Just watching last night back with my old man as he missed it, no idea why I'm doing this to myself but there we go. 62 minutes in, at 1-1, Holgate intercepts the ball and legs it upfield, ends up being on the shoulder of their last defender.
At no point does Schneiderlin even turn his head and think about filling in. He actually jogs further forward to trot round on the halfway line despite the fact Holgate runs right past his eyeline. 10 seconds later they lump the ball upfield and fortunately it drops right on Kenny's head, or we'd have a 3 on 3 situation at the back.
Is this fella just thick? Lazy? Has he been told not to move from the centre circle? I always thought of him as an intelligent player but now I'm not so sure.
I think that's symptomatic of our problems. We've got 7 or 8 players every week jogging round like zombies, not thinking about the game needs or considering how they can help each other. Spurs came to Goodison the other week and looked like the most well drilled army you've ever seen. Our holding midfielder can't even think about filling in at centre back while our centre back is virtually in the opposition box.
Nothing came of it and it's not something you notice often, but I guarantee you wouldn't get that at United, Chelsea or Spurs. The differences aren't always wondergoals and mazy runs. When we can't get the simple stuff right what chance is there?