Elston Gunnn

Dodged bullet there. We need 2-3 subs for energy.

Mykolenko playing much better today.

Iwobi was wide open for the pass on the right. Big missed opportunity. Big.

We need more energy. Palace in control.

Gana Gueye just .....

Praying, but not expecting, Coleman can play the full match.

It is frustrating, the regularity with which we pass it backwards rather than forward.

That’s a yellow, ref-plod.

Hope Mykolenko takes this free kick, rather than Gray. Nope, Gray, poor.

Coleman with energy, playing well. Doubt he’ll last the 95, though.

Good heavens, why is Gana at the top of their box?

Not even on the bench. Weird?

Coady down with head knock. Back up now.

Good cross by Mykolenko.

Excellent recovery defense by Coleman, saving us from Tarkowski mistake.

Fine effort by Gordon, close.

Passing, pressing, energy on display. DCL with a powerful move, powered the defender aside, excellent strike for goal. 1-0.

Excellent by Coleman, awful by Gana, who should not be that far upfield.

That looked like a striker, not just a poacher.

Disappointed. A number of these unchanged starters did not play well at Newcastle. Supposedly we have a deeper squad this season, but Lampard has rotated not a single starter. Hope these players turn it around from the beginning. But if it’s a lethargic first half, we’ll need to see 3-4 substitutions from the beginning of the second.

Yes. As Holgate was on the bench for the Newcastle match, he’s surely fit enough and a better choice than Coleman. If necessary, bring Coleman on at 60-70 minutes. Or if absolutely necessary, try Davies there for the final 20-25 minutes.

Yes, pretty frustrating just now. Not as bad as our “strikeforce,” but hardly dynamic, either. Iwobi’s done the best, obviously. I prefer Lampard keep Iwobi, but replace the 2 underperformers with Garner and either Davies or Doucouré. We need hungry players in midfield on Saturday. And competence in the front 3.

I’m in favor of dropping both Gana and Onana for the Palace match, and starting Garner and Davies or Doucouré. Use Davies as DCM, Garner and Iwobi as ACMs. If Doucouré rather than Davies, I’m not sure Doucouré is capable of sticking to a sitter/DCM role, as he’s a wanderer. So if it were to be Doucouré and Garner, perhaps Garner sits and protects, allowing Doucouré and Iwobi to attack. Both Iwobi and Doucouré are energetic enough to defend, too. Re Gana/Onana, I’m a bit more hopeful that Onana will come good as the season progresses. I worry that Gana thinks he’s a box-to-box player, and even more worried that Lampard thinks that, too. Although Gana seems somewhat less likely than in his previous years at Everton to run all over the pitch, he still ventures too far forward, even though as an attacker he has few skills, and when too far forward is out of position as DCM. He should sit and protect the back 4, only rarely venturing forward much past midfield. He needs to do fewer things, and concentrate a helluva lot more on taking few risks and protecting the back 4, not to mention protecting the ball.

We are a mediocre team, much closer to relegation (bottom 5-6) than to top 7. Our mediocrity starts with our passing, which has been dreadful for the last 3 seasons, and was on full display today. Opponents simply wait for us to make a mistake. They know we’ll give it away regularly. Mykolenko was so poor today that I’d prefer to give Vinagre the start against Palace. Gana is not a box-to-box midfielder, and so should be a sitting DCM, period. Start Garner instead of Gana on Saturday. We are also mediocre — well, poor — at crossing and finishing. One might hope that as our new players are fully integrated into the team, our players will understand each other’s movements better, and our play will improve, perhaps from near-relegation-zone ugly to 13-14th pathetically passable. Up to top 8-9? Seems unlikely. I’ll hope to see some rotation Saturday, though I just don’t see much goal-scoring talent.

Agree with Btay. I am partly responsible for the drift of this thread, as I responded to Btay’s original “?” re Coleman against Newcastle. I am a Coleman fan. He’s been my favorite player all his career. But clearly his fitness to play 90+ minutes even once a week, much less twice, is in great doubt. i’ve no objection to his starting against Newcastle, and it appears there may be absolutely no logical replacement, as Holgate did not even make the bench against Spurs. I do not favor Iwobi being moved to RB or even RWB at any point in any match, unless he begins to look incompetent at ACM, which seems unlikely. He’s been our best player, and I fear Lampard is making a mistake using him on the right. Am I alone in thinking I remember Doucouré playing there once or twice in the second half last season? If literally no one else remembers this, then I’m simply wrong. But if he has briefly played there, I see him as temporarily — against Newcastle, not beyond that — an option to replace Coleman early in the second half, on 55 -60 minutes. Further, I’d honestly like to see Doucouré get on the pitch, but think he’s not likely to be more valuable than Garner going forward. Perhaps he can help us, temporarily, in relief of Coleman.