Everton vs. Manchester United: 5 Things We Learned About the Toffees

As the locals jostled their way through the turnstiles, there was an initial sense of apprehension around Goodison Park on Saturday. A wounded Manchester United were due in town, surely intent on restoring lost pride after the savage thumping their noisy neighbours inflicted on them last weekend.

Yet as the match progressed, it seemed Manchester City’s rapacious display at Old Trafford had affected the Reds more than some anticipated. Although crisp and classy early on with their passing, once they grabbed a goal, United's main ambition was to preserve the lead and restore their confidence.

In fairness, this was something they achieved comfortably. Sir Alex Ferguson deployed an unusually conservative side, with Wayne Rooney deployed deep as a third central midfielder.

1-0 down, Everton found they were dictating much of the play without ever being able to truly threaten David De Gea. It seemed as much endeavour as the Toffees put in, they never clicked into top form and struggled to force their opponents out of first gear.

David Moyes stated afterwards that he felt his players put in enough effort to warrant a point, which is an conceivable stance to take. It seems the Toffees simply did not have enough quality to break down a resilient Manchester United side.

Here are five Everton related talking points to take from Saturday’s loss.

Money Talks, Everton Need Strikers

Everton toiled away in vein during the summer transfer window, unable to buy anyone and ultimately offloaded players far too late to redistribute the late income. The divide between the cost of the sides on Saturday was very telling.

The Toffees' full 18 man squad cost just £45 million to assemble. Most of these players were brought in thanks to the money gathered from the Wayne Rooney and Joleon Lescott departures. In contrast, Manchester United’s three used substitutes cost £65 million with another £30 million substitute remaining on the bench.

The Toffees' money perils are well documented, they simply cannot compete financially with so many of their Premier League peers. When some of the match stats are highlighted, such as Everton having more possession, having 14 shots to Manchester United’s five and creating double as many goal scoring chances, it seems obvious that the extra wealth goes a long way to installing clinical quality at the top end of the pitch.

Everton are known for competing with paucity of strikers and this is very apparent from the statistics. Fourteen shots to five, yet no goals? In truth, apart from Leighton Baines' glorious free-kick that was so unlucky to hit the crossbar, David De Gea was never seriously troubled.

Strikers and attacking players are extremely dear to obtain, the most expensive players a club will seek. Whilst Everton have formed an above average defence and midfield in Premier League terms, it is up front where they lack the quality to match many Premier League rivals.

An ageing, injury-prone Louis Saha, a make-shift striker in Tim Cahill and several untried younger models do not seem likely to obtain an acceptable goal tally this season. Any income available for future transfers must go towards a striker, above all else.

A Big Day for Everton's Academy

Whilst the first point is pretty pessimistic, Everton can again take heart in how prominent and successful their academy has been for the club. With all the elite world talent strutting their stuff at Goodison Park on Saturday, no fewer than seven players spent a portion of their youth career honing their skills at Everton’s Academy.

Leighton Baines and Phil Jagielka have returned to where it all started, whilst Wayne Rooney, Jack Rodwell, Ross Barkley, Leon Osman and Tony Hibbert are (or were in Rooney's case) Everton thoroughbreds. With Seamus Coleman and Apostolos Vellios also arriving at the Toffees so young and inexperienced, it shows just how elite Everton’s production line has been.

As the gulf in finances illustrates, it is vital the Toffees maintain this focus on their youth team conveyor belt, which needs to keep churning out gems to help sustain to club's competitiveness. The recent capture of young Bradford protegee George Green shows that, thankfully, this still seems to very much be the mindset going forward for Everton.

Everton Cannot Afford to Keep Carrying Diniyar Bilyaletdinov

The erratic, at times seemingly schizophrenic Russia was at his worst yesterday and put in a lousy 45 minutes before rightly being hauled off at half time. He passed at only 70 percent, lost possession three times through bad control (more than anyone else did in 90 minutes) and continually seemed to panic when presented with the ball.

This is becoming a familiar topic on this page, but the performances of Bilyaletdinov this season have generally been grim for Everton. The customary despairing howl at his repetitive erring has even turned to resigned sniggers in some quarters of Goodison Park.

Playing on the left, he rarely linked up play on Saturday and seemed completely off the pace of the game. His poor showing also helped starve Leighton Baines of the ball, normally Everton’s most productive asset.

With Royston Drenthe’s suspension now over, the Dutchman must regain his starting spot for next week's trip to Newcastle over the much maligned Russian. Ross Barkley and even James McFadden and Magaye Gueye should be seriously considered above Bilyaletdinov for pending encounters.

It is unfortunate, there clearly is a player in there somewhere. Anyone piecing together a show reel of Bilyaletdinov’s goals at Everton could easily present him as a star, but his game is simply miles away from being tailored for the Premier League.

Too often his touch deserts him and the Toffees cannot rely on his decent goal return being his only production. He simply has to go.

Seamus Coleman to Right Back?

A few weeks ago I wrote how Seamus Coleman needed a break from the starting lineup. He had that, and has now come back revitalised. Yesterday, along with Marouane Fellaini, he was Everton’s best player. However, it is time to seriously consider when he should revert back to his natural position of right back.

As briefly mentioned, Leighton Baines was effectively nullified yesterday. This was partly due to Diniyar Bilyaletdinov’s inadequacies and also due to the industrious efforts of Ji-Sung Park. Baines saw little of the ball and only delivered one cross not from a corner. Considering how often he usually delivers, this a striking example of how well he was stifled.

As chief of creativity, Baines is receiving far more attention from opponents after a couple of prolific seasons for the Toffees. With visitors to Goodison Park now not having to worry about the production of Steven Pienaar and Mikel Arteta, Baines' threat is being well and truly catered for above anyone else.

Particularly at home, overlapping full backs are such crucial additions to attacking ventures. With Baines increasingly being assigned a relentless marker going forward, several times this season—and particularly against Manchester United, Everton continually worked the ball laterally and when they worked an opening, it was Tony Hibbert who they found in space to cross.

Whilst Hibbert provided a quality ball for Apostolos Vellios’ winner against Wigan and is capable of some impressive production, he is undeniably awkward going forward. Yesterday he was freed to send in five crosses, yet none found an Everton man.

David Moyes should consider whether Coleman at right back could revamp Everton’s offence and give the opposition more to worry about, especially if Everton's right back is now the more likely to be given time to cross.

Everton Are Missing Mikel Arteta

Whilst it is debatable how effective Mikel Arteta was towards the end of his Everton career, his lavish touches and prompt, astute passes were clearly missed on Saturday.

Allowed more of the ball by a Manchester United side willing to sit back and settle for their one goal lead, Everton struggled to ever expose their opponents. Forced to continually pass sideways, the Toffees progress was slow, predictable and, as mentioned, the only player they ever managed to create room to cross for was Tony Hibbert.

As promising as Jack Rodwell and Marouane Fellaini look on paper when paired together, so far they have struggled to unlock defences, which surely one central midfielder must have the ability to do. Their partnership puts the onus on other midfielders, such as Leon Osman, to find through balls and spread the play quickly. This did not happen on Saturday.

Having said Everton must spend anything they have on a striker, the Toffees may need to look at Ross Barkley’s game time to help solve this. His second half performance enhanced Everton’s creativity purely because he has exquisite technique and the ability to hit a first time pass with pace and accuracy.

This is encouraging for Everton’s future, and Barkley may well be an eventual creative catalyst for the Toffees, but this season he seems destined for cameo roles. With Rodwell and Fellaini still so young, work must be put in with them as Everton must look to thread more through balls into the box. Leon Osman also needs to find more consistency if he is to warrant continual selection.

The acquisition of Royston Drenthe has and will improve Everton’s offensive needs, his presence on Saturday may have given David Moyes' men a greater chance of breaking Manchester United down, but he is not a replica of Mikel Arteta. The Dutchman is all about pace and skill, and is more of a replacement for Steven Pienaar, another creative guru the Toffees did not replace.

Everton are in need of a midfield general constantly looking to unlock defences, and the position is still very much up for grabs.

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