Bailey

I would say all of them have worked out, albeit Karius has been poor but he is a young keeper and needs time. I actually think Keita is the perfect signing for them, or us for that matter. I have only seen him in a couple of full games but he will be their Gana but better.

In what way exactly? Mirallas is a primadonna, but Costa is a whole other level. Koeman has historically just cut players out of the squad that have caused trouble and now we might be bringing in arguably one of the most difficult characters in the game. Getting the best out of him is going to be even more difficult as he is currently unfit and wont give a shit as he is only here for a few months. So what straw exactly am I clutching at?

If Koeman cant handle Mirallas, I'm not sure how he will cope with Costa.

He would give us the threat of getting in behind, a bit like DCL does when he plays up front. It just creates that bit more space for the rest of the team as defenders drop that little bit deeper. Plus Lukaku is a lot more lethal in front of goal, so when a half chance does come up, its more likely he would take it. I wouldn't say there would be a massive amount between him and DCL though, but there would be a difference between him and Rooney. He will add a dimension that we sorely miss but he was apart of our terrible performances last season and who knows how he will come back. I wouldn't be expecting too much from him until next season, nor Coleman.

Completely agree. You need to have the ball for these type of players to flourish. If they are being asked to track back into their own half every 30 seconds they don't have the legs to get back up the pitch.

His movement has been decent but I have been massively underwhelmed by his passing and also his creativity. He needs time to settle though.

Im not so sure, we were just as bad against them last season. In Europe or against Stoke, then yep id agree, but at City/Chelsea it wouldn't have made a difference IMO.

And our worst away season for how long? We only won 4 away and 2 of them were in week 2 and 4. We have won 12 points away from home since week 4 which is 19 league games. Thats approximately half of what we scored at home the previous season, albeit I appreciate that its better for the fans to have a better home record than away record.

Part of the reason we smashed them was because they had Zabeleta and Toure in central midfield. I mean come on, in what world was that ever going to be a good idea when playing against a young lad and the Duracell bunny? You are saying: 1. We have played crap 2. We played crap last year 3. We have played with shit tactics 4. And we have made too many changes to the squad 5. And that you hope a manager who has almost always played this way throughout his managerial career will change his approach. 5 is very unlikely to happen. I thought you were posting to support Koeman

They have but I only think it is them and to an extent Spurs that have done well with it. Koeman used to play it a lot in Holland but that's a much slower and less physical league so you could probably get away with it with a team of old or slow players!

He looked completely out of his depth yesterday but at the same time he had very little support and looked undercooked. He doesnt look like a lone CF against a big and strong Chelsea team thats for sure. I would be intrigued to see him and DCL together in a 442.

I couldn't name you a full starting 11 because i could put the best players into it but that wouldn't be a very good team. GK - Pickford is easy. DEF - Coleman / Keane / ? / Baines Baines & Coleman (assuming the latter comes back to a similar level) are obvious. Keane looks shaky in a back 5 but much more assured in a back 4. Jags and Williams have looked equally as dodgy at the back, I would probably side with Jags at the moment. MID - Davies - Schneiderlin - Gana I think we need to go back to having Schneiderlin deep and then Gana and Davies going box to box. Klaassen could do the same job as Davies but from what I have seen so far Davies has been the slightly cleverer passer, albeit neither have covered themselves in glory so far. STR - ? - DCL - ? I think DCL has shown that he should be leading the line but the other wide options are either not wide player, not good enough, or likely to be exiled. Based on last season I would have Barkley on the right. I guess he would switch with Sigurdsson. Rooney doesnt have the legs to play in this position, Sandro could play on the other side but Im not sure what his best position is yet, Lookman needs to drop down a league, Lennon isnt good enough and Mirallas is an option but he wont be here much longer.

Speak for yourself ?

Just thinking... Other than the first qualifier I think we have only played 433 for any length of time in two games, second half against Stoke and our best performance at home to Split. I don't think he used 5 at the back very often at Saints either, it was mainly 433. I don't get his fascination with it?

Completely understand that Aiden, and it's possible. I don't necessarily share that optimism but that's neither here nor there. Its the other comments originally made by MJB that I take issue with in that expressing the alternative opinion doesn't make someone a real and loyal fan.

Yep they did and it was a great strike too but I thought they were threatening more than us and Pickford was forced into a really good save in the first half too.

?

I have got a few names I'm considering calling you after that post! ?

You realise we had the same manager last season? If you play crap it will catch up with you. The warning signs were there from City but people glossed over it because we got a point. The same applies to Thursday when we were a wonder goal and a penalty save from losing that game. I get that people won't agree over this but there must a question mark over him. I get that difference in opinion, but we aren't Chelsea fans that only turned up when the money came. We have all been here through thick and thin. This is about money spent, expecting the world, it's whether the man in charge is getting the most from the team and has been for the last 14 or so months.

Wind your neck in. Not being happy with the manager doesn't make fans plastic. We support Everton, we arent glory hunters, we arent here because we are a fashionable club, we are here because we want whats best for the club and we have been chosen. We have been really poor so far this season and questions should be asked. You have your right to support him unconditionally, others have the right to consider what options are available and question poor and costly decisions. It doesn't mean either side are plastic, or that we are expecting to win the league or win every game 4 nil as I saw on another thread. We all have an opinion as otherwise we wouldn't be on here but don't start having a pop at other dedicated fans who don't share yours with rubbish like calling them "plastic".

He is better than Lookman and Lennon so I can understand why he was pissed. If we don't want him, we shouldn't have given him a new deal.

I actually thought we were crap for most of last season. Started with promise, had a massive wobble, got better and then dipped again. The biggest problem is that we are terrible away from home. I'm not confident of us going away anywhere and getting a result.

People need to realise this isn't about points, its about performances. Good performances will lead to points and I cant remember the last time we played well for 90 minutes. I also have never seen a manager change formation or make a sub at half time, as much as I have seen from Koeman. Koeman talks a good game but the same issues we had at the beginning of last season are still apparent now. I think everyone can agree that we need to improve and Koeman needs to pull his finger out otherwise getting the sack is a realistic option.

I was expecting at least 1 of the bigger characters to die. I imagine a few will get killed off tonight though!

Depressingly he is probably right.