Bailey

Completely agree, the Baines comments are laughable! I have been a big supporter of Barry but his last half a dozen games dont warrant his position in the team. He is there to set the tone for our performance but he is taking too many touches and getting caught out in defence too. Coleman brings more to the table than Hibbert, but he definitely needs to get his head screwed on. I have lost count of the number of times he has dribbled the ball into touch! McGeady again is a frustrating one because who is going to play wide? We have Mirallas on one wing but thats it, the rest are equally out of form or injured. He frustrates the hell out of me, but he is our best option atm. We definitely need more quality in this position. As soon as we get quality cover in, he should be out of the door. Distin should be gone too. Alcaraz was on a different level to him the other night. Both Alcaraz and Stones want to win the ball early and not give them the opportunity to get the ball down and play but Distin gives them as much space as they want, isnt tracking his runners properly and his distribution is putting us under pressure. The rest get a stay of execution for now.

It was surprising to see him play in a more advanced midfield role and trying to support the attacks and for me that aspect of it didnt work. When the concept of Baines playing in midfield was suggested it was to follow in Lahm's footsteps and play a defensive play maker type role, which I still think he has the tools for and its the type of pass that he gave to Mirallas that you would be looking for him to play.

But whats to say a defensive approach would have worked any better? Given their budget and the injuries they had, staying up twice and winning an FA Cup is a pretty good return.

I swear some of you get more enjoyment out of Everton losing than you do winning. When we win you go all quiet and then we can't shut you up when we start losing.

This is fucking abysmal. Kone, Alcaraz and Robles have done well I dont know what the fuck is going on with the rest of them. Distin, Coleman and Barry have awful and all over the place. I am surprised to see Barry start up against Sissokho because he quite literally bullied him all game and at least Besic would have had the legs on him. Distin didnt look like he knew what day it was. His positioning was terrible and Alcaraz was doing the job of 3 men (because Coleman was just as shite even with the assist). Etoo was dreadful, linked up ok in places but so many passes over hit, wasted a glorious chance and generally wasnt at the races. Garbutt did ok, bright spots and novicey moments too. My main gripe with him was that he kept coming inside when we needed width. His delivery wasnt as good as normal either. McCarthy did ok in the first half, just letting himself down by not closing down the cross from the goal quick enough. He normally races out to the ball 40 yards from goal but when its 20 yards out he seems to let them do what they want. The Baines experiment was an interesting one as he was played more advanced than I would have. His passing was slow, he only ran in spurts but he did block off that left hand channel really well. His assist for the goal was excellent and he would be better deeper but in the role he was asked to play, it was a little pointless. McGeady was fucking shite. I said a couple of games ago that I would start him because he brings width but he didnt even do that today. Let them in for the goal too. Poor. Kone was a highlight, I was made up he scored and his allround play was excellent. Robles also did well, could have done better with the punch for the 2nd but overall he made some good saves. The subs didnt do anything, Barkley was terrible and couldnt get up to the speed of the game. Mirallas finished his chance exquisitely but also couldnt get involved and Lukaku barely got a sniff. Absolutely terrible overall. No pace, no desire and too many people taking 3 touches when they should be taking 1.

I can see a reason for Barry coming into the team because Soton were likely to put us under more pressure than QPR did but to then shift Barkley wide is a sin. Then to compound that by having two other slow central players in that attacking 3 is just crazy. As much as I hate saying it, McGeady would be the first name on my team sheet. We dont have anyone else capable of playing wide.

There is some crap in here (and some good points too but harder to find!) Moyes mentality? Are you fucking kidding! Some people have selective memories... I have seen us play plenty of long balls this season too. As for managers talking shit... they all do... mainly because they get asked the same questions week in week out. I at least prefer some positivity ahead of the previous doom and gloom we had week in week out. Without doubt the weekend's performance hangs on his head. I dont understand why he chose those players and I dont know why he didnt think a bit of natural width might have helped. At Wigan it used to be one of his main traits in leaving the winger isolated with the opposition full back creating all sorts of space in the middle for others to attack. I dont understand why of all players, its Barkley being sacrificed wide and I dont agree with rotation with rotations sake like it is at the moment. I dont quite know what is going on behind the scenes but Martinez needs to get his head screwed on again. Stop forcing players out of position, get Barkley central and get Stones back in the 11. Get McGeady on one flank and Mirallas on the left when he is fit. Get Naisy on when we need energy or in the games we need energy and use Etoo and Kone off the bench to bring another dimension to our play or when we are up against compact teams that Lukaku will struggle to break down. Finally the last and most important thing is lets get on the front foot and stopping waving teams on to us (which is something we used to do under Moyes for you lot with the short memories). I have yet to see a really good team allow the opposition any time on the ball. Rant over.

Howard - 4++ Baines 8+ Garbutt 6+ Jags 6+ Distin 5 Stones 8+ Alcaraz 7 Hibbert 5 Coleman 5+++ Barry 6+ Besic 6+++ McCarthy 7+++ Gibson 3 Barkley 6+++ McGeady 6+ Mirallas 7+++ Pienaar 4 Osman 6 Naismith 7 Oviedo 5 Atsu 2 Etoo 7+ Lukaku 7+ Kone 5+++ I thought id be awkward and use plus signs... also I didnt read the OP so didnt know where to find the arrow!

Yeh that's a good point as well.

I dont really mind him trying something and it not coming off, for me its when he chooses to go himself when others are in better positions. Like Dunc said later, players need to take chances and I like the fact Mirallas is direct but when you look back to the QPR game he probably had half a dozen chances to lay if off to someone in a better goal scoring position but chose to take them on when it wasnt necessary, and a lot of the time he was running sideways or back to our goal. Ego wise I dont care. Its about time we had a few players that know they are good and want to show it. Like I mentioned above, its not about playing safe, its playing the better options when he wasnt going anywhere in the first place.

Dont know if anyone is watching MNF but Neville is hitting the nail well and truly on the head. He is talking about Arsenal and Liverpool but the same comments apply to us. We arent playing with a high enough intensity in defence. Not enough pressure on the ball, not getting close enough to make a challenge, no desire to turn the ball over higher up the pitch. The quicker you win the ball over, the more likely you are to catch the other side unawares creating space to attack. We do it in small spells, some times a half here or there but we need to start doing it for 90 mins week in week out. There isnt one team in the league that enjoys being aggressively pressed.

This all over. So fucking annoying. Pretty much what I said in the wingers Vs wingback thread. Too many people want to come inside, trying to force players into the starting 11 despite being out of position and at the teams expense. McGeady gets a lot of shit but at least when he does play we can stretch the attack. He is worth his place in the team for that alone. Really fitting result. That's pretty much the season written off for definite now. We need a big run in both remaining cups to make up for it.

Not disagreeing that he isn't but my point is more along the lines of if Gerry was 27 (or whatever Aided is) and Irish would people be so excited about him? Likewise if McGeady was Spanish and 17 would we all be so negative about him? You would expect the younger player to have some improvement in him but given they are both fairly brainless I don't think the improvement would be that great.

One man used that as excuse and a lot of people believed him.

Same as McGeady pretty much. Not starting many on the whole but there is a big reason for that. Im not doubting Deulofeu is a better player but he shone in probably one or two games last season, was average for a couple more and pretty crap for the the rest. McGeady never really shines but is average for a dozen and crap for the rest. If Mcgeady and Deulofeu swapped nationality and ages I bet a lot of opinions would change.

He is just trying a little bit too hard at the moment. I like that because you can see he is determined to do everything he can to win the game but sometimes that is just to pass it to someone in a better position than he is. I thought that with a few on Monday actually. I remember Baines turning into trouble when a pass was on late in the game, Pienaar flicking it away with players either side of him and someone else doing a similar thing.

Regarding Deulofeu he was getting better with every game right up until he got injured and after that he was pretty shocking. If you look at his stats from this season they are nothing special (10 games, 9 chances created and 1 goal) and if you compare his stats with us last season (25 games, 9 chances & 3 goals) to McGeady's this season (11 games, 11 chances & 1 goal) then the latter has had more or an impact and the only area he is weaker in is his shot accuracy. Reading up on Deulofeu's current spell at Sevilla he still doesnt sound like he is really firing, he isnt helping out with his defensive duties and when he does start tracking back he is tiring quickly. He has all the talent in the world but Im not sure he has the head on his shoulders to make the most of it.

If its anything like it used to be then if there is a fee involved in the loan deal then he cant be recalled without a new deal being made. If there wasnt an upfront fee then they can usually recall them when they want.

These days though Mike there arent many clubs that arent selling clubs. Even most English clubs would fall down the pecking order if Madrid or Barca came on for them and even Bayern lost players to those clubs too. Even Dortmund lost some of their CL final players to Bayern and the same with Atletico last year. Its frustrating having to sell on players each time but as long as you have quality replacements lined up on the cheap much like Atletico have and Dortmund in the main (albeit they arent doing well domestically this season) and as long as you don't sell all your players in one go like Southampton (albeit that isnt working too badly just yet) then it can be quite successful.

Don't forget Shawn Wright-Phillips too... I think my head might explode!

The same comments apply to Mirallas too.

You hit the nail on the head with that last sentence!

I agree with you Paddock about not jumping to conclusions after one game but the two players we are talking about bring more to the table than goals and assists. Barkley's vision and passing last night could and should have led to more chances than it did. I think the stats show 2 chances created but in reality it was or should have been much closer to half a dozen. To kind of ram home your point about Sterling though I have found a few stats, which like I said dont show the whole story, but do kind of open your eyes. Barkley 2013/4 - 34 Games - 25 Chances created - 6 goals = 0.91 Barkley 2014/5 - 9 Games - 14 Chances created - 1 goal = 1.67 Sterling 2013/4 - 33 Games - 51 Chances created - 9 goals = 1.82 Sterling 2014/5 - 16 Games - 40 Chances created - 3 goals = 2.69

Actually did Coleman get an assist or have I made that up!? Either way he should have done!

Wingers always for me. If you play 3 players behind the striker they all get in the way of each other. Wingers should help spread the play and that is something McGeady does actually help us with. I think the comments about our FBs are also strange as Baines has been getting assists for fun and Coleman popped up with one yesterday and with better passes shot could have had more. They do tend to run into each other a bit more on the right bit that's more than likely because both McGeady and Coleman aren't the sharpest of tools!