The Everton fire briefly returns

The crowd was quiet, the team weren’t playing well, Stekelenburg had made a huge mistake, and it was looking like it was going to be another loss for the team. In the last 15 minutes however, the players finally started to show some passion and urgency, the crowd responded and we escaped from another poor performance with a draw.

With how we’re playing at the moment, it’s a case of trying to find as many positives as you can and try to build on them. What the players showed in the last part of the game is what the crowd expect on a regular basis, Everton players passionate and aggressive, challenging for every ball. Lukaku gets criticism in games like this as he’s not one to take the game by the scruff of the neck when the team aren’t playing well. He seemingly went into hiding for most of the match, but towards the end he was chasing balls down and even making sliding tackles. Where was that desire in the first half? It was the same with Mirallas and a fair few of the other players, it seemed like a switch was flicked where they were going to start trying now. Ronald Koeman needs to start getting the players to play like that from the first minute.

The only player who seemed to show desire and heart throughout the match was the ex-Man Utd player Tom Cleverly, who unfortunately doesn’t have the ability to back-up his industry. At least he tried though, which is more than could be said for a lot of the players. When Marcus Rojo flew in on Idrissa Gueye, he seemed like the only player looking to stick up for his teammate. If our more talented players showed that kind of attitude, then we’d be a lot better for it. It was a game made for Muhamed Besic, but the Bosnian’s return to first team action is still around two months away.

Local players from both sides of Stanley Park have always had an aggressive streak, a willingness to go toe-to-toe when the going gets tough, one scouser who that doesn’t apply to is Ross Barkley. Having a local lad of his talent in a game vs Man Utd, under the Goodison lights should be a godsend, but instead he found himself on the bench. Koeman decided he’d rather have Enner Valencia on the pitch instead, it was a damning vote of a lack of confidence in the player who seemingly has no confidence. Where it leaves Ross Barkley is a huge concern, he looked visibly upset by his exclusion. Barkley still seems like a boy plagued by fear. Fear of losing the ball, fear of criticism, and maybe a subconscious fear of breaking his leg again that will never go away.

Everton’s problems run a lot deeper than that, but these problems with the squad pale into insignificance when you look at the squads that David Moyes finished in Europe with. Everton fans wanted progression after Moyes, the first season under Martinez was confirmation that the players were now at a level where we could play more expansively. Since then things have regressed to a point where the players are playing within themselves and without passion.

Everton need to pick up where they left off, if we play for the whole match against Watford like we played in the last 15 vs Man Utd, we will win. Hopefully Koeman and a few of the newer players can be inspired by an Everton crowd that hasn’t been that passionate in a long time. We need some inspiration from somewhere, hopefully the end of the match and Baines’ penalty is enough to provide it.