Erik Lamela of Tottenham Hotspur celebrates scoring his sides first goal during the Premier League match between Everton and Tottenham Hotspur at Goodison Park on August 13, 2016 in Liverpool, England.
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Overall, this was an impressive start to the season for Everton.
The manager’s revelation that his players were not fully prepared for the new season was not only refreshingly honest it was also canny as Everton out-muscled, out-hustled and out-ran one of the most powerful sides in the division. It took them half an hour for a decent attack.
Aside from a Ramiro Funes Mori pot shot in the latter stages, the final half hour was totally dominated by Pochettino’s side.
The Blues, playing without injured duo Romelu Lukaku and Seamus Coleman, got off to the ideal start when Kevin Mirallas was fouled by Victor Wanyama in a unsafe area outside the Spurs box and Barkley bounced a wicked shot off the resulting free kick beyond the reach of Hugo Lloris with less than five minutes gone. Hugo Lloris got injured and that was a big impact on us.
That goal had some major consequences for Spurs: later in the half, Lloris was substituted out for Michel Vorm.
Christian Eriksen failed to stretch Maarten Stekelenburg after he was given some space on the edge of the penalty area, striking the ball straight at the Everton keeper.
As Koeman made his official bow as Everton boss, he couldn’t have wished for a better start.
First he denied Janssen from close range and then he made an excellent reaction save to palm Lamela’s deflected shot over his bar with seven minutes to go.
Starved of space as a result of Everton’s early goal, which encouraged the Toffees to sit deep all game.
Phil Jagielka is in danger of losing his place in defence due to the arrival of new signing Ashley Williams, but he staked a claim for his spot this afternoon by clearing balls into the box and preventing an isolated Harry Kane from causing danger in the first half.
This is a big season for Barkley, a player whose confidence dipped badly last term as Roberto Martinez’s reign unravelled.
On the goal: clown shoes all around, but I’m not singling anyone out. Spurs’ defense should’ve gotten a head or body part on Barkley’s goal, and I don’t really blame Hugo for expecting a deflection and not tracking the ball. But wow, was that derpy. The announcers said that he had a hamstring injury, which is all kinds of not good. Vorm was fine, but I don’t like him as our regular starter. He did well today.
Full credit to Everton: they had a tactical plan that Pochettino wasn’t prepared for, they came out looking sharp (despite being “at 70%”), and they frustrated Spurs to no end. They didn’t generate a lot of offense, but they had fast runners that produced some scary moments on counters.
He appeared more composed in possession and more driven without it; signs that will have pleased Evertonians yearning for one of their own to shine again.
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At the full-time whistle, Koeman turned away from the pitch and joined in the applauding home fans before quickly heading down the tunnel because this was a point well earned and felt like a job well done.
