Roonaldo outshone by Carslinho

By Chris Kirwan
October 27 2002

Judging by the pre-match build-up you’d be forgiven for not realising that Everton have been getting results through working hard as a team. And it was the team ethic instilled in the Blues by David Moyes that laid the foundations for a well-deserved 3 points at Upton Park.

The decisive moment came when Lee Carsley emphatically headed home from a David Unsworth cross. It was Carsley’s second goal for Everton, and capped a superb performance by the Irishman. The midfield quartet of Carsley, Li Tie, Linderoth, and Pembridge was superb; they passed the ball well and prevented the more hyped Sinclair, Cole, and Carrick from prompting play. West Ham simply could not catch the Blues on the break, when Everton’s attack broke down the midfield quartet covered the ground to ensure that the defence was covered.

Everton merited all three points despite not creating too many clear-cut chances. Radzinski had his most disappointing game of the season, and the Blues seemed to miss the attacking prompting of Gravesen. But it was Carsley on the right flank that created the best chance of the first half, chipping the ball through for Campbell to force a good save from James.

The Blues were largely untroubled until the last few minutes, with Stubbs comfortably stepping into Weir’s boots. Richard Wright is starting to get his confidence up, and is looking a shrewd acquisition by Moyes. Wright was solid throughout (apart from misjudging a second half cross, but he recovered it well), his positioning was superb, and through getting his angles spot-on he prevented a deflected drive equalising.

Every single Everton player played a pivotal role in the victory; Hibbert and Unsworth marshalled Cole and Sinclair expertly, Campbell worked tirelessly, and Rooney relieved some of the late West Ham pressure. Once again Moyes masterminded a superb team performance, and proved that there is a lot more to Everton than Rooney. It would be harsh to single out one player but Skysports gave the Man of the Match award to Lee Carsley , and he certainly deserves some recognition for the part he has played in the recent revival.

After the game David Moyes reflected on a determined team effort, stating “Overall I didn’t think it was the best game. The first half was quite a dull affair at times but I thought we controlled bits of the game and we started a lot brighter in the second-half, which gave us the opportunity to go on and get the points.” Moyes was in a spiky mood after the match, complaining about the Sky cameras “getting under Wayne’s nose”, but it was a great result, and even Walter Smith looked happy in the SkySports studio after the game.

Vote for your man of the match on your right.