Special Feature: English Premier League’s weekend conclusions - Part 4
West Brom’s ascendency in the English Premier League has been accompanied by a revival at Everton as well. After starting the season in truly abysmal form, Everton have gradually pulled themselves out of the bottom three teams of the Premier League table
after they drew at the weekend against a UEFA Champions League weary Tottenham Hotspur side. It was a tough battle of wits at the White Hart Lane as Tottenham tried to overpower a fresh Everton side which was buoyant as their main striker Louis Saha participated
in the match after facing an extended period on the side lines due to his knee injury.
Everton’s manager, David Moyes looked to be a good bet at the start of the season to be the first man to lose his job in the 2010-2011 season but those dark days are now in the past as Everton look to build on their draw against Tottenham Hotspurs. The Toffees
have an easy sequence of fixtures coming up in the English Premier League and they can take comfort from the fact that this season they don’t have any European footballing commitments as well.
In their next match, Everton travel to the Britannia Stadium to face Tony Pulis’s Stoke City side. After their match against Stoke, they are scheduled to face Blackpool at the Bloomfield Road stadium before hosting Bolton Wanderers at the Goodison Park.
David Moyes will be aiming for wins in all of these matches as the Scot has an injury free squad available to him at the moment.
Rafael Van Der Vaart was the only Tottenham man alongside Gareth Bale who looked bothered at the weekend against Everton. The offensive midfielder and the left winger looked as Tottenham’s greatest threats throughout the match. Van Der Vaart, who had arrived
at Tottenham in the summer for a mere 8 million pounds, scored Tottenham’s only goal of the match and in doing so, the Dutchman maintained his record of scoring in every home match of the season that he participated in for Harry Redknapp’s side. If Rafael
Van Der Vaart deserves praise for his performances so far; Roy Hodgson, the Liverpool manager also deserves some credit for finally getting his Liverpool side in order.
After a week riddled with rumours that signalled at his imminent dismissal as Liverpool’s manager, Roy played a weak Liverpool side against Napoli in mid-week in the Europa League competition. If Liverpool had failed to win at the weekend against Blackburn
after resting their star players in their mid-week match, Hodgson would’ve been done away with on Monday. But Fernando Torres’ winner in the 53rd minute of the match against Blackburn justified the Englishman’s decision to give the striker a day
off against Napoli.
The fact of the matter is that life has been quite difficult for Liverpool under Hodgson, who has taken a big step in the summer from a mid-table side like Fulham to a team which has title ambitions like Liverpool. Such a step has not been accompanied by
a change in the mentality by Roy, who still sounds like a mid-table manager in his press conferences.
Such an approach has indeed been hurtful for the Reds, who became accustomed to Rafael Benitez’s controversial yet headline making stance in his five years at the helm at Anfield. Liverpool’s players should also pull up their socks now, they might have dispatched
a defensively weak Blackburn side but their next two matches come against sides who are known for their defensive strength.
The Reds play their next match against Bolton Wanderers at the Reebok Stadium and then they host the champions Chelsea in what is anticipated to be a thrilling encounter at the Anfield stadium. However, Liverpool can take heart that their number 9, Fernando
Torres looks to be back in shape and form as with his winner against Blackburn, he has now scored 51 goals in 65 appearances in all competitions at Anfield.
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