lie down and surrender like that to that club.
Rafa Benitez again picked a side with just two in central midfield even though I and everyone else knew and expected the Toffees’ would be outnumbered and outfought in the engine room.
Why, does this manager not see that we had to match them in the middle and provide some additional protection for a vulnerable defence?
Their first goal for example was the result of allowing Jordan Henderson to stroll forward and pick his shot with no one near him because the midfield was outnumbered.
I think this sort of stubborn refusal to make changes he seems to display is a real concern and the sense that his tactics are outdated gets stronger every week.
Ironically, to be fair one player who he has consistently picked despite his manifest failings did actually have a half-decent game. That was Salomon Rondon who produced his best effort in a royal blue shirt working hard to hold the ball up. Still it was hardly outstanding play and he was often isolated and alone.
The only real genuine bright spot was Demarai Gray who showed real commitment and quality and scored a fine goal to bring the Blues’ back into it at least for a while.
At that point there was a glimmer of hope albeit only a glimmer, that Everton might make something of this match.
That didn’t look remotely possible after the first ten minutes or so as Liverpool ran riot and could have been two or three goals up as they totally dominated the game.
Somewhow they weren’t but eventually as Everton conceded possession like a park side on a Sunday afternoon, they did score two and were cruising.
That’s one of the things that makes me most angry and frustrated is that Liverpool weren’t even pushed to play at their best to beat the Toffees’ easily.
In past derbies even when the Blues’ were really poor sides there was still a desire to make it as hard as possible for them. Not any more there is so much fear and hesitation in their game.
After Gray got a goal back Everton had their best spell early in the second half although that’s not saying much. But, at least there was a sense that Liverpool, who seemed almost half asleep by then, had been forced to take the game seriously again.
Then just as we thought we might have a slender chance, once again individual errors undid all that as Seamus Coleman’s slip allowed Mohamed Salah to go on and get a third and that was it.
So, another catastophic defeat for Everton and yet more misery for the fans to endure as the agony goes on. What if anything can be done to turn this club around?