Sideliner

" When you want to encourage a greater sense of responsibility in others emphasize the anticipation of accomplishment , not the penalties of failure . " - Roger Crawford

great result for us but Moyes totally astounded me with his subs -
where is his tactical skill and strategic capabillities ?
leaving Neville on the pitch just acting as a midwife the whole time and then bringing on Mr Average Naismith and Mr Ancient Hitzelsberger instead of Velios , Barkly and Duffy needs some serious explanation -
if i was Velios and the other youg players i would be urgently looking for a new employer because my current one does not think i am good enough to play against a 4th league side when we are 4-1 up -
sorry Mr Moyes you have just lost a few further points in my estimation of you as a top notch coach -
we waisted time in the 2nd half playing the long ball and just passing the ball backwards instead of letting our young guns loose on them at full speed - Mr Moyes and our defense better wake up if they want to compete against the best

Neville offffffff please - Oviedo on
Jelavic off Velios on

fantastic win Everton lets first celebrate the rare victory and do retrospection tomorrow - we are squaring up nicely against the top teams which is encouraging - could this be our turning point ?we have had 2 wins and 2 draws against 4 of the top 5 sides - something to build on

There isn't a whole lot to say about this game that you couldn't say about our previous few games.
 
We were excellent in the first half; dominated the ball but had very little cutting edge, and a refereeing decision cost us. At least it wasn't us giving the opposition a free goal! We are badly struggling to create chances at the moment. How many chances did Jelavic have in the whole game? I can only remember the free kick he had in the second half, and that wasn't exactly a created chance was it? The sooner we get back to creating a hatful of chances the better.
 
Second half we did our usual no show. How we managed to go from controlling the ball to not being able to pass 5 yards to a team mate is madness. It was like watching a completely different side. I knew we'd be put under pressure from City in the second half but there's no excuse for how bad our football got. Thankfully the defence was, for the most part, solid as a rock and is the reason we managed to come away with a point because I was feeling it was only a matter of time until City got a second. We had no out ball because we dropped so deep and brought everyone back behind the ball. So we'd clear (hoof) the ball away and it'd just come back at us.
 
 
Howard - I felt he could have helped the defenders out a bit more by coming for some balls put into the box. Wasn't called upon to make many saves due to the CB's infront of him.
 
 
Hibbert - I'm surprised he didn't get absolutely murdered because Naismith hung him out to dry by leaving him up against two City players all the time. But he stood up well to the pressure and managed to handle everything that was thrown at him.
 
Jagielka - Had a stonking game, a rock at the heart of our defence. He made clearing header after clearing header, shepherded Dzeko and Tevez, made blocks. He barely put a foot wrong.
 
Distin - Not quite as good as Jagielka due to dwelling on the ball a bit (which he is prone to do) but a good game nevertheless, and it looks like the partnership may finally be coming together.
 
Baines - I think he was alright in the first half; linked up well with Pienaar but, I dunno, I just felt there was something missing from his performance. He did get an assist with a great delivery though.
 
 
Naismith - Terrible. As I've already said, he was no help to Hibbert at all, his passing was all over the place, knocked off the ball far too easily.
 
Gibson - Showed exactly why we'd been missing him. He had a fantastic game. He covered so much ground and made countless interceptions and broke up play infront of the defence immensely. My MOTM.
 
Osman - I thought it was another average showing from Ossie tbh and he again didn't really make an impression on the game for me.
 
Pienaar - Keep growing that hair Stevie! With each passing game he's getting better. There were far fewer sloppy passes and he looked the most likely of our attacking players to make something happen.
 
 
Fellaini - I don't think he was quite at the top of his game but his top game is that good that even when he falls below that level he's still pretty damn good. He didn't retain possession as well as we know he can do but he was still effective and was handful for City's defenders even if he didn't manage to dominate things as much as usual. And even got another goal to add to his tally.
 
 
Jelavic - Fellaini being the vocal point of our attacks is damaging his game. Just look at yesterday and how often he was having to play miles away from the goal with his back to goal because we want to launch the ball to Fellaini and go from there. When we didn't try and hit Fellaini and aimed toward Jelavic instead he had no chance of winning the aerial balls with Kompany et al. In the second half we stil tried this game and it was even worse because now Jelavic wa isolated and being asked to win the ball barely in City's half! He hardly had a sniff at goal all game long.

a WIN is a WIN - no matter how - turning point of our season - Moysie takes Neville off ( att last ) and within 2 minutes we score 2 goals - i rest my case ........

a WIN is a WIN - no matter how - turning point of our season - Moysie takes Neville off ( att last ) and within 2 minutes we score 2 goals - i rest my case ........

a WIN is a WIN - no matter how - turning point of our season - Moysie takes Neville off ( att last ) and within 2 minutes we score 2 goals - i rest my case ........

i fully agree with that swedish newspaper article - those 4 players can destroy any defense - with Jelly as the cherry on top - my concern is the other half of our midfield not covering enough ground and our defense not operating as a solid unit yet.

did Pienaar get into the Dream Team this season with a lucky draw ? He is not the best in the leauge but there are more players worse than him in Everton than better - we are going to miss him on Saturday - who is going to fill his shoes?

Read my last post on this thread - Baines and Pienaar - take one away and the other will fade. Where was Bainsy after Pienaar left the scene - nowhere to be seen.Pienaar is one the hardest working midfielders in the leauge - we are going to miss him for sure - especially Baines.

i found both amusing - might be tongue in cheek but remember - many a true word spoken in jest !

Hello all - i am a 53 year old male from Malmesbury South Africa. My 16 year old son rekindled my interest in the game and we are both Everton supporters.
Neither of us have played the game but we prefer it to rugby.What i like most about Everton is their character and attitude towards the game - they play hard but fair without too many stars or drama queens and with a relatively small budget.
The team spirit seems to be good and there ain't too many weird okes in the side with exessive tattoos and way out hairstyles.
I am a staunch supporter of fair play and i just love supporting the underdog because in a dogfight it is not the size of the dog that matters but rather the size of the fight in the dog!
Everton can now concentrate on the league and hopefully we have had our share of bad refs for the season, so we can end in the top 4 - would't it be just wonderfull!
English is also my second language - so sometimes it is difficult to express myself .
Look forward to talking to and with you Evertonians.

i found the decisionmaking around the taking of the penalty in the Wigan game a bit disorganized.Mirallas clearly wanted to take it but it seems as though Pienaar decided Baines was our man - where was the captain in all of this? i have noticed nothing serious amongst the players, but the point is that players who get along well with each other have a better team spirit and play for the team instead of for themselves - Baines and Pienaar is a case in point. Lets hope Moys can keep the boys together and keep the team spirit very positive - in any team sport power lies in unity more so than in talent -

Dalziel to say we should keep on doing it cause it worked for my grandfather would have kept us stuck in the dark ages.They simply did not have the technology available in the old days.I would like to see the uproar if these horrific decisions start going against the M Uniteds and Chelseas of the world and it leads to them not winning the league or missing out on Europe.But us minows must always bear the brunt of what i call blatant manipulation.Everton will probably be given their 4 points back when they are no longer a threat for the big 5 going to Europe.Two wrongs have NEVER made one right.To allow an outdated system to influence the outcome of games is just short sighted and leaves us with more questions than answers.Debate should be stimulated by facts and not speculation.

Ello and welcome - i am also new but i must say i enjoy the quality of the coms - we look forward to hear your opinions.

I also strongly support retrospective banning for clear diving and the introduction of technology to prevent sides like Everton always drawing the short end of the stick - totally inconsistant with the law of averages.American football has introduced technology very successfully which promotes fair results and prevents manipulation and match fixing with all the betting going around. We are afterall expecting a fair contest and not a circus like WWF wrestling.We as the consumers must make our demands clear - we can not allow the money people to protect their interests through a system which is highly manipulateable
and completely outdated and belonging to the amateur age when winning was not the be all and end all.

Baines and Pienaar form the engne room of Everton working together as a pair feeding off each other on the left hand side of the field.Take one away and the other will fade.Both are honest hard working players covering the whole field and running their socks off for the side - more than can be said for quite a few others.At that price Pienaar was a bargain - his value should be measured by the results of his interplay with Baines.

For some strange reason soccer will probably be the last sport to introduce technology to limit human error. That is really sad because it is probably one of the easiest sports to apply it in . Bad referees make mistakes both ways - crooked referees and officials make mistakes one way - eliminate them by letting technology decide - at least it should be consistant because the machine does not know who is playing and at what stage of the game it is.Too much is at stake to accept the absolute horrible officiating i have seen this season in the Premier Leauge - if these are their best officials i hate to see their worst in lower leauges !

Well, we only bothered to play for about 20-25minutes of the ninety yesterday. But, fuck did we play in that period!
 
We started off the game very badly, and not just because we conceded after only about 5 minutes. We just weren't on our game in any way, shape or form. We were sluggish to say the least, while Southampton were bright and moving the ball about with ease. They were finding pockets of space between our midfield and defence constantly, and our defence was struggling to cope with Lambert. We were just playing high balls all the time, which went completely against what had given us this good start to the season. Southampton's goal came from a massive fuck up by Howard but they were worthy leaders at that point. After their goal, it took us some time, but we eventually found our feet (and quality football) and we absolutely shit all over them right up until half time. Our football for about 25 minutes is some of the best you're likely to see from any side. It was dripping in class. And Southampton didn't know what had hit them and we mauled them, and really should have got more than three goals we managed to get. There was only one side in the game. It was fantastic to see us have a threat down both sides of the pitch, left AND right. It meant that Southampton couldn't double team anyone and that gave our players a lot more freedom. And Mirallas and Coleman more than took advantage of that. The pair of them tore the Saints full-back a new arsehole, highlighted by the fact that two assists came from that side of the pitch. The first from a bullet cross from Mirallas to set up Osman for our equaliser, and the second from an excellent run by Coleman followed up with an inch perfect cross for Jelavic to put us 3-1 up. Mirallas grabbed himself another assist but that came from him drifting inside and playing a through ball for Jelavic to run on to and smash home. What a tag team those two look like they could become. It wasn't just those two that linked up well though. There was the awesome foursome of Baines, Pienaar, Fellaini and Osman all interlinking down the left. At times I felt like my jaw was hanging open watching them interchange and know exactly what the other is going to do, or know exactly what the other wants them to do. They were toying with Saints, it was like childsplay. I almost felt sorry for them, but then I remembered that I enjoy watching us embarrass sides.
 
Half time probably came at the wrong time for us, it allowed us to relax and it showed in the second half. I don't have a problem with us relaxing when we've got a good cushion, the top sides do it. However, they relax and still manage to control and dominate the majority of the play. We failed to do that. We were very, very sloppy with the ball. We switched off. We allowed them to gain confidence. And a better side than Southampton would have punished us and may have even gto themselves a point from this game. I think what the second half showed is that we can't afford to let our levels drop. Not because we're not good enough, but I feel that our players need the intensity to keep their minds sharp.
 
 
 
Howard - I have no idea what was going through his mind for their goal, but what a shocking mistake. I think I read that he's been responsible for six of the goals we've conceded this season . That's just not good enough and I really think we should be looking to replace him soon, or at least get some proper competition in so that he knows that if he keeps making these sorts of mistakes then he can be replaced.
 
 
Coleman - He's the opposite to Hibbert. Where Hibbert's a pretty good defender and has had to work on his attacking play, Coleman is a good attacking player but needs to work on his defending. In the modern game this makes Coleman the more valuable player. And I think Hibbert will find it hard to get back in the side because an attacking right back is even more important to us. We've been crying out for an option down the right and Coleman gives us that in bucketloads. He demonstrated that yesterday because he absolutely terrorised Southampton down their left with his wing partner. His run and cross for Jelavic's second goal were monstrous. A couple of occasions his decision making was suspect but that will come with experience, as will the defensive side of his game I hope.
 
Jags and Heitinga - I thought we were in for another disastrous defensive showing from our CB's after the opening spell of the game. The pair of them were being bullied by Lambert, Jags didn't seem to have his bearings at all (at one point he tried to step up to play offside despite being able to see that Heitinga was behind him!), and Heitinga got absolutely left for dead by Rodriguez. But I thought as the game went on they improved a lot, and the understanding between them looked to be returning. Plus, having someone back there in Heitinga who can play the ball out was priceless and it also stopped Jags from launching ball too.
 
Baines - If the journalists, media muppets, and fans of every other club got to witness the treat of watching this man play week in week out there's no way they'd consider ArseCole to be the better of the two. All of the reasons for this were on show yesterday. He beat his man down the outside and then if they tried to cut that avenue off he was more than happy to beat them on the inside too. He ran at players and took the ball forward for some hefty yardage. He linked up with others to get them, or himself, into a position to inflict damage. He put cross after cross into the box. He has so many facets to his game and that makes him incredibly hard to shut down.
 
 
Mirallas - I won't lie, I'm quite prepared to have this man's children already. He was a menace for Southampton yesterday and the understanding he's got with Coleman was brilliant, and could be the making of quite a few wet dreams. He has unbelievably quick feet, a quick mind to match it, footballing intelligence and the pace to pull it all off too. What I liked about him yesterday was his total positivity in his play, he just wanted attack, and with that attacking intent he was unpredictable too because he'd beat his man down the wing and then the next time he'd cut inside or drift into the middle of the park and inflict damage there where it was unexpected and no man to cover him i.e. for Jelavic's first. Yes he tired in the second half but he's still getting up to speed and managed to get two assists. He has the potential to be a massive, massive player for us. My MOTM.
 
Osman - You'd be forgiven for thinking you were watching the Scouse Iniesta at times yesterday . When we were dominating and making Southampton look like schoolboys he was the orchestrator and right at the centre of everything. And, like I said up above, he was part of the foursome that absolutely took them apart down the left. He got himself on the scoresheet too, but gave me a scare with how high into the goal he put it! When he plays like that you wonder why he's never got an England cap. Then you watch him be incredibly sloppy with the ball all through the second half and you remember why.
 
Neville - Other than negecting what he was out there to do in the opening part of the game and firing a few balls at his team mates, I thought he had a pretty good game. He's a limited passer but usually still attempts Hollywood balls but he seemed content enough to play the simple ball to Osman or one of the wide men.
 
Pienaar - I thought he was absolutely outstanding when we were dominating, seriously impressive. He was really making us tick (along with others) and was a constant threat to Saints. They couldn't handle how quick he could change direction with the ball, or his speed of thought to make things happen. However, in the second half I thought he was terrible. He gave the ball away far too much, and too many times left Baines to deal with two players because he'd gone walkabout.
 
 
Fellaini - The destroyer was back on show for us yesterday . I'm still amazed at just how good with the ball at his feet he was tbh. And how easily he gets away from his man when he runs. He's not particularly fast but he just lopes away time after time, and there's nothing they can do about it but trail in his wake. He showed phenomenal strength too. I remember him bringing the ball down on his chest ( ) and then he threw their man to the floor because he was in his way lol. I loved that he was more willing to shoot from distance too, and fuck he can hammer a ball based on yesterday. I want curly hair too .
 
 
Jelavic - Took his time getting into the game but he could have ended up with at least a hat-trick. He was very nearly on the end of Mirallas' cross that Osman finished off, slotted home from Mirallas' through ball, scored a thundering header to make it 3-1, and had a few other other chances too. I just wish he wouldn't go down so easily, it really annoyed me yesterday .

Not the right place but I can't be bothered, no have the time to start a new thread. Sorry!