Deep In My Heart, Everton v Middlesbrough || Middlesbrough F.C. news, reviews and comment

DEEP IN MY HEART
Everton v Middlesbrough, 30th September 2007, Goodison Park, Premier League
James Keen

Well, the dream of Carling Cup glory is gone again for another year and we bowed out without so much as a whimper. But, at least we were in esteemed company; Aston Villa, Manchester United, Fulham, Morecambe and The Skunks all joined us in our third Round exit.

Berbatov, Robinson, Dawson and the rest of Spurs big hitters were in their side on Wednesday and as soon as the teams were announced there was a huge sigh across Teesside as we collectively gave up hope of passage into the fourth round.

The result in North London tops off a miserable week. After the disappointment of the late Liam Miller equaliser in the Tees-Wear derby and the news that Arca would be out for two months, I just hoped that we'd pull off a surprise victory. It was not to be.

And so, we move on, to Liverpool, and a game against the in-form Toffees.

If Alistair Brownlee was still commentating on this one I think he'd be sending shivers down our spines with the cry of 'YAAAAKUUUUBUUUUU!!!!' as the former hero, and now villain, Aiyegbeni Yakubu smashes one in from close range.

Having already been victim to Mark Viduka this season the writing on the wall says the Yak will hit his third Everton goal against Boro.

Yakubu was dropped at the weekend, Moyes saying that he didn't like the Yak's lack of work rate and the fact that he was lazy. Hmmmm. Did we not shout this loud enough while he was with us? Had David Moyes been watching the wrong man? Did Moyes ever actually watch the Yak play?

NO to all three. He cannot possibly have seen him play before.

Although by dropping him at the weekend and then pitching him in against Sheffield Wednesday in the League Cup he got the right response and an excellent, hard working, performance from him. Perhaps Gareth and Stevie Mac should take note.

Yakubu has never been a hard worker. He's a goal poacher and a scorer of excellent goals but if you expect him to get back and defend like Andy Johnson does then you're kidding yourself.

Everton are a decent side. They're a hard working, honest, top-ten side. And this will be a difficult test for the Boro, especially considering we haven't won in the three games since the international break.

But, in spite of our mediocre league start we still find ourselves just two points behind them and in touch with the top ten.

The side that faced Tottenham will be much changed. Schwarzer will come back in, Woodgate will return for Riggott, O'Neil will be in after being cup-tied and Mido and Tuncay should be back in contention.

It will be somewhere near our first XI, Arca, Pogatetz and Aliadiere apart.

This means that we have no excuses, no reason not to play well, and no excuses for defeat.

If we want to be a top ten side then we've got to pick up the points here, a fact that Gareth Southgate has already stressed.

He will know more than most how important these next two games are. After Everton we have Manchester City away, a team in form but a team we've picked a lot of points from in the recent past. But then follow Manchester United and Chelsea and if we don't come away from these four games with at least another six points we could be right in amongst the relegation pack.

Shocking isn't it? The season only started two minutes ago and now we're thinking about game week twelve and how badly we need the points.

Everton, fortunately, have several injury concerns. Star man Arteta is injured, regular keeper Tim Howard is out and both full-backs, Valente and Hibbert, are both doubtful.

A severely depleted side, and a great chance of victory for the Boro. Especially after two defeats in their last two games; 0-1 against Manchester United and 0-2 against Aston Villa, results that will have knocked their confidence.

If Boro utilise their new found balance with Downing and O'Neil, who looked exceptional against Sunderland, we should have a chance of coming away with the right result. With both regular full-backs out and very attacking wingers likely to be employed, Boro should have plenty of chance to get the ball wide and create for Mido and Tuncay.

Let's get behind the boys and expect victory. We want our team to do well and to do that we need to stay positive.

In true Uri Gellar style, I want you all to send positive vibes out to the lads ten minutes before kick-off and see what we can do. If you're in the ground wrap your arms round the person next to you, rub someone's head, clinch your lucky rabbit's foot and if you're watching on telly, get the beer down your necks (to take away your inhibitions) and put your hand on the screen and think of goals. And repeat "Tuncay is a legend, he will score us goals" ten times!

The outcome: My heart tells me victory could be ours in a tense, tight game, 1-0, Mido scoring the goal. And my head tells me to calm down and be glad that we got a point 1-1, the Yak to fire in the equaliser in the last ten.

Last Season: Everton 0-0 Middlesbrough, 26/12/06, Premier League

Boro Form (most recent result first): LDLWWD
Everton Form: WLDLWD

Probable Teams:
Boro: Schwarzer, Young, Taylor, Woodgate, Wheater, Boateng, Rochemback, O'Neil, Downing, Mido, Tuncay.

Everton: Wessels, Neville, Baines, Yobo, Jagielka, Lescott, Osman, Pienaar, McFadden, Johnson, Yakubu

Man to Watch: Yakubu

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