Liverpool vs Everton

Everton's hectic fortnight continues on Tuesday evening with a trip across Stanley Park for the second Merseyside derby of the season where the prize for a Blues victory will be seventh place at Liverpool's expense. Despite just edging their way past Championship side Cardfiff on penalties in the Carling Cup Final two weeks ago, Kenny Dalglish's men are struggling through a slump in League form that has seen them win just once in eight League games; indeed, if the season had started on 1st January, the Reds would be in the bottom three. Everton, by contrast, are in their best form of the campaign. The win over Tottenham on Saturday lifted David Moyes's side to a ninth game without defeat in all competitions and to within two points of their bitter local rivals in the Premier League. All of which, of course, could be rendered moot in the heat of a local derby where the form book usually goes out the window. And though the incentives have always been there for Everton, they have found victory at Anfield elusive under Moyes's decade in charge. The Blues' last win over on the dark side was almost 13 years ago and there could be no better present to mark Moyes's 10-year anniversary this week than his first win on Liverpool's home turf. The manager is aided by his squad's cleanest bill of health for many a week, with only Darron Gibson definitely ruled out with the knee injury that will likely keep him sidelined beyond Saturday's FA Cup quarter final tie with Sunderland. Steven Pienaar is back in the side after being ineligible for the Spurs game and Victor Anichebe has overcome his latest niggly injury to offer a more physical option on the right flank than Royston Drenthe if Moyes opts for power over the pace of Seamus Coleman. Drenthe's unpredictability could move his manager to drop the him back to the bench for this one. Having taken the plaudits for this efforts against Spurs, Leon Osman should keep his central midfield spot alongside Marouane Fellaini in what is expected to be a largely unchanged starting XI. Up front, Nikica Jelavic should be fit to make what will be only his second start despite being withdrawn towards the end of Saturday's game after picking up an apparent knock. Should there by any doubt about his fitness, Denis Stracqualursi would get the nod to partner Tim Cahill. For their part, Liverpool will be hoping that their linchpin Steven Gerrard will be sufficiently fit after recovering from a hamstring strain but Daniel Agger and Lucas Lieva are ruled out. Evertonian minds will inevitably turn back to the reverse fixture in October when Martin Atkinson's disgraceful decision to send off Jack Rodwell for a perfectly legal challenge destroyed the match as a contest after just 22 minutes and condemned the Blues to defeat. Though the thirst for revenge will be hard to sate, it is of paramount of importance that Everton keep their heads and rise above the blood and thunder that usually accompanies these local battles. With the weekend's FA Cup clash in mind and two tricky League games to follow, avoiding injuries and suspensions is going to be crucial. With just one defeat in their last five games away from home and an impressive defensive record since the turn of the year, the Blues have the foundation on which to exploit any cracks in Liverpool morale — they just need to get things to come together in the opponent's area and perhaps nick an early goal to quickly get the Reds on the ropes.

DAVID MOYES WAGES WAR

ONE question disturbs David Moyes more than any other as he reflects on a memorable decade as manager of Everton. “People keep telling me I’ve mellowed over the years,” he says. “I’m not sure that’s a good thing. Does it mean they think I’ve gone soft?” Moyes laughs for a flickering moment – and then fixes you with the fierce, piercing glare that is legendary throughout football. His toughness is as authentic and everlasting as granite. In 10 days’ time he will have been the boss at Everton for 10 years, joining a select band of managers who achieved the feat with one club in the top flight – men like Sir Alex Ferguson, Arsene Wenger, Brian Clough, Sir Bobby Robson, Bill Shankly and Bill Nicholson. Moyes is among illustrious company, yet still only 48. He is a relatively young manager and his intelligence, intensity and inspiration blaze as brightly as ever in a commanding figure of high ambition. That’s particularly evident in his strong views about how football has changed for the worse during the last 10 years, and in his bold and radical vision for improving the national sport. One of his ideas is that “everyone in the Premier League takes a 20 per cent pay cut to put football finances back on an even keel and allow a significant reduction in ticket prices to make football more affordable for the ordinary fan.” When he joined Everton in March 2002, Moyes famously called it the ‘people’s club’. He dearly wants football as a whole to remain the people’s game. “Perhaps the 20 per cent suggestion would cause some mayhem,” says Moyes, “but I think we need to do something serious. People might say it would be harder to attract players to the Premier League, but we have to take responsibility for the long-term health of football. “Clubs have to control their money properly and only pay what they can actually afford. People have to be held responsible when things go wrong. “Every family in the country at the moment has to finance correctly. They can’t overspend. Why is football different?” Moyes has proved a roaring success at Everton, cajoling the club to punch far above its weight with slender resources. He has been named Manager of the Year three times in a decade and earned universal admiration. In the same period, Sir Alex Ferguson has won the award only twice. Premier League football was very different when Moyes arrived as a virtual unknown at Goodison. Amid the excitement, he has seen too many bad trends corrupting the game. “I see myself as a supporter of football and I see things I don’t like that are damaging the game,” says Moyes. “One of them is players going down too easily. In the last 10 years, we have seen a lot more diving. Players now go over at the slightest brush of contact. For me, it’s one of the worst things of all. “I believe players must take a bigger responsibility on this issue. We and the players haven’t done enough to help the referees, which has made their job doubly hard. I would advocate retrospective action by the FA on diving. “I say to my players there must no diving in our team. There is no ‘but’ to it either. I don’t want it. “Another area to worry about is agents. It was a better situation 10 years ago. Back then, I looked at the way agents abroad had control of the players, and in some cases the clubs, and thought that couldn’t happen in Britain. “You thought the chairmen wouldn’t be daft enough for agents to be doing the deals or telling them what deals they should be doing. “That seems to be happening now in some cases, and it seems the players are more easily controlled by agents instead of doing what’s right for their own game. That’s a change for the worse.” Moyes also believes the quality of football in the Premier League has declined with the advent of faster and more powerful players. “Technology has changed for managers and helped in many ways,” he explains. “Now we can monitor everything a player does. There’s no doubt the game has speeded up but I’m not sure that has made for better football. “I think some of the players in the Premier League 10 years ago were at a superior level than those of today in terms of technique and ability. I’m thinking of Dennis Bergkamp and Gianfranco Zola, for example. That was a golden era in the Premier League.” Ten years at Everton have given Moyes a rare perspective. His enduring passion for the game shines across in his suggestions for the future, large and small. “We have to help referees,” he says, “whether it is using technology, whether it’s having two referees on the pitch or whether it’s changing attitudes in the game. “Maybe it’s time to have a Premier League One and Two, and to invite Scottish clubs like Celtic and Rangers to join. I think that would add to it. “I’d like to see lower ticket prices so that everybody can afford football. We should be filling all the grounds all the time. If people in football took that 20 per cent pay cut, then lower ticket prices could be one direct result. Football’s been around for 150 years and it has come a long way, but we have to make sure we don’t take it away from its roots. We must not get too far away from people. “Look at the kids – we’ve moved too far away from the roots there. I would advocate allowing top young footballers to go back to playing for their school teams. Taking kids out of school, and just playing with other elite youngsters, has affected discipline. “I think we need to get back to kids growing up normally, not being banned by football clubs from playing other sports, like cricket, at the age of 14. I think that’s terrible. Just let kids play. “We used to talk about ‘over-use’ injuries in youngsters because they played too much. Now the danger is that they are nearly not playing enough and not playing just for the fun of it.” The intensity of David Moyes’ conversation is wonderful and you could listen all day. It is challenging and invigorating and blessed with intelligence. The one word you could never use to describe it is ‘mellow’.

Drenthe goes from hero to villain

No Jack Rodwell but at least Nikica Jelavic and Leon Osman were deemed fit enough to sit on the bench, with Neville and Cahill preferred. Drenthe and Pienaar on the wings to hopefully provide width and creativity as Everton continue without the mercurial inspiration provided by Landon Donovan's all-too-brief visitation. Tim Cahill smashed one off the bar in the fourth minute, from an excellent header played back by Fellaini at the near post off a Neville throw. Everton had the first corner but it was defended away and the blues had to be alert at the other end as QPR responded with a corner of their own. A soft Drenthe foul led to a good delivery that was thankfully behind the QPR attacker as the hosts kept getting in behind the Everton defence. Drenthe got to put in a free-kick of his own but it was very poorly executed; however, he won one on the other side that Baines put in well. Wright-Phillips got clipped and Kevin Friend gave QPR a dangerous free-kick that forced a tremendous save off Buzsaky's curling effort. A far better effort from Drenthe found Heitinga on the far post and it was harder not to score, but the Dutchman failed to wrap his boot around it from 2 feet out, and he then completely wasted a free-kick from the half-way line. Pienaar's deflected cross forced a tip-over from Kenney resulting in a good corner from Baines. Wright-Phillips got behind a couple of good attempts and failed but Drenthe showed hin how it was done from well outside the area, a tremendous shot from a good layoff by Pienaar, and an excellent Everton goal. At the other end, danger was only just averted as another dangerous free-kick careened off the wall and seemed headed to the opposite side of Howard's goal and just over. But it was hero to zero for Drenthe, making a poor tackle that got him booked and gave QPR yet another free-kick which was delivered well and Zamora got the final touch with Howard perhaps standing too far back. Then Everton won a dangerous kick of their own that was delayed by the antics of a squirrel on the pitch! Enough to put off Drenthe who drove his kick into the wall. Pienaar made a tremendous run and fed Fellaini whose brilliant cut-back El Traca just failed to convert. QPR then got behind the Everton defence yet again and manged to hit both posts in an attack that incredibly failed to put then ahead, while at the other end Fellaini seemed to conjour a good chance but could not convert. But a pretty entertaining game with lost of goalmouth action at both ends! Fellaini should have done better when gifted the ball but he looked for a pass rather than pressing the QPR goal. Some good possession football from Everton on occasions but it only led down cul-de-sacs. They failed to get a grip on the game as the hour-mark passed and Howard had to punch away another corner, while the appearance of Nikica Jelavic from the subs' bench was accompanied by Leon Osman, replacing Drenthe and Cahill. Jelavic looked to get involved at every opportunity but nothing was coming off, while Buzsaky had a poke form 25 yards that went over for QPR, and Taarabt drove across Howard's goal but past the far post. The changes were meant to enliven a flagging Everton side but it was QPR who got the bit between their teeth while the Blues were far too lackadaisical when they did gain possession from the marauding Rangers. Osman won a dangerous free-kick off Wright-Phillips that Baines swung in but Fellaini was offside in the follow-up. Pienaar and Baines were doing their best down the left but QPR were holding firm and effectively denying them space and usually preventing a telling final ball to the pair of big strikers,Jelavic and El traca, showing signs of starvation in the middle. Into the final 15 mins and this one could go either way, with both teams fighting and scrapping to gain the ascendancy. A bizarre free-kick from Buzsaky saw him scoop the ball high over Howard's goal from a standing position... Moyes seemed to call it quits with 2 mins left, swapping Stracqualursi for Coleman in an admission that this attempt at 4-4-2 had failed to yield the required end product in a disappointing second half for Blues fans. Fellaini did get a shot on Kenney but play was pulled back. Jelavic tried to dribble through but couldn't as a late Everton corner came to nothing. An eight-game unbeaten run for Everton but no revenge for that dreadful opening loss at Goodison Park. Everton: Howard; Hibbert, Heitinga, Distin, Baines; Drenthe (62' Osman), Neville, Fellaini, Pienaar; Cahill (62' Jelavic); Stracqualursi (88' Coleman). Subs: Mucha, Jagielka, Gueye, Barkley.