carlmc25

Yakubu was looking pretty good at the end of last season and looked good yesterday. Saha is now a donkey, he's too slow to play up front on his own, he wins less headers than Cahill, is lazy, can't run and gives the ball away loads, he's not in Yakubu's league any more. I was seriously worried when we were supposed to be selling the Yak, he's easily our most talented striker, although I do think if Anichebe can stay fit he'll be awesome in the near future. Saha should never start for Everton again, he's ok coming off the bench but that's it. I was pleased when I saw Cahill up front yesterday, I'd rather see him up there than Beckford or Saha.

it's the usual rubbish, I can't see any possibility that the club would make Pienaar see out his contract and lose him for free - this type of bravado talk is just to make it look like we're not desperate to sell so we can inflate the price as much as possible. If he doesn't sign the contract we'll be desperate to get rid, let's just hope BK works some of his transfer fee magic again. I agree with Bill, I don't think it would be bad business to sell Pienaar for a fee in the region of £12-15m (especially when we only paid approx £2.5m or something) and get Petrov and a couple of others. We have workers in the team, we have the grit and skill in midfield, we need a winger dynamo, Petrov is better at beating a man and pacier than Pienaar, he may actually give us a better outlet, certainly on the counter attack, and he is free. He may not work as hard but we have enough of that in the team anyway. I love Pienaar, but if he won't sign his contract then that's it. The board have tied everyone else down so they obviously know how to close a deal, they know what to offer, Pienaar is obviously being unreasonable. I just wish we hadn't offered Saha such a lucrative contract, he's past it. I'd rather see Anichebe or Yakubu play ahead of him every time. We need a striker.

yeah but they all developed complications during their recovery as well, which was the whole point of Prentice's article. He's been in the blue camp for years, Prentice knows what goes on and I think he knows most of the inside information rather than guessing it.

Jagielka, Arteta etc all seemed to have problems during their rehabilitation were knees got infected etc so maybe Moyes thinks mistakes were made. Our injury record over the last couple of seasons has been abysmal, maybe Moyes thinks it wasn't all due to bad luck.

I've always championed Anichebe, he has the potential to be one of the top strikers in the country imo. He has decent control, he is usually direct and looks to go towards goal, not bad pace, unbelievable strength, is good in the air and has a decent shot, plus his link up play isn't bad either. I think Vaughan looks too panicky and his touch isn't good enough, I think his chance has probably gone, but I definitely think Anichebe, if he can stay fit, could be an absolute powerhouse in the next couple of years. Saha should never play ahead of him or Yakubu.

At this moment in time I wouldn't put Bily anywhere near our first choice eleven, put Ossie, Rodwell or possibly even Anichebe in there and I think we have a midfield as good, if not better, than any other in the Premiership. We still haven't seen them all play together yet but I would assume that the football played by the likes of Arteta, Pienaar, Osman and Fellaini in the same team would be rather lovely, combine that with the master poacher Cahill and teams will be scared of us next season.

didn't think anyone played particularly well. Cahill worked hard but I don't really see why he is playing when Rodwell has started to look so good in that attacking midfield role, Cahill isn't the same player without Arteta in the team. I love Moyes but his substitutions and reliance on his favourite players does grate, Saha has been absolutely useless for weeks yet Moyes plays him every time, even when the Yak had scored recently and looked much more motivated than in the past. Saha hardly won a header, didn't control a ball and his only contribution in the match was what should have been a penalty. He is past it, he is not going to get any better and Moyes needs to look to the future. Yak needs to play and if fit, Anichebe should be given a run. Now is the time to play Rodwell, give players like Cahill a break with the World Cup coming up and let's get some of the younger players some games with a view to top 4 next year. My vote goes to Yakubu for a great header. It was between him and Howard, I also thought Cahill worked hard and didn't have that bad a match, most of the rest were poor, Osman and Saha in particular.

Me too, Cahill hasn't been at his best but his campaign has been disrupted due to injury and the service from the wings has been pretty dire. He's better in the air than Bily, more aggressive and quicker - hopefully Bily will come good next season but at the moment he doesn't deserve to play ahead of Cahill in any position. Personally I'd pick Rodwell, I haven't always been his biggest fan in midfield (DM he looks too naive and out of his depth) but in his games as an attacking midfielder he has looked like possibly our (slower) version of Steven Gerrard. He gets forward, he can pass, he can shoot and he is physically strong and mobile enough. I've been slightly miffed that he hasn't played more recently as Cahill hasn't really been on his game. That being said, Osman is excellent in CM so I don't really mind who plays out of him and Rodwell, both should be picked over Cahill now until he's totally match sharp at the very least.

Arteta Cahill Pienaar Howard Jagielka

he's done a decent job but I haven't been wowed by him. Just think how good we would be if we could get someone as good as Pienaar on the RW! I'd like us to sign someone with pace in the Summer if possible, that being said, Osman, Bily and Anichebe could all probably do a job there if necessary - but still, it's definitely the weak link in our midfield.

Arteta was absolutely brilliant and gets my vote. Yakubu was good again, although I thought he played better against Spurs. Pienaar was sublime as well, surprised he hasn't got any votes as I didn't think he was too far behind Arteta in terms of link up play and overall performance.

yeah that triggered my dislike towards him too, plus I don't think Villa are actually very good yet somehow they manage to keep fluking wins which annoys me as well.

What you're saying will probably be pretty popular but whenever I watch Vaughan the only thing I think he has going for him is energy, his control is poor, his finishing isn't great, he's not overly strong and only ok in the air. Anichebe is a beast, physically VERY strong, he's direct, he goes towards goal, his control is pretty decent, he has some vision and not a bad shot on him, excellent in the air and his energy and workrate is improving all the time, he just needs to stay injury free. Anichebe has everything needed to be a fantastic striker, he just needs to keep the right mentality, I think he's done a pretty decent job on the wing and his goal should have stood yesterday. Moyes always picks Anichebe over Vaughan, even when Anichebe has hardly trained so you have to assume Moyes rates him higher than Vaughan. Vaughan's control just isn't good enough at the moment. I like Anichebe, he puts himself about and on his day he will be virtually unplayable. He just needs to stay clear of injuries now and get a run up front, he's obviously not going to be a world class winger (although he does a job) but I think he could become a VERY good striker. I certainly would see no sense in selling someone with his raw attributes. Only time will tell though, I certainly think that Saha's playing time should be limited now - I know he's had a good season but we look so much better with the Yak up front when he is on his game, his energy and pace give us so many more options.

I'm not particularly bothered if we don't sign anyone as long as we keep the team together. I'd possibly let Vaughan go but aside from that keep everyone and if we have a fully fit team I honestly think we can get into the top 4, to be honest I think we could even possibly go for the title - having seen Utd and Chelsea this season. We must have the best midfield in the league, Arteta yesterday showed just how brilliant he is, now his fitness is coming back so is his touch and speed of play, he could be the best midfielder in the league next season, I honestly think he is that good. Pienaar is brilliant, Rodwell looks like he could be the real deal in the attacking midfield position (needs to get involved a little more but he loves getting into the box, has two great feet etc, I now think he would be wasted in defence and he should take over from Cahill) Fellaini or Heitinga could be fantastic DMs and then the only slight weakness is RW. We also have great strength in depth with Osman, Cahill and Bily etc slotting in somewhere when needed. Defence is solid, we also have a lot of cover except at LB. Up front we have the Yak (who is looking like much more like it recently, he could be our long term answer if he keeps this up, he is far more mobile than Saha and his link up play can be sublime) Anichebe (who I think will come through big time) and Saha, we could possibly do with one real quality striker just in case Yak decides to go back to being lazy but hopefully we have enough. I think we have an awesome squad with some brilliant players as well as some potentially brilliant players coming through. Next season should be the real deal for us, we just need to keep players fit and have a decent start, if we do that I can see us being in the top 3/4 all season. Not only that but I cannot wait to see some of the football, with Arteta, Pienaar, Rodwell, Fellaini, Yakubu in our team some of our football will be electric.

It was Heitinga's fault about 3 times over, firstly he played Defoe onside (from memory) secondly he didn't track Defoe but left him on is own to get a shot in, thirdly instead he tracked Pav and played him onside for the goal. I don't think Distin pushed up so much as Heitinga dropped back. It was totally his fault, no question.

I see you conveniently forgot to mention that the season after finishing 6th, Royle had us involved in a relegation dogfight before he left via 'mutual consent' with 7 games remaining. He did a good job for us but his limitations were quite apparent, Moyes is a far better manager.

I thought Anichebe DID work hard, he put a full shift in, he even put himself in where it really hurts a couple of times and tracked Bale as best he could. He obviously isn't quite 100% in terms of full match fitness but I don't think anyone could question his commitment and effort today. Moyes doesn't like to play 442 and he wanted to play Yak, I also think he wanted to send a message to Donovan that he needs to perform every game and not just when he feels like it. Today, Anichebe looked fairly formidable in the air, his brute strength is awesome for his age and his control and link up play is actually pretty good, much better than Vaughan's whose first touch is generally poor. He is mobile, he likes to shoot, he is good at turning a defender and he likes to go towards the goal, I think he has everything needed to be a top class striker, he just needs to stay fit and get a run of games to see what he is made of. I don't think Vaughan has what it takes but I do think Anichebe could become a very important player for us. I think he should be commended on his performance today, out of position, unfit, yet he tried his best and caused them some problems.

I don't know what match some of you were watching but there is some serious crap being spouted here. Anichebe, playing out of position on the wing, put a full shift in and was about our most dangerous player the whole time he was on the pitch. True, he gave the ball away a couple of times, but he was constantly linking up play, he tried a lovely couple of through balls, he won some great headers and always looked like he wanted to go towards goal. He's direct, winning corners etc and played a big part in the goal (holding off Gomez). He also had a big hand in the best chance we had in the first half (great play to set up Neville for his cross to Rodwell). He is getting stick for the sake of it, he was excellent and I can't imagine Saha or Yakubu doing better out on the wing, they would probably just sulk all match. I bet he would have scored the chance Donovan missed and at least he had a bit of a go at Bale, rather than Donovan who apparently has pace but always cuts back inside rather than running anyone. Donovan had about 3 excellent opportunities to do something and blew all of them. Yakubu was superb, his chest control and defence splitting pass in the second half was sublime, just a pity Donovan couldn't control it. I thought we played really well. First half we had as much possession as they did and passed it around well, we just looked a little tired which imo is understandable. Spurs scored a criminal first goal but the only man to blame was Heitinga who totally cocked up. The second goal was a brilliant goal, aside from that they created little and we were playing well in midfield just lacking a little bit of pace and energy. I was proud of Everton today, midweek took a lot out of us, confidence wish as well, but we stood up and kept fighting, most teams would have buckled. Europe has probably gone now, not a bad thing imo as now next season we'll have less games and i really think we can go for 4th. We now need to start giving players like Coleman and Anichebe a chance to stake a claim. Saha isn't the future, Yakubu was excellent today, give him or Anichebe a chance in the run in, get Coleman in for Neville and let's get Arteta and Jags up to speed for next year. But anyway, get off Anichebe's back, he hasn't played for a year, he was out on the wing and he had a real go, what more do you want, he did a hell of a lot more than Bily has pretty much in about 80% of his matches. Anichebe is aggressive and direct, he'll come good.

I hardly think one semi and one final in 8 years or whatever it is, is any great shakes. Did we beat anyone decent to reach the semi? Last year we beat the Man Utd youth team on penalties, and true we beat Liverpool. Apart from that, our cup form under Moyes has been pretty disastrous considering the players we have.

we're all fed up with last night's crapfest but let's be fair, he's been absolutely brilliant for us. Our cup form is NOT good enough, Moyes seriously needs to address this but in the league, I very much doubt there is another manager out there who could have achieved what Moyes has at Everton. He has worked miracles in the league, he has done brilliantly in the transfer market and he is building an excellent team, that when fit, can play fantastic football. We had a shocker last night and substitution wise he is suspect but let's not get carried away, if we replaced Moyes with anyone else I'd be seriously concerned about our future.

who voted for Bily? seriously, unless it was a Sporting fan they should be banned!

It's a good job this site went down as I was fuming last night and probably still am even now. I don't like swearing in posts but I'm tempted now, that was ANOTHER disgrace. The most annoying thing is reading the press beforehand - Neville with all his 'we're going to make up for Benfica, we're going to show Lisbon what we're really about' and Moyes saying how 'we're going to attack and go for goals.' YEAH, RIGHT. We were a disgrace. No shot on goal until about 65 minutes in, no corner until about 70 minutes. We made them look like world beaters. I love Moyes but his cup record (barring last season's FA Cup) is an absolute joke. EVERY time we come up against a remotely half decent team we get beat, every single time. I knew as soon as I saw that the second leg was away from home that we would be in trouble. We have no idea how to play a two leg match, we don't know how to defend a lead and play professionally - Benitez is usually the master of it, the counter attacking style, we're just abysmal. The sad thing is I wasn't even that surprised by the performance and the even sadder thing is I'm now more confident that we will beat Spurs at the weekend. We usually respond to adversity. I've never seen a quality team play as badly as we did last night - except for us on other occasions. Only we can play that badly. Bily was a total joke, absolutely criminal performance. Donovan was a waste of space except for a couple of moments. Arteta was way off it, but to be fair he kept going, he worked his socks off and was the only one really pushing at the end for an equaliser. When will our players learn? you can't start off in first gear then suddenly jump to fifth, it is almost impossible to get out of a run, out of a negative mindframe. I think last night also advocated why teams rotate, Osman and Arteta looked absolutely knackered after about an hour, only Pienaar seemed to have any energy. We need to learn some lessons, Anichebe should have been on, Rodwell maybe. Moyes needs to stop kissing certain players asses and rotate now and again. Neville was rubbish, why Moyes constantly leaves him on for 90 minutes when he offers as little as he did last night I'll never know, Coleman would have made a big difference and given them something to think about, we needed some pace and fresh legs. Saha hardly won a header all night yet we hoofed incessantly and when he did win a header there was no one within 20 yards. how we missed Cahill's drive and commitment. There are times when I am ashamed to be an Evertonian, last night was one of those times. No wonder we struggle to sign the big names, anyone watching that must think we're the least talented team on earth. The portuguese must think we're total mugs. Absolutely shameful. If we lose to Tottenham then our season is basically over already. Not good enough. Why do we even bother entering cup competitions if we're going to go out of all of them without so much as a fight. Embarrassing. Moyes better make some big time changes on Sunday, he needs to start sending a message after that. Neville should be out, Bily shouldn't play again this season. I'd quite like to see Anichebe up front with Saha. Let's have a bloody go and get stuck in, get some damn pride back.

I gave it to Arteta, he had a pretty crap game but at least he never stopped trying and ran himself into the ground.

I see what you're saying and teams may be scrapping to avoid relegation but we should also be scrapping to get 4th place. At the end of the day, if you can't beat the weaker teams then you don't deserve to finish 4th. We need to beat Tottenham or certainly not lose, it's one game at a time at the moment and then assess from there.

I knew Bill would be in this one! I personally think you only need to look at Aston Villa last year to see why rotation is necessary, they ran out of steam and barely staggered to the finish line, whilst Liverpool tend to have excellent run ins due to the freshness of their players. I think there is a happy medium. As it happens, I do think Bill is right in that this season, due to all the injuries and getting knocked out of the cups early, most of our players haven't actually played that many matches. I can't see any reason why Arteta, Pienaar, Donovan, Bily, Heitinga, Cahill, Neville etc would be getting burn out. Saha may start feeling it but aside from that I don't think there is much to worry about, that being said, when there are two games in a week then I'd like to see us make early substitutions as I think we need to keep our best players fresh for Sunday against Spurs.