Analyzing Everton's goal - How it went completely berserk

[hjperdeath 2,226]

Not sure how you can analyse this goal without once using the word 'transition'.

The point at which teams transition from defence to attack is when they are often most vulnerable, and ultimately it was the combination of Cech's throw, Eto'o's lack of fitness to reign the ball in and a terrible touch from Ramires (something that he isn't unfamiliar with) that led to Everton regaining possession whilst we were moving upfield.

That meant players were out of position, and David Luiz had a massive rush of blood to the head. That emotion, that passion, that intensity that people laud when talking about him as captain material is what led to him leaving his position and rushing the player in possession. You can have one fuck-up with the ball and maybe recover from it, but it requires every other player to remain calm and do their job.

David Luiz didn't. He just had one of those games where he had some really brainless moments and for the first time ever I thought we missed Gary Cahill in defence.

It's quite understood that Chelsea were transitioning into attack when I mentioned that Cech threw the ball towards Etoo'o to start off a counter attack. I didn't really have to mention offensive transition. It's quite clearly understood . It definitely is when a team's most vulnerable but that doesn't mean only Luiz but several others players as well. I've said it before as well , no way am I directly blaming Luiz for the goal , but he played the heaviest part in it. Furthermore I don't expect him to do it again.

[bushman 2,043]

It's quite understood that Chelsea were transitioning into attack when I mentioned that Cech threw the ball towards Etoo'o to start off a counter attack. I didn't really have to mention offensive transition. It's quite clearly understood . It definitely is when a team's most vulnerable but that doesn't mean only Luiz but several others players as well. I've said it before as well , no way am I directly blaming Luiz for the goal , but he played the heaviest part in it. Furthermore I don't expect him to do it again.

Sorry to say, but you don´t expect him to do it again ? Have I got news for you ? Mark my words, he will.

[The only place to be 11,313]

It's quite understood that Chelsea were transitioning into attack when I mentioned that Cech threw the ball towards Etoo'o to start off a counter attack. I didn't really have to mention offensive transition. It's quite clearly understood . It definitely is when a team's most vulnerable but that doesn't mean only Luiz but several others players as well. I've said it before as well , no way am I directly blaming Luiz for the goal , but he played the heaviest part in it. Furthermore I don't expect him to do it again.

He didn't play the heaviest part in it though. Blame should be equally shared between him and Ramires.

I'd expect Luiz to have a rush of blood to the head again and do something similar by the way. It's who he is. He's passionate and sometimes that costs him.

And Ramires will always have a bad touch in his locker. Again, it's who he is.

[hjperdeath 2,226]

Sorry to say, but you don´t expect him to do it again ? Have I got news for you ? Mark my words, he will.

If Jose wasnt there , I would agree . Now that he is here , either he changes or ends up being benched for Cahill.

[hjperdeath 2,226]

He didn't play the heaviest part in it though. Blame should be equally shared between him and Ramires.

I'd expect Luiz to have a rush of blood to the head again and do something similar by the way. It's who he is. He's passionate and sometimes that costs him.

And Ramires will always have a bad touch in his locker. Again, it's who he is.

I'd disagree . For me the blame starts from Luiz, then Cole and then Ramires .

I've seen that scoop ball technique before . He's used it quite well a couple of times ,but in a whole he does seen to have a pretty poor touch , but I don't expect to see that technique to fail all the time .

[The only place to be 11,313]

I'd disagree . For me the blame starts from Luiz, then Cole and then Ramires .

I've seen that scoop ball technique before . He's used it quite well a couple of times ,but in a whole he does seen to have a pretty poor touch , but I don't expect to see that technique to fail all the time .

It doesn't have to fail all the time, just once.

Look, he has an inconsistent touch. We all know it. He's capable of putting in ball's like the one for Eto'o, but he's also capable of giving the ball away in dangerous situations. Sometimes that combination will work in our favour and we're a goal up and sometimes it'll go the other way.

[bushman 2,043]

If Jose wasnt there , I would agree . Now that he is here , either he changes or ends up being benched for Cahill.

Exactly, what´s gonna happen. I even go further here. Jose gets rid of him if this continues. i do not even think, Luiz is Jose´s type of a player.

[hjperdeath 2,226]

It doesn't have to fail all the time, just once.

Look, he has an inconsistent touch. We all know it. He's capable of putting in ball's like the one for Eto'o, but he's also capable of giving the ball away in dangerous situations. Sometimes that combination will work in our favour and we're a goal up and sometimes it'll go the other way.

I was only talking about that particular technique as i have tried it as well. I have agreed to the fact that he does have a very poor touch .

[Jase 43,479]

I never said there was anything wrong with the analysis.

What i meant was that...at the end of the day, the analysis from the Everton game is simple: we failed to score.

Anyway, i'm not too worried about defensive errors, they can be ironed out....but the lack of a clinical finisher is very concerning.

I know I know. Just failed to phrase it properly. Apologies.

Definitely agree with your point that the lack of clinical finishing is concerning. We've had like 68-69 shots in 4 league matches so far but only about 19 of them are on target! And it also won't help much if our defence make comical errors like that especially when scoring goals is a problem for us. Will only make us more desperate and difficult.

[bushman 2,043]

I still do not understand why so few goals are scored. So much talent on the team & 4 goals scored in 4 games only.

[hjperdeath 2,226]

I still do not understand why so few goals are scored. So much talent on the team & 4 goals scored in 4 games only.

That remains to be a very worrying stat.

[bushman 2,043]

That remains to be a very worrying stat.

The team is playing pretty, but not one of them players can hit the net, properly. I saw some chances, where the net should have been torn to pieces. What happened ? Sleazy little trickles were seen.

[bushman 2,043]

http://www.isportstimes.com/articles/8766/20130915/everton-vs-chelsea-match-review-14th-september.htm

I just thought you folks might want to read these analyses, see above.

[Barbara 15,149]

I disagree about the analysis just like The Skipper and you'd find a post by me complaining about Luiz's positioning in general just after the match, so my point here isn't even defending Luiz, he's was in the wrong, but among all players involved, he's the last one that should take the blame, that's over-analyzing. If the two backs that were marking the players had done it properly, they would have cleared the ball, end of it. Was it bad that there were only two of them? Yes, but if they had done their part well the the ball would have been sent to corner or outside the box, simple as that. The lack of a player (in this case Luiz for not keeping his position inside the box) is only the main problem if an opponent is left unmarked - which is why I complained about his positioning. If he doesn't hold position the risks are that other defenders won't make it in time to fill a position he should be filling. That's not the case in this goal at all.

Everton players weren't unmarked, Ivan and Terry were there. They were badly marked which is different. I can't for the life of me blame a third player when there are two players who failed to do their part well against two opponents allowing them to touch the ball. So had Luiz left his position and either player from Everton were left completely unmarked because Terry and Ivan couldn't reach them in time, I would blame Luiz mostly. Now Luiz allowed us to be even in numbers (2 against 2) and that's a problem, but had Ivan marked better or Terry, we wouldn't have conceded. If we keep back tracking to every possible mistake done in a play, we'll find culprits everywhere because a football match is filled of mistakes. Ramires failed, Luiz was poor in his decision making, but at the end of the day Ivan and Terry did a horrible job marking their men.

I also agree with bushman about the expectation of this kind of mistake not happening again just because Mourinho is the manager. if people think that then they need to watch the match between Dortumund x Real Madrid last season (first leg in Germany) in a team Mourinho had been working for three seasons already. Individual mistakes happen all the time in football. Mourinho isn't going to fix it, the player won't fix it because if it was that tangible and simple we wouldn't see experienced players making mistakes and they do. So expecting Mourinho to make things like to never happen again is not only naïve, but also very unrealistic. Also if you think that because of that Luiz is going to see the bench, then we'll be left with no player to start because Terry, Cahill, Cole and Ivan are all subjected to make a mistake here and there and some of them will probably be much worse than a bad decision about positioning. I have no doubts Luiz (as well as others) will get better under Mourinho and his awareness will improve, but Mourinho won't make any player infallible, Mourinho won't bench a player because of one mistake (especially one that was barely the reason why we conceded at all) and if Luiz leaves the starting 11 is because of many things combined, not one tiny detail in a goal conceded where others were more to blame than him. Also the man himself defended Luiz and said many times he likes him - so I don't buy the 'Luiz is not the kind of player Mourinho likes' first because he is, second because while Mourinho was reticent and sometimes vague about Mata while clearing up transfers rumors he went out of his way to state Luiz wouldn't leave us because he counts on him and praised him as a player.

[Fulham Broadway 17,312]

Have to give credit to Everton, it was a scything, well rehearsed counter attack.

[hjperdeath 2,226]

I disagree about the analysis just like The Skipper and you'd find a post by me complaining about Luiz's positioning in general just after the match, so my point here isn't even defending Luiz, he's was in the wrong, but among all players involved, he's the last one that should take the blame, that's over-analyzing. If the two backs that were marking the players had done it properly, they would have cleared the ball, end of it. Was it bad that there were only two of them? Yes, but if they had done their part well the the ball would have been sent to corner or outside the box, simple as that. The lack of a player (in this case Luiz for not keeping his position inside the box) is only the main problem if an opponent is left unmarked - which is why I complained about his positioning. If he doesn't hold position the risks are that other defenders won't make it in time to fill a position he should be filling. That's not the case in this goal at all.

Everton players weren't unmarked, Ivan and Terry were there. They were badly marked which is different. I can't for the life of me blame a third player when there are two players who failed to do their part well against two opponents allowing them to touch the ball. So had Luiz left his position and either player from Everton were left completely unmarked because Terry and Ivan couldn't reach them in time, I would blame Luiz mostly. Now Luiz allowed us to be even in numbers (2 against 2) and that's a problem, but had Ivan marked better or Terry, we wouldn't have conceded. If we keep back tracking to every possible mistake done in a play, we'll find culprits everywhere because a football match is filled of mistakes. Ramires failed, Luiz was poor in his decision making, but at the end of the day Ivan and Terry did a horrible job marking their men.

I also agree with bushman about the expectation of this kind of mistake not happening again just because Mourinho is the manager. if people think that then they need to watch the match between Dortumund x Real Madrid last season (first leg in Germany) in a team Mourinho had been working for three seasons already. Individual mistakes happen all the time in football. Mourinho isn't going to fix it, the player won't fix it because if it was that tangible and simple we wouldn't see experienced players making mistakes and they do. So expecting Mourinho to make things like to never happen again is not only naïve, but also very unrealistic. Also if you think that because of that Luiz is going to see the bench, then we'll be left with no player to start because Terry, Cahill, Cole and Ivan are all subjected to make a mistake here and there and some of them will probably be much worse than a bad decision about positioning. I have no doubts Luiz (as well as others) will get better under Mourinho and his awareness will improve, but Mourinho won't make any player infallible, Mourinho won't bench a player because of one mistake (especially one that was barely the reason why we conceded at all) and if Luiz leaves the starting 11 is because of many things combined, not one tiny detail in a goal conceded where others were more to blame than him. Also the man himself defended Luiz and said many times he likes him - so I don't buy the 'Luiz is not the kind of player Mourinho likes' first because he is, second because while Mourinho was reticent and sometimes vague about Mata while clearing up transfers rumors he went out of his way to state Luiz wouldn't leave us because he counts on him and praised him as a player.

I strongly disagree. Ivanovic was perfectly positioned to mark his respective player while Terry was covering an area zonally. Ivanovic was forced to press on Naismith (who was to be marked by Luiz) cause Luiz just wandered away towards the ball without looking at the defensive line. This kept Jelavic open. The story goes on as Ivanovic panics and rushes towards Jelavic when the ball is played in and a clear Naismith heads the ball in. There is no way they can head the ball away when the ball is being played into an area where they cannot encroach because they're either already marking someone or covering an area. The marking or covering was perfect in the sense that they were doing their duties, they were marking the players they were supposed to mark and covering the area's they were supposed to. Later on Coleman goes into the area where Terry is. So even if he goes on to mark Naismith, Coleman has a clear shot on goal. One can never find a fault with that. It isn't their fault if they fail to mark someone else's player, that is the other player's fault.

Even with Terry it was never 2 on 2, because Terry isn't supposed to mark.You could blame several players for this goal, but Ivanovic and Terry can never be. They're more like victims, at-least in my opinion.

[Reddish-Blue 2,503]

I strongly disagree. Ivanovic was perfectly positioned to mark his respective player while Terry was covering an area zonally. Ivanovic was forced to press on Naismith (who was to be marked by Luiz) cause Luiz just wandered away towards the ball without looking at the defensive line. This kept Jelavic open. The story goes on as Ivanovic panics and rushes towards Jelavic when the ball is played in and a clear Naismith heads the ball in. There is no way they can head the ball away when the ball is being played into an area where they cannot encroach because they're either already marking someone or covering an area. The marking or covering was perfect in the sense that they were doing their duties, they were marking the players they were supposed to mark and covering the area's they were supposed to. Later on Coleman goes into the area where Terry is. So even if he goes on to mark Naismith, Coleman has a clear shot on goal. One can never find a fault with that. It isn't their fault if they fail to mark someone else's player, that is the other player's fault.

Even with Terry it was never 2 on 2, because Terry isn't supposed to mark.You could blame several players for this goal, but Ivanovic and Terry can never be. They're more like victims, at-least in my opinion.

So basically you're saying the goal conceded was completely Luiz's fault.

At the end of the day, defensive mistakes aren't the biggest concern. The fact that none of our players look capable of putting the ball into the net is very concerning.

[JDY 1,290]

Don't like how the analysis is making Luiz the biggest culprit. Completely disagree with the "ball watching" comment on Luiz.

THIS is why Luiz left his position - because there was a gaping gap that Everton could've exploited and none of our midfielders seemed to be aware of such - so if Mikel or Ramires had simply filled that gap, Luiz doesn't go up to try and fill it. He wasn't ball watching, but was actually trying to fill a huge gap our midfielders left. Yeah, it proved to be a mistake, but the mistake was followed by a series of mistakes Cech, Mikel and Ramires initiated, which Luiz tried to fix.

It was a mistake from many players, and Luiz wasn't the biggest culprit at all in my opinion - yeah he was a bit rash but it was just a bad defending overall, a lot of people were out of position and made mistakes. It wasn't his adrenaline, it wasn't him ball watching - he was rather unsuccessfully trying to fill a huge gap that no one in the team seemed to have picked up.

So there, I've solved your Luiz conundrum.

This.

The only one ball watching here was Mikel, and then Cole when the ball was recycled back down the right. There is absolutely no need for THREE of our players closing down one of their players, Mikel should've been aware of the players behind him, simple.

I have no problem with Luiz coming out in this instance. Only him and Schuerrle spotted the danger and both tried to prevent it. If the ball was played to no.11 and he burst into the box unchallenged people would be complaining at how much space he was afforded.

Jamie Redknapp had very similar comments about Luiz, which I think is extremely harsh. It was a well worked goal by Everton in the end, but they only played off our mistakes as a whole.

[Barbara 15,149]

I strongly disagree. Ivanovic was perfectly positioned to mark his respective player while Terry was covering an area zonally. Ivanovic was forced to press on Naismith (who was to be marked by Luiz) cause Luiz just wandered away towards the ball without looking at the defensive line. This kept Jelavic open. The story goes on as Ivanovic panics and rushes towards Jelavic when the ball is played in and a clear Naismith heads the ball in. There is no way they can head the ball away when the ball is being played into an area where they cannot encroach because they're either already marking someone or covering an area. The marking or covering was perfect in the sense that they were doing their duties, they were marking the players they were supposed to mark and covering the area's they were supposed to. Later on Coleman goes into the area where Terry is. So even if he goes on to mark Naismith, Coleman has a clear shot on goal. One can never find a fault with that. It isn't their fault if they fail to mark someone else's player, that is the other player's fault.

Even with Terry it was never 2 on 2, because Terry isn't supposed to mark.You could blame several players for this goal, but Ivanovic and Terry can never be. They're more like victims, at-least in my opinion.

Why on earth Terry isn't supposed to mark? There are two opponents - Naismith and Jelavic and two of our defending players in the box, please tell me why can't Ivan mark one and Terry the other? I completely fail to understand the concept you're trying to sell me. And how come a back that allows the guy he's marking to head the ball is making his job alright? That's what I meant, either Ivan or Terry should have been closer to the men they were marking so they could have a better chance of clearing the ball with a header... a play we see in all football matches too many times to count... How come can Terry and Ivanovic be victims? It's a collective fail, absolutely, but the men allowing the opponents to head when they could do a better job marking them fail the most imo.

so we disagree because I could never understand the reasoning that one of our defenders is supposed to mark while others aren't. Football isn't as static and perfectly designed as you're making it out to be. Those are people there, not robots or fictional players in a video-game that fulfill functions perfect to a T. There's something called coverage. If one player leaves position, the other can go there and cover him. I read this post of yours numerous times and still it makes no sense whatsoever in my head. No sense at all. Let's agree to disagree. The way you seem to see football is something I've never head of... there's no dynamism whatsoever, just static, cemented functions that you gave to players. Really, the more I read it the less sense it makes. I must be too slow to comprehend it - I'm not being sarcastic at all. I'm feeling very much dumb now because I have no idea of what you're trying to imply here. No idea at all.

This.

The only one ball watching here was Mikel, and then Cole when the ball was recycled back down the right. There is absolutely no need for THREE of our players closing down one of their players, Mikel should've been aware of the players behind him, simple.

I have no problem with Luiz coming out in this instance. Only him and Schuerrle spotted the danger and both tried to prevent it. If the ball was played to no.11 and he burst into the box unchallenged people would be complaining at how much space he was afforded.

Jamie Redknapp had very similar comments about Luiz, which I think is extremely harsh. It was a well worked goal by Everton in the end, but they only played off our mistakes as a whole.

which is why in my analysis two days ago of his positioning I have no problem with him occupying that specific zone, not when he's filling a gap, not when he's trying to anticipate, be pro-active, intercept the ball and give us a counter-attack chance. I'm all for it.

[Barbara 15,149]

I had to re-watch the goal because it really bothered me I couldn't have a clue of what Sherry said in his last post.

What I see is John Terry running from one side to the other inside the box, blindly and marking no one. I see Ivanovic divided between marking Jelavic and Naismith because there are two of them and only one of him. The same way Luiz should have stayed inside the box marking them, so should have Terry. Terry looks more lost imo because you see Luiz looking inside the box and seeing who he's going to mark while Terry is moving forward, then backward not knowing where to go. You see Terry approaching Naismith when Schürrle presses Barkley (I guess), then Terry completely abandons him and starts running to the left and then backwards.

so let me do my own analysis, and please Sherry, sweetie, don't be offended. Football is a very subjective thing, people will have different interpretations of it all the time. We just happen to disagree about this instance.

1) I see Luiz leaving the box to cover the gap JDY and The Skipper mentioned, and while he does that Terry approaches Naismith - which is the right thing to do.

2) then for no apparent reason at all, Terry abandons the man that had only him marking. We see Ivanovic behind Naismith, but Jelavic is behind Ivan, so Terry can't assume Ivan can mark both by himself. Also there are two Everton players where he's moving now surrounded by three Chelsea players, which makes even more pointless for him to move to the left, in the meanwhile Luiz quickly looks inside the box and approaches the player closer to him. Mikel is at fault too because he shouldn't go with Ramires and Cole to the edge of the box to press the guy who's going to cross, he should run towards the guy entering the box just by his side. the basic rule of marking players is, you cover the one closest to you, I cover the one closest to me. Mikel should have covered the guy between him and Luiz as Luiz is clearly running to mark the guy ahead of him. All while Terry continues to move forward - to the left.

3) Then we finish with Terry having a guy on his back, a guy that Luiz is running to mark and it's easier to mark when you're seeing the opponent rather than when he's on your back. Mikel is still clueless and not marking the guy ahead of him at all. And then I agree with you Ivanovic becomes a victim because he's left between both Jelavic and Naismith and sort of deciding for Naismith, he doesn't have enough time to reach the ball crossed on his back. If the guy had crossed the ball to the man just behind Terry the same would have happened because he wouldn't have time enough to step back and clear the ball with his head. So Luiz is running late, Terry is running to a place that makes no sense, and Ivanovic poor thing is trying to multiply himself and mark two men that are 3 meters apart.

Also Schurrle sort of gives up after he presses Barkley (the vid quality is really bad as you can see and I can't see properly who are the players. so I'm assuming is Barkley) and watches as the ball moves, instead of trying to have a bit of awareness from what's going on around him and trying to help.

Also this happened at the 45' mark and while it's no excuse for the players to lose focus, I guess they were already thinking of a shower, listening to Mou, getting a massage from Eva or whatever they do during half time.

So yeah, there are awareness issues with Luiz, then Terry, then Schürrle and Ivanovic is sacrificed. Mikel doesn't help and Ramires and Cole are the ones trying to intercept a cross, but not even the two of them can stop the guy from crossing. There are so many mistakes there that we should just assume our players were lost. And the worst part is that it didn't happen only this time. It happened another 2-3 times during the first half, that I remember vividly. They lacked communication, opponent's movement awareness and efficient marking. I do admit I was harsh on Ivanovic. The way I remembered the goal Terry was closer to Naismith, but in reality he wasn't. He was marking no one, moving to a place that made no sense, while Luiz was running late, Mikel was being useless and Schürrle was watching it all happening, while Ivan was being sacrificed - poor thing.