After a slow start, Everton started to find their feet as the game went on and it reminded me of the kind of performance made famous by a good friend of Frank Lampard’s his former Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho. Tottenham had a lot of possession but they didn’t really threaten Jordan Pickford in that first half and when they got in between the lines, we were in the right spaces and pressing.
We were working hard as a team and it had all the hallmarks of a potentially fantastic away performances against tough opponents but the flip side was whether we had the quality to hurt them on the counter-attack when we got the opportunity. Unfortunately, despite carving out a couple of great chances, we didn’t show the kind of composure required to put them away in the net.
If we’d have gone in at the break a goal or two up, like we really could have been, then everyone would be saying how it was a Lampard masterplan, perfectly executed. That’s how Mourinho did it at Chelsea and he even played that way at Real Madrid with the best players in the world.
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Okay, on both occasions for Demarai Gray’s chance and then Amadou Onana’s, the ball was rising but top players who are in those situations a lot, know how to hit the target to at least try and test the keeper into making a save. It’s both a mentally and physically draining way to play and that showed with our players in the second half.
It shouldn’t have got to that though. Jordan made what was a very basic and unforced error for him by spilling the ball and it was an uphill battle after the penalty went in.
Where was the reaction from our players after that though? I didn’t see much of a ‘come on boys, let’s get at them’ in response. We were still defending well and putting our bodies on the line but going forward, we didn’t seem to have the kind of energy or belief required.
We didn’t try and turn them or put crosses in and for me that again shows a lack of football intelligence at times from our players. You hope that improves on a game to game basis as you need to be aware of where your team-mates are and who is on the pitch.
For example, Spurs had a move where Kane dropped wide, took two touches and without even looking, crossed the ball into Richarlison and caused an issue because he knew a team-mate would be in the box. We’ve got wingers on the pitch who have had question marks over their numbers in terms of goals and assists but we’ve given them time because Dominic Calvert-Lewin hasn’t been fit but now he’s there, they have got someone to aim for.
There were moments with both Dwight McNeil and Gray where I was left thinking ‘stop touching the ball four or five times.’ As an opposition defender, that kind of play is my dream.
If I’m the full-back up against you and you’re taking four or five touches then I’m happy. You’ve slowed the game right down, given me a chance to set myself and focus on what I need to do while also giving the two centre-halves the chance to set themselves too as they can watch the ball, find out where the man they’re marking is and ensure they’re in the right area.
They’re given the opposition defenders an easy option because they’re still playing, almost robotically, like Calvert-Lewin isn’t there. I’m not telling them to lump it but they’ve got the ball out wide and they need to start just crossing it in and asking questions of the other team. There are lessons to be learned for Lampard and the players to have more belief, we’ve seen how he has turned things around for Alex Iwobi but a few of the others still seem to be playing within themselves.
Ultimately though we cannot ignore the fact that over the last three games we have made four errors that have led to opposition goals and when they’re unforced errors that’s hard, you can’t justify that as a manager, you’ve just got to hope that the players learn from it and you move on. They’ve come from key players too, people who we hold in a high regard who do a lot for us with a couple from Idrissa Gueye, one from Alex Iwobi and now one from Pickford, who has kept us in games this season.
'Cute' Kane bought a ticket and won the lottery
The penalty was the kind of decision that I feel we wouldn’t have got ourselves away from home as I think it was soft but it was Harry Kane being cute and clever. All Kane had to do was get the first touch and he knew he was getting contact and going down, throwing himself on the floor, he’s bought a ticket and won the lottery.
Kane got there first but he wasn’t in control and wasn’t going to put it in the net and Vitalii Mykolenko was there. I wasn’t surprised, nine times out of 10 they’re going to be given, but what I would say is that Everton have had bigger moments than that in the opposition penalty area last season – including when Richarlison was clipped by Tottenham goalkeeper Hugo Lloris – but haven’t been awarded the decision.
That’s the big frustration but if it had been Calvert-Lewin at the other end, would I be crying out for a penalty? Yes I would but the question though is whether it would be given.
We’ve got to remember though that football is a contact sport and fans love a good tackle, almost as much as a goal. We love to see pretty football in the manner that the likes of Manchester City and Arsenal are able to produce but we also like the hustle and bustle of 50/50 challenges where players are giving everything.
There’s a fear that eventually football might end up like basketball in terms of the lack of physical contact that is allowed but we’ve probably already been saying that for at least 20 years with each generation bemoaning that ‘the game’s gone.’ If I was a manager, I’d want all of my defenders to be touch tight in the area, not to give their opponents time and space but we don’t want that to be punished and we’ve got to be careful.
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