PHOTO CREDIT: Moyes (top, Daily Mail); Redknapp (below, Daily Mirror)
PK’s Premiership/PATRICK KINMARTIN
Other than the reddish hair both their managers have long harvested, Portsmouth and Everton also shared something else wholly visible going into Saturday’s matchup between the two teams at Goodison Park.
Pompey and the Toffies had been hapless in their respective searches for momentum to start a season that is important in the grand schemes for both clubs.
Injured in key areas and uninsured due to an offseason where no contributing acquisitions were brought in, Everton’s term as the premier middle-tier franchise in England has looked dicey since the opening day loss to Blackburn. With Portsmouth, a more formidable looking lineup has been greeted with similar skepticism around the team’s headquarters because depth was lacking in the same fashion.
That twisted the initial appeal of this third-week game pitting the two emerging powers in the league against each other. Instead of a battle for the stature they hungered for in the summer, it turned into a fight for crumbs to eat so hopes for an immediate turnaround can be kept alive.
It was that reason Everton’s 3-0 loss looked devastating, even if there are still 35 games and eight months of league football remaining to sort their mess out.
“We’re probably not ready to win Premier League games at the moment,” a somber David Moyes said after watching his team’s demise from the bench. “We’ve got a lot of young players in the side but it’s not those players who are letting us down.
“There are big players in the team not playing as well as they should be.”
On the other side of the red-headed coaching coin, Harry Redknapp considered the victory big enough to do an about-face from his normal tone about the dismal state of affairs in Pompey’s talent base, promoting his goalkeeper David James in a “different class” than the rest.
“That was a world-class save in the first half to keep us 1-0 up,” Redknapp said, referring to James’ stuff of what looked like a goal on a Mikel Arteta shot at net. “And then to save (a) penalty as well … he’s a fantastic goalkeeper.”
Moyes retreating into a mode of utmost frustration and Redknapp tickling himself into a petty superlative were stark reactions unnecessary given the context of the game. The insecurities both groups were harboring about themselves coming in were premature.
Indeed, Everton may have denied themselves a return to the cusp of Champions League qualification with their stagnant approach to the transfer market. But with Arteta, Yakubu, Phil Neville, Lean Osman, Joleon Lescott, Phil Jagielka and Tim Howard — the nucleus of last season’s lineup that piled up a Moyes era-best 19 wins — /all still around, it’s hard to feel too sorry for the Toffies just yet.
Really, Moyes hit the nail on the head with that last detail of his postgame assessment. It’s not a matter of waiting for new enforcements to come around. It’s a matter of the current ranks that are around to come forward with the push to play at their 2007 level.
Because though Everton didn’t dip into the free agent pool in a big way in the offseason, they also didn’t relinquish much in the process. Injury-riddled Andy Johnson and Lee Carsley, however clutch they prove to be in certain moments, aren’t worth gobs of victories over the course of a season.
Plus, in what is becoming a theme for the organization, there will be the liberation of Tim Cahill from the injured reserve later into the year. That should help ease considerable pressure off Arteta, who has remained perhaps the most underrated force in the league with the Fernando Torres-type capability to singlehandedly put points on the standings board.
Portsmouth, meanwhile, is missing that specific model of game-breaking performer. At the same time, they don’t need one as badly as Everton does at this juncture. From player one to player 11 in their very structured starting lineup, Pompey is arguably as solid as any team outside the Big Four.
Peter Crouch and Jermain Defoe have international pedigree up front. Papa Bouba Diop and Lassana Diarra are hardly ever comfortable in the midfield for defenders to deal with, and if Niko Kranjcar can one of these days fully live up to his promise, that unit will rise to a whole new dimension in value.
Glen Johnson and Sylvain Distin are gelling and establishing themselves again as vaunted names among the Prem’s fickle back-line scene. Sol Campbell can remain effective as long as too much pressure isn’t mounted upon his fragile confidence and Redknapp did take some measures to do that for his salty veteran defender with the recruitment of Younas Kaboul from Tottenham to join an area that already is considered a strength with the way Hermann Hreidarsson (also back in the mix) chipped in last year.
Biggest of all, James has upheld his career rebirth in goal. Until the 38-year-old shows signs of a decline back toward the slump that defined his reputation a half-decade ago, things at Fratton Park will always seem steadier than they are.
Like Everton, injury wear and tear, during a year that UEFA Cup play is also on the schedule, may muddy the picture for Pompey in a hurry, hence the worst fears for Redknapp and Moyes about the inability to secure significant help in the offseason.
Some might say their hair is on fire. But that notion, consistent with the perception that an all-out collapse has arrived for the two proud sides, only looks that way on appearance.
Wrapping up the rest of the Prem weekend…
OWED DRINKS: West Ham health enigma Craig Bellamy. The man must be thirsty with yet another rehab grind done and dusted. He gets a goal in his return, so the Hammers are now officially out of the gate in their quest see if getting Bellamy and fellow injury risk Dean Ashton on the same page up front is any easier than trying to collect lightning a bottle.
OWES DRINKS: Drunk Newcastle owner Mike Ashley. Why wouldn’t he after getting caught on camera Saturday at Emirates Stadium unabashedly taking down his own pint while everyone else within camera shot was empty-handed? As it is, he also still needs to be in the habit of winning over his fans with whatever gimmick is next on the list — despite their good start the first two weeks, the Magpies showed in their Arsenal loss that there are far too many uncertainties still dogging them.
GOAL FULFILLED: The Afonso Alves free kick will deservedly top most charts this week, but Emmanuel Eboue’s back heel over to Robin Van Persie in the Gunners’ romp had that aroma of the professional entertainment that Arsenal has by now long trademarked that everyone waits to see .
LET IT BE: Sunderland shouldn’t be dismissed from being an upper 10 contender just because of the embarrassing three-goal letdown Sunday against Manchester City at home. This El-Hadji Diouf-Djibril Cisse partnership has the same boom-or-bust appeal as the Bellamy-Ashton setup and the Black Cats did plenty else in the summer market to hold our attention through the fall.
SAY IT IS SO: That Martin O’Neill and Rafa Benitez are ready drag out their offseason rivalry for years to come. The lukewarm handshake between the Aston Villa boss and his Liverpool adversary following the two teams’ 0-0 draw carries many more compelling themes than just the Gareth Barry standoff. For instance, as O’Neill continues to informally pay homage to the English game with his nationalistic roster, Benitez only further has gone the opposite route by deepening the import flavor.
3-POINT FINISH: As the transfer market officially closes today, it’s worth noting that what was at the beginning the Heineken five-pack of surefire summer moves away — Barry from Villa, Cristiano Ronaldo from Manchester United, Emmanuel Adebayor from Arsenal, Didier Drogba from Chelsea, Dimitar Berbatov from Tottenham — never came dangerously close to panning out. That was way back when there was, oh, about zero credibility in talk the transfer system annually (de)generates. … While all eyes were on Jose Mourinho as he began his Serie A campaign with Inter Milan, it’s another former Premiership boss over yonder who should have everyone captivated. Executing the prototype Tottenham style of attack better than Spurs themselves, Martin Jol has transformed Hamburg into the Bundesliga’s quickest offensive engine. They remained unbeaten with their 4-2 win over Arminia Bielefeld on Saturday and now have eight goals in the three matches to start the season. … With the postponement of Manchester United’s showdown against new and improved Fulham, everyone has to wait it out all the way until Nov. 22 at Anfield to see the Cottagers try to prove last week’s Arsenal win wasn’t some novelty Big Four takedown.
