Blue 250

What I liked about the ref at Spurs,was how he allowed Osman(I think it was him)to

wrestle the end off that Spurs wall to allow Stubb's thunderbolt a passage on goal!

THANKS REF

i'm not worried about him being kicked n that, because he'll win freekicks all day...and if teams double up on him, gives more space for the other lads to do damage.

Sure putting two men on him will make more space....But giving Neville or Carsley a few

extra yards wont worry most teams too much!

Also you might not mind Arteta getting kicked.......but one kick can end a season!And that's

just not worth even a Stubbs thunderbolt.

Hey Bobbyj,nothing wrong with conviction and hope in your team,it's what fills football

stadiums up and down the country every saturday.

Like you've said if other teams suffer loss of form and lose playmakers,then the

unexpected can happen!

Tell you what,if Everton go to Reading and get a good win,which lets be honest isn't

really that hard to believe.By doing so going one better than Man utd and perhaps

even Chelsea(I did say a good win)...then a few more people will start to think this

could be a very good season.

But if we lose!..which is possible.What then,already top 6 will look good again.

Never underestimate confidence and what it does to a player and a team....think you

can do it,and you probably can.....think you can't do it and you probably wont!

I'm not saying win the league.......I'm saying win the next match.Isn't that what happened

the season we came 4th,it just seemed to roll on and on.

Enjoy the moment!

Of course we can win the league!......So at the start of the season can anyone!

Reasons why we probably wont win the league:

1.Small squad,already without Cahill and Vaughan....What if we lost Arteta and Lescott?

2.Playing in Europe will stretch us a bit with injuries and amount of games!

3.Other teams are able to cope with the above better than us!

BUT....we have probably got a better squad than the one that finished 4th...AND if

we have luck with injuries and sign a couple of other players,we could be there again.

Probably best think about 4th and above after about 10 games.Then if we are in the top

4 with a full squad available.....start thinking big.

The Manchester City forums will be full of people just like us!

This season could be a difficult one for Arteta!After reading the above link,I'm wondering

how long before teams either man mark him....or just kick him!

Therefore step forward Lescott(plus tattoo),Osman,AJ,Piennar....in fact all the rest of the

team.Make sure that we don't become a one man team.

After the Wigan game a post of mine questioned "why we played the long ball so much" and that we should keep it on the floor Etc.

What did I get in response? "we won be happy" "the long ball game is a good tactic" "Wigan are no pushovers" "Its one of Moyes' tactics" Etc Etc.

Now I find a thread about "long balls being a waste" AND many replies supporting this theory, I despair!

My point a few days ago was that we were playing WIGAN at home, and shouldnt need to resort to long balls.

Spurs away I would expect some long balls.

I fail to understand why some would defend long balls at home to Wigan and have a go at the long ball tactic Away at Spurs.

Wasn't it a long ball out of defence that sent Geoff Hurst away for "that"goal in the 66 world

cup final?....Plus numerous other things have been won with a"long"ball forward!!

Every team plays them now and again.....LIVE WITH IT!!

Sure at the moment with tiny AJ and Anichebe who at the moment isn't handling them that

well,it's not really working out that well,BUT!.....I guess you might be the first to moan when

Stubbs or Neville try to take full control of the ball and and do some wonderfull skill with it

before making a killer pass..........only to lose the ball under pressure and concede a goal!

Next thing you know the forums full of "just fuc%ing blast the ball forward.....stop playing

about with it".

Untill the whole team is ready to play the ball out every time,the long ball will continue!

As said it's not really working out too well at the moment......but hey!were winning.

Question!.....What if we bought a forward who was excellent at holding the ball,laying off

and flicking on!!....AND we came up against a team who it was obvious couldn't really handle

the "long ball".......What do we do?...NOT play the long ball because it's not nice to look at?

try and go through midfield because it's the way football should be played?

Come on!....Some times the long ball works......Just ask Geoff Hurst!

It would help if tonight Chelsea give them a battle never to forget!....May every Reading

player leave that pitch thinking Saturday is to soon to take on Everton!

And may they be proved right.

Confidence is a wonderful thing,we(the players) will go there expecting to win.If they

put as much effort in as at Spurs,Reading will be lucky to get a point from us.

The ball will eventually have to cross the line for AJ!.....May as well be at Reading.

And of course expect "goal machine"Leon Osman to get his usual goal.

2-0 or 2-1 Everton.

Anichebe's style of play,ie the big front target man,I think is not something that comes

easy to young players.It's a craft to be learnt and perfected.Drogba couldn't do it that

well in his first season here(and how much did he cost)....How many young lads are

noted for this type of game?not many.

I think it's kinda put pressure on him that this season due partly to injuries he's starting

matches and people are expecting big things from him.Unlike last season when coming

on as sub the pressure wasn't there so much.

The nerves are getting to him!Sapping his energy maybe...after all it's a hell of a leap

from behind Vaughan and Beattie he's now Evertons big hope.Pressure or what?

He's a rough diamond...and if polished correctly could be awesum.He's probably nervious,

with every good reason.He probably shouldn't be starting every game,but we've won two

with him up there(and he's scored)....and every game that goes by he's learning.

Are we not at the moment expecting to much from him?

Did you notice Lescotts reaction to the Spurs goal last night?Head in hands!he knew

he'd made a mistake,and boy did it hurt.That was the second goal this season to come

from a bad piece of marking.Lescotts reaction I hope shows his determination to not

make those silly mistakes....add that to the way Howard is playing and the fact that

Baines should also help improve things at the back,and theres every hope that teams

will find it very hard to break us down.

Being top for even a short period is nice,enjoy....Spurs fans would swap with us!

Spurs will still be top six.....and I think it's fair to say we wont finish top!

BUT.....Those next three games are winable if we play like last night,when lets be honest

we could have won that 5-1 if not for Robinson....Then the confidence factor could/should

kick in and we may well not slip out of the top 6 ourselves.

beating 2 crap teams is hardly an achievement

Wouldn't call Spurs at home a crap team.......A LUCKY win away at a poor Villa,now

that's what I'd call hardly an achievement!!

Great performance from all including Moyes.Arteta was quiet in the second half and Anichebe

was lagging a bit.....bloody good job for spurs,or it would have been about 5-1.

AJ and Osman chased all night......could Osman be our surprise scoring machine?

Will Cahill get back in the team?How good could we be with Baines and Fernandes?

Playing like that,Reading will be worried about our visit.

Should we change a winning team,go back to one up front?Maybe we should keep faith with

Anichebe,the more games he gets the better.

Great night for all BLUES.

QUOTE(MikeO @ Aug 8 2007, 3:14 PM)

Think (and hope) Shitty will struggle....spent a fortune on Geovanni, Rolando Bianchi, Gelson Fernandes, Martin Petrov, Javier Garrido, Vedran Corluka, Elano and Valeri Bojinov and got rid of Joey Barton, Sylvain Distin, Nicky Weaver, Trevor Sinclair, Hatem Trabelsi and Stephen Jordan....looking to sell Danny Mills, Ousmane Dabo and Paul Dickov and maybe Georgios Samaras, Darius Vassell, Ishmael Miller and Kasper Schmeichel as well.

That's a huge upheaval, they don't know each other, language problems also? Then when their new owner is found guilty of human rights violations and they have to pay all the money back . Conference beckons.

YEH!.....But it's not all bad!They've got Eriksson as a manager.......Oh Fuck!Yes it is!!!!

Well!....As it stands at the moment it's Mr Eriksson 1 Blue 250 0.....but then wtf do

I know?

Just didn't think he had the passion or drive for premiership life!Guess we will see in

about another 37 games.

I still don't believe in Second Season Syndrome. I actually see it as more of an excuse for failure than a reason why we should struggle. If we do go down next season it will be because we are not good enough or maybe didn't increase player numbers enough, not because of SSS."

--Reading, Aug. 11

Well no signs of Second Season Syndrome on saturday (Man utd 0 Reading 0 )!!

Mind you Second Season Syndrome usually kicks in during the third game of the

new season!MMmmm,That will be the game against us then.....wouldn't that be nice!

There will always be a place in football for the long ball!.....It's a tactic,that can obviously

result in goals.It's a way to bypass another teams superior midfield rather than just

giving it away.League trophies and cups have been won by teams employing the long

ball.Everton have made the most of it over the years.

I think what's frustrating Everton fans is that,unless the long ball to AJ is accurate,then

he will either not win it or have to chase long and hard for it.Also and I can't really comment

on this but it seems Anichebe didn't handle the long ball that well(though given time I'm

sure that will be a big part of his game...that skill will develop with age,unlike just running

on to through balls).

One problem is some fans were expecting a 3 or 4-0 victory against Wigan,thinking Wigan

would be an easy game!!There wont be any easy games....Reading 0-0 at Man utd,

spurs lost at Sunderland,Birmingham scored 2 at Chelsea and Arsenal and Liverpool

both rode their luck against"easy"teams.....

I don't like watching waisted long balls....but will take them if it means a win and three points.

Every Everton player tried against Wigan....even Anichebe,whose raw talant needs games

and the fans help to develop.Everton will improve on that game,so will most of the other teams.

Moyes will do whatever he has to do to get a result....even if that means Neville,Carsley and

co.

I completely agree he is class, and i'd have him in my side over Ronaldo any day. i am biased though anyone else not looking forward to his eventual call-up, im afraid the world will see how good he is against any opponent and come in with their deep pockets

Well with the new 5 year contract he's just signed...those pockets need to be very deep

indeed!

To help insure he wants to stay,maybe Moyes could work on not playing half of the balls

out of defence....over Arteta's head.

ino its early in the season but if andy johnson carrys on lik he did yesterday then we are in serious trouble! he is our centre forward y in gods name does he dilly dally on the wing and supply crosses. we need him in the boxs on the end of crosses if i moyes i wud be telling him to stay centrel and let other people do the crossing i found him very frustrating yesterday. your views please

When the likes of Stubbs,Neville and Hibbert and perhaps a couple of others manage

to get their long punts forward to a central position THEN AJ may not be pushed out onto the wings chasing the ball.Problem is he's very good at chasing those balls,and actually

making something out of them!PROBLEM is with him out there.....WHO'S going to recieve

the ball from him?Vaughan could possibly do it(maybe better than Anichebe)..Cahill

certainly would be a pretty good target!Thing is there not playing at the moment.

Because AJ 's good at running with the ball into the corners.....that's why the defenders are

hitting that area....But as you say what then?

Fernandes and maybe piennar will demand the ball from the defence rather than watch

it punted over their heads.That way they and Arteta will be able to give AJ the service he

deserves.

5/10 balls forward are long and usually waisted....a better midfield will help with that

problem.For example Arteta or Fernandes running forward with the ball AJ ready for the little

through ball,another player going wide....that spells problems for a defence.......

....On the other hand we could just blast the ball up over AJ's head.

Don't want to lose!....play Carsley,Neville etc!

WANT to win...try Fernandes,Piennar etc!

Don't get me wrong Carsley and Neville have a roll to play this season...and will play at

Spurs.

It's no wonder they call us bitter, what is the obsession with Liverpool? The only time I care how they do is when we play them

BULLSHIT!.....Your like most Blues,would love them to lose every week!

The one thing the rs don't want people to mention is the huge amounts of luck they

get.....for that reason alone I will continue to highlight it!

Any way who are you the internet police.Under the"General Football Discussion"section

I was under the impression I could talk about any team I want?

Arsenal were pretty lucky today!......

Well was it really a whole year ago Captain fantastic Gerrard cheated and

got luckypool a penalty at Sheffield Utd.....What happened today?Gerrard cheated

and got a free kick on the edge of the area...and the rest is history!

OH well!....move on there's a whole season of lucky own goals,whacky long shot's

and incredible refereing decisions(in their favor) to come.....

Plus points from the rs game?....well yes!Their best two players are still the boyhood

Blues Carrigher and captain fantastic.....Spend as much as they like but without those

two there only top 6!

Wouldn't mind taking crouch from them when he gets pissed off.

I would say that if Moyes had every player within the squad fit and up to speed

in the prem then the likes of:Cahill, Pienaar, Baines, Vaughan, Jagielka and McFadden

not to mention Fernandes would be more than just looking in!

Mix that lot or two or three of them into the team were going to look better than

today.

Today was Moyes after an opening day win with what he'd got fit and ready, and he

just about pulled it off.

He can't have been pleased with all those waisted balls forward....nor can AJ.

Didn't we throw away the lead to Wigan twice at home last season?...2-2 I think!

so 2-1......thats an improvement, just.

Spurs losing in the last minute to newly promoted Sunderland can have done

their confidence no good.If they start badly against us things could go our way.

Neither Everton or Spurs started with a good performance.....but we got 3 points.

For them to lose like that will really piss them off...after all that hype.

Moyes certainly needs to change a couple of things!

High long balls forward don't really get us much.Use Arteta more,but for Gods sake give the man some help!

Feed AJ properly and he will score.Anchiebe if played again can only play better,he's

still very young.

A squad with Cahill,Vaughan,Baines and McFadden in will give us more options.

my thoughts after watching a small screen on the pc!

We won without really playing well,whilst Wigan wont be the pushovers some

expect,so that was fair enough.

Osman did ok!But Cahill would do better.Lescott at left back was ok!but Baines

will probably do better in that position,whilst Lescott will be great along side Yobo.

Arteta was class,and will improve as the midfield gets stronger.

Anichebe was a tad lucky with his goal! BUT right place,right time shows with

luck he can become a really good player.AJ chased everything and was a credit to the

shirt.....but some of our balls through/over to him were poor!If they had been better

we wouldn't have been hanging on at the end.

Pinnar looked a good player and was involved in the Anichebe goal as was AJ....Great

build up for that goal.

3 points at a canter,only at times did we really get going.But you can see that the potential

when were fully fit is there.I think Moyes was a touch cautious.We need to kill games

better than this or were going to throw away some silly points again this season.

Clean sheet would have been nice!Crap marking for their goal....Baines should shore

up the defence.

As I said at the top, my screen was very small!.........maybe you saw it differently.

Starting to think myself lucky that I haven't got a vote on the moving issue!

Don't envy you guys that will decide Evertons future.

What do you do?....Gut feeling?What someone said down the pub?What you've read

on a forum?.....does that sway your vote?

Fate will decide and some will be unhappy!My only hope if we do move is that all

the Evertonians who have said they wont go and watch Everton,will realise that that

can only hurt Everton FC.surely wherever we go if it's with our present manager

and the majority of our present squad,if your a real Evertonian....you will follow!

Don't cut of your nose to spite your face.Stand by the team,isn't that what makes

Evertonians great?

Evertons greatest asset is their fans.....prove it!

When the lucky 40,000 get home from Goodison park tomorrow(after out playing

Wigan and hopefully winning)check the other football scores as they come in.

Amongst the losers will be some teams who have moved to new stadiums,some will

even lose at those said stadiums.

One things for sure WE WONT LOSE A GAME AT Goodison PARK THIS SEASON

BECAUSE IT NEEDS THE TOILETS DOING UP A BIT, OR SOME OF THE WOODWORK

NEEDS REPLACING!!.......AND the teams that have moved to new stadiums wont

win more games there because they have nice seats.

Hang in at Goodison until the right move comes in.Didn't we get a draw at Arsenal's

new stadium....instead of getting the usual thrashing like at Highbury,so the new

stadium didn't help Arsenal with that one.

The rs new stadium will eventually cost more like £400million,yeh wont it shine,but

we can still beat them on that piece of grass in the middle.The pressure will be on them

they have to win things just like some of the other teams going down that line,and

most of them wont.We can with our decent squad win a couple of trophies over the

next couple of years....yes it's a small squad but luck with injuries will see us way

ahead of most of the others.....whilst still at Goodison.

i'm getting a PSP at the end of the month (got one free on my mobile contract!) - anyone got one and/or got FM 2007 for it? is it worth getting?

My son got one today......Hasn't hardly put it down!Probably got it in bed as I type!!

Looks a mean piece of kit to me.Though can't see me ever getting a go on it

Think (and hope) Shitty will struggle....spent a fortune on Geovanni, Rolando Bianchi, Gelson Fernandes, Martin Petrov, Javier Garrido, Vedran Corluka, Elano and Valeri Bojinov and got rid of Joey Barton, Sylvain Distin, Nicky Weaver, Trevor Sinclair, Hatem Trabelsi and Stephen Jordan....looking to sell Danny Mills, Ousmane Dabo and Paul Dickov and maybe Georgios Samaras, Darius Vassell, Ishmael Miller and Kasper Schmeichel as well.

 

That's a huge upheaval, they don't know each other, language problems also? Then when their new owner is found guilty of human rights violations and they have to pay all the money back . Conference beckons.

YEH!.....But it's not all bad!They've got Eriksson as a manager.......Oh Fuck!Yes it is!!!!

Does anyone else think that maybe DM said he would walk if he was not given money to cover the injuries to cahill and vaughan?

You'll probably have to wait for DM's book to come out to find out that one!

Maybe he has tried his luck with a"give me some money,or else"kinda statement.

But on the other hand,it could be these are are the players he wanted and they

weren't available a while back!perhaps he didn't want Smith or other players

like Nugent,that the fans wanted.

I didn't want Smith,and I thought Vaughan was better than Nugent.I know lots of

other people thought the same.

History will judge.....and the book(Moyes autobiorgraphy)will make good reading,

espicially that chapter entitled....season 2007-08 a great season!!!