Portsmouth

[Bill]

interesting last 10 minutes from the Guardian live report.

 

 

80 min: WHAT A FINISH FROM YAKUBU!!! Everton 3 - 1 Portsmouth. This is simply wonderful. Muntari is robbed in Everton's half by Carsley. The ball's rolled up pitch to Andy Johnson, who lifts a long ball towards Yakubu out left. Campbell looks to have him trapped out on the wing, but the big striker turns sharply, passes the defender and hammers - I mean absolutely welts - an unstoppable shot straight past James, who had no chance of reacting.

 

82 min: Anichebe replaces Yakubu, who goes off to wild applause.

 

85 min: Muntari has the hot funk on, suggesting he was elbowed in the windpipe by Yobo. There really wasn't much in that. "Why did Tim Cahill cry when he scored?" asks Abbi. "Am I missing something?" Not as much as I am; I didn't even see his celebration.

 

86 min: Everton are playing some very nice football indeed; Carsley, Andy Johnson and Anichebe combine well down the right to earn a corner. Yobo heads the resulting set piece inches wide right from eight yards out.

 

89 min: Defoe jinks around on the edge of the Everton area to make himself some space. At one point I think he was executing a decent soft-shoe shuffle; Len Goodman would have loved it. He smacks in a low, hard shot which isn't far wide left of goal. Lovely work.

 

90 min: Baines replaces the excellent Pienaar. There will be three minutes of injury time at least.

[Blue 250]

Great result against a good and powerfull Portsmouth!

 

Have to say!.......That ref today must be a BLUE !Just for once we got the 50-50's.

 

Moyes used his sub well today, Hibbert for Johnson did the trick, what a great pass from AJ for Yakubu's goal.

 

I thought playing the corners into the 6 yard box was a bit daft!....with James and that basketball team in there!...and if we were more dangerous from the edge of the box it would have been over by half time, because yes Portsmouth did win nearly every high cross and ball in but we usually won the scraps on the edge of the box.....just couldn't use them better.

 

Solid, solid team performance, well done everyone.

[Blue4Ever]

Solid Performance, The Yak is doing the buisness!! Neville really isnt good enough tho, he trys hard but i cant remember a player being so bad a passing in my life! Sign Pienaar before some1 else does moyes..Ossie gets my man of the match with Cahill a close second.

[Ian]

Great result, great start to the match, the yak was hungry for this one.

 

I thought we a poor end to the first half and Pompey where on top for the first 20 minutes of the second. AJ changed the game around for me, made some great runs.

 

Pienar was excellent again, Jags just gets better and The Yak was on top form again.

 

I got in from the match to have a nice steak pie.

 

Can life being an evertonian get any better

 

COYB

 

 

............

[Romey 1878]

I thought we were very lacklustre today. There was no urgency in our play at all and we sat back and let them dominate, the first half especially. I was wondering whether we were actually playing at Fratton Park at one point. That being said we got the right result and they didn't actually trouble our goal very often, so it's a positive thing to play poorly but win convincingly. Also, Moyes deserves praise for bringing on AJ for Hibbert. It changed the game IMO, he ran at them and made them sit deeper and it provided room for Yak to work in.

 

Howard - Not much to do one again, but did what was needed when called upon.

Hibbert - Not bad at all today. Caught out of position a couple of times but recovered well.

Jagielka - Supremely average compared to what he's been doing for the past few weeks. Learn to pass the ball on the ground please.

Yobo - I thought he was a rock for us today and easily our best defender.

Lescott - I didn't think he was good at all today, constantly drifted into the middle of defence and left Pienaar exposed.

Osman - He was very busy today and his all round play was OK, nothing special.

Carsley - Played well again today, he mopped up a lot infront of our defence. I just wish he'd stop shooting.

Neville - Pretty non-existent tbh. That's all I can think of to say about him.

Pienaar - Linked up well with our other midfielders and the Yak. You can see he's still getting back up to speed but he'll be back to his best soon enough. Unlucky not to win us our first league penalty too.

Cahill - My MOTM today. He really was everywhere today; he tracked back; got forward; held up the ball; used the ball intelligently; scored a trademark goal. I couldn't ask for of him today tbh.

Yakubu - I actually thought he was quite crap effortwise, he lookeed very lethargic. But when he scores 2 goals I really couldn't give a crap what else he does.

AJ - Gave us that added ingredient that we needed, and I feel he should have started today. The Yak needed the support and he duly supplied it. He ran at defenders and used the ball well when he had it. Well done AJ.

[Raccyboy]

I thought we were very lacklustre today. There was no urgency in our play at all and we sat back and let them dominate, the first half especially. I was wondering whether we were actually playing at Fratton Park at one point. That being said we got the right result and they didn't actually trouble our goal very often, so it's a positive thing to play poorly but win convincingly. Also, Moyes deserves praise for bringing on AJ for Hibbert. It changed the game IMO, he ran at them and made them sit deeper and it provided room for Yak to work in.

 

Howard - Not much to do one again, but did what was needed when called upon.

Hibbert - Not bad at all today. Caught out of position a couple of times but recovered well.

Jagielka - Supremely average compared to what he's been doing for the past few weeks. Learn to pass the ball on the ground please.

Yobo - I thought he was a rock for us today and easily our best defender.

Lescott - I didn't think he was good at all today, constantly drifted into the middle of defence and left Pienaar exposed.

Osman - He was very busy today and his all round play was OK, nothing special.

Carsley - Played well again today, he mopped up a lot infront of our defence. I just wish he'd stop shooting.

Neville - Pretty non-existent tbh. That's all I can think of to say about him.

Pienaar - Linked up well with our other midfielders and the Yak. You can see he's still getting back up to speed but he'll be back to his best soon enough. Unlucky not to win us our first league penalty too.

Cahill - My MOTM today. He really was everywhere today; he tracked back; got forward; held up the ball; used the ball intelligently; scored a trademark goal. I couldn't ask for of him today tbh.

Yakubu - I actually thought he was quite crap effortwise, he lookeed very lethargic. But when he scores 2 goals I really couldn't give a crap what else he does.

AJ - Gave us that added ingredient that we needed, and I feel he should have started today. The Yak needed the support and he duly supplied it. He ran at defenders and used the ball well when he had it. Well done AJ.

 

at least I now know for sure I'm not the most negative everton supporter around!!!

[Romey 1878]

at least I now know for sure I'm not the most negative everton supporter around!!!

 

 

I'm in a bad mood, don't mind me.

[The_Boxing_Aussie]

Great performance by our boys ...Fantastic Yak ,Cahill and AJ also very well.

[J*A*C*K*E*L*Z]

I would have just settled for the win today but we got abit more than that. Over the moon with the result but really think were lacking something without arteta. Also whats up with pienaars hair

 

cahill bounced back with the best ive seen him play all season really he is becoming a much better footballer now.

 

 

this will cheer you up mark:

 

http://www.skysports.com/video/0,20285,12606_3226408,00.html

 

[Romey 1878]

I would have just settled for the win today but we got abit more than that. Over the moon with the result but really think were lacking something without arteta. Also whats up with pienaars hair

 

cahill bounced back with the best ive seen him play all season really he is becoming a much better footballer now.

this will cheer you up mark:

 

http://www.skysports.com/video/0,20285,12606_3226408,00.html

 

 

 

You were right, it did. Cheers .

[herefordblue]

My Thoughts on Todays Game.

 

Started well, very well, Good thinking for the First Goal, and a Good header by Yak. We then Dominated without making any more real clear cut chances, which worried me, as I always knew Portsmouth would get a chance, and they did, slightly fortunate, but once they had Scored, they seemed the better side until around the 70th minute IMO. Johnson changed the game, he has got his confidence back, which is brilliant for us.

 

Cahill had a Great Game, however for us to challenge in forthcoming seasons, can we please get rid of Neville and Hibbert, there really not up for the Job. I think one thing that will let us down, is once we Score a Goal, we sit back to much, and against Opposition with a Good Strike force, we just can't afford to do it.

 

Todays win was huge, and Im delighted, however, we have to look at the worrying things aswell. Everytime Portsmouth had a Set Piece, they looked Dangerous, whereas we didn't. Im disapointed with our Set Pieces, Especially Corners. IMO, thats the difference between us and the Top Three.

 

Anyway Great win today Blues.

 

Come on!

[jamiemaher85]

Great result, really really proud. Yaks finish for the second was stunning. I really didn't think he would do anything from that angle, i was looking for someone to make a late run into the box, cracker.

 

Thought that Ossie did well today, did the buisness and also thought that Yobo looked very solid at the back. Great result today, and a good performance. Bring on the italians!

[carlmc25]

I thought Everton were excellent, totally dominated the first half and the last 20 mins of the 2nd half. It's hard to play amazing football against teams of similar quality, just watch league matches between Utd and Arsenal, Liverpool and Chelsea etc, they always cancel each other out and defensive players shine - yet in our last 2 matches we've comfortably outplayed 2 of our supposed rivals and shown just how good we are.

 

Portsmouth had about 2 shots on goal all match, about 2 or 3 corners and hardly put a cross into the box all game, Yobo mocked Kanu, he never got a kick. Portsmouth are a big team and played very negative, it was hard for us to play attacking football against 3 defensive midfielders. I thought Yakubu was awesome again, AJ made a difference when he came on but he didn't win us the match - Yakubu and Cahill did imo. The 2nd goal was all about Yak's strength, energy and class on the ball, he did all the hard work and then a great ball in from Pienaar (who had a hit and miss game) and Cahill did what he does best, he's been back on form the last couple of games. The third goal was a decent ball from AJ, but again, Yakubu had it all to do and boy did he do it, this guy is signing of the season and one of the best strikers in the world if he keeps up his workrate, he has everything - pace, strength, touch, vision, finishing ability, instinct, the complete striker. I don't think AJ should have started, and I don't think he should start the next match either, we play far better in 451 and AJ is a good option to bring off the bench when teams are tiring.

 

Also, another mention of Lee Carsley, in the last 2 games he has been a beast, tackling virtually everything that moves, Osman was excellent too but I'd give motm to either Yak, Cahill or Yobo - Yak edges it for me.

 

Great result, great performance.

Edited March 3, 2008 by carlmc25

[barryj]

Great win! Tbh I didn't think we would get 6 pts from city and pompey! I gave my Motm to AJ only because him entering the game made the difference. I know Yak and Cahill were superb. Cahill looked emotional on scoring I guess this is due to his brother http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/tim-cahil...9554581531.html but I'm sure this has been posted before. Good luck to him and I'm sure that has been affecting him of late. Well done DM.

[EvilG]

{the announcers on the game i'm watching have been heaping the complements onto us

first going on about how hard it is for teams to play at Goodison, then how great our defense is

then about how great pienaar has been this year, and THEN about how good osman is while also being highly underrated

looks like we're finally getting some positive recognition }

 

Nice post american blue..

 

You're right we are being recognized once again. In Roy Hodgens post match interview he was quoted saying "Fulham have played all the big teams apart from Everton"

My heart lept with joy to hear a premier league manger making such a statement.

 

There hasn't been any 'champions league your having a laugh' sung by opposing fans this campaign. Perhaps their saving those chants for the shite.

[LexKing]

BTW, does any1 know why Timmy were so emotional after hes goal? Does he had somekind personal loss in prvate life or what? Also havent seen him doing that cross he made with his hands earlier, and he really were lookin for crying when he went boxing corner flag. I were emotional lol but why Timmy also. Is he just that deep Evertonian already

Edited March 3, 2008 by LexKing

[Bill]

BTW, does any1 know why Timmy were so emotional after hes goal? Does he had somekind personal loss in prvate life or what? Also havent seen him doing that cross he made with his hands earlier, and he really were lookin for crying when he went boxing corner flag. I were emotional lol but why Timmy also. Is he just that deep Evertonian already

 

 

Read the TIM CAHILL THREAD.

[MikeO]

Just realised Redknapp stopped his "spitting the dummy" refusal to talk to the BBC on Sunday. Talked a load of crap, "Couldn't see us getting beat at half time, I wouldn't have taken a draw....thought we could win the game," but at least he talked .