Home   >   Opinion   >   Howard unlucky as poor Everton defense allow 3 to Swansea

Howard unlucky as poor Everton defense allow 3 to Swansea

By on September 23, 2014

Everton have come away from their first five Premier League matches with only Chelsea having scored more than them.  The Toffes have scored at least two a every match in the Premier League campaign so far, an outstanding record.  Furthermore, they scored four in their midweek win over VfL Wolfsburg.  Yet they are far from reaping any reward, at least in the league – their defensive record is currently the worst in the Premier League.  In all competitions they have allowed seventeen goals in their first seven matches, and over the weekend a 3-2 loss to Crystal Palace saw them fall to fourteenth in the league, having won just one match.  That one win, over West Bromwich Albion, has their, and goalkeeper Tim Howard’s only clean sheet so far this season.  Otherwise, they have allowed two to Leicester City and Arsenal, three to Palace and Swansea City, and six to Chelsea.

Howard certainly has seen better times, namely, this summer, in which he made his 100th cap for the US Mens National Team and broke the all time record for most saves in a single World Cup match for his famous performance against Belgium.  But it is hardly his fault.  Bar one mistake leading to Palace’s second goal this weekend, his performances have been solid.   It is those in front of him who have been making all the mistakes.

Last season only two teams, Chelsea and Manchester City, allowed less goals than Everton did in the Premier League, but particularly Sylvain Distin, as well as Tony Hibbert, have looked disjointed and overwhelmed this season.  Sylvain literally ran into John Stones after a miscommunication on Sunday, leaving Howard to bring down a Palace forward and give away a penalty which Everton’s visitors subsequently buried.  Tonight Swansea City winger Jefferson Montero literally ran through Hibbery to set up The Swans first of their Capital One Cup tie with Everton, and Distin also nearly scored an avoidable own goal, only for his diving header to rebound back out off the crossbar and set up Marvin Emnes to score Swansea’s second.  A third would come as well, as Leon Osman was caught napping on the ball. None, however, were inherently Howard’s fault.

Distin and Hibbert, an aging pair have a combined age of seventy-nine, more than than that of three of their counterparts, Ashley Richards, Neil Taylor, and Federico Fernandez, in the Swansea back-four they faced tonight. Certainly, fatigue from their European fixtures is accused of being a factor in their defensive woes, but Roberto Martinez has rotated his squad accordingly. Distin, Hibbert, and Osman all are having their starting spots questioned.

This is not a problem Martinez hasn’t faced, but will need to address quickly – last season their solid defense was the bedrock of their fifth place finish. Howard is certainly not the issue, unlucky in fact to have allowed so many and in turn received some criticism as well, rather, Everton’s back four.

About Alex Morgan

Alex Morgan, founder of Football Every Day, lives and breaths football from the West Coast of the United States in California. Aside from founding Football Every Day in January of 2013, Alex has also launched his own journalism career and hopes to help others do the same with FBED. He covers the San Jose Earthquakes as a beat reporter for QuakesTalk.com and his work has also been featured in the BBC's Match of the Day Magazine.