Wonder how many times it will take Gerry to get the ball across the box before we suss out that he's actually really good at doing that and therefore commit to taking a chance...
hes not had a chance to be fair. Seems were containing early possession rather than being lethargic. Typical Pulis team though, bodies a plenty when defending - our kryptonite.
well done boys. The Royals were sharp in the first half and looked enjoyable but we couldn't keep it up ... no complaints.
Actually though football got dwarfed tonight, one of our best RR posters saw his mother pass away this afternoon with a massive heart attack, sort of brings it all into proportion.
Back soon with an Inter-Forums Positions game update ...
David
Don't want to type much since I'm exhausted, pulled an all nighter to watch the game but oh has it been so freaking worth it. So many great players today, Barry, Stones, Barkley played brilliantly. And of course the man of the hour, Steven freaking Naismith and to think, I'm of the camp of wanting him sold to Norwich (if the rumoured fee/bid were true). Now I get to go to sleep peacefully but I'm going to absolutely enjoy my weekend now. Let's build on this success! COYB!!!
I'll be honest; my heart sunk when the starting line-up was announced. It looked as if Martinez was playing for us to just nick a win if we could, a la Moyes. My heart sunk even further when Besic had to go off and Naismith came on. Not because I don't like Naismith, but because I thought it was an opportunity wasted to get a pacy, attacking player on that could have got at Chelsea. Happily I needn't have worried about the starting line-up or the early substitution, whether through luck or design both things worked out perfectly!
For the majority of the first half I thought we were brilliant and very well organised. Chelsea had a lot of the ball but we stood firm in front of them stopped them getting too close to our goal. We were happy to let them have time and space in front of us which I don't like because it's terrible on my nerves, but it was obviously part of the game plan and it worked brilliantly. As soon as they got too close for comfort they were swarmed and more often than not we won the ball back comfortably. Then we kept and used the ball well pretty much every time; we may not have had a shit load of the ball but when we did have it we were extremely economical with it. Just look at the second goal we scored - we won the ball back and then were devastating with it. Kone and Lukaku linked up well down the right, gave it to Barkley who shifted it on to Naismith and then bang. And our first goal was a perfect illustration of our patience - 19 passes in all were involved. It was beautifully worked but hasn't had the credit it deserves in the media. Man City do that and you'd have had people analysing it to death. The spell where we grabbed those two quick goals was brilliant to watch and we could and probably should have even extended our advantage. We had a couple of chances after our opener and then after the second also. We let ourselves down for their goal though. We failed to stop Matic when he got too close; Barkley was badly at fault there. It was a great shot though, Howard had no chance with it. We got very nervous after that (so do I!) and Chelsea were really on top of us and looking very dangerous. Fortunately half time saved us. So it was a half of joy and terror.
I don't think we were as good in terms of attacking in the second half or at keeping the ball well. I was tearing my hair out at how bad our ball retention was; we were very, very sloppy in possession. But what a defensive display it was. Barry was an outstanding shield in front of the defence. The discipline he showed was outstanding. He barely moved from his spot in front of the defence all half. He mopped up so much danger it was unbelievable. He just knew where to be every time. And while others were crap in the way they used the ball, he was exceptional. It was the perfect defensive midfield performance. While McCarthy wasn't quite as disciplined (he did go walkabout a bit) his energy and tenacity was vital for us. Then if Chelsea got past that wall they had Jagielka, Stones, Galloway and to a lesser extent Coleman throwing themselves in front of everything that Chelsea could muster. It all meant that while Chelsea dominated the ball and looked like they could get right back in the game, and possibly get a win, they actually barely got near testing Howard. Fortunately we soaked up all that pressure and managed to finish them off when we got away from our own penalty area, Barkley showed brilliant composure to play the disguised pass to slip Naismith in one on one with Begovic and... what a cool finish to complete his hat-trick. He could have quite easily bottled it but he made it look like he was on the training pitch.
That's another three points we're up on last season. Onwards and upwards, blues.
Howard - Nothing he could do about their goal and wasn't really tested at any point.
Coleman - A much better attacking display from him. He's still a bit too reluctant for my liking, but he showed more positivity when in possession and I loved seeing him skipping past Chelsea players and coming inside with a driving run. In a counter-attacking game plan he's a key cog because of doing those things. He wasn't as important or as involved in the defensive work we had to do yesterday but he was heavily involved when we needed to get the ball away from our box and put the pressure back on Chelsea.
Stones - What a mature performance he put in. Lesser player would've gone to bits to yesterday because of all the other shit came with the game. Not John though. He looked like he didn't have a care in the world and just went out there and played his normal game. At times he over played (but that's nothing new), but for the majority of the game he was absolutely sublime and unflustered. He had Pedro in his pocket, and dealt with the knob head Costa like he was swatting an annoying fly. I thought he also showed a lot more grit than he usually do; throwing his body in front of balls etc.
Jagielka - He dealt with Costa excellently as well. He looked like he had the attitude of "who the fuck are you?". Costa was made to be nothing more than a nuisance, any threat he could have brought was totally nullified and dealt with with a measure of disdain.
Galloway - I was a bit worried for him because it became apparent straight away he was going to get no help with defending from Kone, and I thought he'd be lucky to come out of the game unscathed. But, fair play to the lad, he just accepted his lot and got better and better as the game went on. You wouldn't have been able to tell he's only played a handful of games at PL level, and not in his natural position either. Hazard went at him one on one and Galloway came out the winner more often than not. He didn't panic whatsoever. No mean feat! And his attacking play looked a lot better too - the cross for Naismith's opener was lovely. We look like we've got quite the talent on our hands.
Naismith - What a game from the little man. Called upon right at the start of the game and could have been forgiven for looking a bit rusty and needing a bit of time to get up to speed, but nothing like that. He slotted in seamlessly and didn't take long to make an impact at all. He made space for himself in the middle of the park to receive the ball, quickly passed it off to Galloway and instead of admiring his good work he was off to make sure he was on the end of the ball into the box. It was a brave header too because Begovic came very close to taking the wee man out! There was very little time to breathe before the blonde bombshell was making it 2-0. We've been crying out for more shots from outside the area and he didn't hesitate when Barkley played the ball to him just outside the box for him to finish superbly. He does love scoring against the top sides doesn't he? While it was a long time between his second and third goals that's not to say he was any less important or influential. He was always pestering the Chelsea players when they were in possession, and I also thought his own possession work was probably as good as I've ever seen it for us. He was constantly finding little pockets of space to receive the ball and take the pressure off us, and he used the ball well when he did receive it. And his third goal was just ice cool and probably my favourite of his three. My MOTM.
McCarthy - I don't think he quite returned to the level we know he can get to, but it's got to have been his best game for us this season so far. He lacked discipline at times by leaving his spot but as I said earlier his energy and tenacity when we didn't have the ball (particularly in the second half) played a big role in us achieving the victory. It was also nice to see him shoot from range in the first half too, that would have been a great goal for him.
Barry - It's almost unfortunate that Naismith got a hat-trick because if we'd spread our goals around Barry would've, hands down, been my MOTM. He played like the Barry of his loan season yesterday. I can't fault him to be honest. The amount of times he positioned himself perfectly to stop Chelsea was unreal. Time after time the ball would just end up at his feet. He also played a bit of a Pienaar role for us by winning pressure-relieving free-kicks when we were under the cosh. It also didn't go unnoticed by me how many times he received the ball under pressure, turned neatly out of danger and played us away from our own penalty area. Quality showing from him.
Kone - While I thought he was extremely poor in his defensive showing from open play it cannot be underestimated just how important he was in defending from set-pieces. His head must have been aching due to the amount of clearing headers he made from Chelsea corners and free-kicks. He was a one man heading machine. His link-up play, as usual, was really good too. It was nice seeing this at work in the build up for our second goal. He tired during the second half but it was expected because he did put a good shift in.
Barkley - Another promising showing from him, with a smattering of frustrating things too. The good far outweighed the bad though; the good can be frightening while the bad that he displayed can most definitely be cut out quite easily. He grabbed two assists - the second being a thing of beauty; just perfection to be honest. His strength at times yesterday was unbelievable - players bigger and stronger than him could not push him off the ball. His driving runs had me on the edge of my seat. He was always looking to be involved in the play. But, and there's likely to be a but with him for a good few years yet, he frustrated me. Sometimes he wanted to take two extra touches that just weren't needed and would get caught in possession in a stupid area. Or he'd fail to get his head up and assess what his options were, or just choose the wrong option completely, and he'd often run into dead ends. But, like I said, the negatives of his game can easily be eradicated so I'm not going to dwell on them.
Lukaku - I thought he put in a good showing myself. He used his strength well yesterday and linked-up well with those around him. Just look at our second goal - he held off his man, turned him and then passed the ball on to Kone. He also won a fair few aerial balls, which isn't something to be sniffed at when winning those types of battles isn't a strong point of his and he was up against Terry and Zouma. The only negative aspect of his game for me was that I just thought he was too eager to try and prove a point to Mourinho and was trying too hard (much like Rooney does against us) and that worked against him. You give him those chances on goal against any other side and he puts at least one of them in the back of the net I reckon.
Note to news editors right now: The headline shouldn't be "Chelsea lose to Everton" but "Everton beat Chelsea." Please give credit to a top-four team instead of focusing on the relegation battle.
Don't want to type much since I'm exhausted, pulled an all nighter to watch the game but oh has it been so freaking worth it. So many great players today, Barry, Stones, Barkley played brilliantly. And of course the man of the hour, Steven freaking Naismith and to think, I'm of the camp of wanting him sold to Norwich (if the rumoured fee/bid were true). Now I get to go to sleep peacefully but I'm going to absolutely enjoy my weekend now. Let's build on this success! COYB!!!
Don't want to type much since I'm exhausted, pulled an all nighter to watch the game but oh has it been so freaking worth it. So many great players today, Barry, Stones, Barkley played brilliantly. And of course the man of the hour, Steven freaking Naismith and to think, I'm of the camp of wanting him sold to Norwich (if the rumoured fee/bid were true). Now I get to go to sleep peacefully but I'm going to absolutely enjoy my weekend now. Let's build on this success! COYB!!!
And to think, we were able to get Deulofeu, Lukaku and Barry all on loan a couple of seasons ago. Really disappointed that we've had MONTHS to find a playmaking CAM and maybe even get one on loan and not signed permanently. I won't be upset at the squad though, they'll have my full support. Lets see what happens in January.
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