West Ham v Everton preview (Upton Park, 3pm)

Dec 15 2007 by Chris Beesley, Liverpool Daily Post

WEST HAM defender Lucas Neill remembers Tim Cahill when he was a football unknown but as he prepares to face his close friend and compatriot for the second time in four days this afternoon he admits that there’s nobody he dislikes playing against as much.

Neill reckons that Cahill is well on his way to becoming a Goodison ‘legend’ thanks to his amazing goalscoring abilities from midfield and he should know as much as anyone how much his opponent has progressed over the past decade having first met him the Everton player as a teenager at The New Den.

Neill said: “I met Tim Cahill when he was 17, which was 10 years ago.

“He came to Millwall on trial. I had only been there a year myself and he still looks the same age now as he did then!

“Our paths had never crossed in Australia so I didn’t know anything about him until he came to England but very quickly we got to know each other and he became like my younger brother.

“I tried to look after him and give him a bit of guidance but he had made enough of an impression after two days that the club had already decided to sign him.

“He was quickly put into digs and because I was living in an apartment on my own I made sure to spend time with him and help him to settle in and we became very close.

“To this day my family and his family often meet up to have barbecues together when we are back in Oz and we both try to meet up in England as often as we can.”

Cahill, who penned a lucrative new five-year contract at Goodison over the summer to put himself among the club’s top earners has come a long way since he first arrived on these shores in the late 1990s.

As Neill reveals, the then-youngster had not even achieved much success back in his native Australia but remained focused on making a success of his career in England.

He said: “The biggest thing that was clear from very early on was a big hunger, desire and determination to want to do well.

“He is the original rags to riches story. He came from nothing to be where he is today.

“Even in Australia he was pretty much unknown, not really going anywhere and not making it into the stronger teams over there so he just decided to make the big leap and try his luck in England.

“Now he is at the opposite end of the spectrum and is fast becoming a legend in the making for Everton and carving out a fantastic reputation in the Premier League and on the international scene, which is of no surprise to me at all.”

Cahill’s goal-scoring record stands out compared to many other fellow midfielders, having netted double figures in his first two campaigns at Goodison.

After seeing his season curtailed early because of injury last March Cahill has now recovered to net six times in just 11 outings so far this term and Neill acknowledges that goals have always been a big part of Cahill’s game.

He said: “I actually gave him the nickname ‘Timmy Shoot’ very early on in his Millwall days.

“Every time he got anywhere near the goal there was never any chance he was going to pass to anybody because all he was always thinking about was shooting.

“I think up until last year he had never scored a goal from outside the six-year box.

“He always seemed to get headers from close range but he is able to score some great goals from all over the place now.”

He added: “I am absolutely delighted that things are going well for him because he feels like family to me, so when I can’t talk to him I follow his career very closely and with great interest.

“Every time I hear of Everton scoring I always hope that it is Timmy that has scored and more often than not he has.

“For a midfielder he probably scores more goals than is expected of him but I think Everton play a system that very much allows him to make runs quite freely and still leave the protection at the back.

“Because he has that hunger to score and is a bit selfish with it he is always going to get goals as he is a great finisher.”

Having played alongside Cahill for both Millwall and Australia, Neill is hoping to pass on a few tips on how to stop his friend to his West Ham colleagues as they face him for the second time this week.

He said: “Of course I will be passing on his strengths and weaknesses to the other guys.

“He is very threatening on set-pieces. He tends to use the players that are marked by the bigger guys as decoys and the space makers and he always finds himself in pockets where he can out-jump most people because he has got a great spring.

“As good as you are at marking him he is slippery enough to find himself half a yard.

“The hardest time to mark him is in open play where he doesn’t get involved in a lot of the ball play but works off other people’s movement.

“He finds himself in space going towards the box and making great ghost-like runs.

“As a defender he will be the first player I will be looking up to see where he is when Everton are on the attack.”

Although Neill is well aware of the threat Cahill brings, he concedes that he never relishes coming up against him as there is often only one option when it comes to blunting his powers.

He said: “Actually I don’t like playing against him at all as I see him as my younger brother but I know my job will be to make his life difficult and make sure he has a bad game.

“Out of all the people in football I know and am friends with he is the one I least like playing against.

“Firstly, because I know he has the ability to score goals and secondly because there is sometimes only one way of stopping him and I don’t really want to resort to that.”