AlbanyNYToffee

Avoided Fabregas, Costa and Courtois. That's a lift. Still have hazard, cuadrado, willian, matic. That's a yikes.

Howard Coleman Stones Jags Oviedo Besic Barry Lennon Barkley Naisy Lukaku COYB

Chelsea team Cech; Ivanovic, Zouma, Terry ©, Azpilicueta; Ramires, Matic; Cuadrado, Willian, Hazard; Remy.

Everton shaping up like this based on Martinez comments this morning: Howard Coleman Stones Jags Oviedo Barry Besic McCarthy Mirallas Naismith Lukaku OUT: Hibbert McGeady Atsu Osman Pienaar Distin Garbutt? Subs: Joel Gibson Alcaraz Kone Barkley Lennon Browning Personally would like to see Barkley and Lennon in for Naismith and Mirallas. Freshen things up a bit.

on a different note - Chelsea will probably lineup like this tomorrow: Courtois Ivanovic Cahill Terry Azpilicueta Matic Fabregas Willian Oscar Hazard Remy Perhaps Cuadrado in for Willian or Drogba in for Remy. Yikes!

Fair enough. On season form Tim has certainly not lived up to expectations but in the same breath he has earned the right to prove he can be the no. 1 based on previous form. If he can quickly get back to that form he is a top 5-7 goalie in the prem. If he cannot and struggles for another 2-3 games Joel will enter the conversation and should see more playing time. Howard's ceiling is so much higher than Joel's Martinez has to give Tim a few games.

It isn't Howard's fault Martinez played Distin instead of Stones. Stones is a better CB right now and he was in August as well. That is the best back 4 we have. In August and September much of the argument was over how poorly Distin had played not Howard. Yes i am american - that has absolutely nothing to do with my assessment. Tim Howard is a full international, World cup participant and set the record for most saves in a single game. Joel has barely sniffed international football even at the U23/U21 level. I am not arguing with you that Tim Howard has made mistakes this season. There is no question he is at fault for a few goals. Don't forget Joel is responsible for the howler of the season in that Krasnodar game. The only stat that truly matters is winning. We are 8-8-8 with Howard in net and 1-4-4 with Joel in net. This situation reminds me alot of hockey. When a teams starting goaltender is out the team has to protect the backup as much as possible. Therefore offense can suffer as a result which i think in some ways we have seen over the past few weeks. The wingers are sitting deeper than normal and we arent pushing as many men forward. Leaving Lukaku on an island. At this point in time i believe Tim Howard to be a better option at goalie than Joel - for his goalkeeping skills as well as leadership on the pitch. Guess we will agree to disagree.

Posted this in the chelsea forum but thought it is appropriate here as well: Optimal Back 4: Coleman, Stones, Jags, Baines Everton have played 33 games in all competitions Howard has made 23.5 appearances; Joel has made 9.5 appearances Howard has played behind the optimal back four in just 2.5 of those games. Everton won both games he played in the full 90 mins and kept one clean sheet. The game he was subbed at half due to injury they lost and i will put the loss on him as he was in goal when the penalty was conceded. 2 wins and a loss. Howard has therefore played behind a "makeshift" back four in his other 21 appearances. Everton's record in those games is 6-8-7 with 5 clean sheets. Joel has played behind the optimal back four in 4.5 appearances. Everton's record in those games is 1-2-1 with 2 clean sheets. I will not add the Stoke game to Joel's record. Joel has therefore played behind a "makeshift" back four in his other 5 appearances. Everton's record in those games is 0-2-3 with 1 clean sheet. Overall record with optimal back four regardless of goalie: 3-2-2 with 3 clean sheets Overall record without optimal back four regardless of goalie: 6-10-10 with 6 clean sheets Tim Howard overall record: 8-8-8 with 6 clean sheets Joel Robles overall record: 1-4-4 with 3 clean sheets

That just isnt true. The skills are an entirely different argument but the fact is Howard has very rarely played with our best back 4. Here are the stats: Optimal Back 4: Coleman, Stones, Jags, Baines Everton have played 33 games in all competitions Howard has made 23.5 appearances; Joel has made 9.5 appearances Howard has played behind the optimal back four in just 2.5 of those games. Everton won both games he played in the full 90 mins and kept one clean sheet. The game he was subbed at half due to injury they lost and i will put the loss on him as he was in goal when the penalty was conceded. 2 wins and a loss. Howard has therefore played behind a "makeshift" back four in his other 21 appearances. Everton's record in those games is 6-8-7 with 5 clean sheets. Joel has played behind the optimal back four in 4.5 appearances. Everton's record in those games is 1-2-1 with 2 clean sheets. I will not add the Stoke game to Joel's record. Joel has therefore played behind a "makeshift" back four in his other 5 appearances. Everton's record in those games is 0-2-3 with 1 clean sheet. Overall record with optimal back four regardless of goalie: 3-2-2 with 3 clean sheets Overall record without optimal back four regardless of goalie: 6-10-10 with 6 clean sheets Tim Howard overall record: 8-8-8 with 6 clean sheets Joel Robles overall record: 1-4-4 with 3 clean sheets

I don't think anyone suggested putting Howard in for Joel for the Chelsea game. The comments were referring to our best side - when all available and fit. Joel hasn't had much to do these past few games. A few superb saves no doubt but the workload he has seen is nowhere near what Howard had faced. Joel has had the benefit of having the optimal back 4 in front of him for many of his starts.

Piss poor subs again...

That is the optimal lineup. Needs to happen sooner rather than later

Chelsea 0 - 1 Everton Barkley

Duncan - im making an argument less so over the name of the opponent and more so the circumstances surrounding the game. Liverpool - Replay on wednesday hurts them, sturridge can only play 20 mins, gerrard last derby yes but its at goodison not anfield Chelsea - of course strongest team but over the last 2-3 weeks they have looked draw-able. Costa suspended. Leicester - As i said at beginning of post - game like this no one to blame but ourselves. It is the best fixture we could ask for. YB 2nd leg - is home not away so travel is minimal for arsenal (home leicester sunday, home cup game, away arsenal - advantageous for us) Arsenal - as rested as possible QPR - same as Leicester Again maybe my point is dumb, overly optimistic or both, all im saying is if you look at the home/away and teams we play its a good run of games. Liverpool, Chelsea, Arsenal are incredibly tough fixtures (probably favored in none of them) but i like the fixtures given all the circumstances to consider.

Love it! Tim Cahill is the reason i became (and will always be) an Everton fan. I fully support anything Everton does in Australia and the USA.

I certainly see your point but that may be overstating it a bit. Barkley went unused against CP, West Brom your point holds firm, against Man City Kone, Eto'o, Oviedo unused, West Ham FA Cup Kone unused. A case could even be made for garbutt to come on at lb and push baines up because garbutt is a killer corner taker. Its a stretch i just get frustrated watching players wear down over 90 mins with unused subs.

Last topic creation for awhile i promise. I couldn't help but notice how incredibly "lucky"/favorable our next run of games are. If we don't take advantage we have no one to blame but ourselves. I love the FA cup, probably equal to or greater than anyone on this forum, so i was gutted when we went out but hindsight is always 20/20 and thank goodness we did lose. Derby Home (Liverpool have a replay midweek) Chelsea Away (midweek, chelsea form down relative to season on whole) 8 days off for travel to Swiss Europa League game (no FA cup fixture over the weekend) Leicester Home (coming off EL game cant ask for more than bottom team at home) Young Boys Home (again i know we earned top spot in our group but if this is the travel game and the home game was the 1st leg this tie gets much more difficult) Arsenal Away (tough fixture no doubt but wont have thursday travel to deal with and hopefully buoyed by advancement to round of 16) Stoke Away (tough fixture) Hopefully Europa 16 - 8 days off with no FA cup tie (hopefully we travel for the first leg again) Newcastle home (great to be at home after travelling/cup game, average opponent) Europa 16 2nd leg (again hopefully 2nd leg is at home but even if it isnt our Sunday game prior was at home so legs will be rested) QPR Away (I know i sound like a broken record but coming off EL games cant ask for more than bottom clubs - QPR is about as good as it gets) Realistically i'll say 11 points from those 7 PL games and we advance to Round of 16. Hoping for a good draw for that round. My hopeful side says 15 points from those 7 PL games. Thougts blues?

I don't post that often so just to be clear i am a Martinez supporter. However his use and frequency of substitutions is truly mind-boggling and frankly laughable. Most may have no interest in this topic but i felt a desire to throw it out there at least in part so i could stop obsessing over it. 2014/15 Substitutions Used: (in order by date) Full Season: Aug. 16 2,3,2,2,3,3,3,3,1,,3,3,3,2,3,3,3,3,3,2,2,2,3,3,0,3,3,2,3,1,2,2,2 Jan 31. Just Europa & Cup Games: 3,3,1,3,3,3,3,3,2 Admittedly these findings weren't as shocking as i expected - i thought he was under utilizing subs all season but it appears to just be recently. We have played 9 games from 12/20 to 1/31 and only twice has he used all 3 subs. (Boxing day game of 3 subs doesnt count because howard was substituted). 9 games in 5 weeks and ONLY TWICE using all 3 subs. Complete bollocks. Finally, team record based on number of subs used: Overall: 9 wins, 12 draws, 11 losses 0 subs: 0-0-1 1 sub: 0-2-0 2 subs: 3-4-4 3 subs: 6-6-6

Robles Coleman Stones Jags Baines Barry McCarthy/Besic Lennon Naismith Mirallas Lukaku

Everton 3 - 1 Shite Mirallas

Great signing. Absolutely 0 risk. Surely better than mcgeady as a starter and moves mcgeady to his most effective position 15 minute substitute at end of game. Really hope he starts Saturday - just another boost heading into the match

CP win Liverpool win Chelsea loss Leicester draw arsenal draw dont know why but i have a very funny feeling about the next 2 games. well rested with the high of europe around the corner. i know it sounds insane but i truly believe in 6 points the next 2 games

Crystal Palace 2 - 3 Everton Jags

Robles Coleman Stones Jags Baines Barry Besic McGeady Barkley Mirallas Lukaku McCarthy on for Besic at half Naismith to replace McGeady - preferably not in stoppage time Are we still allowed a 3rd sub? Seems like the rules have changed and we can only use 2 per game.....

It's pretty clear this is going to be a very important summer for the club. At minimum the following will/need to leave: Atsu, Distin, Pienaar, Eto'o You could also argue for: Alcaraz, Hibbert, Barry, Gibson, McGeady, Osman, Mirallas, Kone, McAleny Hibbert/Alcaraz/Osman/Gibson decent enough as squad player - cant see them leaving because it will cost way more to find a viable replacement Barry loved by Martinez wont leave McAleny could be sold to Championship team Mirallas/McGeady/Kone - likely to be sold. Need to raise funds somehow. Mirallas will catch a price or decent player swap. McGeady decent tag, Kone decent tag. With that being said we need to bring in: 1 GK, 2 CB, 1 CM, 3 Wingers, 1 Striker - That's going to be very expensive!!!! Average age PL Squad beginning of 2014/15 season: Man City - 28.9 QPR - 27.7 Everton - 27.7 Stoke - 27.5 West Brom - 27.5 Crystal Palace - 27.2 West Ham - 27 Chelsea - 26.9 Hull - 26.6 Burnley - 26.5 Swansea - 26.2 Leicester - 26.2 Aston Villa - 26.2 Sunderland - 26.1 Tottenham - 25.7 Southampton - 25.6 Man Utd - 25.5 Arsenal - 25.4 Liverpool - 25.2 Newcastle - 25.1