Isaiah

I'd like Gueye back but every single 'article' by that PrinceRupertsTower kid follows the same blueprint; he has only one source for any of his "transfer news" pieces, they range in credibility from a tiny provincial news site to some random guy on Twitter, and he makes it all sound more credible by burying it in a thousand poorly-written words of the player's history. Because if he just said: "Here's a link to someone with no credentials pulling a rumour out of his arse" he wouldn't be taken seriously, but couching the same thing in the appearance of 'journalism' gives it weight apparently.

tl:dr - Gueye isn't coming back.     

He's not a priority signing for me. I hope that before the club starts looking at forward players they sort the damn centre of midfield out first.  

Only silver lining is that if it's a choice between Bournemouth and Villa to go down, I'd far rather it was Villa. 

There's literally nothing we're playing for these next 2 games (the bit of extra prize money for a place or two higher is nothing compared to the value of having a better idea for next season; plus, our owner is loaded). I want us to start Moise Kean (especially him), Branthwaite, Beni and Gordon.  I know what Davies, DCL and Walcott can do, I don't know what Beni, Gordon and Kean can do. Fuck these last 2 games, this has been a miserable season that will be erased from my memory the moment the final whistle blows against Bournemouth. Showcase the kids. The shower of shit that apparently comprises our "best team" has had all season to show what they can do, and it turns out they can't do much.  

^^ Nice random advertising post.

Notched his 19th league goal of the season tonight in the Milan derby. 

I decided to watch the game, it's the first time I've actually sat and watched a game of his since he left the Premier League (I wasn't even watching for him, I wanted to see how Ibrahimovich is getting on). Based on this one match, my impression is that he's definitely found the league that best suits the strengths of his game, and doesn't punish the weaknesses so harshly. His poor first touch isn't such an issue over there because of the much slower pace of the game, and having a midfield who are very skilled at placing the ball exactly where he needs it (Brozovic in particular seems to put every pass on a plate for him, and now they've added Christian Eriksen, another fantastic passer) means that his brilliance at finding the target pretty much does the rest. 

Good on him for making the intelligent move for his skillset. I'm happy for him.   

Pretty funny to re-read some of the posts on the first page of this thread with the benefit of hindsight (not that I'm blaming anyone for their first reaction to this signing, because I doubt anyone predicted just how good a buy he'd turn out to be). 

I remember when we signed Richie, the media never missed an opportunity to say we'd bought "£50 million Richarlison from Watford" (even though the initial outlay was 35 million), trying to make us out to be mugs. I remember every opposition fan board I checked was laughing at us too. 

Well, 18 months on and United's main fan site has a thread calling for their board to try and sign him.   

2 hours ago, johnh said:

Our -5 goal difference doesn't do us any favours.

-4 now. We're chipping away at it game by game.

Not quite last minute (last 10 though) but Everton - Wimbledon, 1994. Graeme Stuart's goal to save us from relegation is one of my most vivid football memories. 

Yep, "not available in your country" for me too. 

We're a competent midfield away from pushing for a Europa place. 

Absolutely made up with that result. This is the best I've felt after an Everton game in what feels like literally years. 

Other results look like going our way also. Up to 8th!

Even Mbappe, who looks like being a once-in-a-generation talent, is holding off on the big move to Madrid according to his recent interview, and Haaland just chose Dortmund to further his development. It's madness to go to such a massive club as Real Madrid at such a young age. They've already got that Vinicius Junior kid wasting his talent on the bench week in week out. 

Given how utterly decimated our midfield has been, this recent run of results since Marco was sacked (credit to Dunc as well as Carlo) has been very impressive. 

3 minutes ago, barryj said:

Pleased not to see Morgan start!

 

Same here although I'm annoyed he's even on the bench. His lounging around on the floor while Curtis Jones scored last week was the final straw for me. I don't want to see him in the stadium again.

https://twitter.com/robefc80/status/1213933295307776001

Looking at these lineups, it just occurred to me that never in Oumar Niasse's wildest dreams did he imagine he'd one day be managed by Carlo Ancelotti.

2 minutes ago, badaids said:

I'd be quite happy if we can get another and extra time.

There's no extra time. Straight to penalties if it's a draw.

4 attackers on the bench and no central defender (not that we have any).

^^ It's bollocks mate. Just SSN doing what they always do. 

6 minutes ago, Newty82 said:

SSN breaking that Vitor Periera is the main target. Read his Wikipedia, apparently he was interviewed for us back in 2013. Doesn't seem to have done anything too special. Almost a carbon copy of Silva with wins with top teams in Portugal and Greece, and strange quits/sackings/mutual what evers along the way.

In other words some SSN intern has been tasked with scouring the internet archives for managers that were previously linked with Everton and now they're throwing out names to keep people watching their channel. 

It's almost certainly (please God) only for 1 game which is in less than 48 hours, so with that in mind, there's no chance of any kind of new tactics or grand strategy for the Chelsea game. Some dumb rabble rousing "Go Out There And Twat 'Em" team talk is probably the best chance we have of getting a result, and that's the kind of thing Dunc can deliver just as well if not better than Unsworth.