carlmc25

I like Ossie but he does need resting. From memory I thought he played well in the semi final and he works very hard for the team. He just doesn't really have the pace to be a winger, last season he played very well in the centre of the park and I'd still probably prefer him there than Fellaini tbh. He needs a rest but I still have a lot of time for him and hope he gets back to form next year when hopefully he can be an excellent squad player in both CM and RW.

I trust him 100%, the guy is a very good central defender and a smashing servant to our club. People jumped on his back on Saturday because we got hit by a sucker punch for the first goal, why Joey got blamed is simple, he is becoming the new whipping boy which is ridiculous. Look at the goal, why doesn't anyone moan about Fellaini for not challenging for the ball when it went into their area, Joey nodded the ball back trying to restart that attack, his move was covered by Jags acting as sweeper. Robinho went off like a rocket with Jags affter him, he eventually puts the ball between Tims legs ffs but some blame Joey amazing.

 

Every supporter at this club are duty bound to get right behind him because Joey will play at Wembley against Chelsea, remember his performance at Stamford Bridge he was solid, what I don't want to see is him become the new Hibbo, Ossie has that role

I agree. Yobo has been a brilliant servant to this club and played all of last season, when he struck up a brilliant partnership with Jags which effectively kept Baines out of the team and we kept virtually a record number of clean sheets - more than we have done this season without him playing every week. Yobo was brilliant last year, he was our best centre back yet was unsung as usual. He has only played in fits and starts this season, at the beginning of the season he was carrying an injury and the whole team was suffering and playing poorly, when he played later on in the season we have hardly conceded a goal. As I highlighted in another thread the other day, Yobo on average, statistically, has kept a higher percentage of clean sheets and earned a higher percentage of points than either Jags or Lescott when he has played this season so he can't be doing too much wrong.

As sorry as I feel for Jags, I believe that when Yobo gets back to form he is the best centre back we have, he is lightning fast and the best header of the ball we have (Jags does struggle a bit in the air). We will be up against a powerhouse in Drogba and Yobo is the best suited to deal with him. Without Yobo this season we have struggled against big front men - Carew won every header (Villa scored goals for fun in each game), Crouch scored twice and Jags couldn't get near him etc. IF Yobo gets back to form then I think it may enhance our chances at Wembley. Yobo deserves to play at Wembley for his service to this club and his performances over a number of years, it may be bad luck for Jags but Yobo is brilliant and should not weaken our team one iota.

I think some are over reacting to the match yesterday, we didn't play well but that happens now and again and our brilliant run was never going to last forever. The league is pretty much irrelevant for me now, it doesn't really matter if we finish 5th or 6th and I'd rather we kept players fresh for the cup final. The only thing I was concerned about yesterday was Jags injury, which is a massive shame for the club and for Jags missing the cup final. That being said, IF Yobo can get his form back from the next run of games then I think he is better suited to playing against Drogba and Chelsea than Jags anyway. I personally believe that there is no reason why Lescott and Yobo couldn't make the best partnership in the league, yet when they have played together in the past they've looked a bit uncomfortable. Now it's time for them to get it together and win it for Arteta, Yakubu and Jags.

Unlucky Jagielka, cruel luck.

Well said mate, we shouldnt even be thinking about this, I would rather have mikel for the start of next season than 25 million, no doubt about it. We could probably go out and buy moutinho then but id rather have Mikel, he is the heart of our team and when he's on top of his game he's up there with the best midfielders in the league, I know bitter liverpool fans and even they admit Arteta would be a good signing for them, he's miles better than Barry and I dont think Barry would even join us so that tells you something, Whats the point? we would never get a player better who is willing to join us to play in the uefa cup and we probably wouldn't even get the lot to spend knowing Everton, so lets make the most of him whilst he wants to be here.

Excellent post. I wouldn't sell Mikel for £25m even if we spent all of that money on replacements. He is, imo, one of the very best central midfielders in this country and can also do a job on the wing, his set-pieces are excellent (we have missed him since he has gone) and when he plays we are a totally different team. Since he moved into the CM position he has been a revelation, his commitments is also unquestionable. We have no one in our squad with anything like his quality and I agree, Barry is not in the same league.

The question about Lescott is a more difficult one. I think Lescott has been brilliant this season, after an incredibly shaky start he has grown and grown and for me, he still looks the classier player than Jags and I think he will end up an England regular. At the same time, we DO have cover in the fact that we have Yobo in the wings who also formed a formidable partnership with Jags last season and is a brilliant defender. If we had a big offer for Lescott (say in excess of £15m) then in our current financial position I think Moyes would have to consider it. I'm not saying I think he should go for it but he would have to consider it.

I'd rest a couple of players again here, possibly let Lescott have a breather and Osman. Yobo can step in and do a job again as hopefully he really get into some form as personally I think he is better equipped to play in the cup final against Drogba than either Lescott or particularly Jagielka as he is much better in the air and quicker. Probably give Gosling a run out and Vaughan 45 minutes as well, build him up slowly to unleash him in the final.

Going back to Yobo, I've been noticing some saying how dodgy he looks etc (considering we have hardly let in a goal when he's played in recent months I find that slightly unfair) and it's interesting to point out that when he plays we actually average more points than if either Jags or Lescott play.

I checked football anorak and with Yobo (played 21 games) we average 1.714 points per match, Jags (32 matches) averages 1.625 points and Lescott (31 games) 1.5806 points.

If you look at clean sheets then again Yobo comes out on top, he has 10 in 21 (47.6%), Jagielka has 14 in 32 (43.75%) and Lescott 13 in 31 (41.9%)

I thought this may be the case as although Jags and Lescott have been brilliant together this season (I have been getting more and more impressed with Lescott to be honest, he looks like a real classy defender, excellent in the air, good passer, composed and quick - Jags still struggles in the air and is a bit of a hoofer imo, although probably still our player of the season with Lescott catching every week) I couldn't remember us letting in many goals with Yobo in the team since those early few horrific games.

I don't know what the goals conceded are for those games played (which would be useful) but I think some people forget that Yobo is a very good defender and he and Jags were formidable last season.

and yes, I am an unashamed Yobo fan as I still feel that due to his attributes he is our best defender once he's had a run of games.

What Everton need:

 

A decent Right Back (7)

 

A decent Winger (who can play with both feet) (8)

 

A top-drawer creative force (8)

 

A defensive Mid (7.5)

 

A out-n-out Striker (8)

 

A back-up keeper (6)

 

 

Numbers represent realistic quality needed to push Everton forward without breaking the bank.

 

1 being shite

 

10 being world class e.g Messi

 

Currently in those positions we have (based on technical ability etc)

 

Hibbert (4.5)

 

Pienaar (6.5)

 

Osman (5.5 at best)

 

Neville (5.5) based on yday a 10

 

Yakubu (6.5)

 

Nash (2)

Based on technical ability is quite simply useless when talking about a RB and DM. As for Yakubu, technically he is brilliant and the only questions marks are against his workrate and temperament, he is more like a 9 than a 6.5 imo.

As for everyone wanting to get rid of Anichebe, I personally think that would be a big mistake, in certain matches this season (Liverpool in the league, Villa in the league) he has been outstanding and put in probably the best performances by any striker for us this season. Saha is a waste of space and needs to be shown the door but Anichebe has all the attributes to go a long way and this season he's had more energy and stamina, he just needs to stay fit (like Vaughan) and I think we could have one seriously good striker on our hands. To sell him for buttons now when he could be worth millions in the future seems one big mistake to me. Even if he doesn't make it why sell him when he obviously has the attributes (pace, height, strength, not bad finisher, decent shot and in the air, not bad awareness and touch) to become superb if he can stay fit and get a run in the team. I'd pick him ahead of any of our strikers with the exception of Yakubu.

We'll need to play better than we did yesterday when I thought we looked a little frightened in the first half and negative overall, against - let's face it - a second string (if that) Utd team. The problem is up front, Saha and Fellaini are just too slow and one dimensional to play together, they played right into Ferdinand and Vidic's hands and I assume Terry and Carvalho won't have too many problems against them. For me, Saha is a spent force and shouldn't start a match for us full stop, hopefully Vaughan can get himself fit (could Anichebe possibly be back?) as we need him imo to cause Chelsea any problems at the back. Even though Utd had a disgracefully understrength team out yesterday we still caused them virtually nil problems because we just don't have any mobility up front, Vaughan needs to stay fit otherwise I'd shove Cahill up there and leave Saha on the bench.

Our crossing was abysmal yesterday as well, apart from one Baines pull back we didn't put a single decent cross or set piece into the box, how we miss the magic of Arteta.

But anyway, fantastic result and from now on we need to keep players fresh for the final. We can beat Chelsea but we need to play better and Saha needs to be benched.

Pienaar for me, he was excellent both in attack and defence. Once again people picking up on Jags performance (which was 99% excellent) when in reality Lescott played just as well (if not better) and Lescott didn't foul someone in the area after some inept defending and get away with a stone wall penalty. But anyway, not a brilliant performance but a brilliant result COYB!

I thought he did quite well, particularly going forward where he got into some decent positions but his final cross wasn't quite there. For his first full game in a long time he played well and he was definitely better at RB than Jagielka.

Semi surprised Baines got so many votes, totally skinned about 3/4 times by Johnson down the flanks and his general set-pieces (apart from the goal) were poor, I didn't think anyone played well except for Jacobsen who I thought had a very encouraging game. The defence were shaky, the midfield non-existent, Howard could have done better on both goals imo and Jo and Saha were rubbish, unsurprisingly as Jo is totally lazy and Saha looks well past it as he can hardly even run these days.

I think it's most likely all over now, we just have too many injuries. Yobo being injured could have made a bigger difference than people appreciated, he is our best header of the ball and may have been able to do something about Crouch. Arsenal are pulling away and I think if we lose any more ground we should just start resting players for the cup and start planning for next season, ie playing some youngsters who may be good enough. 4th was always a long shot but now it's starting to look a lost hope, especially when you take the performance into account. Jo, Fellaini and Saha in the same team is a recipe for disaster, we cannot play 442 effectively and with those 3 lacking any sort of pace whatsoever we have no chance causing many teams problems. We missed Cahill badly I thought.

I know you're a fan of Yobo but the centre of defence has looked shaky with Yobo there and I'll be glad that he's not.

I'm not disputing that in an ideal world Jags and Lescott would be playing at CB (as they were excellent together) my worry is if we move Neville out of midfield then we will lose major ground in the midfield, which is the most important area of the pitch. RB is one of the least important positions on the pitch whereas DM/CM is about the most important. If we play Jacobsen or move Rodwell into RB then I am not too concerned about Yobo being injured but if Neville is moved to RB and Rodwell brought into midfield then I cannot see us winning too many more matches. I don't rate Rodwell in midfield at all, he's not ready.

It may turn out to be the best thing that could have happened to our defence. I'll feel a lot more comfortable with Jags at CB rather than RB.

At the same time we haven't been conceding many goals at all and Yobo was just getting back into form, I haven't been concerned about our defence and I would much rather have Neville in midfield than Rodwell who has looked a liability in most of the games he has played. Personally I'd rather put Rodwell or someone at RB as if we take Neville out of midfield then it really will be weak.

I can see the logic in the article, it's something I've often wondered myself - will Moyes be seen as a successor to Ferguson or a risk by Utd, he is only used to being able to buy players in the region of £2-10m, some of his more expensive signings, Beattie, AJ, Fellaini and in particular Kroldrup haven't really done the business (Fellaini is still here at least) whilst it has been the players he has bought from the lower divisions or on the cheap who have really shone. It's unfair on Moyes but no one really knows how good a job he would do if he suddenly had £60m to spend, how he would do with a room full of ego's and when you need to win in style. The only thing is, I can't see many managers who do win with style, Wenger did for a period but now seems to obsessed with style that he seems to forget you need grit as well, whilst Mourinho and Scolari were both seen as having teams who played rubbishy football and Benitez is often seen as ultra negative.

I personally think Moyes plays to his and the teams strengths and if he had more money available he would do a brilliant job but whether the Utd board see it that way is another matter, they may just appoint a big name who has won a lot of trophies.

Not when you stumble at the first hurdle like last time.

as I said before, this topic is a What if? I think both Jimmy and I are advocating 4th place on the basis that we DO qualify for the CL as otherwise you'd have to be clinically insane to want to finish 4th over winning the cup if we were to be humiliated in qualifying again.

As an Employee of EFC its obvious Moyes would want the CL spot.

As a supporter I want silverware.

 

Am I wrong for wanting that?.

 

People often talk about money spoiling the game and with talk of finishing 4th being preferable to winning the FA Cup because of the influx of cash it will bring then its easy to see why.

We all want silverware, but we want it regularly rather than having to wait another 14 years. Without money it's going to get harder and harder to win anything, it's already basically impossible to win the league without serious financial backing and the fact that hardly anyone but the big 4 has won the FA Cup in the last 10 years suggests that the same is true with the major cup competitions. The fact is the game HAS moved on and money is important to try and achieve continued success and not just a one off cup win. Winning the FA Cup is short-term, qualifying for the CL is long-term.

Could we beat Madrid or any other CL team 4-0?

 

How much money has Penfold wasted getting them where they are, we just cant find anywhere near that sort of money.

You missed my point, I didn't say Liverpool don't have a stronger team (although as our recent matches proved, not by much) all I'm saying is they don't have much strength in depth which is why they aren't winning the league even though they have beaten Man Utd and Chelsea twice. They lack the resources to rotate successfully as they have no one in reserve who can do anything like the job Gerrard and Torres do. That was my point. Yes, we don't have a very big squad but like Liverpool, we have a very good team so I see no reason why we couldn't win a few matches.

Maghull, last time we won the cup (95) it didn't help us one bit, since we qualified for the CL a few years back we have steadily improved year on year and not looked back. Also, I don't think anyone in their right mind is suggesting that we'd rather finish 4th in the league, get knocked out again in qualifying, over winning the FA Cup. What we are suggesting is that we'd rather finish 4th, qualify for the CL properly and earn the £10-20m guaranteed whilst enhancing our reputation in Europe and allowing Moyes some room to spend in the transfer market, rather than winning a trophy which whilst very nice will only help enhancce our history rather than our future.

I wouldn't say Liverpool have a massive squad, they are totally reliant on Torres and Gerrard, they only have one decent striker (Torres) and no decent wingers. Winning the cup would be nice but it won't make any difference to the fortunes of Everton football club, it's just a nice day out and some history, qualifying for the CL could transform the club - that is the difference.

I didn't see the game but for the record Sharp on Radio City said he'd had a poor game so the goal came at a good time for him. Watching the highlights it looked like both the assist (deflected) and the goal (wickedly deflected) were on the lucky side but I suppose you have to buy a ticket to win the lottery! If he keeps scoring goals I won't complain, let's just hope Cahill is ok for the weekend as we looked a different (and much worse) team once he went off and Fellaini moved back to cover his position.

And the roll eyes is for.......

 

I benefited greatly from Jimmy's commentary as it meant i didn't have to scroll through dozens of posts with everyone saying the same thing to find out what's happening, and because work ban the sports sites after you've been on them a while. If people want someone to do it i'll be glad to ablige as i'm off for the pompey game

 

And on that note, I reckon we'll see a tighter game out of portsmouth, but still get a win. I'm going for a 2-1, Howard has been a little rocky the last couple of games which i hate to see, and I think part of it is not having Jags in front of him cutting outmost of the attacks, I like Yobo but Legscott was a wicked partnership and I'd like to see it put back together. maybe shift Neville back and start Rodwell.

Rodwell looks a liability in midfield to me, Neville has been brilliant so leave him where he is and have the less important role of RB slightly weaker. I think we'll win this by the odd goal.

Man Utd 86

Chelsea 84

Liverpool 84

Everton 70

Arsenal 66

Aston Villa 63

West Ham 53

Middlesbrough 35

Hull 34

West Brom 29

Virtually every game of Everton's run in looks very winnable, I see Arsenal and Villa dropping major points.

Cup, we aint got a strong enough squad to compete in the C.L. ..........YET

It's not about competing in the CL at the moment, it's about getting into the CL, getting the money to strengthen the team/squad and then trying to finish 4th again when hopefully we will be able to compete. We're never going to be strong enough unless we get some money and we're never going to get any money until we either qualify or get taken over - and to be taken over we probably need to be a more attractive proposition and the CL would help! I'd far rather we kept our current leadership (ie not be taken over like Man City) and started to get increased revenue from the CL to transfer our fortunes.

That little gnome who hailed his team as world beaters when they grabbed a lucky win on our patch is now moaning because Villian fans are booing Gabby the goat..........................his world class player...........tosser or what

 

Just think if we'd held out for a draw against them, beaten the Gooners which we should have done and won at Newcastle we'd have been odds on for the C/L by now when looking at the remaining games for A/V Gooners and ourselves

Yeah I used to like O'Neill until he stood there with a straight face and actually claimed that his side deserved to win that 3-2 match earlier in the season, you could even hear the increduility in the interviewers voice. Then the whole thing with the UEFA Cup and inviting the fans for a meal seemed pretty desperate imo.

The FA CUP for me, that way at least the "noughties" wont be a barren decade for us and well, we all saw what can happen after an FA CUP win back in 1984 (ignore what happened after 1995 )

 

In fact if we dont win it then I believe it would be our 2nd most barren spell in our history. And if we win nowt for 3 seasons after this it WILL be our most barren period EVER!!!. And I dont want that.

 

I know we need money and if we get in the chumps league it will mean more cash and in turn more chance of competing etc. But as we all know money DOES NOT guarantee success.

At the same token, I can virtually guarantee that no money does guarantee you no success. Looking at our league run in and the remaining games that we have in the FA Cup, one could argue that finishing 4th in the league is a more realistic aim than winning the cup. I'd be happy with either, winning something would be brilliant but for me, finishing 4th would be like winning the league.

FA Cup. Everyday of the week. Nobody remembers who finishes 4th. We have proven that already. The money of the CL would be good but I would honestly prefer to win a trophy then have no chance of really competing in another.

We have as much chance winning the FA Cup as the Champions League surely, all the best teams in Europe are in the Premier League, hence why Chelsea, Arsenal, Utd and Liverpool are all in the latter stages. The FA Cup is a brief joy, Champions League qualification (not getting knocked out before we qualify like last time) is potentially a defining moment. Just ask Portsmouth what they'd prefer, they won the cup last year and look at them now. Getting into the top 4 again would prove that it's no fluke and would prove how good a team we have, it would be an absolutely unbelievable achievement considering the injuries we've had. Moyes must once again be in the running for manager of the year.