Doubly bad

I was crushed as I listened to Everton's late winner in the League Cup over West Ham at Upton Park. I had been eagerly awating extra time when Yakubu took advantage of a real howler to score the winner in a 2-1 Everton victory. It's simple why I was so disappointed: It was their best chance. The bigger clubs just don't concern themselves as much with the League Cup as they do the FA Cup. Just look at this chart put together recently by the Daily Telegraph:

Year	FA Cup	League Cup
2007	Chelsea	Chelsea
2006	Liverpool	Man Utd
2005	Arsenal	Chelsea
2004	Man Utd	Middlesbrough
2003	Arsenal	Liverpool
2002	Arsenal	Blackburn
2001	Liverpool	Liverpool
2000	Chelsea	Leicester
1999	Man Utd	Tottenham
1998	Arsenal	Chelsea

Four out of the last 10 League Cup winners came from outside of the Big Four -- I mean, Leicester won it in 2000. Sure, they were in the Premiership then, but still. I really, really liked the idea of West Ham playing a two-legged semifinal tie in the League Cup. Unfortunately, they were not at anything close to full strength when they ran into one of the hottest teams in the Premiership in Everton, a team that also is desperate for a trophy, unlike the Big Four.

Regarding that terrible goal that gave Everton their 2-1 win, I think the best way to look at it is as a failure of Robert Green, Danny Gabbidon and Matthew Upson, collectively. It was a long ball that none made a good, decisive play on. I agree that the centre backs caused the problem by failing to deal with a ball that they should have easily cleared, either up the pitch or at worst over the touchline. That said, Green, again, has to be more decisive when coming out for balls at the far third of his penalty area. He can't keep coming up short, especially if he hopes to play for England. It's a shame that Gabbidon made this mistake, because I've been re-evaluating my opinion of him. Here's what I was writing about him during and after the Blackburn game:

I have been kind of tough on Gabbidon. But he was very, very steady all day long, and he's finally got enough confidence to make clearances instead of just putting everything over the touchline or byline. He made a confident reversal with a man on him to clear down the pitch in the dying minutes of regular time.

My friend James and I were emailing about Fabio Capello after he was hired. (Quick verdict on Capello: Good hire, and thank God, because I'm tired of hearing about the England national team.) We also discussed the League Cup loss and the (at the time) upcoming Premiership immediate rematch with Everton, and he asked my opinion. Here's what I had to say:

I saw the replay of the Everton winner on Fox Soccer Channel's nightly Report program. Awful. I blame the centre backs as much as Green. Green would have stayed on his line if the two centre backs had dealt properly with the ball in the first place. He came late because they didn't do what they needed to do, and that's how mishaps like this seem to happen, in my limited experience watching football.

The problem for West Ham is goal scoring, of course. They are short-handed at striker and don't have enough creativity in the midfield to make up for it. I never thought I'd say this, but getting Lee Bowyer back would help some -- at least he makes runs at the appropriate time to take passes from the centre forwards. Bellamy could help more, if he can get fit and not pout when he's on the pitch. (Bowyer and Bellamy seem to have permanent snarls on their faces. As long as they aren't giving too much stick to the referee, I kind of like that about them, although I'd prefer a stone-faced midfielder who can create chances over either of them.) Green will need to keep a clean sheet for West Ham to win, I think.

Incidentally, it was interesting that on the weekend after the League Cup loss that two of the best keepers in the Premiership -- Petr Cech of Chelsea and Edwin van der Saar of Manchester United -- made some mistakes on crosses. For Cech -- regarded by some as the greatest keeper in the world, not just the Premier League -- it cost his side the game, as his misjudgement of Cesc Fabregas's corner kick allowed William Gallas to head home the only goal of a 1-0 Arsenal victory at the Emirates Stadium. I wasn't able to watch either Everton match. The League Cup tie wasn't televised in the United States, unless I missed something. It ran up against Matchday Six of the Champions League, which may have taken up all the satellite options. The 2-0 deafeat in the Premiership was available on satellite, but I couldn't watch it, as TMG and I were traveling for my cousin's wedding in Toronto. Just as well, probably, eh?