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Toss up between Besic, Barry and Baines for me. Besic just edged it. Some of his through balls were excellent - when others switch on to them it'll be a very dangerous weapon. He looks the real deal now, a lot more responsible with the ball and excellent tackler.

Fantastic performance. Energy, passion, intensity, skill, we deserved to beat one of the supposed big boys. Besic was immense, Barkley showed he's a final decision away from being frightening, Lukaku even before the goal showing why he is currently perhaps the hottest property in the country. And we even defended pretty well! (Bar a break away goal, a stonewall penalty not being given and Aguero missing a sitter...)
 
So the question is... if we can produce that in a cup semi final, why aren't we taking the Premier League by storm? That's the benchmark now, anything less is unacceptable.

I totally disagree with the bit in bold , I honestly fully expected him to kick on this season. In fact I would go as far as to say you are probably the only man on the planet who didn't see this coming
 
Haf you are quick enough to pat yourself on the back when you get it right so show a bit of humility and hold your hands up when you get it so spectacularly wrong

Spot on !
 
I also think this thread has been going so long the more personal comments made against the lad have been buried in time.
Not a huge fan of Martinez, but he certainly got this signing right, should he get major credit ? seems many clubs had
spotted his potential, so maybe he was just lucky in getting him.End of the day doesn't matter, he's ours, question now is how long for.If Martinez manages to keep him (I think we can replace Stones more easily than Lukaku), then I will rate him (Martinez)more.
 
Lukaku is what most thought he'd be, a massive talent, to others, just a case of egg dribbling off a red face !

strange reading many comments, seems to me that alot of our fans have a "we're not worthy approach" to some players.
 
For some reason many think that the park end or wherever the anxious noises came from are a bunch of neanderthals who don't deserve such a cultured and confident player "enjoy him while we can as he will be playing for Barca in a couple of years"...
 
Lets get it right - it was the wrong decision, does anyone want to debate that issue? The only thing seemingly good about it was that he displayed "composure" - well if he got tackled the word composure would have been "stupidity" and the forum would have had a melt down if we conceded so late due to a player dribbling 8 yards away from goal.
 
so lets see Risk/Reward time...
 
Reward:-
looks good on the eye meant he could step away from an opponent and have time to pick a pass much easier and keep possession took one player out the game  
Risk:-
he gets tackled and they have an easy chance to score we lose another game late on and the defence comes under more scrutiny gets slated in the press and it affects his game  
for me alot of it is about Evertonians having pride and kudos in having a player who is getting much attention.... strange really as that player is a defender and we have been leaking goals galore. I'd rather have the kudos of scoring like we have whilst keeping the opposition out... its not FIFA 16 - its real life football.

Martinez has neglected Mirallas to a point of utter frustration of some fans and i am sure the player too.
Mirallas is a natural LEFT wing / striker - he should not compete with Deulefeu for a spot - THEY SHOULD BOTH START!!
Our left side has gone lame and Mirallas is the obvious solution -
somehow Martinez fefuses to see or even try it -
If Mirallas leaves (for which i won't blame him) or if a bigger club attracts him, we will only have Mr Martinez to blame
Then we only need Deulefeu to leave for a bigger club and we will be generally as toothless as we were in the first half against Tottenham

Yeah, I'll never forget that hattrick against Chelsea at the beginning of the season, but he's not going to take our team forward.

I think Besic could have that captains role within a few years. He has the attitude and passion for it. I mean, he has to play first of course!

How Lamela doesn't have a card, I don't know. Yet, Coleman has one.

Seriously, fuck the fans ironically cheering Howard.

Besic for me - didn't play the whole game but we looked so much better with him on. Hope to see more of him over the next few weeks and the remainder of the season.

I'd ble fuckin delighted...Chelsea mate of mine goes off his nut about the little playing time the guy gets...totally agree with him 
 
On naisy I always backed him as a centre player..won't find a better attitude or man in the premier league for me...sure he'll be a great loss in the dressing room but the guy deserves more time on the pitch. All the best ste!

His loan at Cambridge has been extended for a month. Looks like he's started every game so far.

And meanwhile we have 2 world cups in countries that should not have them. Absolute disgrace.

I agree, I think he wanted to voice his and teams concerns to both.
Football is a team game.
Billy Bremner....there's eleven captains in this team, they don't need one with an armband....that's what we need.
Players that can take responsibility for thier own performances.
 
I have never played under a manager that made me forget how to do the basics.
Staying goal side isn't something that a manager needed to tell me...I learnt it at school.
Getting stuck in the same.
Clearing my lines when under pressure, the same.
Jumping even if you can't win the header....the same.
 
Stand up boys...show us you can be men.

He looks very much like David Luiz at the moment; a brilliant footballer but not much of a defender.

Stones needs a hard cold slap of reality. Far too much talk about him being a footballing centre half and he appears to lose focus on the basics.
 
I think too much talk gone to his head.

Don't think you're wide of the mark. Stones is over relied on and Howard should be dropped. I think Stones is great but Mori and Jags might be worth a run just to get Stones going again.

I would settle for Neuer which would mean we would win the league cup. Our league position wouldn't change as Martinez would still pick Howard for league games.

Martinez will have only himself to blame if this happens due to his ineptitude regarding the keeper situation and the defensive training, set pieces, crosses, etc.

The bottom line is neither keeper should be a guaranteed starter for a team like Everton. If Howard's contract is up this summer, as I believe it is, we should be looking for a keeper of clear No. 1 quality to bring in. Ignoring that though I think there are certainly more positives to be found in starting Robles over Howard.
 
For starters, Robles should still have his best keeping years ahead of him, where as Howard is obviously past it.
 
Secondly, when given a run of games last season we all saw a level of consistency and assuredness develop in his game, while the only thing consistently seen in Howard's performances over the last 18 months is a tendency towards shambolic keeping. I'd much rather have Robles' consistent 6/10 level of keeping over Howard's 3-4/10 with the odd 7/10 performance poping up.
 
Hopefully by next season though we'll have gotten the check book out and will have a 8/10 quality keeper to call our own

Stayed up late last night, didn't get to bed till a quarter to eleven. Happy New Year to everyone on here.

Good player for us last year, fantastic character and such a lovely guy. Absolutely the best of luck to him at Norwich, think they're perfectly suited for each other. He'll do well there I think.
 
Good luck Steven.

Despite my best efforts to suspend reality the sad fact is that Martinez teams have an aversion to defending.
 
Martinez has put a fantastic team together, building on the foundations of Mr Moyes. He has us playing very attractive attacking football.
 
But he just cant get us to defend. I want Martines to be our manager, but he needs to get a defensive coach and an experienced CB to help Stones and Mori.

I'm all for seeing managers get a fair crack at the job I really am.
 
The thing is we have the best starting 11 players IMO to grace our pitch for the last 25 years. If our season doesn't pick up or Roberto can't do the basics then you won't see a better Everton team for the next 25 years.