An overview of the coverage from the national media of Everton's defeat to Tottenham Hotspur
Tottenham Hotspur’s set piece prowess dominated the match reports of the national newspapers following Everton’s defeat to Thomas Frank’s side.
Reporters debated the merits of the decision by referee Craig Pawson to disallow Jake O’Brien’s goal from a corner but had little doubt over the value in Spurs’ effectiveness from the dead ball after Micky van de Ven’s first half double paved the way for a 3-0 win - the Blues’ first defeat at Hill Dickinson Stadium.
While there were questions about the direction football was taking with set-pieces being the new weapon of choice in the Premier League, there was unanimous agreement that Everton’s problems lie predominately in their front line.
Paul Joyce wrote in the Times: “There are a number of reasons as to why Richarlison, a substitute for Spurs, remains revered in these parts more than three years since he was sold to Tottenham for £60m to try, unsuccessfully as it turned out, to avoid Everton falling foul of Profitability and Sustainability Rules. Two are Beto and Thierno Barry, who have yet to show they can replicate the output of the Brazilian in his final season when ten goals and five assists were a big reason why the club stayed in the top flight.”
Beto was praised for his effort, which has never been in question, and the striker was unfortunate to see his acrobatic second half effort clawed away by the excellent Guglielmo Vicario. His failure to connect with Iliman Ndiaye’s cross inside the first five minutes was a significant moment in this game, however.
Andy Hunter wrote in the Guardian that the hosts worked hard to find a route back into the match in the second half: “Everton responded well to the blows, particularly after the restart when Vicario’s superb reflexes were required to preserve a clean sheet from a Beto overhead kick.”
But, he added: “Given the glaring absence of a quality striker in David Moyes’s squad, the prospect of an Everton comeback always appeared remote despite the intelligent probings of Iliman Ndiaye, James Garner, Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall and Jack Grealish.”
Chris Bascombe, in the Telegraph, added: “Spurs became the first visiting team to win at Hill Dickinson Stadium on Sunday because they scored from two legitimate corners, while Everton were penalised after a disallowed goal followed their most successful one…Their failings were familiar as encouraging periods were undermined by the lack of a high-class centre-forward. Beto is willing but not particularly able at this level. Youngster Thierno Barry showed signs of improvement. He, too, is a work in progress.”
And finally, Dominic King wrote in the Mail: “There was nothing wrong with the commitment but Everton simply ran out of ideas when they went two goals behind and it was revealing when Grealish waved an arm in exasperation at Beto, who started up front, when he passed the ball backwards in the first half. It was all a little stop-start.”
In the ECHO, there was greater focus on the key decisions in this match, including focus on whether or not Jordan Pickford was fouled in the build up to van de Ven’s second and the lack of protection offered to Jack Grealish.
Ultimately, the report concluded: “There is only so much frustration they can direct at others in another game in which they prodded the seams of their own abilities. This is a team capable of playing free-flowing, intelligent football. At various points in this fixture the Blues looked set to harness their rage in positive fashion. It would have been a very different night under the lights, for instance, had Beto been able to fire Ndiaye’s cross in from close range inside the opening five minutes. For the third time in six weeks, the Guinea-Bissau international missed a golden opportunity in the opening stages of a game that Everton went on to drop points in. It may be unfair to have expected him to score all three. But that none ended up in the back of the net is a growing source of worry.
“The 27-year-old persevered again, but in a system that does not suit him, his limitations were clear, as were those of a side which has no natural attacking support from full-back to help Grealish and Ndiaye.”