Everton FC: Arteta and Anichebe injuries dampen feel-good factor

Feb 26 2009 by Our Correspondent, Liverpool Daily Post

IT’S typical of Everton this season that just as they are hitting top form, playing some excellent football and more importantly getting the results, they lose their talisman and yet another striker.

Just as the fans are starting to get confident in their team and excited about the rest of the season, having watched the team get better as the season has gone on, they are dealt yet another hammer blow.

David Moyes’s men started badly with a number of key players missing, but they took it on the chin and coped with it. Then just as light is beginning to dawn on the club, the problems that blighted them at the start of the season have struck again.

The injury to Mikel Arteta was the type of incident that appears on every field in every contact sport. It’s the sort of injury that can happen when a player lands awkwardly, but while it is part and parcel of football, the length of time out does not really reflect the proportion of the challenge.

And it is just typical of the way the season is going for Everton that they lose their playmaker just as the business end of the season is coming around.

If anyone is going to ask the question just how will Everton cope without Arteta, then the answer was there for all to see on Sunday.

Everton could not break down a 10-man Newcastle, whose ambition stopped completely at trying to win the game. They were down to 10 men, playing for a draw and yet Everton could not find a way through them.

With a cruciate ligament injury like Arteta’s, the best we can hope for is that he can make a good comeback and be ready for the start of next season.

However, there was another injury blow to Everton at St James’ Park as Victor Anichebe was also forced to come off in far more controversial circumstances.

Everton are already missing James Vaughan and Ayegbeni Yakubu for the rest of the season, while Louis Saha is only just returning, and now they are going to be without Anichebe for a second time this season.

Kevin Nolan is a player I have to say I like. He is passionate and full-blooded, but I think his passion has got to him and forced him to overstep the mark with the challenge on Victor that saw him get a straight red card.

His comments afterwards were a little contradictory as well, saying that he had apologised to Victor and David Moyes, but that he had done nothing wrong.

Well if you’ve done nothing wrong why do you have to apologise.

I don’t think he can have any excuse, and I think it was also very cowardly. It really annoys me when you hear people, pundits and journalists talking about ‘over the top tackles’.

Unless you’ve played the game you can’t make any comment or pass judgement, and I’m sorry it was an over the top tackle and they are the worse kind.

I’ve heard some people say he was defending himself, but Victor was on the floor and the ball had gone, so it was a cowardly tackle.

Despite the blows I still expect Everton with Jo and a rampant Tim Cahill leading their attack this weekend to beat West Brom, who are absolutely shocking in defence.