Elston Gunnn

Everton attacking is positive today. Inability to finish is maddening.

Finally McNeil gets a cross in, and no Everton player wants it.

Onana’s “shot,” so discouraging.

Disappointed. Haven’t seen any evidence — none — that Maupay is effective on his own up front. Doucouré rambles up and down the pitch, but has not much of a shot and gives the ball away, over-dribbling. Much prefer Gray to McNeil, as we’re desperate for pace and some shots near the edge of the box. Coady last match, 2d goal........ So I can only hope to be ridiculously wrong, and stand ready to celebrate goals from Maupay, Doucouré, and McNeil, and the defensive performance of the year from Coady.

I like this general idea. I’m for dropping McNeil and Doucouré, replacing them with Gray and Maupay. I’m still so angry at Coady’s unfathomable failure even to attempt to get a foot on the cross for that second goal, that I prefer he be replaced by any of Mina, Godfrey, Holgate, or even Keane. Go 4-1-3-2, hoping Simms/Maupay can get us a goal. Gana, stay back as absolute sitting DCM. If Gray is ineffective going forward, or is lazy getting back to help defend, replace him at halftime. Pickford Coleman Mina/or? Tarkowski Mykolenko Gana Iwobi Onana Gray Maupay Simms

Fair to say we desperately need 10 points from next 5 matches. That would give us 28 points from 27 matches, and give us a reasonable shot at 38-40 points. Something dreadful like 2-3 points from next 5, and we’re done. A mediocre 5-6 points, and we’re in big trouble. The Leeds match is a proverbial 6-pointer, and so a must win.

It’s a running and passing game. We’ve little pace and too frequently cannot make basic passes of intermediate length. Much more discouraging, we lack any semblance whatsoever, collectively and therefore for the most part individually, of the emotional attribute I most value in sports: relentlessness. We are the opposite of relentless. Call it relentless-less. We are too frequently a lethargic mental or physical mistake away from just giving away a goal or failing to pounce on an opportunity to score a goal. Maybe we’ll stay up. Need 10 points from our next 5 matches, including 3 at Goodison and away to Forest.

Have now seen it again. Coady doing absolutely nothing is just bizarre. Like too many Everton players, not alert, not forceful, not aggressive.

Not sure why Coady didn’t blast that cross. Could he not have done so?

There’s another reason to fault McNeil. As Liverpool got the ball, McNeil was closer to the Everton goal at the other end of the pitch than Salah and 2 other Liverpool players. But he was asleep-lazy, and very quickly was behind the 3 Liverpool players ripping toward the Everton goal. More generally, on Liverpool throw-ins, Liverpool are immediately ready, while several Everton players are asleep-lazy, looking down, strolling, unaware that Liverpool are ready for a quick throw-in. It’s dismaying, our lack of alertness.

I think the key point is that Soucek deliberately went down, rather than the normal understanding of “falling.” He deliberately went down and deliberately deflected the ball. I’ll be surprised if any commentator, after noting the rule you cite, doesn’t go on to say, “But he wasn’t really falling, so it’s a clear handball.” I don’t care one whit that Chelsea didn’t get the 3 points, but I care that WHam got a point.

WHam pick up a point when Chelsea were denied an obvious penalty late in the match on a handball by WHam defender. Repeat: obvious, as every commentator observes. When you see it, you’ll see how obvious.

Including, for me, the inability of too many players to make a basic pass of any distance. We’ve been a very mediocre passing team for several years It’s a running and passing game. We don’t have much pace and don’t pass even moderately well.

Iwobi’s pass to DCL..... Like his shot that hit the post in the first half...... Players will think, we just need a little luck. But the problem isn’t bad luck. It’s consistently mediocre [being generous] passing, poor crossing, poor finishing, little team speed, awful recruitment.

Gana’s pass, godawful.

Gana’s touch, jeez.

On that cross, we had a grand total of 2 in the box.

Feels like 3-0 and on the road to 19-20th.

Feels like 3-0 and on the road to 19-20th place.

Giveaway after giveaway.

This is undoubtedly overdramatic, but it feels as if the first goal in this match will determine our season. (What goal is that, you may well ask......)

Even when, very occasionally, we attack, we usually have only 1-2 in the box.

I’m not sure, either, but not just because we don’t have any consistently good crossers. My impression is we rarely have enough players in the box to receive the cross. Corners are an obvious exception, and in this case Gray did deliver a perfect ball. Onana hasn’t been good at heading, but this time he was.

Lampard says: “We’ve got a few people who are slightly unwell so we’ve got a few checks on that.” Which means the only thing we actually learned is that DCL might play. As for the rest of Lampard’s revelations, well, which people, with what maladies, and how seriously? Not, I admit, that it’s likely to matter, as it would be a shock if we manage even a point. Need 6 from our next 2 matches at Goodison. Or more than a few of us here are going to be more than slightly unwell.

I have been a Gana Gueye critic, and pretty regularly these days, but I will credit him with a cracker of a strike attempt from outside the box. Netherlands goalie had to make an excellent parry.