Frank ‘Battle’

Having been back to London to pick up the tickets for this FA Cup match and taking the free evening to pop into Plough Lane, it was now time for me to head to the FA Cup showdown between the Franks of Thomas and Lampard. Thomas Frank is the manager of the visiting Brentford and for his first match Frank Lampard was taking charge of his new team, Everton. The blue side of Merseyside had finally taken the step of ending the ill-fated reign of Liverpool legend Rafa Benitez, who had lead them into a relegation battle in the league, and replacing him in the dugout with Chelsea legend Frank Lampard. Lampard’s reign as Everton manager began today with the visit of Brentford in the 4th round of the FA Cup.

Getting to the ground for me was one simple cycle, but for those coming in to Liverpool by train you can either head across the road from lime street and get the 19, 20, 21 or the matchday 919 bus from the Bus Station. To walk to Goodison Park from Lime street is simple you just head right out of the station and then follow the tourist road signs towards Anfield, there are no such signs for Goodison, until you see Anfield appear up the road to your right and you then carry on straight. You head down the side of Sefton Park and Goodison appears in front of you. The first thing I saw of Goodison were the large blue letters of the sign above the stadium, although I could only see the section spelling out Good from my viewpoint and that was one thing that Everton had not been till this point of the season.

They now had a new manager though, who had been confirmed on Transfer Deadline Day and had made a couple of marquee signings who should improve their squad no end. They bought in Dele Ali to give them more threat going forward and Donny Van De Beek to shore up their defence. Brentford had responded on the same day with a huge signing of their own in the incredible Christian Eriksen, returning to England and competitive football for the first time since the Euro’s last summer. None of these players were able to play for their club in this one though, Ali and Van De Beek are cup-tied whilst Eriksen will not be able to play for Brentford for “a few weeks” as he works to return to match fitness. Everton were also without their main striker of Dominic Calvert-Lewin who was still recovering from a knock.

I arrived at the ground with ages till kick off and having bought my programme from a Red lad on the walk to the ground, who had been hoping that Benitez would stay for the season and relegate the blues, I walked past the shop without heading inside. I then passed the statue of Dixie Dean on the main road and then proceeded down the Goodison road stand, where there were huge banners on the side of the stand of notable players from Everton’s past and underneath that was a timeline of Everton through the years. The timeline wraps round the Goodison Road, Sir Howard Kendall Gwladys Street and Bullens Road sides of the stadium and tracks the history of Everton from their 1878 founding right up to 2014, why it goes no further into modern times is anyone’s guess.

As I walked down Goodison Road it became clear why Everton are the known as ‘The People’s Club’ as the whole of L4 appeared to have turned out to greet their new manager. Lampard returned this show of passion for his appointment by giving a quick fist bump in the fans direction as he headed straight inside the stadium off the bus. Way to get the fans onside Mr. Lampard, but he would improve that welcome on the pitch.

Having seen this interaction between the new manager and his new fans I headed down to the far end of Goodison Road and found a three-sided statue that had Howard Kendall on one side, Colin Harvey on the second and Alan Ball (who joined after winning the 1966 World Cup) on the third side of the triangle statue. Each of them were legends for Everton in their own era, but they have to share a statue whilst Dixie Dean has one all to his own at the other end of Goodison Road.

I bought my lunch from a food stall near this triple statue, all the food stalls and programme sellers are cash only by the way, then headed past the Gwladys Street end of the stadium and the second club shop on the corner of the Gwladys and Bullens sides of Goodison. I then had to go past the barriers that separate the away fans turnstiles from the home areas and then inside the barriers and all the way back along Bullens Road to turnstile 46/47 , that then turned out to be outside the barriers anyway and I couldn’t get in through. The stewards had obviously dealt with this situation with other fans as they knew to send my back to turnstile 50 where the steward let me in without needing to scan my ticket.

Once inside the stadium you can feel the age of the place everywhere you look. The ceilings are low and the concourse is thin and claustrophobic, the away fans were packed like sardines into the tiny spaces and I can understand why Everton are moving to a new stadium in the docks. Goodison Park was the first custom-built, football only stadium back in 1882 and it’s all wood under your feet and the seats are tiny metal flip-down one with just a metal bar across the back for lumbar support. Not comfortable, but as an away fan I would be standing most of the match anyway if things went well. My seat was right by half way and though Everton had been generous in giving the away fans a full side of the stadium they had also put a pillar in the way of my view to the left so I could hardly see the penalty area, but I could see the goal though I would wish I could not as the game progressed.

The big screens in the stadium are diagonally opposite each other and the one I could see, between the Goodison Road and Gwladys Street stands, showed only the starting 11’s for the teams and no substitutes at all. Writing them on the programme was a nuisance though as the outsides of the programme are glossy paper which cannot be written on, I had to resort to writing the player’s numbers on the CEO’s and Captain’s pages of the programme.

Those numbers did show me one thing which had been whispered round the away fans before the match was actually true, David Raya was back in goal for the Bees for the first time in months after recovering from injury. This was both great and awful news as Raya is undoubtedly one of the best keepers I have seen for the bees in a long time it normally takes players returning from injury a few matches to bed back into the team. The last time the Bees were in this situation they lost their first game 3-2 to Burnley and had one of the worst first halves of football I have seen from any team in history. I was hopeful they would avoid a repeat performance.

Following current protocols the teams entered from different areas of the stadium, with the hosts entering through a tiny opening at the top of some stairs, that I think must lead to the changing rooms. The visitors entered from a huge tunnel far away to my left and as they entered from different areas they also entered at separate times and the stadium PA decided to sound an ear-splitting siren as the Bees entered. This infuriated me to the point where a comic version of me would have had flames coming out of his ears. It was in this mood that I watched the game get underway.

My mood did not immediately improve as Everton were the first team on the attack as they fed off the wave of positivity in the crowd. They got the ball up to Richarlison in the box and as he attempted to hold the ball up he lost his footing and ended up flat on the turf. He felt he had been tapped and thus turned to the ref screaming for a penalty that no ref would ever give. It may not have been the most successful attack from the hosts, but it was certainly a signal of intent and indicative of the control they had established in midfield early on.

Brentford had their first attack of the match in the 6th minute and it came from a throw in. The long throw on the left landed in the box and created pinball in the area. Kristoffer Ajer won this pinball but his tempting ball across the face of the 6 yard box was deflected behind by the home defence and then the visitors wasted the corner.

The first truly threatening attack of the match came in the last dry minute of it, the 9th minute. Everton worked the ball out to Ben Godfrey on the left and his pin-point ball to Richarlison gave him just one defender and the keeper to beat. He left the defender for dead with ease, but then shanked his shot far wide of the right-hand post. Then the clouds broke and the rain streamed down, it peppered the turf but luckily the stands were well under cover and I remained dry.

This change in conditions underfoot along with his attacking efforts had an effect on Godfrey as he fell to the turf in the 12th minute with little attention from the visiting players. He was unable to continue and with the help of the physio he was forced to limp off the pitch. Lampard’s first substitution as Everton boss saw the introduction of Yerry Mina to the action in place of his injured defensive colleague and it would turn out to be an excellent call.

This personnel change did nothing to halt the hosts attacks and they were back in down the right in the 14th minute, the cut back was dreadful though. It was straight to the feet of the defence who were able to clear it back towards the hosts goal. The visitors break came to nothing, but Pickford’s clearance from it was a little more coincidental. Richarlison and Pontus Jansson went up to challenge for the ball, but only found each others head’s to make contact with and they came back down far quicker than they went up. The break in play as they were checked over by the medics was a nervy one for both sets of fans but, much to the relief of everyone, both players were cleared to continue and the match continued.

Everton were nearly gifted a goal in the 17th minute as a throw from the left is then worked into the centre of the box where it looked to be heading straight to the feet of Mads Bech Sorensen to clear for the visitors. Except that he allowed the ball to bounce in front of him and the bounce took the ball past him and to Richarlison instead, who had been a menace for the visitors defence so far. Richarlison turned and volleyed towards goal, but the ball was always rising and it sailed over the bar.

Another mishit goal kick from Pickford provided Brentford with their best chance yet. This time the ball simply squirted from under Pickford’s feet and lay invitingly in the box, begging to be tapped in for a lead Brentford didn’t deserve. Luckily for the home keeper his defenders were on the ball seconds before the onrushing Mathias Jensen could turn it home for the visitors and the score remained at 0-0 for now.

Brentford used this mix up by the hosts to gain a foothold in the match and in the 24th minute Ivan Toney got the ball, by dropping all the way to halfway, and ran at the home defence. I hoped that having turned away from his marker and finally in space he would make something from this opportunity. He was pulled back by a recovering Demarai Gray and the attack was murdered in it’s crib. Gray went into the ref’s book for his foul but it was the right move for the team and he won’t have minded the yellow card too much, particularly when Brentford wasted the free kick.

These embryonic shoots of hope for the Bees seemed to sprout further in the 27th minute when Christian Norgaard wrestled the ball free in midfield and seeing Toney making a run in behind, he tried to drop the ball at his teammate’s feet. The ball had a little too much on it though and the aiming was off too as it drifted to the right of the pitch and the readjustment that Toney had to make allowed Pickford to beat him to the ball and sheppard the ball behind for a goal kick.

These shoots of visitor revival were cut off at the source in the 30th minute however, as the hosts took the lead their play so far deserved. The goal came from a corner after a shot from inside the penalty area had deflected behind off a defender. The corner that came in from the right was an in-swinger into the 6 yard box that was badly misjudged by the home defence, which allowed Yerry Mina to ghost into position and head home for the opening goal just 17 minutes after coming on as a substitute. 1-0 to Everton and the home fans responded by going wild in the stands, they had been rather quiet upto this point but now we heard their joy.

This joy was almost destroyed 5 minutes later though as Brentford fought back and came agonisingly close to equalising the match. Toney collected the ball on the edge of the box and laid it off to Canos who made hay down the left before laying on a perfect defence splitter for Toney to tap home. Unfortunately for visiting fans, like me, Toney had not moved after laying the ball off to Canos and thus was not in position to collect the return ball and tap home the simplest finish of his career.

No matter though as Brentford created another chance to equalise just 4 minutes later. This chance was created by a great passage of team work. First Mads Roerslev collected the ball on the left then he played the ball to Jensen who slipped it through to Ajer. They all had chances to cross the ball in, but declined to take them as Toney was their only teammate in the box and he was at the back post. So instead Ajer rolled the ball to the advancing Canos who unleashed a powerful shot that got deflected just over the bar. It was the closest Brentford has come to scoring and would be the last time they would threaten to do so this half.

Everton’s regained control of the match in the 42nd minute from a Brentford corner. Everton took control of the ball from the corner and broke upfield. This break was cut out in a slightly different way to the one Gray had chosen when the team’s roles were reversed earlier in the match. This time Richarlison’s threatening run through the centre was ended when Roerslev blocked him off with a simple body check that resulted in a yellow card for the Bees player and a freekick to Everton that they duly wasted. However, this break did smother Brentford’s momentum and put the initiative back in Everton’s hands.

Mina nearly added a second goal for the hosts in the final regulation minute of the first half as he glided through the centre of the visitors defence only to slip as he made contact with the ball, sending the ball spiralling harmlessly wide and keeping the match at 1-0 to Everton going into half time.

My half time was serenaded by my fellow visiting fans, who had created a chant for Christian Eriksen, the highest profile signing the Bees have ever made, that went like so ‘OOOH Christian Eriksen, he plays for Brentford in red and white, he passes with his left foot and he passes with his right foot, he plays with Christian Norgaard and he’s fucking dynamite’. It was so catchy that I couldn’t help but join in with it, to the point where I almost missed the start of the second half.

This would have been a mistake as the start of the second half was filled with action. My first feeling when I saw the teams lined up for kick-off for this half though was disappointment as it was clear that Canos and Toney had swapped positions. Brentford’s main striker was now out on the wing with a winger through the centre. Sure Toney had been seeming more allergic to the penalty area with every passing game since November but it felt like a backwards step to actually change his position like this.

Despite no changes for either team at the break it took just 3 minutes for Everton to double their lead. The worst thing for me as an away fan was how easy it was for the hosts. A simple ball over the top took out the whole of the Bee’s defence, Raya reacted just fractions of a second too late and the onrushing Richarlison beat him to the ball then poked it past him into the empty net. It was one of the simplest goals I have seen scored at a football match in a long time.

Brentford responded to going 2-0 down by going on the attack. They worked the ball through to Toney, finally in the penalty area, who went down with minimal contact and the ref waved away his protestations for a penalty. The Bees tried again in the next minute, the 51st, this time down the right but again they went through Toney and once he weaved his way from centre of the box to the right side of it he arrowed the ball back across the box nanometres out of reach of the despairing slide of Mathias Jensen.

Toney got his penalty in the 53rd minute when a ball by Vitaly Janelt splits the defence and finds him in space in the box 8 yards out. He taps it past Pickford, who clatters into him as he attempts to connect with the ball and it’s a clear penalty to Brentford. The first time Toney has had a threatening touch in the box all match and it gets a reward. The whole of the away stand was on tenterhooks as Toney stepped up to take the penalty he had won and the release that followed when he slotted it away, low to the keeper’s left, was biblical in proportion. Brentford had a goal, it was 2-1 and now the comeback was surely on.

The chance for the Bees to level the scores came on the hour mark as a deflected shot goes uncollected by Pickford and gifts Brentford a corner. The bees work the corner short before crossing into the box with a pinpoint effort that finds Toney in space just 8 yards from goal. Toney then contrives to somehow miss the target entirely and the hopes of a comeback began to fade.

Those hopes were completely snuffed out in the 61st minute as a defensive mistake gifted the ball to Richarlison on the right and his cross into the box confused the home defence so much, that all they could manage to do was deflect it just over the bar for a corner to the hosts. As Everton scored their first goal from a corner so that is how they got their third aswell. It was another simple inswinger whipped into the 6 yard box and this time Mason Holgate was the player in blue who was there to guide it home and make it 3-1 to Everton.

Brentford responded to conceding again by making a substitution with Vitaly Janelt making way for Shandon Baptiste a minute after that goal went in. Meanwhile, Everton celebrated retaking a 2 goal lead in the match with a couple of agricultural tackles on Toney in the 67th minute. The second of these tackles was after the ref had blown the whistle for a Bees free kick, but this didn’t mean the ref would do anything about it. The ref gave a yellow card for the first tackle, so then to see nothing given for a similarly rash challenge after the whistle had already been blown was both confusing and infuriating to me and the Bees fans around me. It became even more so 2 minutes later when Anthony Gordon went down whilst on the attack despite no-one appearing to be within 3 yards of him and still got a free kick for the hosts.

No matter though as both teams would make double substitutions in the 73rd minute and Gordon was one of those removed from the action by Frank Lampard. He was joined in his removal to the bench by Vitaly Mykolenko (who I hope is holding up okay with the current situation in his homeland) and they were replaced by Andros Townsend and Jonjoe Kenny respectively. The Bees substitutions at this point of the match saw Mads Roerslev being replaced by Josh Dasilva, on for his first appearance in months after recovering from injury, and Sergi Canos replaced by Samman Ghoddos in an attempt by Thomas Frank to salvage something from the remainder of the match. Lampard’s substitutions would turn out to be more successful.

Brentford almost gifted Everton a 4th goal in the 75th minute when Mads Bech Sorensen headed a clearance back towards his own goal instead and only the quick feet of Raya allowed the keeper to recover the situation before the onrushing Richarlison could finish the chance. So close to 4-1 to Everton with 15 minutes left of the match, but they would get their 4th before the final whistle.

First though Brentford had another chance to waste in the final 10 minutes. This came in the 81st minute after great play on the left by Mathias Jensen created the cross that was begging for a finishing touch. All it got was a punch clear by Pickford that skimmed over the head of Kristoffer Ajer who was unable to get the touch on it that it needed. Toney was nowhere to be seen in the box when this gilt-edged chance was playing out.

As the final 10 minutes of the match ebbed away both teams made further substitutions. First Brentford replaced Rico Henry with Finley Stevens in the 83rd minute, bringing on fresh legs in defence in an attempt to keep their hosts to just the 3 goals. Everton for their part made a double substitution in the 88th minute, the imperious Richarlison making way for Cenk Tosun to a standing ovation from the Everton fans and Demarai Gray being replaced by Alex Iwobi as Everton went looking for that 4th goal that would cap a great first game under Lampard.

In a moment indicative of his performance Toney missed the chance to intercept an Everton pass in the 90th minute and instead of tracking back to help out his teammates he instead chose to kneel down and whack the turf. It shows that he still cares about his football I suppose, but it wasn’t the most helpful action for his teammates at that point.

The 4th goal for Everton came in the 4 added minutes at the end of the 90 and it came through the substitute Andros Townsend, who had only been on the pitch 20 minutes. Everton broke free on the right hand side and advanced towards the Bees goal, the cross that came in was delicious and with Townsend in acres of space in the area he picked up the ball and rifled it home. There was no attempt to mark him of close him down by a visiting defence that had given up trying by this point. 4-1 to Everton was the final score and it was no more than their performance deserved. Congratulations to Lampard on his first win with his new team and if they perform like this in the league they’ll have no trouble staying up. Brentford on the other hand were embarrassing and I couldn’t wait for the full time whistle to blow to put me out of my misery in the second half.

Everton were on top all over the pitch and the only team looking likely to score for the whole of the first half then they took over the pitch in the second half and put the Bees to the sword, despite the penalty moment. I felt that a large part of the reason that the Bees were failing to credibly threaten for most of the match was the allergic reaction that Ivan Toney seemed to have to getting in the box. He spent most of this half coming as short as the halfway line for the ball and as he is the Bees main striker this left them with few options to get up the pitch and the few times they made progress on the wings their main striker was nowhere to be seen in the box when they looked to put in a cross. This personal belief led to a heated debate between and a fellow Bees fan the row behind me, in the 35th minute. He felt that Sergi Canos has been the main reason for the drop in the Bees form as he does not have the motivation to play well when he starts and is only any use when bought on as a second half substitute.

Whatever the truth truly is, Brentford’s form had begun to enter an alarming slide and the second half had been truly dreadful and as such I was not looking forward to my midweek game as I watched the Bees on their trip to the Etihad, attempting to prevent themselves going a month without a win in the league. That blog will be up soon as I attempt to catch up on a backlog of blogs that has built up as I have had to focus on other things this month.

As I’ve been writing this there has been excellent news for Brentford fans. Christian Eriksen has made his return to competitive football for the first time in 259 days and I am so glad to see him back in action. His return as a substitute lasted 38 minutes and I’m sure he will play the full 90 as soon as he reaches full match fitness. I hope to secure another Brentford match ticket soon to see Eriksen in action for the Bees. WELCOME BACK CHRISTIAN.