A typical Toffee performance at the DW Stadium. Despite being second best for large periods of the game, David Moyes' side came away with the three points. Not content with suffocating the life out of the game, the Toffess kept the pillow held firmly over Latics faces as they suffocated all three points of a Wigan team that is exciting to watch.
Being an Everton supporter must be exciting on the one hand because they have a decent points total and have experienced European football.
On the other hand though it must be one of the most boring past times available to man. Two solid banks of four supplying two dangerous strikers, Moyes has his team set up perfectly for the modern day game.
They suffocate the play to a level where the game is all but lifeless and hope they are capable of nabbing a winning goal. Successful, yes, but oh dear me it is dull to watch.
Give me Roberto Martinez and his total football anyday. We dominated the game and if we had had a decent striker on the field, would have come away with all three points.
A blatent penalty aside, both Hugo Rodallega and Jason Scotland were guilty of missing two sitters a piece, whilst Charles N'Zogbia was unlucky to rattle the bar in the final minute.
Tim Cahill's free header apart, Gary Caldwell has helped to shore up the defence and Emmerson Boyce has been a revelation at right back. Aligned with heavy competition for a midfield place we're starting to look more solid, dominating possession from the first whistle to the last.
James McCarthy is a man possessed in midfield and the defensive role played by Hendry Thomas and Momo Diame allow the 19 year old to roam forward. A trio for the future two as Thomas and Diame are just 23 and 22 respectively.
Our main problem now is goals. We're well on the way to sorting the leaky defence, but we just cannot score. The arrival of Victor Moses from Crystal Palace cannot come soon enough. He is hopefully the final piece in the jigsaw.
Congratulations to Everton for the three points, but by god they are dull. Give me the Latics anyday. Martinez is building a godo side at the DW and we'll hopefully be a big force next season.
Star man: James McCarthy is proving to be a real star buy from Martinez. Not only is he only 19 years old, but he is playing like Steven Gerrard (when he was good). Certainly one for the future, and hopefully a Latic for a lengthy time to come. Other noticeable performances from Emmerson Boyce at right back and Gary Caldwell on his home debut.
Worst performer: Hugo Rodallega's sulking performance was clearly a message that he isn't happy on the wing. Like it or lump it though Hugo, it is a team game.
Best moment: Seeing Maynor Figueroa wearing a Wigan shirt and sporting a new contract as the transfer window comes to a close. A solid two fingered salute to Steve Bruce at Sunderland. He's doing quite a job of making the Black Cats a European force with only one win in their last six.
Tactics: We played our usual 4-3-2-1 formation and is was working. We had the lion share of possession and looked the more likely to score. In typical Everton fashion though, the operated with two solid banks of four and two dangerous forward players. After nabbing a goal, the Toffees did what they do best and suffocated the three points off us.
Chant of the game: When the Latics fans awoke mid-way through the second half to chant the name of Roberto Martinez. He's got quite a job on his hands but he is taking things in the right direction.
Opposition fans: A good following from Everton. The unemployed football fans seem to have been the least affected in the recession hence the large away following. They were noticably quiet though until going in front.
Here is the reaction of the two managers.
Roberto Martinez
The players don't deserve the feeling they have right now, from the first minute to the last we tried to dictate the play, create chances and in the first-half I think we created enough to deserve a lead.
In the end we got ourselves in a situation where we couldn't defend a corner, a set-piece, and that's really disappointing and hard to take.
Now we all have to be together in order to react in the right manner and try to look through the result. Yes it was a blow not to get anything from the game but the performance was good enough to win the game.
It was the same problem from Wednesday and not being able to defend from a set-piece that let us down. We have to improve in that department, we can't leave ourselves with mountains to climb in every game, we have to be solid enough to defend from every set-play.
It comes down to individual jobs, we use a mix of zonal and man-marking systems from set-pieces, and when you have your own job to look after a man it's disappointing when it goes wrong.
But we'll continue to work on it because to concede three goals in two games from set-pieces makes life very difficult, when you're trying to win football games.
Everton are on a good run at the moment and I think we did well to stop them playing, impose ourselves on the game and create chances that should have led to goals. But to end up with nothing is a tough blow to take.
We have to try and find the confidence in front of goal that we're missing and put in the performances to get the results.
It's not a moment to look at results, it's a time to look at the performance. If one team deserved the win today it was Wigan Athletic, we took command of the game and got into some very good positions.
If you don't take those opportunities however you at least need to make sure you keep a clean-sheet.
We need to be strong now, it will be a real test of character to respond to this but we'll react in the right manner on Tuesday.
The players have great pride in what they're doing and are proud to be Wigan Athletic players. The dressing room has been through this before, there are great characters in there and we'll look to put things right over the next few games."
David Moyes
Was Gary Caldwell's pull in the first minute a sending off? It was stonewall. Was Louis Saha's a penalty kick? It was stonewall. Was it a goal that Fellaini scores? It was stonewall.
So we had a really difficult afternoon with the officials. I think the officials nearly wore us down. It was trademark Tim Cahill. He feels good about it because he knows he is capable of that and he has probably not shown it quite as much this year.
I think he is looking fitter and he has played better in the last six weeks and he is starting to feel much more like himself.
The Table
| Latest match Saturday, 30th January 2010 |
Pld | Home | Away | Overall | Pts | GD | |||||||||||||||||
| W | D | L | F | A | W | D | L | F | A | W | D | L | F | A | |||||||||
| 1 | Chelsea | 23 | 11 | 1 | 0 | 37 | 8 | 6 | 2 | 3 | 20 | 11 | 17 | 3 | 3 | 57 | 19 | 54 | +38 | ||||
| 2 | Manchester United | 23 | 10 | 1 | 1 | 31 | 8 | 6 | 1 | 4 | 22 | 11 | 16 | 2 | 5 | 53 | 19 | 50 | +34 | ||||
| 3 | Arsenal | 23 | 9 | 1 | 1 | 34 | 11 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 25 | 14 | 15 | 4 | 4 | 59 | 25 | 49 | +34 | ||||
| 4 | Tottenham Hotspur | 24 | 8 | 1 | 3 | 28 | 8 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 17 | 17 | 12 | 6 | 6 | 45 | 25 | 42 | +20 | ||||
| 5 | Liverpool | 24 | 8 | 2 | 2 | 30 | 11 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 12 | 15 | 12 | 5 | 7 | 42 | 26 | 41 | +16 | ||||
| 6 | Aston Villa | 23 | 6 | 4 | 2 | 17 | 7 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 14 | 11 | 11 | 7 | 5 | 31 | 18 | 40 | +13 | ||||
| 7 | Manchester City | 21 | 7 | 3 | 0 | 26 | 14 | 3 | 5 | 3 | 16 | 16 | 10 | 8 | 3 | 42 | 30 | 38 | +12 | ||||
| 8 | Birmingham City | 23 | 5 | 5 | 2 | 10 | 7 | 4 | 2 | 5 | 12 | 16 | 9 | 7 | 7 | 22 | 23 | 34 | -1 | ||||
| 9 | Everton | 23 | 5 | 5 | 2 | 18 | 15 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 15 | 19 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 33 | 34 | 32 | -1 | ||||
| 10 | Blackburn Rovers | 24 | 6 | 4 | 2 | 17 | 12 | 1 | 3 | 8 | 8 | 28 | 7 | 7 | 10 | 25 | 40 | 28 | -15 | ||||
| 11 | Fulham | 23 | 6 | 2 | 3 | 15 | 8 | 1 | 4 | 7 | 11 | 20 | 7 | 6 | 10 | 26 | 28 | 27 | -2 | ||||
| 12 | Stoke City | 21 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 15 | 13 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 13 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 19 | 26 | 25 | -7 | ||||
| 13 | Sunderland | 22 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 18 | 13 | 1 | 2 | 9 | 12 | 27 | 6 | 5 | 11 | 30 | 40 | 23 | -10 | ||||
| 14 | Wigan Athletic | 22 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 10 | 14 | 3 | 1 | 8 | 14 | 33 | 6 | 4 | 12 | 24 | 47 | 22 | -23 | ||||
| 15 | West Ham United | 23 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 18 | 20 | 1 | 5 | 6 | 11 | 18 | 4 | 9 | 10 | 29 | 38 | 21 | -9 | ||||
| 16 | Bolton Wanderers | 22 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 17 | 23 | 2 | 2 | 6 | 12 | 21 | 5 | 6 | 11 | 29 | 44 | 21 | -15 | ||||
| 17 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | 23 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 9 | 17 | 2 | 3 | 6 | 10 | 23 | 5 | 6 | 12 | 19 | 40 | 21 | -21 | ||||
| 18 | Burnley | 23 | 5 | 4 | 2 | 15 | 11 | 0 | 1 | 11 | 8 | 35 | 5 | 5 | 13 | 23 | 46 | 20 | -23 | ||||
| 19 | Hull City | 23 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 15 | 18 | 0 | 4 | 8 | 7 | 30 | 4 | 8 | 11 | 22 | 48 | 20 | -26 | ||||
| 20 | Portsmouth | 21 | 3 | 1 | 7 | 14 | 17 | 1 | 2 | 7 | 5 | 16 | 4 | 3 | 14 | 19 | 33 | 15 | -14 | ||||
Next game
Next up for the Latics is the visit of Notts County on Tuesday night in the FA Cup Fourth Round replay. A trip to Fulham awaits the winners. Following that is the trip to see Mr Potato head in Sunderland next Saturday. A big week for the Latics.