Alan Pardew has rushed to praise Everton for their work in neutralising Liverpool over the weekend, admitting their contingency plan following the red card very nearly worked to perfection.
Having battled well in the early stages of Saturday’s Merseyside derby, Ashley Young saw himself sent off after being booked for his only two fouls of the game.
Remonstrating with the referee drew little solace, and an uphill task was made even harder at a ground where the Toffees have won just once since 1999.
However, it could be argued that such an incident inspired a greater level of concentration and defensive awareness, with the likes of Jarrad Branthwaite and James Tarkowski starring at the back, managing 11 clearances and four blocks respectively before a late collapse saw them lose 2-0.
The former Crystal Palace manager certainly thought so, suggesting that their reaction to such an event was one which had to have been pre-planned, when speaking with talkSPORT.
“Obviously you have to go through scenarios with your squad, and a lot of it is done in pre-season because you’ve got time. Because when you have two games a week it’s very difficult to fit those things in, like playing with 10 men for example.
“But sometimes when you do team play, you would take a player out and just reorganise yourself and know the jobs that you need to do. Because there are only two or three ways you can set up.
“The players need to know their jobs in that situation, and Everton have obviously worked on it, and they did it very, very well.”
Did Everton deserve a draw vs Liverpool?
Although the stats heavily favour the hosts, it would be harsh to suggest that Everton were not good value for at least a point before the Ibrahima Konate incident, which even left former Reds defender Stephen Warnock baffled.
The Frenchman’s avoidance of a clear second yellow card started a chain of events that led to the Toffees’ narrow loss, with the penalty coming just after before Mohamed Salah made the scoreline more flattering as he finished coolly on the break.
However, Jordan Pickford was only called into action on four occasions, instead forcing Liverpool to unload 13 shots from outside the box; a clear sign of their inability to break down Sean Dyche’s solid setup.
Pardew was not wrong with his claims regarding their organisation, and many positives can be taken from the performance despite the result.
Perhaps on another day, had Craig Pawson perhaps kept his nerve in front of the Anfield crowd, it could have been a display that earned the point merited.
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