Benfica (Home)

[Matt]

we were outclassed. its that simple.

[Bailey]

Well well well yet another dissapointing loss. However I did think that for the most part we played alright, not particularly good but not bad either. There were parts of the game that we controlled especially just before the interval. They got 2 lucky breaks for their goals (defending wasnt great either) and we didnt really get any. In terms of good chances we were probably parrallel. The Distin shocker, Agard heading wide, Cahill heading straight at the keeper and later on completely missing a great ball by Jo.

 

For me we had 2 weak links and this will probably suprise a few of you. The first is Yakubu. When he was on the ball he did fairly well. He had some nice turns, good touches, a few to many misplaced passes for my liking but that wasnt what frustrated me. When we had the ball and were attacking (especially on the counter) he barely did anything. He just jogged when he should have been dropping back to receive a pass or sprinting on the shoulders of the back 4 for a through ball. His off the ball movement was really dissapointing and it led to a lot of misplaced passes and people losing possession because of it. When it was cleared up to him he did ok but we needed more.

 

The second is Cahill and to be honest he was really pissing me off at times because whenever we got the ball he just bombed forward. Now I dont know whether that was Moyes' orders or off his own back but when you are playing in the centre of the park next to Rodwell you have to offer a pass, stay back and let the play build and when it gets to the wing/bylines, then you can get in the box. I lost count of how many times Rodwell had the ball and was looking for an option which should have been Cahill only for him to either pass it backwards, make a pressured run or lose the ball. There was a period about 30mins in where he sat a little more, became an option to pass to and we held the ball better which led to better build up play and a couple of chances. Like Yak, on the ball he did pretty well, some nice touches, good passes etc etc but the really good work just as hard off the ball, not just bombing forward but giving options which was shown by Benfica as their off the ball movement was sublime at times.

 

I think its fairly obvious to see that without Neville, Rodwell is struggling. He isnt a proper DM IMO. He doesnt really track players that well, which was probably his weakness pre season when he played CB. There were a few times, especially late on, where he should have been tracking but he didnt and it did to some extent lead to the goals. Apart from that I thought he had another good game on the ball and some good challenges. Its a pity he didnt have someone else in that midfield to pass to.

 

Im not really sure what to say about Gosling. He wasnt great, but I didnt think he was all that bad. When you have the footballing ability of Hibbert behind you it never is. There were a couple of times where he should have ofloaded it and he had a few to many bad touches and a few mad passes but a lot of that wasnt helped by his lack of options.

 

I also thought today highlighted the indecision of Moyes yet again as once it got past the 50 minute mark it was fairly clear that Yakubu was flagging and to be honest he didnt look all that fit to begin with. We needed a change, and it wasnt to go 4-4-2 as we were doing alright, we just needed to hold the ball up more higher up the pitch. However on the 60 minute mark Jesus (I think thats the Benfica coach's name?) brought on Aimar, an attacking change that had a huge impact on the game. I know Moyes didnt have the bench of Benfica but Jo for Yakubu should have been the shout, or at least something! He dithered, Benfica made the change and hey presto we go 1-0 down.

 

Its a shame because for parts of the first half we were the better team without creating the chances. In the second half we yet again lost our way and our heart for the most part and that is probably the worst thing for me.

Edited November 5, 2009 by Bailey

[Bailey]

"I think it's clear that Jo was a poor piece of business too. Moyes would need to start blooding some young players like Baxter and Agard more often, instead of waiting for the injured players to get better. I'm sure some of the youngsters would be a lot more hungry and passionate than Jo (and indeed others!) was tonight. Strangely, for a Brazilian, he seems to have no real flair or technique about him at all."

 

Im sorry but that is ridiculously harsh. The guy comes on with about 20 mins to go, 2-0 down and we certainly werent controlling the ball let alone creating anything. Yak was running on empty and then he brings a teenager up next to him so what exactly do you expect him to do. Not to mention we had shifted to a 4-4-2 which more or less means a game of hoofball from our defenders. Of the brief time he probably got about 10 ish touches. He held the ball up and drew fouls at least a couple of times(he also lost it at least once), won a couple of headers (more than Yakubu for the whole night), put in one quality ball that Cahill completely missed (I wonder if he would have stil been shite if that had gone in) and duffed one cross into the defender. A couple of times he made nice runs into the channels (as did Yak & Felli on occasions tonigt). I actually wished he has started. Yes Yakubu did some decent stuff early on but second half he did nothing. Jo hasnt had a start for ages and he looks rusty but if he doesnt get a decent amount of playing time then he will.

[Noddy]

Im sorry but that is ridiculously harsh. The guy comes on with about 20 mins to go, 2-0 down and we certainly werent controlling the ball let alone creating anything. Yak was running on empty and then he brings a teenager up next to him so what exactly do you expect him to do. Not to mention we had shifted to a 4-4-2 which more or less means a game of hoofball from our defenders. Of the brief time he probably got about 10 ish touches. He held the ball up and drew fouls at least a couple of times(he also lost it at least once), won a couple of headers (more than Yakubu for the whole night), put in one quality ball that Cahill completely missed (I wonder if he would have stil been shite if that had gone in) and duffed one cross into the defender. A couple of times he made nice runs into the channels (as did Yak & Felli on occasions tonigt). I actually wished he has started. Yes Yakubu did some decent stuff early on but second half he did nothing. Jo hasnt had a start for ages and he looks rusty but if he doesnt get a decent amount of playing time then he will.

I wasn't basing my opinion solely on tonight's performance, which I also think wasn't the greatest. I stand by my point that some youngsters should be given a chance ahead of him.

[Bailey]

"I wasn't basing my opinion solely on tonight's performance, which I also think wasn't the greatest. I stand by my point that some youngsters should be given a chance ahead of him."

 

I agree that he hasnt been at his best (or anywhere near it) but I cant name a player that has been, especially at the top of the pitch (excluding Saha). Saha can make something out of nothing which only the very best strikers can do. Jo needs delivery, he needs the ball at his feet and most importantly he need confidence. However I also agree that the youngsters should be given a go, not necesarily ahead of jo, but when Agard came on he looked lively and could/should have scored. The young guys should have played at Spurs in the CC IMO.

[lembot]

what a load of shite...I went tonight expecting a bit of a fight pfffft the sooner our senior players are back the better.Is Moyes tactically inept ???????????????

Edited November 6, 2009 by lembot

[Benfica_Supporter]

Yeah, I'm so happy with me team!

 

Great game and fantastic atmosphere (only in England ). I think we played better and the final result is fair. I'm getting really excited about my team and this competition, let's see what we can do. I hope to be in Hamburg in May

 

Yes, our coach's name is Jesus and we play with an Angel (his real name) Di Maria But, unfortunately I think that next year you'll see him again in Goodison playing for other team. Not Benfica but an english team I hope we can hold him until World Cup.

 

they were better in every single position on the park they taught us a lesson on how to pass and move...at times it looked like a practice match...we never had a player on the pitch capable of taking the ball and beating a man...tonight we didnt have a clue...i cant see us improving untill the new year its gonna be a hard long season.i cant believe aek beat them.

 

Neither me. Trust me, it was a really atypical game. I hope and believe that you can beat them in Athens. Why you don't play with 2 strikers (Saha And Yakubu) supported by Cahill? Then, Bilya, Rodwell and Neville in the middle. Just while Arteta and Piennar aren't back.

 

I don't like to see Everton in this position, are you satisfied with Moyes' performance? Good luck in the EPL

[marcopaulo]

cos neville isnt back...and saha is injured also....

[marcopaulo]

and also everton don't play 4-4-2 we play 4-5-1 to stop the opposition getting space in midfield and playing around us...oh wait

[sheedysheedysheedy]

Dearest Phillip,

 

Please come back. My heart pains without you. The defenses are miserable, there is no coordination and a complacent feeling about the boys. We need you to be our rock in the back once more. I pray the day we will see you on the front lines once more is not far off. The Red (shite) Coats are not far off and without you, well i'll not yet think of that. hurry back.

 

Most Sincerely yours,

Evertonians everywhere.

I came here this morning to post something similar. Of all the players we're missing our captain was the most noticable last night. We had absolutely no bite in midfield which allowed them to knock it around with ease and embarrass us. Felliani and Cahilll just flap about jumping for headers with no direction but I don't think either of them put a (fair) tackle in all night.

Totally disillusioned by that performance, not so much because I thought we played bad, but because of the realisation that we are light years away from becoming a force in Europe. Granted we have injuries, but I went last night having witnessed the embarrassment 2 weeks ago with thoughts of seeing a battle on the pitch, a derby type atmosphere and seeing us fight for every ball like our lives depended on it. What we got was toothless. Very disappointed!

[iggy]

Outclassed, pure and simple.

Benfica didn't have to go after us from the start, they knew they would be the better side on the night.

Before any one goes on about us missing our creative players in midfield (I am painfully reminded of it every game I watch) it is still no excuse for highly paid professional premiership footballers not to be able to pass a ball with better accuracy or to control it when a pass does go to feet.

Compare that to the way they zipped the ball around, almost always with at least 2 players not just available, but looking to receive the ball.

Not looking forward to being at the Boleyn Ground on Sunday even though it has been a happy hunting ground in recent seasons..........

[thescore]

the whole team faded second half dont think we are fit enough.

 

i think we need someone playing along side rodwell at moment it looks like we are playing 4-1-4-1

 

lets get back to the dogs of war, we chase everything down and we were fit.

 

moyes tactics where shite second half it looked like he had told the defence to push up chasing the game which played into benficas hands.

 

FUCKING SHIT MOYES GET A GRIP

[nogs]

I think we should thank Benfica coz they have shown in the coldest light possible where we are simply not good enough to be considering ourselves a top team - we can't pass and the end product when we get into the final third is dreadful.

 

There were other deficiencies last night - I thought Rodwell had a decent game but at 18 he is never going to protect the back four like Carsley and Neville, its unfair to expect it (any coincidence we've started the ast two seasons dreadfully having sold/lost to injury those two, by the way?). Yobo and Distin as a centre back pairing is not in the same league as Jags and Lescott but there's not much we can do about that now, especially with Heitinga and Neill not eligible in Europe. We're low on confidence and jittery in defence, it was blatantly obvious in the second half they were going to score.

 

But, lack of form defensively aside, if we could have kept possession and delivered balls into the box half as well as them, we'd have got something out of the game. In my opinion, there's no point saying we're struggling right now coz we're leaking goals - I've always had a problem with the play-for-clean-sheets, squeeze-a-narrow-victory approach Moyes takes, because football is ultimately about scoring goals, and to do that you need to be able to keep possession and create chances with good passing. When you come up against a proper football side like Benfica - or, for that matter, Man Utd, Arsenal, Chelsea - you can try keeping it tight all you like, but they will pass and move and probe for openings until something drops in their favour, and if you can't match them in terms of passing and making space and creating chances, you're not gonna win. Which is why our record is so shit against the top teams.

 

Maybe our players just aren't as good as theirs, maybe a fit Arteta, Pienaar, Yak and Saha in the team and we'd have players with the technical ability to match the best. But watching us hoof the ball around, misplace simple passes, and constantly hit the first defender with crosses all last night wound me up so effing much coz that is the whole point of football for christ's sake - if you can't pass, why are you a professional footballer?! I look at players like Baines and Bily, who we all know have ability in their left feet - why were their crosses so dismal last night then? Where's the left foot Bily had when he created six goals in his first three games, or whatever it was? Why can Fellaini kill a ball dead with seemingly any part of his body, turn, use his feet to get out of tight situations, but then not make a 20 yard pass accurately? And the same goes for Rodwell, whose passing seems to be deteriorating. What are these young players being taught in training? Do we ever practice one-touch, pass-and-move, five-a-side style football? Or is it all just the big hoof, fight for the scraps, get some part of you body on it and hope? Do we ever practice delivery into the box with moving and dead balls? Because at the moment it really doesn't look like we do.

 

We've got quite a young squad and I think our trouble is they're not being taught to play football the right way. Teams like Benfica will always teach us a lesson until someone wakes up and realises we've gotta learn how to pass as well.

[Romey 1878]

Where to begin?

 

We can't pass, the amount of times we gave the ball away was embarrassing. We can't defend, I've said it before but the Yobo/Distin partnership just isn't right. Yobo is a dreamer and Distin lacks any sort of pace, so we're getting fucked. We can't attack, I have never seen a side so slow at moving forward. We "broke" on them and actually ended up back in our own penalty area, and when they broke on us they'd scored within a minute of receiving the ball. We have no midfield, I have absolutely no idea what our midfield was doing last night but they were'nt a unit. We have a team of absolute pussy's, they just will not fucking tackle or put a foot in and it's infuriating. We can't actually play football so we're a horrible side to watch. We have no pace, it's actually painful watching us do anything tbh, we can't even take a quick throw-in ffs! There's no fight and no energy, and that is probably what hurts the most. We've been known for our pressure play and fight etc, but it's completely disappeared and we allow sides so much freedom and that's not what you want to do against a side like Benfica. We're static as fuck (with and without the ball) - the amount of times we had the ball and there was nobody moving to make themselves available to receive it was beyond a joke. Then when Benfica had the ball we were even worse; the midfield was stationary so whenever there was a loose ball or a deflection Benfica were always first to the ball because their players never stop moving; we have no anticipation! We're totally predictable, for example, every throw-in we get we simply launch it down the line and more often than not the ball doesn't reach our man and then we're having to defend again. We have no shape, Bily drifts inside because he's not a winger and Gosling is just horseshit, so we have no wingers and our full-backs are completely exposed. Tactically we're like a pub team, ugly ugly ugly. Moyes is a reactive manager, i.e. he will only change things once his smash and grab shitness have failed, when he should be a proactive manager and make things happen. That is far too many problems for a side that wants to reach the top. We actually started looking pathetic by the end of the game.

 

At the end of the day, you don't mind losing to a better side, but a performance like that makes it hard to stomach.

 

 

 

 

Howard - Kept the scoreline respectable but he needs to control his area better, and communicate with the defence better.

 

 

Hibbert - I didn't think he had a bad game but I didn't think he had a good game either, he sort of just plodded along.

 

 

Yobo - A couple of dopey moments but he was OK.

 

 

Distin - I didn't want us to sign Distin and then I thought he'd proved me wrong after his first couple of games, but for the past few weeks he's showing me that I was right not to want him. He looks dodgy and he loses far too many aerial challenges for someone of his size.

 

 

Baines - I thought he was really good for us last night. Always looking to bring the ball forward, and he was full of running unlike pretty much every other player on the park.

 

 

Gosling - The lad is shite, end of story.

 

 

Fellaini - He faded in the second half but that first half performance earned him my MOTM vote. He was the only player who willing to put a foot in and actually try and win the ball instead of just backing off like the other shithouses. His close control was magnificent tbh. Yes he gave the ball away a few times but he was willing to put himself about and he made some driving runs to get us on the front foot, and he should be applauded for that.

 

 

Rodwell - He started off like a train wreck and gave the ball away every time he got the ball. He settled down eventually but it was not a good night for young Jack.

 

 

Cahill - He is pissing me off. He looks completely disinterested in playing for Everton Football Club for a start. Then factor in that he's hiding when he's a senior pro of our side. He's our captain right now and he's not talking to the players, or organising them at all. Also, he lost the ball countless times and passing is a basic part of the game ffs! If we could I'd want him to be dropped, and I love Cahill so it pains me to say it.

 

 

Bily - He blows hot and cold which is very frustrating. He pings in a peach of a cross and then he'll completely fuck the next one up. I'm not going to be too harsh on him because he's still getting used to learning the way we play and we're needing him to be a creative spark straight away and it's not fair on him.

 

 

Yakubu - I don't know what to make of Yak's performance tbh. He had absolutely no service all night but when he did get the ball he, more often than not, lost the bloody thing. He annoyed me by basically playing as a left winger for the majority of the game, meaning that when we did get forward there was nobody in the bastard box!

[MikeO]

Agree with a lot of that Mark although I think personally you're being a bit kind to Bily. Someone earlier also said he had a decent first half (maybe they meant the first half minute ). He was totally ineffetive all night for me, bar a couple of things far too late in the last ten, and seeing first hand his unwillingness to take anyone on was disappointing.

Think you're being kind to Gosling also.....he's worse than that. I'm convinced when he gets the ball in anything approaching a threatening position he shuts hit eyes and runs, because he seems to have zero awareness of where anyone or anything is....players, ball goal...anything.

Cahill needs a goal desperately. He missed two more chances last night, they're building up and it's very unlike him.

MOTM for me was between Fellaini and Rodwell. Both showed quality at times....the only two of the front six to do so....though both made simple mistakes at times.

Seems to be no communication at all, no teamwork, people having decent ideas totally wasted because no-one else knows what's coming. The Bily/Hibbo free kick fiasco was the best example but there were countless others.

 

I'm no expert on defence so I'll leave those shortcomings aside. Their goals were completely inevitable, I know that much, but Baines (who got MOTM on the coach) and Hibbo were not too bad.....we weren't ripped apart down the wings like we were in Lisbon.

[mcirony]

Dearest Phillip,

 

Please come back. My heart pains without you. The defenses are miserable, there is no coordination and a complacent feeling about the boys. We need you to be our rock in the back once more. I pray the day we will see you on the front lines once more is not far off. The Red (shite) Coats are not far off and without you, well i'll not yet think of that. hurry back.

 

Most Sincerely yours,

Evertonians everywhere.

 

Either phillip will do for me!

[FootballPictures]

Pictures Everton-Benfica ! Edited November 6, 2009 by FootballPictures

[chicagoblue]

Went home yesterday and watched the game on DVR. Very frustrating. Our whole tactical approach to this game was wrong. Yak does not have the match fitness to be starting in a single striker role. The number of fairly decent through balls that he just left to roll back to their keeper was astounding. Cahill absolutely needed to score from his opportunity, would have completely changed the game, and probably his form. I thought Fellaini actually showed some excellent touches and control, but as a team no one was able to pass and that killed all of our attacks which prevented us from sustaining any real pressure. Baines along with Howard were the only ones for me who put up the proper fight start to finish, and that's just not good enough.

[jcrawfor]

Either phillip will do for me!

Me too, i wrote it wanting Jags back, but Nev would be VERY much welcomed.