MARK LAWRENSON: Injury-hit Everton were always set for derby doom

Apr 1 2008 Liverpool Daily Post

DAVID MOYES might not have wanted to use injuries as an excuse for losing the derby to Liverpool.

But he could easily have done. Because being without Tim Cahill and having Mikel Arteta playing through the pain barrier is like Liverpool losing Fernando Torres and having Steven Gerrard only half-fit.

That’s got nothing to do with comparing those individuals as players – it’s about the impact they have on their respective sides that counts.

Having only one fit striker hasn’t been a problem for Everton all season and never is when you’ve got Cahill in behind.

But being without him and only having Yakubu available up front meant Everton were doomed from the start – and Moyes knew his team would do well to get anything from the game.

The Yak has been a great signing but he is only good at being what he is – an out-and-out goalscorer.

He wants to be in the box getting on the end of things, not running into the channels and chasing down lost causes.

So he was stuck in the ultimate catch-22 situation at Anfield. Because of Arteta’s struggles, he had nobody creating anything for him to feed off, and no-one advanced enough in the Cahill role to give him the licence to drop back and look for the ball.

He was isolated and Moyes couldn’t do anything about it, except look on enviously as Gerrard made those forward surges from midfield that enabled Torres to go searching for glory.

So the Everton manager could have justifiably blamed the lack of numbers on his side’s inability to make a contest of it and get started in the game.

As he pointed out, back in January he had five forwards and decided to sell James McFadden for what was good money for someone who wasn’t an out-and-out goalscorer.

He couldn’t have foreseen the circumstances that would rob him of cover in his forward line – there’s not a lot he could do about it.

One thing is for certain, however. Although Moyes reckons it was that lack of numbers rather than tiredness that led to them looking rather lethargic during the derby, there’s no doubt the legs start to go a bit at this time of year.

As I pointed out last week, it’s been an incredible effort from Everton to achieve the almost title-winning form they ran into over the winter. But it was inevitable that their relative lack of resources would lead to a blip at some stage.

One point from nine and that has proven to be the case.

But there are still six games left and if you could choose a fixture to get yourself back on track, Derby County at home would be it.

Okay, so the pressure is off them now they are relegated and they can just go out and enjoy it now.

However, the fact remains they are awful. And that’s just the kind of opponent Everton need now to get over their derby misery.