chicagoblue

Gutted we didn't get the win but that was one of the best 90 minutes of my life. Such a great atmosphere. Completely outplayed them and I think if we had felli, mirallas, Gibson and Coleman we would have got a few more goals.
 
Pienaar was an absolute boss. Him and Baines are unplayable when they're on their game and its crucial that moyes holds onto Baines in the transfer window. If he sells him to that old fart Fergie we'll be shot for any direction in attack.
 
Vic had a great game, as did Vellios, and boy is Jelavic unlucky. Poor bastard deserved at least one today, was a brilliant free kick, a brilliant header and a brilliant run for that saved one. He would have had 3 had this game been at the start of the year.
 
On Barkley, I think he's more than ready to start playing. Before he lost that ball he was making a mockery of some of those Chelsea tackle attempts, and I honestly thought he was going to make the difference. Heard a bloke behind me saying he's off the pace because he's been playing Sheffield and hes in too deep at the moment. Fuck that. He's only going to get better with confidence and experience, and coming on at CM one goal down with fifteen minutes to go is a tough ask, particularly against Chelsea.
 
Personally I think moyes should start him next week. Show some faith in him and I'm sure he'll deliver. If Sterling and Wilshere can cope with the Prem, Barkley can too.

You could go into The Winslow right next to the ground though it's always a bit too crowded for me.
 
Alternatively go down the County Road....walk down any of the roads off Goodison Road going away from the ground and you'll come to it....there are several to choose from along there. I've always seemed to end up in the Players Bar. Been a while since I've been though .
 
Hope you get a taker to meet up with you (I would ) but seems people on here tend to stay pretty anonymous off the web....shame really.
 
Enjoying your trip?

If I learned anything watching the match against City, it's how incredibly Fellaini-centric our style of play is right now. When Jelavic first came here we played to his strengths. It was shocking how isolated he seemed against City. In my head I'm thinking, hmm, we were winning some matches by three or more goals last spring, instead of drawing several with a single goal and talking about how wonderful Fellaini is. I'd really love to get excited about the whole team again, but it's hard because right now we're catering to the very idea of Fellaini embodying what we do. We're LETTING him be the team. Prior to the last two matches Jela was kinda just sulking in response, but now his attitude seems a bit better, he just needs a goal, and less Naismith. I'm looking for him to bounce back, he still works pretty hard. I wouldn't compare this to the Yak situation.

We almost need a special tag for him, so new users and guests know its safe (and wise) to ignore his posts.

Lol, Dalzy, only a few weeks ago you were trying to get the Reading fan to start the match thread.

I've been disappointed by his reaction when things haven't been going his way - he's clearly had his kick up the back side and he needed it.
 
His work rate for me was very poor compared to that of when he first arrived...it was a "well you aren't helping me so i'm not bothering with that".
 
Maybe a goal will be all he needs to reignite that fire - Baines giving him a piece of his mind was very telling for me. Baines would not do that unless a player was seriously being work shy, I think Vic has been on the wrong side of one or two.

On his current form Jelly is more likely to go to Morecambe than Juventus or Arsenal. Both articles a joke.

cant do us any harm! when fit he is decent, would also monitor Green at QPR as isnt he meant to be getting released? though i know that may change with Harry in now.

If you are watching specific players you need to attend the game to watch them off and away from the ball. If you are watching a match then TV is better IMO.

So, once again we only bothered playing for a short period of the game and then went to bits. We turned up for the first 20 or so minutes and that's it. But honestly? I didn't think we were that good even in that period. Sure, we had lots of the ball but it didn't look like we had much idea what the hell we were supposed to do with it. I thought we looked quite flat and slow, and devoid of creativity. Because we were so slow in possession it made it easy for Norwich to hold their shape and just simply follow the ball around the pitch, which clearly frustrated our players and in turn then made them try impossible passes (Pienaar was especially guilty of this) and we'd lose possesson and have to go and win it back only to repeat the same tired motions. In short we were missing a spark, something different. Kevin Mirallas basically. Despite us being below par we took the lead with a beautifully crafted goal and probably could have extended our lead further. But once that first 20 minutes passed we were diabolical. As well as the problems we had in our 'good' period we now decided to forget that Fellaini was suspended and launched the ball forward at every opportunity. I don't think Jelavic won a single aerial ball, the physical side is not in his game whatsoever. So this allowed Norwich to get themselves into the game because they were constantly being gifted the ball. That being said, I don't think Norwich were that much of a threat to us at all. Yes they had chances but I thought we coped well. The defence and goalkeeper, for the most part, dealt with what Norwich threw at us. Distin, Heitinga and Jagielka (he played for like an extra CB) were being fouled by Holt every single time (the ref needs to get his eyes tested) but managed to do quite well up against him. But, when it really mattered our defence (particularly Heitinga) and goalkeeper royally let us down. We have become awful at defending set-pieces from a distance. You can hear the alarm bells going off in our players heads as the ball is launched into the area and they panic and go to pieces. Fuck up one; Heitinga lets his man go, which is criminal for any defender, but especially for someone of his experience. Fuck up two is Tim Howard thinking he's a leaping fucking salmon rather than a goalkeeper. What the actual fuck did he think he was doing with that attempt?! It should have been a comfortable stop to save Heitinga's, and the teams arse. But no, the brainless oaf manages to give away another goal.
 
Our performances just aren't good enough lately. Yes, we've got injury problems but the players coming in aren't bad players and should be performing better than they are even if they can't reach the heights of what our strongest side is capable of. The one positive (I suppose) is that we're beating ourselves rather than have teams shit all over us. So, if we can cut out the silly mistakes we can get our results back to where they should be.
 
In regards to the issues brought up about Moyes after this game; I do think he needs to have a little look at where he went wrong and shoulder some of the blame for the latest mess up (albeit, only a small responsibility IMO). I have no problem with the starting 11 he put it, it was about as good as he could have put out there under the circumstances. Where I do think he went wrong was his use of substitutions, or lack of. The bench was lacking badly in Premier League experience but the players out on the pitch were not up to the job and some of them needed to come off. Pienaar and Jelavic were having awful games, Jelavic in particular was a complete passenger. Hitz was fucked from about the 70 minute mark and was in desperate need to be substituted. We needed fresh legs, we needed players who could run their blood to water for the last 20 minutes and chase everything down and stop Norwich coming at us. We had lots of youth on the bench who would have provided that. Barkley is right up to match speed having spent time out on loan and he'd have been a good substitute. Kennedy would have been a sub that would have made sense too. He's got bags of pace and could have provided us with that something a little different that was lacking in our play, and that up against a tiring Norwich side could have helped us to see the game out. It's like as long as we're winning then Moyes is afraid to change things, and it's something he needs to address in his own mind.
 
 
Howard - He made a couple of really good saves and then let us down badly at the end with his latest fanny of an attempt at a save.
 
 
Jagielka - Unsurprisingly he was no help in an attacking sense but he was solid defensively.
 
Distin & Heitinga - It's extremely frustrating that Heitinga let himself and his team mates down right at the end because I thought the pair of them defended well up against Holt and the referee. They were being manhandled by Holt all game long but managed to shackle him well for most of the game. I don't think Distin put a foot wrong all game tbh.
 
Baines - This was a much improved Baines. I thought he was fantastic the way he bombed up and down the wing. And that run and shot towards the end of the game was pure quality and it really deserved a goal.
 
 
Pienaar - I think he was trying too hard again yesterday. He clearly knows his performances haven't been up to scratch in the past few games and is trying to rectify that, but he's not managing it. Instead of keeping things simple he was trying stupid flicks in impossible situations which kept losing us the ball. When he's on his game those flicks are fine but he's badly out of form right now and just needs to simplify things until he gets flowing again.
 
Osman - Neat and tidy. That's about all there is to say about Osman yesterday.
 
Hitzlsperger - Another decent showing from him I thought. Despite his age I actually think he's probably more mobile than Gibson and finds it easier to go box to box and track people. He was good in possession and didn't try anything too fancy, and his delivery is awesome. Shown by his absolutely perfect ball to Oviedo for our goal. He did, however, tire badly midway through the second half and should have been substituted.
 
Oviedo - A very good first Premier League start from the Costa Rican. He seemed like he was playnig a bit within himself while he finds his feet but once his confidence grows I'm sure he'll show more than the flashes of brilliance he showed yesterday. He was full of pace and worked extremely hard. And showed he's got finesse in his game too with the way he brought Hitzlsperger's ball down on his chest, kept his cool as he ran into the box and played the right ball to Naismith to slot home. He also put in another peachy cross a little later on. My MOTM. If Mirallas is back next game I'd keep Oviedo in and drop Pienaar tbh.
 
 
Naismith - I thought it was another improved performance from him. He looked to have gained in confidence again and was brighter and more willing to be positive in his play i.e. look to go forward. And again he sniffed out exactly the right place to be to grab himself another goal. My one concern is his work rate. He didn't work hard enough IMO. Whether that's just down to a lack of fitness after his major injury or whether it's laziness I'm not sure, but it's something that needs to be addressed.
 
 
Jelavic - He didn't look interested at all yesterday. Maybe he was annoyed at the shocking service he got but that's no excuse for the poor body language and effort he showed. What really concerned me was the distinct lack of time he spent in Norwich's penalty area, he almost seemed reluctant to go in there. Scarily he reminded me of Saha in his last few months with us. He needs a kick up the bum, bench him for a game and bring him on and see how hungry he is then.

Not burst, but there has been plenty of games where we should have took three points.
I cant decide whether its crap defending or not finishing games off when were are in front.
Earlier in the season we were scoring 2 or 3 goals per game, now we are conceding stupid goals and not finishing chances off.

Baines/Oviedo/Osman were the only ones to turn up - very frustrating!!! Moyes annoyed me today - we needed Barkley on for Pienaar or Naismith on 60-70mins - maybe he doesn't trust the players he had on the bench but we looked tired in areas and it needed freshening up! Another 2 points lost and disappointingly a fair result overall!

Oviedo - easy.
 
Some players need dropping, to make them think about their position. Jelly and Pienaar need benching for me.

Hitzlsperger v Reading
 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N3uvykF6lhc&feature=colike
 
By my count only 3 or 4 misplaced passes all game. Apart from shoddy marking on corners, I thought he looked quite tidy, and definitely an improvement from Neville. If we lack Phil's influence on the field, then I think it's up to our swath of internationals to step up and take on the roll. We know Phil is out for a while now, next few weeks could go a good ways to answering the 'next captain' question.

I wouldn't mind seeing vellios given a crack up front alongside jelly for a bit longer than the usual sub appearance. I'd like to see felli playing in midfield against teams like reading, to avoid being left vulnerable. Playing vellios would allow felli to drop deeper. It keeps Neville out of midfield too.
 

30m would be a starting bid in my eyes in football's crazy financial market He's worth around the 40 mark but would take a few clubs coming in for him which I suspect they will....
 
If and when he does go I hope it's abroad possibly to one of the big Spanish clubs I would hate to see him lining up for another prem team against us!

I thought we needed to keep Sessignon quieter than we did. He would be a superb aquisition for us.

Go out all guns blazing boys. Fuck losing to Sunderland at home and fuck getting another draw. Time to start turning the impressive play into points on the table.

With Southampton not looking likely to hold their place among the PL, Llana's a cracking shout C. Could be a great (eventual) replacement for Ossie. Both blues. Both passionate. Incredibly skillfull players. Nearly a like for like in that respect.
 
Yes they're small player but as someone pointed out in the other thread, they work for Everton because they're a 'fit' and that element of their game suits the bits we're missing. Technical ability.
 
Llana top shout.
 
We need to start looking at more homegrown players as well, with the homegrown ruling coming in next year.
 
For Home grown, we could look at Swansea's Ben Davies. Had some terrific performances of late and still young (19). Looks very composed and mature. Good decision making and relatively quick. Earning a whoping £400 a week. Might be worth keeping tabs on him?
 
James McCarthy is another one we need to keep an eye on. He's been excellent at Wigan, even when the team as a whole have struggled. Both James' have been great, however McCarthy has more in his locker. He wouldn't look out of place in a top team. Just checked, he qualifies for homegrown but the other James doesn't. winning. But on a serious note, certianly worth investing in

I don't think there's a problem with our 4-2-3-1, it's just the fact that Gibbo makes that 2 so much better. I'd stay with this system but target 2 Cm's who can play in the system - I think Holtby and Lallana could be very interesting (and they're both blues). Both could be available in the summer certainly with maybe a cheeky bid in Jan enough to snatch Holtby early?

http://epltalk.com/2...Talk (EPL Talk)
 
Tottenham agreed to a partnerhsip that will make the sales of Tottenham merchandise a hell of a lot easier. Tottenham is immediately trying to capitalize on the Dempsey capture. The only reason I don't own an Everton jersey is because my choices are to pay a ton of money on shipping from Europe or hope that one that is my size, isn't overpriced, and is of a player I want finds it's way on Ebay. Sorry, but I'm not interested in freakin' Yakubu and Arteta jerseys, Ebay. I don't expect Everton to compete with the likes of Barcelona and Manchester United, but come on. It's a relatively prominent team and our National Team's starting goalkeeper has been a key figure for the club for over five years now. I would like to think there's a market to be had, especially in the New York/New Jersey area.

Fulham can be a very good team on their day, and more often that not they are much better at home. They have a lot of technically gifted attacking players and when they click they will put pressure on any team and considering we are somewhat vulnerable in the centre of midfield and at the back we could be in for a long day. I would definitely be looking for Fellaini to play in front of the back 4. They have so many players who thrive in that space between the midfield & defence that we will have to be at our strongest and Im confident the big man would dominate them.
 
I do think that they are a little weak at the back, and pressing them high up the pitch & stopping them from popping the ball around will be important. If we let them get it into Ruiz & Berbatov's feet then we will struggle. If we force them to pay it long, neither of these will even attempt to get involved in the game.
 
If we have any ambitions whatsoever of competing in the CL, then we have to start picking up 3 points again. We need get our arrogance & ruthlessness back.

you're a beauty Pete.
 
Smart finish for the second, can't wait till we see that for Everton.

Agree with most of what's said on here, and just want to emphasize that Gueye needs selling. He's just not got it. Sure he can crack a volley once every 15 matches, but I don't think he offers anything else whatsoever. Doesn't pass well, can't defend or tackle, never seems aware when he's about to be challenged and his touch always seems to bobble and make him vulnerable to a challenge. Oviedo looked so much better on the left when he came on, and the right completely died when Gueye switched over.

On their disallowed goal was it a free kick in the 1st place? I didn't think so!