The Premier League Owl
– Nobody should really have a problem with Luis Suarez’s celebration after his first goal, in fact, the game could do with a bit more of that – humour, light-heartedness, self-parody. David Moyes said what he did in mid-week, and he’s entitled to that…Luis Suarez responded to those comments, and likewise he’s entitled to that. End of discussion.
– The focus of Liverpool’s second was Suarez’s carefully glanced header, but pay more attention to the ball from Steven Gerrard. The angle which he delivers the set-piece at is the only one from which a scoring opportunity could’ve developed. Too deep with his delivery, and Tim Howard would come and clean up, too shallow, and it would have been meat and drink for Everton’s defensive line. Perfect.
– In true overreacting style, a couple of comments surfaced on Twitter through the course of the game questioning why Leon Osman has never been included in an England shirt. The answer: he does a lot of things well, but nothing well enough. That being said, he remains one of the most undervalued players in the league – his work-rate makes him an asset to his club every week. Great first-touch and precise technique to guide Brad Jones’ punch back across goal – really well-taken at a crucial time in the game. In fact, if Everton don’t respond in the 22nd minute – two minutes after Suarez’s second, then Liverpool settle into their lead, get the chance to change their approach, and the game would have taken on a very different appearance.
– Jose Enrique was dreadful, just dreadful. He looks half-a-stone overweight and seems to have lost all of his defensive awareness. His role in the concession of the equaliser is barely worth description, just watch it again. What are you doing?
– We can all agree now that Kevin Mirallas is a much better player than we assumed he’ll be. Most people sneered at his less than electrifying goal-scoring record in Greece, and assumed he’d just be a back-up for Nikica Jelavic – this site included. Not so – he offers Everton some craft and guile in wide positions, and proved today that he’s equally effective on the left as he is on the right. It wasn’t a coincidence that Everton looked comparatively blunt in the second period without him.
– There’s really no excuse the linesman who disallowed Suarez’s late winner, that was just a classic example of an official buckling under the pressure of a home crowd. That’s all well and good, but if you’re not strong enough to uphold the rules of the game under pressure, then you really shouldn’t be running the line in the Premier League. Disgraceful – the delay in putting his flag up just emphasised that his decision was based on something other than ‘reaction’.
– Everton, of course, will argue that Suarez shouldn’t have been on the pitch to prod home that ‘winner’, with his foul on Sylvain Distin deserving a red card. Yes, maybe – certainly if you look at where the ball is, and you look at which part of Distin takes the contact, then it’s hard to mount a defence for Suarez.
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Surely I can’t be the only person in the world who saw Coates put both hands on Jagielka’s shoulders, and take a ride to win header down to Liverpool’s no.7 before he put ball in net
near the end of the game. Any other part of the pitch, and ref blows for a foul if he sees it. Irrelevant anyway as Liverpool’s no.7 should’ve been showered and changed by then.