FIRING blanks

BLUES NEED TO FIND WAY TO END GOAL DROUGHT

- By CHRIS BEESLEY

T’S been ‘Everton nil’ rather than ‘Nil Satis Nisi Optimum’ for David Moyes’ men this past fortnight with the goals drying up for the Blues.

After putting three past Sean Dyche’s Nottingham Forest on December 6, Everton have drawn a blank against Chelsea, Arsenal and Burnley.

The last time the Blues failed to score in three consecutive Premier League matches under Moyes came almost two decades ago.

Back then, the sequence extended to four and the games in question were: Charlton Athletic (a) 0-0, April 8, 2006; Tottenham Hotspur (h) 0-1, April 15, 2006; Chelsea (a) 0-3, April 17, 2006; and Birmingham City (h) 0-0, April 22, 2006.

Moyes’ attempt to stop the rot was by handing striker Victor Anichebe his Premier League debut as an 84th minute substitute in the latter, one day before he turned 18. Born in Nigeria but raised in Merseyside, Anichebe would go on to make 168 first-team appearances for Everton, but unfortunately for Moyes, the well of talent at the Blues academy has mostly dried up of late.

Homegrown hero Harrison Armstrong, the midfielder from West Derby, is currently on loan at Championship side Preston North End, with Braiden Graham, a prolific marksman snapped up last year from Linfield appearing to be the brightest prospect emerging from Finch Farm right now.

Moyes hasn't turned to the young Ulsterman, who celebrated his 18th birthday on November 7, as of yet.

But nine goals in 17 outings this term make him the Under-21s team top scorer, even though he’s been playing on the left wing more, with the ECHO's Joe Thomas writing last week that his stature means there is an acceptance he will not be a traditional number nine, but his intelligence and clinical finishing have pointed to the potential for a career playing off a target man or in a central attacking midfield role.