Everton in Minsk condition

Posted by Darrell Currie on 02/10/2009

When I arrived in Minsk with the rest of the ESPN team on Tuesday we were pleased to see that the Belarus winter still hadn’t quite set in, but our optimism was short-lived. We were soon informed that the harsh cold was just about to arrive, and in the end it did come on the day of Everton’s Europa League game against Bate Borisov.

At kick-off there was an ice-cold wind, and the rain that followed was severe to say the least. It wasn’t exactly ideal for football, and Bate used it to their advantage, seizing control of the early exchanges. When Bate’s captain Dmitri Liktarovich rocketed in the opening goal I began to wonder if a threadbare Everton squad would have enough about them to come back.

David Moyes was forced to travel to Minsk with a bunch of kids and few had first team experience. It meant he had to start the game in a 4-4-2 system, something I’m sure the Toffees manager would have not chosen to do if more of his regular starters were available.

It says a lot though about his fighting side though that they did go on to win the game, it really was a battling display on the soaking pitch, and as Moyes said to me after the game – the performance of Tony Hibbert at centre-half summed up the evening. Hibbert is not tall, in fact just a few inches over 5 feet, and he was playing out of position, but he fought for everything on the night, and was constantly making last-ditch saving tackles (as was Leighton Baines – who I thought had an outstanding 90 minutes).

Marouane Fellaini headed Everton back on level terms before the terrific Tim Cahill won it for the away side with a typical finish. He reacted sharply to a flick-on, and lobbed the keeper expertly. Tim is known for his heading ability, but I describe this strike as typical because of his timing. He makes fantastic runs into the box when he rises to head home, and his goal in the Dinamo stadium was all about timing. He was right on the shoulder of the last defender, so his run was measured to perfection, and he even had to use the slick pitch to slide onto the pass through, which made the finish even more impressive.

Tim is a top guy, a pleasure to interview, and it was fantastic of him to dedicate his winner to those in Samoa (some of Tim’s family are from there) who have suffered during the Tsunami. I wasn’t sure what the celebration was all about at the time, but he cleared it up in my interview with him after the game, and it was a really kind gesture.

Everton headed back to Merseyside right after the game, and I’m sure the atmosphere on the flight was fantastic, as the Everton players could hardly believe they had come away from Belarus with all three points, when at one stage in the second half you wondered if they would get one.

It wasn’t a good start to the season for Moyes (the ESPN cameras witnessed Arsenal dismantle them at Goodison Park on the opening weekend), but he has his side back on track, and on a winning run. Those who wrote them off , or dismissed their chances of finishing in the European places in the Premier League this season will now remember why Everton have finished 5th twice in a row. They win games when they look like they’re not going to, and the spirit in the dressing-room is tremendous. In my opinion that all comes from David Moyes – he continually gets the best out of his small squad, and hardly utters a word in anger when he’s told year-in year-out that his transfer budgets are significantly less than the teams he’s competing against. It’s little wonder he was named League Managers Association ‘Manager of the Year’ again last season – there are few better than the Scot.

Everton can now all but seal qualification through the Europa League group stages with a win away against Benfica in a few weeks time, and that would be ideal for Moyes, as he could then give some of his stars a rest, and play some of the youngsters who gained experience out in Minsk.

A job well done for Everton, and a trip I won’t forget – largely because of the drenching my producer (Matt Smith) and I took throughout the 90 minutes.

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