Carsley the right man for the job

By Chris Kirwan
December 17 2002

They weren’t exactly dancing in the streets of Goodison when Walter Smith clinched the signing of Lee Carsley towards the end of his reign at Goodison. It was a typical Walter signing; a seasoned professional, who doesn’t have many weaknesses, but nor does he have many strengths.

If asked to describe him in a word you’d reply “solid”. But, even by his own standards, Carsley hardly set the world on fire on his arrival from Coventry and we all presumed that he’d be one of the first to head out of Goodison under Moyes. His only real contributions to the Blues last season had been injuring Matthew Upson with a crunching tackle at Goodison, and hitting his first goal for the club in a meaningless game at Highbury on the last day of the season.

But Carsley, like many of his teammates, has grasped the opportunity thrown his way by Moyes. Everton look far better in a 4-4-2 formation; the side looks more balanced, and the fullbacks are provided with protection. So with the side functioning better in such a system Moyes was presented with a problem by Alexandersson’s consistent under performing.

Many thought that Steve Watson was the best option, it had often been reflected that his attacking skills from right-back were his strength, while his defensive lapses were too frequent. But with Watson injured Moyes turned to Carsley, and he hasn’t been let down. I found it hard to see how Carsley could adapt to playing down the right, I had always believed that he was a central midfield tackler, but he has taken his chance and most Evertonians would much rather have the Irishman in the starting line-up that Niclas Alexandersson.

The attacking threat provided by Carlsley has been a Godsend for Moyes. Everton’s midfield needs to chip in with the odd goal and Carsley has played his part with goals against West Ham and Blackburn. While his goal against Blackburn was as simple as they come, his goal at Upton Park was superb and made it into Andy Gray’s top 10 goals of the season so far. His bullet header wasn’t the only contribution to the game; his workrate and tackling was second to none, and he richly deserved his man of the match award. And Carsley is helping Tony Hibbert develop into a top quality right-back. While Carsley may a times be a bit unadventurous, this gives cover to Hibbert, and also allows him to overlap to great effect.

So it turns out that Walter’s final signings of Tobias Linderoth and Lee Carsley may be mainstays of the Everton squad for a few years to come. Moyes will no doubt be looking for a more conventional right-sided player for the long-term, but he knows that no player will be more committed to the cause than Lee Carsley in the meantime.