FOR seven years and 145 matches – when Ian Rush scored Liverpool didn’t lose. It was a remarkable statistic. It proved that the Liverpool forward wasn’t just a world class marksman, but a lucky charm, too.
Victor Anichebe can match the seven years bit. But while his record of Everton FC not having lost in any of the 24 matches he has scored in is but a fraction of Rush’s remarkable tally, it also suggests that fortune favours the powerful Everton striker, too.
Or does it? Is it just down to luck?
Golfing legend Gary Player, when told he’d once enjoyed a slice of luck in a tournament, quipped: “Yes, it’s funny that the harder I practice the luckier I seem to get.”
And no striker ever worked harder than Rush. He closed down defenders, harried players in possession and made a general nuisance of himself when he didn’t have the ball.
Then when he did have it he scored goals. Lots of them.
Anichebe didn’t score a goal against Manchester City last weekend, but that’s all he didn’t do on an afternoon when he embraced that work ethic lesson like never before.
His ceaseless running earned him a rapturous ovation when, his lungs burning and his muscles spent, he finally made way in the 89th minute of his finest Everton performance to date.
Could it be a turning point? Has a penny dropped? Only time will tell, but the likeable big lad has all the qualities necessary to become a fixture in the Everton starting line-up.
David Moyes has kept faith with the 24-year-old for far longer than he has indulged other Everton strikers.
And the reasons are clear.
Anichebe is powerful, he can finish, he has a velvety touch not always obvious in players of such stature and while his pace is not searing, when he runs in possession he is almost impossible to knock off the ball.
Work-rate and a consistent spell free from injury were the only qualities preventing Anichebe from becoming an unqualified success at Goodison.
He’s addressed that first issue – and hopefully Lady Luck will play a part now in him enjoying a long, unbroken spell free from injury.
Another lucky charm performance against Stoke City next weekend would be the perfect way to build on last Saturday’s sparkling show.
Five Filters recommends: Jousting With Toothpicks – The Case For Challenging Corporate Journalism http://www.medialens.org/index.php/alerts/alert-archive/alerts-2013/719-jousting-with-toothpicks-the-case-for-challenging-corporate-journalism.html.
Leave a comment on this football article and you could win Everton memorabilia.