Gareth Barry has been a first-choice midfielder throughout his four seasons at Everton but you can see why Ronald Koeman decided to leave him out of the starting line-up last night. He is 35 and last night was his 750th club match so chasing around is not his thing — he is a steady one-touch or two-touch footballer. It would have been a big ask for him to mix it with younger, fresher legs from the start in a Merseyside derby. He did OK after replacing the injured James McCarthy at half-time but it just wasn’t his type of game.
Barkley was fortunate
I cannot see how Everton’s Ross Barkley escaped with only a yellow card for that potentially leg-breaking challenge on Jordan Henderson. For me it was almost up there with Sergio Agüero’s foul on David Luiz, which led to a four-match ban for the Manchester City forward. You could see Jürgen Klopp’s reaction on the touchline — the Liverpool manager had his head in his hands, which was the response of a football person. That’s a gripe of mine with officials — sometimes they don’t recognise what is a dangerous challenge.
Test of endurance
I played for three teams who used a very direct style of play and it can be shattering. It’s more demanding than playing a passing game, as Everton players would confirm. You are chasing, harrying and fighting for every ball and it really takes it out of you. The long ball up the field just becomes a fighting ball for the likes of Enner Valencia or Romelu Lukaku. You have to be a super-fit team to play in that way for 90 minutes.
Coleman among the best
Seamus Coleman has developed into one of the best full backs in the country. He is always looking to be on the front foot, supporting the attackers with his high-speed bursts up the right flank, but despite that he is still able to get back to recover his position brilliantly, hassling his opponent out of possession. He’s matured and gained a lot more belief. A few years ago, Leighton Baines was Everton’s main attacking full-back threat but he’s 32 and has to be more conservative. Coleman has filled that role well.
Koeman goes direct
Last week, Ronald Koeman decided after about 20 minutes against Arsenal that his Everton team should not try to outplay top-class opponents, and I think he is right. Everton proceeded to play a more direct, high-speed game — the complete opposite to their style under Roberto Martínez last season, in fact — and it paid off, as they turned a one-goal deficit into a 2-1 win. Koeman’s side did the same from the off against Liverpool. Everton can try to pass it around against less-gifted teams, but not in the bigger games.
