JoeQuince

Video evidence! I can’t take the stress of penalties  

1 minute ago, Cornish Steve said:

Those games were Unsworth teams and tactics (even though he was no longer in charge at Huddersfield, the team and tactics were unchanged). Now it's Allardyce tactics, which are the pits to watch.

You’re probably right. Personally, I just hope that Allardyce can display enough flexibility to manage this group of players to their strengths and pull their best football out of them. If what we’ve seen the past two matches are a sign of things to come, I’ll be getting worried. We won’t get lucky penalties every week and our opponents’ shots won’t always swerve to the wrong side of the posts. Getting four points out of the past two matches is great. But, if people think these results were down to the brilliance of our play (beyond our sudden ability to deal with crosses!), they’re sadly mistaken.

There are bright spots, of course. I’m excited to see us get the ball into wide areas and make some dangerous crosses. That’s one of the reasons I’m so angry about seeing Schneiderlin ghosting around in the center of the park while Sigurdsson is out wide and a quick, direct winger sits on the bench. Our best play in the past few weeks has come with quick interchanges around the edges of the box that create room for crosses. More of that, please. Much more. 

2 hours ago, nogs said:

You really are asking for way too much, too soon. I don't care how we play as long as we're not getting hammered every game at the moment. Why would you think the same group of players who looked relegation fodder a month ago should now be controlling games? 

I don’t know. I thought we looked excellent in the matches against West Ham and Huddersfield (and against Apollon of course). Newcastle aren’t any better than those two. I’d like to see the same kind of aggressiveness and panache in our play. I know we were shite a month ago. But, we’ve seen this team put it together. I’d just like to see more of that. 

18 minutes ago, TallPaul1878 said:

I'll take an ugly 1-0 away victory over another end to end drubbing.

Performances will ONLY improve when the results start going our way.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m made up that we’ve picked up another three points. I’m over the moon about the solid performances our back line have put in as of late (watching them defend crosses doesn’t give me palpitations anymore). 

But, I don’t want to see us devolve into one-dimensional longball or start relying too much on our luck (as we did today and Sunday). I’m glad to see our players putting in a shift and improving their defensive positioning. But, I want to see us controlling games rather than reacting to them, especially against sides like Newcastle. I understood what Sam did against the Shite. And, he essentially did the same against Newcastle. It worked. Sure. But, watching us play in this style is frustrating. 

3 minutes ago, TallPaul1878 said:

We've tried to play some good football. They've not played out from the back but there's been some nice football in patches. You can't blame Sam for the inability of players to strike the ball cleanly at goal or misplacing their passes tonight.

Yeah. But, I can blame him for his tactics and substitutions. It was evident from the get go that we needed speed on both wings and more movement in midfield to help us move up the pitch. But, he was pretty much content to have us sit back and defend. 

2 minutes ago, TallPaul1878 said:

Rooney for Davies

Man, I really fucking hate Sam’s philosophy. 

Gana: “Bet you cant put in a shot worse than my first half effort!”

Sigurdsson: “Hold my beer.”

Vlasic on!

....Lennon off... 

A like-for-like change is exactly what we didn’t need.

Schneiderlin aimlessly dives in for a ball he was never going to win once again...

Changes needed for the second half. Yes, we’re up one, but we should probably be down one or two. We’ve been poor in transition. Our best transitions have come from Lennon or Rooney dropping in a bit to receive the ball and run through midfield. They’ve been soft there defensively, so I think our best option will be bringing on someone like Lookman or Vlasic for Schneiderlin (preferably) or Sigurdsson. Their pace will also help us not to drop so deep and will keep Newcastle honest. 

MOTM so far, Pickford’s posts

Great hustle, Rooney!!!

Schneiderlin is doing a great impression of a traffic cone out there today. 

9 hours ago, nyblue23 said:

Ahh, too bad. Monday will work just as well for me; get all the Everton in that I can while I transition jobs. I was in San Diego, which is not only not much of a city, but made watching Everton quite a challenge because of the time difference and my late work schedule. Happy to be back in EST.

That’s a bummer. But, welcome back to the east coast! 

It’s actually possible, but doubtful, that I could make the match Monday. I’ll make sure to let you know if I’ll be there. 

16 hours ago, nyblue23 said:

Just moved back to the city and can't wait to make it back to Mr. Dennehy's after a two year hiatus. I've been wondering for a while when one of us Americans would bring them up; it's a great pub. Will you be there Wednesday, Joe?

I won’t, unfortunately. I’ll be back in Manhattan this weekend, but of course we don’t play until Monday! It is a great pub. O’Neal’s will have to do for this week! (O’Neal’s is great, too. Spoonie O’Neal is my favorite bar owner).

Where were you the past two years?

2 minutes ago, Aidan Lewis said:

Awesome! would love to visit a blue pub in the states one day, if I ever got that far.

Mr. Dennehy’s will probably be the biggest/best. As an American, you are used to seeing large crowds for Arsenal, ManUre, Chelsea, Spurs, and the Shite. So, being in a city with an Everton pub—walking in and seeing everyone in blue; sharing in a love for this club; singing after a good result—it’s magical. 

O’Neal’s in Philadelphia is my regular Everton pub (a brisk 25 minute walk away), and is always great, as well. 

Rooney’s goal, as celebrated in NYC yesterday. You’ll find me in the back, frozen in disbelief. 

15 minutes ago, Romey 1878 said:

JonJoe by a country fucking mile. 

Seconded. If this isn’t your answer, then you didn’t watch. 

1 hour ago, Palfy said:

Christ we are in the shit if Gana is our best midfielder Rooney did more in 40 minutes in midfield in the 2nd half than I've seen Gana do all season, can't believe you think Rooney never done fuck all he won us a point.

I didn’t mention Rooney. Rooney had a good match, considering the role he was given and Sam’s shit tactics on the day. 

6 minutes ago, pete0 said:

Surely this applies equally to Gana and Schneiderlin as well. 

Gana hardly put a foot wrong. Stupid yellow and didn’t challenge well enough for their goal. But, he killed off so many attacks and was basically the only player in midfield that offered an outlet and completed passes today. 

Always great to come away from this fixture with any points. But, I really wish we had gone about it differently. 

Fuck off, Schneiderlin

Fucking Jags? We should be trying to push on and get the winner. Fuck preserving the point. The shite are soft and we should’ve spent the match exploiting that. It was always about one point, never three. 

I’d rather we lose derbies while trying to win. Losing while set up for a 0-0 draw is so fucking disheartening. 

I’d like to see Niasse and Davies off for Lennon and Lookman. Move Rooney inside. Get Lennon defending where Rooney is currently. And get Lookman as an outlet to get us up the pitch.