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ADL Daily - Carling Cup defeats reveal failings of Tottenham, Everton and Manchester City
Thursday 23 September 2010
Tuesday’s Carling Cup action resulted in painful realisations for Everton manager, David Moyes and his Tottenham Hotspur counterpart Harry Redknapp.
Everton find themselves second from bottom in the Premier League and in search of their first league win of the season. The reason for their poor start to the season and their inability to score away from home is due to a lack of potency in front of goal, a problem that was highlighted on Tuesday after the Merseysiders failed to put away the chances that they created. David Moyes rued these misses, saying: “We abused the opportunities we had to score and knew that they would keep coming and in football you have to take those chances when they come.” However, that does not explain why Everton are underperforming this season. A combination of average signings and unfortunate injuries have weakened Moyes’ squad, lacking ambition going forward and creativity in midfield.
Harry Redknapp, on the other hand, fielded a young squad against Arsenal, and to his surprise, his youngsters failed to show many signs of promise. Giovani dos Santos did not display the attacking flair that he has shown in his performances for his country, Mexico, in previous performances, while Wilson Palacios could not adapt to his new role as a forward-minded midfielder. Other fringe players including Jake Livermore, Sandro, and Steven Caulker were all over shadowed by Arsene Wenger’s young starlets and confirmed that Tottenham, despite their Champions League campaign, are severely lacking the strength-in-depth required, especially with injuries to first-team regulars such as Ledley King, Jonathan Woodgate and Michael Dawson.
Finally, Manchester City’s quest for silverware was delayed even further by West Bromwich Albion yesterday in a game where Roberto Mancini fielded six young players with the important match against Chelsea at the weekend in mind. However, perhaps the Italian manager should have sent out a stronger side against West Brom on Wednesday night as the Citizens have a better chance of proceeding in the Carling Cup. Instead, Mancini indicated that the Chelsea clash on Saturday is the priority, perhaps stating his claim that City can challenge for the Premier League title. This defeat came after the City manager called on his players to change their mentality in order to become one of the top sides in the league. He admitted that his players are left feeling frustrated at their lack of first-team football and he wants to create a mentality similar to Chelsea or Manchester United. What Mancini must do is create a sense of competition in the dressing where the players are competing for their place and as a result their performances will improve as they attempt to prove their worth.
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