Bailey

On 18/05/2023 at 21:33, Palfy said:

If he was next to Gundogan he would not have stopped the ball getting to him at the height it did when you mark a player in box you get between the player and the goal, you don’t stand in front of the player leaving him with a free run to goal, everything about that goal was Gundogan first touch to try and read or defend that ability is near on impossible. And also he got to Gundogan at the same time as the ball and he was done by a touch of pure quality and a quickness of finish. 

He could have, he should have been tight, he could have either got a foot to it first or been physical enough to stop Gundogan having a better touch. It was nothing like near impossible, its bread and butter. It was poor defending, irrespective of how fantastic the finish was. 

Our starting 11 let alone our squad would be weaker without him, so I think that is a good move and we can work on replacing him over the next two windows. If anyone wants to buy him in January, then let them.

Still think the biggest issue is Mohsiri himself. There is a lot of anecdotal evidence about how he has dragged us into this financial position and he is the one that has facilitated Kenwright remaining on the board. 

The others I still have no idea about however DBB's role at the club must be extremely tenuous given her lack of comment about "the incident".

I stopped at the supermarket on the way back from the pub with my son when I saw the news of Mina's goal. Luckily he likes being thrown around and shaken in his pram so that he was laughing otherwise I imagine I would have been reported to social If I was agile enough, Id have done a cartwheel in the aisle!

1 point is better than none. We have a chance going into next weekend and at this stage that is all that matters! COYBs! 

On 19/05/2023 at 01:51, RPG said:

Love the tongue in cheek comment:

However,

I think it will be a similar line up if Mykolenko is fit - just Mykolenko for Holgate. The problem arises if Mykolenko isn't fit as we don't have another left back fit and available. That is why Dyche is talking about a possible 'change of shape.'

There is only so much shape you can change when you dont have a player comfortable defending the full back position.

In light of your latest post, I would be very against McNeil playing LB or LWB as he has been our best attacking outlet. We need him as high up the pitch as often as we can get him.

If we were looking to control the ball (unlikely) I would look at playing a defensive midfielder in that position (maybe Davies) and have him step into midfield. If we were looking to be more defensive, then I would maybe look at moving Tarkowski across, and playing Mina and Keane as the traditional centre halves who would all hold their position with Patterson pushing forward. 

On 14/05/2023 at 20:15, duncanmckenzieismagic said:

Downvoted purely because I think that’s incredibly disrespectful to Seamus. Coleman at his peak was probably the best RB in the Premiership and you don’t get to that level without great ability 

If you look at Seamus as a player, if you took away that mentality, you are really just left with a player with pace. His technique, his crossing, his defending etc aren't really that great and never have been. 

On 15/05/2023 at 12:28, Palfy said:

Bar a couple on here I have not heard or read any pundit blaming Patterson for the Gundogan goal, that first touch off his hip to take on too his weaker side and then to execute the the over head kick in the same movement, would have done any player dead or alive that’s played this game at the highest level. The lad was as good if not better than most of team, some very blinkered people on TT. 

You can see the distance between them when the ball comes in and he shouldnt be allowed it.

Personally I think people are blinkered by the quality of the finish and ignore the fact he should have beaten Gundogan to the ball in the first place.

On 13/05/2023 at 01:33, RPG said:

There is a bit of Gary Stevens about him. Gary was a winger who became a full back and Patterson shows the same character traits - prime job is defending but loves to get forward and is pretty good when he does. Also quick and loves a tackle.

Im not sure he is that good going forward and Foden showed he isn't that quick either. 

In my opinion his attitude and mentality will take him further than his ability will probably merit. A bit like Seamus!

As far as a back-up goes, you can't rely on him to come in and play ok in any position. He isn't professional enough. He is the worst of our centre halves and he is crap at full back. We just need better.

I dont think anyone really stood out. On the whole everyone was solid. Dom was on for having a really good game but he only played 45 mins so I went with McNeil as well. His hard work to stop the counter when Gana was left for dead stands out in my mind.

A bit like a lot of our full backs, ok for large parts but lets you down in enough moments. He isn't at this level, never has been and the fact he has had so much game time over the seasons highlights why we are where we are.

Not really much to say about this game. Draw a line under it and focus on the two games left to save our season.

Probably should have at least got one of those on target.

5 at the back now.

Another bad defensive header from a full back leading to a goal. Game over. 

4 minutes ago, Aidan said:

You're right his dribbling has also come on. Seems to do a fancy flick every time the ball comes to him. I wonder if it's been something he's worked on during his injury

He seems to be taking the ball a bit more side on rather than coming back towards our own goal. Its something Arsenal's wide players do all the time and its really effective.

It was a really good performance but a couple of bits of bad defending have let us down. No idea why Patterson gave Gundogan that much space in the box to start with (for all it was a quality finish) and then again for the second I think he tries to head it away but doesnt execute it and it drops straight to their man. Holgate has to get tight to Haaland too and make it a harder chance. 

Same old story of full backs letting us down in key moments.

Just need to keep it tight now and a goal back in our favour could make things interesting.

18 hours ago, Hafnia said:

I think there is a difference in some respects. They get into a rhythm with certain players lining up match after match.

still a ridiculously tough challenge. 

I agree.

Pep does a really good job with rotation but they have used the least players in the Premiership for a reason.

If they switch out Rodri for Phillips for example that would be a big downgrade, whereas Foden for Grealish would be less so. If they left Silva and Gundogan out then that would also be a big plus for us as they do so much to set the tone and tempo.

5 hours ago, Hafnia said:

Simply put, there is one years difference between the two players.  Mcneil has more intelligence, skill, work rate, finishing than Gordon.  Gordon has pace and that’s about it. 
 

mcneil produced the stand out performance of any player I can recall in a long long time on Sunday. 

Give me an intelligent players of a quick or strong player any day.

I think the later two attributes are important for this league but there is no point being quick and making bad decisions time and time again.

On 09/05/2023 at 09:18, Romey 1878 said:

For the second season he's really stepped up when the chips are down, that says a lot about the man.

I wouldn't swap him for another keeper in this league.

There have been a lot of questions about his character and temperament but he has been there when we have needed him most.

2 hours ago, Hafnia said:

I wouldn’t be averse to selling him if we got decent offers. 

I think that applies to a lot of players in this group to be honest.

If we could trust our recruitment, I would probably accept offers for them all!

16 hours ago, Hafnia said:

1-1 city vs real.   Real have shown to be very able competition so I think city will rest players vs us. 

They will rest players, but it wont be wholesale. Expect to see a very similar side to the one that played Leeds.

15 hours ago, Newty82 said:

I think, like every human being, every manager has his weaknesses. For some reason, we expect them to have none.

Shit went downhill for us when we suddenly found ourselves without Onana, Doucs, DCL, Coleman...and it revealed how weak our squad is.

Yeah, you could say Dyche has been a bit blind picking Keane. But let's be honest, we've not been blown away by Coady, Mina, Holgate or Godfrey. All of them have got shit in them.

All of them haven't yet shown they can string a couple of decent games together without fucking up. Maybe in such a situation he turns to Keane who he just feels he can trust a bit more as he knows more about him.

With Patterson at right back. Again, no ones been blown away by him however he has had a couple of nasty injuries. We've seen how careful Dyche has been with DCL, maybe it was the same with Patterson? Hence Godfrey and Holgate being tried ahead of him while Coleman was out.

At the same time, some performances have been pathetic and not what we'd expect from a Dyche team.

As has been touched on, he's been on a learning curve with the characters of these players. Not one of these players is of his picking. But he's given more than fair chances to enough of them.

The thing now is that he has set the bar for performances these last 2 games. Its up to him to keep those standards high.

I personally like him and how he approaches things. But I'm open minded too about the overall picture.

Open minded!? This is an Everton forum Newts, what the hell are you talking about!

15 hours ago, Palfy said:

It wasn’t that way with Patterson, Dyche wasn’t impressed with Patterson and said he felt he wasn’t at the standard required at this moment in time. In my opinion I think Dyche made a mistake not Picking Patterson before Holgate and Godfrey and said so soon as the team was posted showing Holgate as RB. I believe Dyche made his decision on Patterson based on his physicality and age.  

Lets not forget that Patterson got roasted in that first half hour and then went on to do really well. He was beaten more times in that period than Godfrey has been in his game, but Godfrey's fuck-ups led to goals.

I loved the way Patterson grew into the game and worked out Mitoma and adapted (with help) but lets not forget it could have gone a very different way.

4 hours ago, Romey 1878 said:

For anyone thinking Dyche's tactics were just to counter-attack.

 

One of the things that impressed me about his set up for the game was to not go chasing the Brighton players. I mentioned it before the game but you so often see Dunk and Webster drawing teams out, creating space in midfield before firing passes into the front players. They went wide to try and get around it but as the article says, we loaded up the box and got bodies in the way. With the early goal it worked perfectly.

Just now, Matt said:

He's looking like he did for Ancelotti and early Benitez. He's a much better player than he's shown.

Why would you not give a 2 year extension for a player finding form, who works hard and knows the league? Certainly a cheaper and safer option than bringing someone new in. 

They both used his attributes to best effect, as is Dyche now. 

He is one of our highest earners, which is a problem because he shouldnt be BUT if a reasonable deal can be reached then he should be kept. I would also be looking to bring in other player(s) to take his place though in the long run as well. One of our bigger issues is that we have failed to forward plan, or plan at all

I was a big fan before but I was worried about his last season with Burnley. I am glad he has shown what he is capable of and long may it continue.