'Cold, hard economics' - National media notice same thing about Everton as brutal FA Cup point made
After three consecutive Premier League victories under David Moyes, Everton’s winning streak came to an end as they were beaten 2-0 by Bournemouth in what proved to be the last-ever cup tie at Goodison Park. Here’s a round-up of how the national media reported on the match.
FA Cup needs financial incentive and bigger prize to restore its glory in the modern age
The FA Cup desperately needs new names on the trophy and no club looks better equipped to win it for the first time than Bournemouth. They have the attacking weapons in a much-coveted goalscorer such as Antoine Semenyo, and they demonstrated in their Goodison Park victory how to mix attractive football with defensive resilience, different characteristics required in each half along with the occasional slice of old-fashioned luck.
Perhaps most encouragingly, in Andoni Iraola they have a manager who is not inclined to completely overhaul his team selection for the cup because he is prioritising the riches of Champions League qualification. Cold, hard economics have been the FA Cup’s Achilles heel over the last three decades.
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Too many mid-table Premier League and championship clubs have stopped valuing progressing in or winning the FA Cup above staying up or getting promoted. That made the choices of both Iraola and David Moyes an encouraging break with one of the FA Cup’s least welcome recent traditions, both focusing on the chance to get closer to Wembley above imminent and more financially consequential league games.
Bournemouth secured a not-so-eye watering £120,000 for reaching the 5th round with their 2-0 victory thanks to Semenyo’s and Daniel Jebbison’s first half goals, which is a fortune to those at the bottom of the pyramid but small change nearer the top. Winning the FA Cup earns £2 million.
Bournemouth will collect in excess of £40 million if they preserve their current position of 7th in the Premier League, so could be forgiven for considering a cup run a distraction. Many in their position have.
That’s why so much of the competition’s lustre diminishes once the non-league and lower league clubs make their exit, having seized or lost the chance to collect their dividends. The longer the FA Cup goes on, the more it can feel like being late to a party where the most exciting part of the night is over, and the organiser is frantically ordering everyone to keep enjoying themselves.
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England is on course for a fifth Champions League spot and it would have helped if it had been agreed before the start of the season that – in the event of that happening – the extra place would go to the FA Cup winner.
If Bournemouth match Leicester City and Wigan Athletic as recent first time winners, it will not just be their own supporters celebrating.
Half-time boos for Everton but applauded at the end in Goodison’s final cup tie
Goodison Park commemorated Everton’s history in the FA Cup before kick-off, the Park End awash with banners related to the club’s five triumphs in the competition. Bournemouth consigned Goodison’s FA Cup story to history.
Cup ties have been played at this famous old stadium for 132 years. There will never be another.
Andoni Iraola’s tireless, intelligent team tormented Everton once again. After the dramatic comeback here in August and last month’s win at the Vitality Stadium, the final act for Sean Dyche, Bournemouth made it a hat-trick of victories over Everton this season to advance into the fifth round.
The final FA Cup act for Goodison centred on two first-half mistakes from James Tarkowski, who conceded a penalty scored by the impressive Antoine Semenyo and lost possession for Daniel Jebbison’s strike. David Moyes’s side reacted strongly in the second half but hit a post three times and had another attempt cleared off the line.
Everton had been careless in possession, culpable for their own downfall and unable to keep their feet at times, with Idrissa Gueye and Jesper Lindstrøm repeatedly slipping over. Even so, the boos that followed them down the tunnel at half-time – admittedly from a minority of the home crowd – were ridiculous. Rebuilding a connection between the team and fans is a priority for Moyes and, as he said before the game, key to players being able to perform with freedom. They were applauded off at full time, in fairness.
Laughs as Iraola fell but no slip-ups from Bournemouth
There was a moment in the opening half when, much to the amusement of Everton’s supporters, the Bournemouth head coach Andoni Iraola lost his footing and fell on his backside. His side would suffer no such slip-ups.
Iraola already has this slick, inventive team dreaming of qualifying for the Champions League and to an ambitious wishlist should be added domestic cup success. In the final FA Cup tie to be played at Goodison Park the visiting side claimed victory after surviving a late onslaught in which Everton struck the post on three occasions.
David Moyes will hope the final Merseyside Derby to be played here before a move to a new stadium at Bramley-Moore Dock conjures a different outcome on Wednesday. It is 30 years since Everton lifted a major trophy, in this competition against Manchester United, and that barren run will now be extended further.
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Bournemouth, of course, do not boast that pedigree, but the strides they have made through clever recruitment and cute appointments mean winning trophies should represent the next step in their eye-catching evolution.
They were slicker, had talent in players such as Antoine Semenyo, who always mustered a threat, and were also aided in establishing themselves in the ascendancy by two errors from the Everton captain James Tarkowski.
Moyes has asked his team to play more football and back themselves in possession but that will be easier against some teams — notably a porous Leicester City last weekend — than others. It is probably not a tactic to repeat against Liverpool.
Disaster for Tarkowski as Semenyo is Everton’s nemesis again
Everton’s final cup-tie at Goodison Park proved a disaster for captain James Tarkowski as Antoine Semenyo once again became the Merseyside club’s nemesis. Semenyo, who had ignited Bournemouth’s 3-2 comeback win at the same ground in August, scored the opening goal when he was cleaned out by Tarkowski and converted the resulting penalty.
The Everton defender then gifted Bournemouth the ball before half-time with a stray pass to Marcus Tavernier that led to 21-year-old Daniel Jebbison adding the second goal. Everton improved after Charly Alcaraz was introduced for his debut following a January loan move from Flamengo and they hit the woodwork three times without reward.
The outcome wasn’t what David Moyes wanted having won his three previous games but at least he won’t suffer the same fate as Sean Dyche who was sacked after Everton’s defeat at Bournemouth in January. Everton have to now focus on remaining a Premier League club moving for their new stadium at Bramley-Moore Dock, with Liverpool up next on Wednesday.
Bournemouth however can continue to dream however of a first major trophy in their club’s history.
No silverware lining in Goodison’s last season
David Moyes will not get a dream return to Wembley with Everton this season - instead his side got a reality check. The Toffees’ wait for a trophy will tick over to at least 31 years after the 1995 FA Cup winners were dumped out by Bournemouth.
There will be no silverware at the end of the season in which they wave goodbye to Goodison Park. This was an earlier than wished farewell to FA Cup games at this famous old ground.
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But it was also a reminder for the Blues that they still have improvements to make after they failed to carry over their form over to the FA Cup from three wins on the trot in the Premier League. Moyes is steering Everton towards safety after those victories but their first-half display here was a reminder they can’t let standards slip.
James Tarkowski delivered a shocking performance in the opening 45 minutes. There was at least a spirited second-half showing when they hit the woodwork three times which will give encouragement, especially against such a good side.
Bournemouth are high fliers in the Premier League this season and can now start to wonder if they can add some silverware to what is turning out to be a seriously impressive campaign. Everton exited the Cup and the next time they play at home in this competition will be at Bramley-Moore Dock.
What Bournemouth did before kick-off speaks volumes as Moyes learns important Everton lesson
Before this game, Bournemouth took to social media to share a picture of Everton’s hallowed home ground. “At Goodison Park for the last time”, the caption read.
They are probably sad to see the Blues leave the Grand Old Lady given the fun they have had in this part of L4 this season. For the second time their players were able to celebrate in front of the away end here after a memorable victory that again showcased how far they have come - and how far the Toffees have fallen.
Despite that, the hosts almost rallied. Second half changes, including the introduction of deadline day signing Carlos Alcaraz, almost turned the match on its head. Alcaraz curled a free-kick against the post and Jack Harrison and Jake O’Brien also hit the woodwork during a frantic 10 minute barrage. Iliman Ndiaye saw a header glanced off the line by Antoine Semenyo in the same period. Everton had no luck, whether or not they deserved it.
But the damage was done in the first half, the worst 45 minutes since David Moyes’ return. The ease with which the visitors built their 2-0 lead simply served to highlight the gulf in quality and, all of a sudden, Moyes’ recent warnings made sense.
His arrival has led to an uplift in form that has lifted Everton nine points clear of a relegation battle they were in the thick of when they travelled home from Bournemouth just four weeks ago.
But while a fanbase began to dream of a spring without sleepless nights, the man whose appointment was the catalyst for Everton’s improvement has insisted, repeatedly, that challenges remain.
