West Bromwich Albion (home)

[Droobie]

Crap that was close

[Wall Writer]

Well a win, but they went close at times. Nice goal by Saha.

[CraccerC]

west brom deserved more we were shite

[Baggies]

I feel sick after watching that, if we knew how to finish and how to tackle we'd be mid table by then. Thought Morrison and Koren was fantastic for us.

 

Good luck for the rest of the season.

[Jimmy the blue]

As DM said after the game it was a less than satisfactory performance, we must do better.

 

I have been a great admirer of Joey Yobo over the years but it seems that when he is in the middle of defence lately we go to bits, teams run at us and we retreat without challenge, he was guilty of this on more than one occasion and in all truth it was only pathetic finishing by WBA that prevented a score. Those of you who like Castillo, please tell me why, if he was any good he'd have been on from the start today, the short time he was on confirmed to me how crap he is. Young Gosling desperately needs a rest, he s being found out big time. The Pieman huffed and puffed, at least her did display some enterprise, Ossie was much the same.

 

As for Jo, sorry lads he was poor today Saha showed what was what in the short time he was on the pitch. Saying that Jo was poor, Big bird was even worse, I've now got huge reservations about Fellaini, his temperament is questionable, his knowledge of the rules appears to be non-existent and he is slow, at times very slow. There is no way on Gods good earth that this 6 foot 4 inch idiot is worth £15 mil.

 

I felt sorry for the WBA fans, they deserve better than that, the outfield play was great at times but they cannot defend and they certainly cannot finish, thank God. They had 21 attempts at goal compared to our 12, 6 corners to our three, that just about says it all methinks.

Edited February 28, 2009 by Jimmy the blue

[Blue 250]

^^^ Thanks Baggies^^^, you were probably the better team today.We rode our luck and did what you didn't do, took a couple of chances.

 

There are teams most Evertonians would like to see go down more than yourselves!...Good luck!

 

 

Fellaini is looking like he did when he first came! Moyes must be concerned by his present form, unless he is being troubled by injury and turnning out just to help!!

 

We just didn't carry much threat today, Saha did improve that a bit when he cam on.If he's fit he must play ahead of JO!

 

Gosling doesn't seem ready to start playing every game, he need the subs role for a while yet.

 

Oh well three points and the possibility Wigan and Fulham will drop points.

[zequist]

Oh well three points and the possibility Wigan and Fulham will drop points.

 

No, no, no, we want Fulham to win! They're playing Arsenal today, remember?

[Guest efctaxi]

I missed todays match

 

Had booked a guy in for a lesson at 1 oclock without realising the early kickoff time .

 

I was gutted when the doorbell rang lol , but doesn't look like I missed much . The fact that we have apparantly played poor and still won offers some hope .

Some good results for us today with Arsenal and Fulham only drawing , and Chelsea pipping Wigan at the post .

We have now put ourselves only 2 points behind Arsenal , but more importantly 9 and 10 points infront of the other 2 with better goal difference .

End of story for Liverpool I think now .

 

BTW .... Who scored ?

[Romey 1878]

Awful performance from us today. If this is what we're going to be treated to for the rest of the season then it's going to be a LONG end to the season. If we'd have been playing against a better side today we'd have been on the end of a very embarrassing scoreline. It just was not good enough, and Moyes needs to bollock the majority of the lads that turned out for us today.

 

Howard - Did superbly well when called upon and commanded his area superbly.

 

Neville - Looked OK when he was in midfield but at RB he was rubbish. He left Robinson with acres of room to move into and took too long getting the ball in when in an attacking position.

 

Jagielka - I actually thought he had a bit of an off day for us today tbh. He didn't win very much in the air and was one of the players who was most guilty for backing off when their attacking players were running at us. Even on an off day though he saved us a couple of times.

 

Yobo - The defence looks so shaky with him in there it's unbelievable. When the ball was in the air he was brilliant for us and won most of the headers, but when they were coming at us on the floor he was like a schoolboy. The sooner he's back on the bench the better IMO.

 

Baines - Comfortably my MOTM today. I thought he provided us with a very potent attacking threat, exactly what we need when we're lacking creativity in other areas. His cross for Cahill's goal was excellent.

 

Gosling - I thought he was better than he's been in the past couple of games, but it's becoming very clear to me that he's just not ready for Premiership action week in week out.

 

Osman - A LOT better than he was before being out for the injury. He is obviously much better in the middle of the park than on the wing so Arteta being out could benefit him.

 

Fellaini - The game just passed him by totally. Shite.

 

Pienaar - I know people are raving about his performance today but I found him so bloody frustrating. Running with the ball he's absolutely fine and no one can question his work rate, but his decision making and passing to a team mate today left a lot to be desired for me. I found myself thinking "for fuck sakes Pienaar" on far too many occasions for me to give him the MOTM award.

 

Cahill - One of only a few of our players to actually show some desire today. He won the ball back for us on many occasions when others were standing off. Took his goal well. Can't fault him today.

 

Jo - Never got into it and his first touch was terrible.

 

Castillo - Crap, crap and crap. Has to be sent back in the summer.

 

Saha - His goal was quality. The turn and hit was, quite frankly, beautiful. He showed how much good it can do to have proper quality upfront. If we can keep him fit and give him the opportunities then we'll have no trouble scoring goals.

[LexKing]

I missed whole game but good thing is that we have won it . Didnt remember its early game dammit. Why Lescott where on bench?

 

AND HOW LIGHT OUT IVE BEEN TODAY? Thought the match were over and didnt even start watching rest of the game...GEEZ im pissed

[London Blue]

We were crap no denying it. I think it was down to the following:

 

Fist game since losing Arteta and boy did it show. It will take time for the team to adjust to playing without him, I think if we suffer no more injuries we will improve as the team adapts.

 

Gosling needs a rest, he is not ready for week in week out action - great one for next season but not ready yet.

 

Fellani is still carrying an injury but his mobility was better today and he will get better. His passing is good and he has good vision, he just cant tackle. Once hes learnt english, and can communicate with the team it will help. I still think this guy will be quality for next season. I think we should treat this season as his schooling in the priemership. We mustnt get on his back support the lad and he will come good.

 

Castillio is cack ill cheer him on while hes in our shirt but ill personaly take back to Red Star. Not prem quality and low on confidence.

 

Yobo who has been a great player for us previously was today very poor, You could just tell the whole team was nervous when WBA attacked, he can head but he just kept backing off when they ran at us and added pressure. Once we have Lescot and Jags back we will be solid again. I think normally it wouldnt of matterd but with all thats happend to us this season Yobo was just to scared of making a mistake and it infected the whole team, even the great jag.

 

At one point today we had Jo, Saha, Cahil, Osman, Pienaar, gosling all playing whichj ment we just had nev holding midfield we were WAY TO OPEN - great to watch though.

 

Jo looked nervous today again I think he needs a confident team to get the best out of him and once we have adapted to life without Arteta for the rest of the season he will improve, and having Cahil and Saha around will help.

 

We will be much improved for Blackburn - Moyes will see to that

 

Up the Blues

Edited February 28, 2009 by London Blue

[DonKey]

I'm not surprised we looked shaky and unsettled.

 

We were already trying to come to terms with our main creative outlet being out.

Hibbert off after about 15 minutes, meant a further reshuffle.

Yobo hasn't started a game for how long...

Fellaini is undoubtedly not fully fit from this injury.

Not surprised Castillo looks 'low on confidence'. How may games has he started/been involved in.

 

Although they're bottom of the league, as the commentators were saying, West Brom haven't been overrun on many occasions this season. Good footballing side and I thought they would cause some problems going forward.

 

Happy with the 3 points, and confident that we will continue to adapt and finish the season even stronger!

 

COYB

[Romey 1878]

A good read here

 

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/foo...icle5821956.ece

[blueblood]

Feillani is an absolute liability. I have reserved judgement for 20+ games but he does not seem to have the mental ability to learn when not to foul.

 

He persistently fouls the opposition, silly fouls for no apparent reason, and then looks surprised when he gets booked every game. His team mates need to have a word with him (via a translator!!) and tell him he's no use to the team when it looks as though he'll get send off every week.

 

Add to that his first touch is woeful, he is embarrasingly slow and manages to give the ball away with every pass and I find myself constatly frustrated by the lad. Had I seen an improvement in temperament from the start of the season fair enough, but he's actually getting worse. Koren and Morrison ran past him as if he wasn't there on far too many occassions today.

 

Pienaar was also shown as being too slow by their, somewhat limited midfield, but nowhere near as badly as Feillani.

 

Jo was poor for me, Saha shown in one touch of class more than I think we will ever see from this guy (Bolton game aside). He looks slow, poor touch, lacks match fitness and practice. When Saha looks more match sharp than you it's a worry.

 

Apart from the back 4/5, we really struggled today. I am increasingly concerned by the lack of chances created in open play and, Saha's moment of brilliance aside, there doesn't seem anyone capable of grabbing the game by the scruff of the neck and gettinf a goal.

 

Thank crunchie for Cahill and West Brom's defence being so poor. I'm concerned for Wednesday as can't see Blackburm and man mountain Samba giving Cahill free headers 10 yards out, and unsure how else we will score.

 

Depressing viewing today, just glad we have the buffer over 7th place

[London Blue]

Add to that his first touch is woeful, he is embarrasingly slow and manages to give the ball away with every pass and I find myself constatly frustrated by the lad. Had I seen an improvement in temperament from the start of the season fair enough, but he's actually getting worse. Koren and Morrison ran past him as if he wasn't there on far too many occassions today.

 

 

Have to disagree, like alot of continental players his first touch is good, as is his passing, and his movement, especialy getting into the box is impressive. Look at the games he played for us before he was injured - we were all singing his praises. He is still injured and with a back injury or any injury that affects mobility it effects everything else.

 

Next season will be the test for him, by then he will be speaking english and he will of adapted to the premier leauge. Also this is a young lad who has moved abroad to a country he doesnt know, doesnt speak the language. DM and the coaching staff will have alot of time to work with him and mold him into what they know he can be.

 

Lets not forget its not easy playing in a team thats constantly changing when youve been in the squad for years let alone when you arrived in the summer!

 

Give the boy a break, cheer him on, and lets see what he does next season. I promise you he will be immence for us

Edited February 28, 2009 by London Blue

[Jimmy the blue]

Have to disagree, like alot of continental players his first touch is good, as is his passing, and his movement, especialy getting into the box is impressive. Look at the games he played for us before he was injured - we were all singing his praises. He is still injured and with a back injury or any injury that affects mobility it effects everything else.

 

Next season will be the test for him, by then he will be speaking english and he will of adapted to the premier leauge. Also this is a young lad who has moved abroad to a country he doesnt know, doesnt speak the language. DM and the coaching staff will have alot of time to work with him and mold him into what they know he can be.

 

Lets not forget its not easy playing in a team thats constantly changing when youve been in the squad for years let alone when you arrived in the summer!

 

Give the boy a break, cheer him on, and lets see what he does next season. I promise you he will be immence for us

 

 

Must say LB I think blueblood has it spot with Fellaini, the look he gave DM when he was hauled off said to me that all is not well between the two of them. His game is so off at the moment I fear he is mixed up in his mind as to how to play, imo he initially needs to read the rule book and then get himself fit, he is six inches taller than Tim Cahill yet Timmy out leaps him by at least a foot. Fellaini's last five or six performances have been total crap

[London Blue]

Must say LB I think blueblood has it spot with Fellaini, the look he gave DM when he was hauled off said to me that all is not well between the two of them. His game is so off at the moment I fear he is mixed up in his mind as to how to play, imo he initially needs to read the rule book and then get himself fit, he is six inches taller than Tim Cahill yet Timmy out leaps him by at least a foot. Fellaini's last five or six performances have been total crap

 

 

I know but he has been injured, maybe I'm making excuses but we must give him support, he is low on confidence. DM gave him a pat on the back as he left, he knows the big guys been injured. I trust DM and as I said next season will be the real test.

Edited March 1, 2009 by London Blue

[Jimmy the blue]

I know but he has been injured, maybe I'm making excuses but we must give him support, he is low on confidence. DM gave him a pat on the back as he left, he knows the big guys been injured. I trust DM and as I said next season will be the real test.

 

 

With the way our season is going we need him playing well now, we can't afford passengers. If we had won last week we'd have been in joint 5th tomight but many didn't pull their weight at Newcastle, today we got a get out of jail free card tbh. I have supported Fellaini since he came here but there must be a limit to the amount of times you can excuse stupid fouls and histrionics

[zequist]

Lets not forget its not easy playing in a team thats constantly changing when youve been in the squad for years let alone when you arrived in the summer!

 

Give the boy a break, cheer him on, and lets see what he does next season. I promise you he will be immence for us

 

And...everyone seems to forget in their rush to declare him genius or shite that on top of the cultural and language adjustments, he's still YOUNG! He just turned 21 a few months ago, which is only a year older than Vaughn and Anichebe. He still has many, MANY years in front of him where he will be growing and learning and maturing his game (and he's not a loan either, so Moyes will have those years to work with him to make him better). Same with Gosling, who also took some hits on this thread - the kid is SEVENTEEN. Players that age are going to have games where they look great, and games where they look like shite. It is what it is, and what it will continue to be for as long as it takes them to grow up. There's no point getting too worked up about any young player's performance, good or bad, because the only thing they're consistently going to give you is inconsistency. In a perfect world, I'm sure Moyes would love to sit both of them down for a few games and give them some rest and some coaching while they're on one of these down cycles, but unfortunately he doesn't have that luxury right now because we don't have enough healthy players, so we're just going to have to deal with the ups and downs.

 

Now, I'm not suggesting that young players should be spared any criticism at all. If they're good enough for the first team, they're good enough for an honest evaluation. What I'm suggesting is, be realistic about it. Don't get yourself all worked up criticizing Fellaini for not playing like a crafty, ten-year veteran. Because he's not a crafty, ten-year veteran, he's an overgrown kid who's only in his third professional season and his first in a top-tier league.

[London Blue]

With the way our season is going we need him playing well now, we can't afford passengers.

 

 

Some one better tell DM that as VDM has been sitting in First Class for the past 4 years!

[Bill]

"Same with Gosling, who also took some hits on this thread - the kid is SEVENTEEN. Players that age are going to have games where they look great, and games where they look like shite."

 

JD ..... Gosling born Feb 1990, makes him 19yrs old, Rodwell is 17, and both players altho not sprinters are certainly a lot faster than Fellaini who is noticebly slow, they Have a better 1st touch, and can also tackle a lot better.

So i fail to see how being young can be used as an excuse for Fellaini who incidently should have an abundance of energy at his age, and has played long enough to come to terms with Control and movement, Passing, and the ability to tackle, none of which are apparent.

As far as i am concerned he was a last minute replacement (panic buy) for the player we really wanted but didnt get (Moutinho.) and does not look like a 15 million player, and i am not holding my breadth till the time he might or might not become one.

[marcopaulo]

fellaini didnt grow up in english football though did he? i dont like makin excuses at all but rodwell and gosling have been trained and raised on english style football and the belgian league is nowhere near as good. fellaini will be good and he has the height our midfield needs let him get the first season under his belt and get his back better and he'll be quality next season

[Bill]

ffs Marco the basics of football are the same if you played in the Belgian league, or the west Cheshire league.

You run, you tackle, you shoot, or you pass, do they not do this in the Belgian league. ??

Its the same in any league and how you can say Rodwell or Gosling have an advantage is beyond me, Fellaini has played Champs league for the Belgium League Winners, and has also been playing several years longer than both.

Thats a silly excuse if you ask me.

[zequist]

In my experience, no matter how gifted and talented a young player is, there is ALWAYS a growth and maturity process involved. Football players don't arrive fully-formed from the factory at age 18 and remain unchanged for the next 20 years. Skill is skill at any age, but intangibles - instincts, saavy, decision-making, leadership - are a big part of what makes a player who he is too, and those things only come with time and experience. Depending on the player, some will need more work in that area, some not as much. But either way, there's no such thing as a football player who is less mature and less saavy on the pitch at 26 or 27 than he was at 21. Unless you have Benjamin Button playing midfield, the world doesn't work that way. Fellaini will learn, and he'll get smarter about picking his spots to foul as he gets older, just like Anichebe will learn how to condition and pace himself better to stay effective for 90 minutes, and Rodwell and Gosling and Baxter and our other youngsters will learn the lessons they need to learn.

 

And BTW, he never played in the Champions' League. The one year they were up for it, his first year with the team (2006-07), they took the same road we did - got knocked out in the CL qualifiers by Steaua Bucharest, then got knocked out of UEFA Cup qualifying by Celta Vigo. Never properly qualified for either competition. In fact, Standard's only European victory in five attempts while he was with them came against some minnow from Luxemburg in UEFA Cup preliminaries last year (then they played Zenit in the qualifying round and got smashed).

Edited March 1, 2009 by JD in DC

[blueblood]

I hear the excuses being made based on age, language, culture etc, but I have to agree with Bill, the basics are the basics and he simly does not do them properly.

 

If I was palying alongside him I'd do my nut whenever you see him at a corner throwing elbows at the opposition. I'm all for a bit of rough and tumble, and our midfield needs it more than most but does he not realise that this is shown on Sky/ MOTD every week, refs watch this and will start to look for him, then the yellows stop and get replaced by reds. He needs a talking to, as that is not good enough.

 

As for his injury, we may be struggling but if he was really not match fit would Moyes/ the club risk their £15m investment?? I'd say he is fitter then most give him credit for, maybe not 100% but he cannot be far off.

 

His touch is not good a la other Europeans as stated earlier, far from it. At times it is awful and he loses possession frequently based on heavy touches.

 

He needs to learn and fast, I wish we had the squad to accommodate the nurturing of him, but unfortunately we bought him to play now, be influential now and he is failing to meet these expectations quite a lot of the time.

 

I hope he will come good next season, I really do. He just needs to stop the foulling and then start to sort his game out.

[London Blue]

Look at his performances for the National side, for Standard and for us prior to Hull at home and you wil see his touch passing and heading were very good, (yes he tackled like WWF wrestler). Since then he has been injured and is low on confidence.

 

He is a EVERTON player so lets treat him like one and lay off of him, give him time to settle and recover from injury. Next season will be the one to let him show what he can do. He will be used to the priemership, speaka de lingo and most importantly of had a full pre season with us.

 

DM would not of spent £15 mill (apparently) on a dud, hes been scouting him for ages so have other clubs. Other managers and pundits and fans raved about him earlier on in the season, lets not demonise the lad and point out every mistake he makes. Its not productive and it sure as shit wont help him regain his confidence and settle.