Barry Horne: Forward Planning so crucial to David Moyes’ derby hopes

Oct 1 2011 by Barry Horne, Liverpool Echo

THERE’S not much to say about the derby that hasn’t already been said this week. And, for that matter, twice a week for the past 117 years!

The interest before the game from an Evertonians’ point of view is how we approach it.

It’s generally accepted that ever since pre-season, Liverpool have struggled to give Pepe Reina the opportunity to once again top the clean sheets charts at the end of this season.

It’s a fact that Liverpool have been leaking goals and that will not have gone unnoticed at Goodison and must be foremost in David Moyes’ thoughts.

The question must be, do Everton cast off the shackles which have been forced upon David Moyes in recent weeks, as a result of injury and a lack of fully match-fit strikers?

When Louis Saha (above) took to the pitch for a cameo against Sheffield United, I commented on how fit and well he looked. He is apparently injury free, but if he is not fit enough to start a game when Everton really need him then you have to assume that somebody somewhere is doing something wrong.

Assuming he is training and fully fit, many Everton fans would be thrilled to see him link up with Apostolos Vellios, who has looked the part every time he has pulled on a Royal Blue jersey.

But the fact of the matter is that David Moyes has more or less the same options tomorrow as he has had for the last three or four games.

So there is no reason to suppose he will move away from a system and personnel that he has come to trust and rely on.

Whilst Saha and Vellios would be an exciting thought, or maybe Denis Stracqualursi, it’s more likely that one or both of them will get a chance later on with the tried and tested having seen Everton through the early stages of the game.