COMMENT: Moyes’s toughest European test so far awaits at Goodison

Mar 7 2008 by Nick Smith, Liverpool Daily Post

FORGET Florence. It’s Liverpool that has to be the home of the renaissance now. It would be quite apt in Capital of Culture year and artistry and innovation will certainly be welcome at Goodison Park next week – with a fit-again Mikel Arteta involved it might just happen.

And yet it still might not be enough.

Because on a dreary, difficult night, Everton in the end did well to avoid needing a second successive six-goal second leg to see them through this one.

But it’s still only half-time – they are still in it and it’s still possible – particularly as they now have absolutely no doubt about what they are up against.

However, it is going to be tough. Serial European campaigners like Phil Neville and the excellent Tim Howard will tell you that.

Last night was always going to be a very different proposition to anything that had gone before, especially compared to the four previous opponents Everton have beaten on their own soil in successive games in this UEFA Cup run.

Playing a team whose name you didn’t have to Google just to find out what country they play in was a new experience for starters.

As, unfortunately, was Everton looking so unsure and unable to impose themselves on the opposition in a way that has become their signature.

If you’re after a cagey affair that nullifies the home side, you can live with not scoring yourself. And even a side that conceded an overhead kick to Momo Sissoko at the weekend was never going to be there for taking.

Similarly, not having a great deal of possession or chances is fine in an away leg when you’re in control of things. But, alarmingly, that was rarely the case.

Christian Vieri – scary enough even without that Mohican haircut – will be frustrated he didn’t capitalise on just one of his early one-on-one’s with Tim Howard but with these situations occurring his team-mates always looked likely to create when they advanced into Everton territory.

It wasn’t long before the only thing Vieri was advancing over was the touchline when he was hauled off midway through the second half.

But the growing sense of danger didn’t depart with him and moments later Zdravko Kuzmanovic was sweeping the ball past the all-too-often exasperated figure of Howard – if the American does receive a man of the match prize it will be the most hollow of 29th birthday presents. He was beaten by a strike of similarly scintillating technique by Ricardo Montolivo minutes later and as he turned to the crowd to celebrate, Everton’s thoughts turned to the second leg.

Considering that Chelsea clinically held on to, then extended, their one-goal lead with immaculate timing in the Carling Cup semi-final, the omens are not good.

Expecting a side fourth in Serie A to lose their focus and cave in is a bit like going to Elton John’s house and hoping it’s not painted pink.

Yes, Goodison Park will be buzzing. And the players will be up for it – they certainly have to be much more than they were on a strangely lacklustre evening.

But wasn’t it David Moyes himself who admitted after the Chelsea loss that his side were still lacking the magic needed to edge through in these games, the type that sort out the winners from the perennial nearly men?

Whether his wand has thrown up any new answers in the two months that have passed since then remains to be seen but it’s doubtful.

After all, they went to Florence on the back of five successive wins; confidence high. And although keeping Andrew Johnson in the line-up after his game-turning cameo against Portsmouth on Sunday might have given the attacking formation more imagination and variety, it’s not as if Moyes’s selection was the cause of last night’s trauma.

Neville admitted as much after the game when he conceded that he and his team-mates failed to respond to the manager’s instructions to go on the offensive.

It was more a case of Fiorentina, especially in light of the rank ordinariness Everton have often faced in their run so far, being just too good.

So in terms of next Wednesday it looks like being nothing more than a case of closing your eyes and hoping for the best.

Something which the supporters will continue to do in their attempts to generate a stirring atmosphere – particularly if the evidence of their travelling contingent’s support last night is anything to go by.

But apart from the fact that Per Kroldrup still can’t get a game, it was all too painfully unrecognisable for them.