Elston Gunnn

Beautiful, McCarthy.

Barkley actually blasted it.

Not a dull match, apart from our causal passing, especially Barkley's, Kone, too. Gayle is a big problem.

Stones gives away another corner. Don't know whether he could have avoided that touch.

Blast it, Ross. Forget the clever pass on that one. Blast it.

Well, at least we had 4-5 players in the box for that Baines cross. Including Barkley!

As usual, Barkley wants to dribble it into the back of the net.

Kone and Barkley giveaways.

I must have misheard Besic's name. Sorry. Very disappointed not to see Mirallas starting. Also disappointed to see Barkley starting. May Barkley surprise with 2 goals and 2 assists. So, Everton 4-3.

It seems to be fine on my iPad. But it's also televised on NBCSN.

I could swear I just heard Roberto being interviewed pre-match, and he referred to Besic in starting lineup. Late change for McCarthy? Help.

Not much optimism in this thread for this match, and understandably. But as few think our regular starters are a good bet to win anyway, I'd like to see some real changes. Also thinking of sufficient squad rotation in the Palace and Southampton matches to have rested and (theoretically.....) energetic players for Liverpool and Wembley. So I'd like to see..... Robles Coleman Stones Funes Mori Oviedo Besic Barry Deulofeu Niasse Mirallas Lukaku Subs: Gibson for Barry (60), Kone for Lukaku (60), Lennon for Deulofeu (70) No Barkley, period. Give Baines, McCarthy, and Barry (60 minutes) a rest, too. Would starting Oviedo, Besic, and Niasse, and subbing in Kone and Gibson, make us that much more likely to lose or play down to our recent lethargic standard? Maybe the answer is "Yes," but this strikes me as a match to take a chance. Don't play Lukaku the full 95. Deulofeu either. Do play Mirallas the full 95. No Barkley. Niasse is more likely to be in the box for Deulofeu's crosses than Barkley has been -- all season.

This is a good point, but looking at the schedule, I'd prefer Lukaku be rested not against CP midweek but next weekend against Southampton. My reasoning is that Roberto probably should rest quite a few of the usual starters in the Southampton match, saving their energy for the two matches after that -- Liverpool and 3 days later the Wembley match. It's not as if the usual starters are a strong bet to win at home v. Southampton anyway. Although we're desperate to win every match from here on, Southampton is relatively unimportant compared to Liverpool and the Cup.

Would really love to know whether it's the keep-the-ball (i.e., Roberto's philosophy) or Stones's tendency toward bizarre decisions.

Dull half, wild ending. Stones awful -- 3 kicks out of bounds when under no pressure. Another just bizarre, foolish, idiotic decision at end. Beyond silly. Mental errors by Deulofeu and Baines in not getting onside when they could easily see all the way down the line. We score when Watford show their "Everton defense," and Stone hands it right back to them. Roberto won't do it, but Stones doesn't deserve to keep his spot second half.

Awful, awful decision by Stones. All he had to do was kick it out of bounds for a throw-in.

Agree 100% with Btay. Barkley may have a great match today, hope he does, we need it. But hard to say he actually deserves to start. I'd have preferred Mirallas Lennon Deulofeu. Also prefer Besic to McCarthy.

I am somewhere between frustrated with and angry at Barkley. My standard complaint against him, last season and this, has been that he seems to want to dribble the ball into the net rather than blast it from the edge of the box. He's powerful coming forward, holds off defenders, has a powerful shot. He just doesn't shoot enough. But against both Arsenal and ManU, he looked uninterested. Look at the many harsh comments about him in this thread and in the Arsenal thread. It's not just, maybe not at all, his football brain. It's his strange unwillingness even to try to control the game. He disappears, regularly. And does he get into the box for Deulofeu's crosses? Naismith would be in the box. Does Barkley deserve to start next weekend? No. Let's see Mirallas Lennon Deulofeu. Bring Cleverley on, if any of these 3 are struggling, at 60 minutes. Maybe Niasse. Unless we're truly desperate, let Barkley sit.

There's something to this point, probably something important.

The energy that Leicester exhibit regularly just puts our boys to shame. But tbh I guess I'm referring mostly to Barkley and sometimes Lukaku.

Jagielka channeling hafnia there, very angry at Lukaku watching the ball bounce through.

I got the team I want, except for Mirallas. Can't complain about Lennon, though. So I'll hope Mirallas gets 30 minutes and a goal.

http://www.theguardian.com/football/2016/apr/01/manchester-united-everton-match-preview The note under the graphic says these are "probable" starters. Has there in fact been lots of commentary this week in Liverpool and Manchester that Martinez will employ a back 3? Or is this graphic nothing more than a guess? I'd like to see, though I wouldn't guess this is what we'll get -- Robles Coleman Stones Jagielka Baines McCarthy Cleverley Deulofeu Barkley Mirallas Lukaku Lennon for Deulofeu. Use all 3 subs by the 75th minute if we're losing. I'd especially like to see Barkley in the box when Deulofeu has the ball moving down the right side. But I wouldn't call it probable.

Excellent, because accurate, summary. Coup de grace is hafnia's hilarious drop-the-other-shoe punch line, worth the price of admission. Usually Roberto says many things wrong, as his post-game pressers have become a laughingstock, as mentioned by various writers in any number of links posted on TT recently. Don't know whether he can recover from his disastrous fall: once thought a brilliant football mind, he's now fodder for weekly snickering. Nobody did it to him.

At least twice in the first half, Stones lived up (more like down) to his reputation for fannying about. Got away with it, but not in the second half. Really looks silly when he does that. Hodgson visibly angry, as he should be.