Bolton (Away)

[Kenyon L]

You may or may not like it. I'm just trying to get exposure for my site.

 

Grief wraps its glacial fingers around our hearts in many ways. Seeing Victor Aneochebe on the team sheet is one of them.

 

The rain fell hard today in the Stadium of Emptiness and the option of who would play forward weighed heavy upon David Moyes. He looked at his choices around the Dressing room and saw wet towels, old stained underwear, our substitute goal keeper, whatever his name is, Victor, and Moyes made his choice; and chose wrong.

 

Spelt backward, 'Bolton' may be 'Bitch-ass,' but the only 'boltons' on this pitch today wore blue. Everton played as though the ball was emitting high frequency whistles that hurt their ears when they got near it--if so, Baines and Bily must have been wearing ear plugs because from the midfield up they're the only ones who were up for it.

 

The cameras caught Jose Baxter telling Moyes:

 

"Boss, I think I can--"

 

"Shut it."

 

"Sorry."

 

 

 

I don't mean to wander here, but I once had an uncle, who, whenever he was asked how he was doing, responded with a sour look and then making a large fart noise, but not with his lips. Then a stain would spread across the rear part of his trowsers and he'd walk away as though nothing had happened. Which is what Everton did whenever they crossed midfield. The Bolton side.

 

They looked pretty damn good in their own half, though. They splashed around like retarded children wearing water wings in the shallow end, not bothering anybody until the ref told Gary Cahil: "You know, you got a bad break last week and the football gods have told me to make it up to you. What would you like?" Cahil looked down at his shirt, and said, "Well, I already got me a sperm stitched on me kit, how about a free kick?"

 

The ref agreed. Cahill called "Bank off some numbnut's head, off the Swedish guy's arm." The ref nodded his head, blew the whistle and Cahill's shot was good.

 

 

 

With ten minutes left in the half Everton found bits of their manhood and ventured further into Bolton territory but scuttled back quickly when they were told to piss off.

 

Jose Baxter got up, walked up to Moyes and said, "Um, boss...?"

 

"Fuck off."

 

"Right. I'll just sit down, then."

 

 

 

HALFTIME

 

 

 

 

 

The team was the same for the second half, except Vic looked suspiciously like a sack of russet potatoes with a blue top on and a short fellaini wig--in fact it was pretty hard to tell the two apart.

 

 

 

Bolton, apart from the goal had done little other than hold a limping competition. Until the runner up of said competition, (the winner was stretchered off) popped up on the right, unmarked and beat the unfortunate Howard.

 

"Um, boss...?"

 

"Shut it."

 

"Yessir."

 

Moyes finally made some substitutes. Finally, Beckford on, Vic off...Oh, Vic isn't coming off? (grief smiley) What followed was the rampant Beckford making gallant heart pounding runs, gutting Bolton's defence time after time. It would have been awesome if somebody had passed him the ball.

 

Vic began to wander around the pitch like a grandfather who just lost his bus token.

 

Moyes got up. "Baxter!"

 

"Yeah, boss?"

 

"You holding any weed?"

 

(sigh) "No."

 

"Get in, then."

 

 

 

 

 

What followed was a dazzling display not seen in recent Everton lore. Jose pounced whenever he spied the ball. He shot, and shot and shot. To be honest it didn't seem like he was shooting at anything. Mostly he just seemed pissed off. Well, well, well. Welcome to the club.

 

Writing Everton is a Pars Friendly Site

[Kenyon L]

You may or may not like it. I'm just trying to get exposure for my site.

 

Grief wraps its glacial fingers around our hearts in many ways. Seeing Victor Aneochebe on the team sheet is one of them.

 

The rain fell hard today in the Stadium of Emptiness and the option of who would play forward weighed heavy upon David Moyes. He looked at his choices around the Dressing room and saw wet towels, old stained underwear, our substitute goal keeper, whatever his name is, Victor, and Moyes made his choice; and chose wrong.

 

Spelt backward, 'Bolton' may be 'Bitch-ass,' but the only 'boltons' on this pitch today wore blue. Everton played as though the ball was emitting high frequency whistles that hurt their ears when they got near it--if so, Baines and Bily must have been wearing ear plugs because from the midfield up they're the only ones who were up for it.

 

The cameras caught Jose Baxter telling Moyes:

 

"Boss, I think I can--"

 

"Shut it."

 

"Sorry."

 

 

 

I don't mean to wander here, but I once had an uncle, who, whenever he was asked how he was doing, responded with a sour look and then making a large fart noise, but not with his lips. Then a stain would spread across the rear part of his trowsers and he'd walk away as though nothing had happened. Which is what Everton did whenever they crossed midfield. The Bolton side.

 

They looked pretty damn good in their own half, though. They splashed around like retarded children wearing water wings in the shallow end, not bothering anybody until the ref told Gary Cahil: "You know, you got a bad break last week and the football gods have told me to make it up to you. What would you like?" Cahil looked down at his shirt, and said, "Well, I already got me a sperm stitched on me kit, how about a free kick?"

 

The ref agreed. Cahill called "Bank off some numbnut's head, off the Swedish guy's arm." The ref nodded his head, blew the whistle and Cahill's shot was good.

 

 

 

With ten minutes left in the half Everton found bits of their manhood and ventured further into Bolton territory but scuttled back quickly when they were told to piss off.

 

Jose Baxter got up, walked up to Moyes and said, "Um, boss...?"

 

"Fuck off."

 

"Right. I'll just sit down, then."

 

 

 

HALFTIME

 

 

 

 

 

The team was the same for the second half, except Vic looked suspiciously like a sack of russet potatoes with a blue top on and a short fellaini wig--in fact it was pretty hard to tell the two apart.

 

 

 

Bolton, apart from the goal had done little other than hold a limping competition. Until the runner up of said competition, (the winner was stretchered off) popped up on the right, unmarked and beat the unfortunate Howard.

 

"Um, boss...?"

 

"Shut it."

 

"Yessir."

 

Moyes finally made some substitutes. Finally, Beckford on, Vic off...Oh, Vic isn't coming off? (grief smiley) What followed was the rampant Beckford making gallant heart pounding runs, gutting Bolton's defence time after time. It would have been awesome if somebody had passed him the ball.

 

Vic began to wander around the pitch like a grandfather who just lost his bus token.

 

Moyes got up. "Baxter!"

 

"Yeah, boss?"

 

"You holding any weed?"

 

(sigh) "No."

 

"Get in, then."

 

 

 

 

 

What followed was a dazzling display not seen in recent Everton lore. Jose pounced whenever he spied the ball. He shot, and shot and shot. To be honest it didn't seem like he was shooting at anything. Mostly he just seemed pissed off. Well, well, well. Welcome to the club.

 

Writing Everton is a Pars Friendly Site

 

 

 

sorry, I forgot to put my site. http://www.writingeverton.com

[MikeO]

Curate's egg that imo.

[Bill]

We already have our own, "SAMS REPORTS" can be found in the correct place "MATCH DAY" forum.

 

He also had the decency to ask before he posted, so we gave him our blessing.

[SimonButtle]

i think we have all had enough of sundays game anyway tbh, time to concentrate on chelski now

[Romey 1878]

[marcopaulo]

i'm not sure what the point of the baxter and moyes dialogue was...especially the drugs bit..very very shit attempt at bein funny..it's harder to be funny in words so if you're a tool don't try

Edited February 15, 2011 by marcopaulo

[Bailey]

Firstly I dont think we were as bad as everybody has been making out... We sure as shit werent good (far from it) but anyone reading this thread would think we just rolled over and let Bolton win. Maybe its the hindsight factor of not watching the recording of the game til today.

 

Secondly I also find it mildly amusing to come on here after poor losses and see who becomes the lastest scapegoat... Vic, Heits, Bily, Arteta etc etc and while I have certain preferences for certain players, some of the comments on here are frankly pathetic and just shows how little some people really watch the game.

 

So back to the game, as I mentioned I didnt think we were that bad. We were set up poorly as I have no idea why how Vic gets in ahead of Beckford against massive Bolton CB's, I dont know why we started the first 5ish minutes with Cahill playing as the deepest midfielder, I dont know why we tried to play Cahill as a normal midfielder after the first 5 up until the goal? To me it all smacks of the same negative 'playing to not lose' Moyes mentality.

 

Bolton didnt do that much today, they just played effectively. In fact they played how we did in the FA Cup final season and pretty much whenever we play our best. They defended strongly, the pressed the ball in the opposition half (20 yards higher than us and with the midfield not just strikers) and when they played the ball long they played it into chest height so there was an element of control with players supporting the main striker. The amount of times we pinged the ball forward to Cahill/Vic onyl for it to be over head height or for there to be no-one within 20 yards was pathetic. They did nothing special but because we didnt really have a proper game plan they read us like a book, despite some of the much maligned players giving it a decent go.

 

Anyway with regards to the goals. Yes the freekick should have been given but who the fuck was Cahill marking? Well he should have been marking the other Cahill, the one who waltzed in on his own, completely unmarked and nodded it in the back of the net. Absolutely pathetic and had that been someone like Heitinga, Vic etc he would have been ripped a new one on here, but because its our darling Cahill so we will ignore it for the most part. On a normal day it would have actually been us going 1-0 if the same darling Cahill had actually gone at the ball with his head and not his shin. Their second was also a clear push on Heitinga, God knows how it wasnt given as it was as obvious as they come so really they shouldnt have even got a goal. Having said that their 3rd looked like it should have been given.

 

On to the players:

 

Howard didnt really have anything to do.

 

Neville was poor again today. Not only does he give the ball away unnecceserily but recently he is getting the habit of sitting 3-4 yards deeper than the others in the back 4. It didnt cost us today but if he keeps doing it, we will get found out.

 

Heitinga is copping a lot on needless slack. He did a lot of good things today, and yes he did make a couple of mistakes, but on the whole he was solid.

 

Distin was similar to Heitinga. Yes there were mistakes and he certainly wasnt as dominant as he has been but I wouldnt say he was crap. I agree with Romey though in that the two of them dont really look like a partnership.

 

Baines wasnt great. Didnt really get forward convincingly or defend convincingly.

 

Felli was MOTM. He might not have been at his very best but he was still the best player on the pitch. The sheer amount of times he won the ball of the opposition is staggering and he is always trying to drive us forward.

 

Arteta was decent again today. He made several attempts at getting the ball forward, and whilst it didnt always work its much better than he was at the start of the season. 2nd best player on the pitch for me.

 

Bily is also copping unnecessary stick. He wants the ball in space, and Bolton rarely gave him that but when he did no-one found him with a ball. On at least a couple of times he found room around the edge of the box but no-one even looked up at him (mainly Coleman). He also got more than stuck in defensively. However he did waste the ball on a couple of occasions but its not like he was the only one.

 

Coleman probably has his poorest display for us. Nothing worked for him. I suspect its a case of not being fresh from midweek. It doesnt give him an excuse but Im not going to lay into him for one bad performance when you could see he was trying.

 

Cahill was probably the worst player on the pitch. To start with he looked leggy and Bolton nulified him really well. As mentioned he was at fault for their first and he should have scored himself, but Bolton didnt give him any time on the ball and while I love Timmy he isnt the greatest when he has players instantly hassling him as his technique isnt the greatest and then he wasnt given an inch by the CB's (completely understandably). He did keep trying to plug away but given the tactics of both teams he was never going to have his best day. Another problem I have with Cahill is that when he does get the ball in that space, our build up play is generally much slower and predictable. We should have been looking to attack Bolton and catch them on the counter but instead we let them re-organise and tried whipping it for their CB's to ease it clear (if we even got that far).

 

Vic is copping an unbelievable amount of stick, especially when for 60ish minutes the guy gave his all against 2 massive CB's (technically 3). To start with he had no support whatsoever and the piss poor service he was given gave him no chance. It doesnt matter whether it had been Vic, Saha, Yak, JV, Becks, Dixie Dean etc, when the quality of ball coming from midfield/defence is that bad you will just surrender posession. If you actually watch his performance (especially when we started to actually get hold of the ball) his movement was pretty decent. While it was explosive like Sahas has been recently, we was trying to make runs down the channels and he was coming to short to give a passing option. I fully admit that at times his control was poor BUT so was Cahills, so was Colemans etc etc. As I said in a previous post, Vic has played his best stuff for us coming off that right wing and surprise surprise when he moved there (after the subs) he instantly started finding more space and got into the game much more than he had and in truth he did more in that 10min cameo than Coleman had for the rest of the game. Beckford should have been on at half time (for Coleman) and Vic should have moved right.

 

Of the subs, Osman was really poor. He was just simply off the pace, Becks didnt really get the support to exploit Boltons backline. He made the runs, but the ball was either a poor one or we just didnt bother trying. Baxter at least got a shot away and while it was good to see him get some game time, he didnt really contribute.

 

Now finally Im getting to the bit Iv been itching to get to and thats the bit on our supposed Moyesiah... I am fully aware I slated people at the start for having a go at players that they have certain gripes with irrelevant to the recent perormance and you may well see this as me doing the same but I dont have a fucking clue what this man is thinking, ESPECIALLY if all the comments on Beards last post are correct (not doubting you, just havent seen them myself). Im going to do this in bullet points because Iv already written way too much...

 

1. Why set up to not lose when we need 3 points.

2. Why change what worked so well in the last game. Beckford could easily have replaced Saha and Osman likewise with Rodwell.

3. When the opposition have a big, strong and experienced back 4, why play a Vic when the pace and gile of Beckford is more suited.

4. Why dont we close down the opposition in their own half properly.

5. Why do we constantly revert to hoofball, espcially when it has little direction and doesnt play to the strengths of the team.

6. Why the fuck is Moyes sat on the touchline for the last 20mins sulking instead of getting on that byline, leading the team. If you dont give a fuck or have given up then fuck off.

7. The whole general fuck ups that are substitions.

8. Why blame the best player in the team this season for the performance when he was still one of the best on the park.

8a. Why critise him like that when youw ant him to sign a new contract

8b. Why blame him when its your piss poor tactical nous that is suffocating us.

9. How the fuck can you claim we would be in a relegation scrap after week 3! If thats not the view of someone who has given up, or of someone that doesnt have a fucking clue of what going right/wrong with his team then I dont know what is. What a great way to give the players a boost.

 

I could go on like this forever, but tbh Im only winding myself up. Yes it was a poor performance and yes certain players should bare some brunt for them failings, but the facts are we were undone by 2 easily preventable goals and a negative attacking approach that goes against everything that was great about our previous performance. Either fucking get a grip Moyes and re-instill that fight and belief or fuck off.

[carlmc25]

Firstly I dont think we were as bad as everybody has been making out... We sure as shit werent good (far from it) but anyone reading this thread would think we just rolled over and let Bolton win. Maybe its the hindsight factor of not watching the recording of the game til today.

 

Secondly I also find it mildly amusing to come on here after poor losses and see who becomes the lastest scapegoat... Vic, Heits, Bily, Arteta etc etc and while I have certain preferences for certain players, some of the comments on here are frankly pathetic and just shows how little some people really watch the game.

 

So back to the game, as I mentioned I didnt think we were that bad. We were set up poorly as I have no idea why how Vic gets in ahead of Beckford against massive Bolton CB's, I dont know why we started the first 5ish minutes with Cahill playing as the deepest midfielder, I dont know why we tried to play Cahill as a normal midfielder after the first 5 up until the goal? To me it all smacks of the same negative 'playing to not lose' Moyes mentality.

 

Bolton didnt do that much today, they just played effectively. In fact they played how we did in the FA Cup final season and pretty much whenever we play our best. They defended strongly, the pressed the ball in the opposition half (20 yards higher than us and with the midfield not just strikers) and when they played the ball long they played it into chest height so there was an element of control with players supporting the main striker. The amount of times we pinged the ball forward to Cahill/Vic onyl for it to be over head height or for there to be no-one within 20 yards was pathetic. They did nothing special but because we didnt really have a proper game plan they read us like a book, despite some of the much maligned players giving it a decent go.

 

Anyway with regards to the goals. Yes the freekick should have been given but who the fuck was Cahill marking? Well he should have been marking the other Cahill, the one who waltzed in on his own, completely unmarked and nodded it in the back of the net. Absolutely pathetic and had that been someone like Heitinga, Vic etc he would have been ripped a new one on here, but because its our darling Cahill so we will ignore it for the most part. On a normal day it would have actually been us going 1-0 if the same darling Cahill had actually gone at the ball with his head and not his shin. Their second was also a clear push on Heitinga, God knows how it wasnt given as it was as obvious as they come so really they shouldnt have even got a goal. Having said that their 3rd looked like it should have been given.

 

On to the players:

 

Howard didnt really have anything to do.

 

Neville was poor again today. Not only does he give the ball away unnecceserily but recently he is getting the habit of sitting 3-4 yards deeper than the others in the back 4. It didnt cost us today but if he keeps doing it, we will get found out.

 

Heitinga is copping a lot on needless slack. He did a lot of good things today, and yes he did make a couple of mistakes, but on the whole he was solid.

 

Distin was similar to Heitinga. Yes there were mistakes and he certainly wasnt as dominant as he has been but I wouldnt say he was crap. I agree with Romey though in that the two of them dont really look like a partnership.

 

Baines wasnt great. Didnt really get forward convincingly or defend convincingly.

 

Felli was MOTM. He might not have been at his very best but he was still the best player on the pitch. The sheer amount of times he won the ball of the opposition is staggering and he is always trying to drive us forward.

 

Arteta was decent again today. He made several attempts at getting the ball forward, and whilst it didnt always work its much better than he was at the start of the season. 2nd best player on the pitch for me.

 

Bily is also copping unnecessary stick. He wants the ball in space, and Bolton rarely gave him that but when he did no-one found him with a ball. On at least a couple of times he found room around the edge of the box but no-one even looked up at him (mainly Coleman). He also got more than stuck in defensively. However he did waste the ball on a couple of occasions but its not like he was the only one.

 

Coleman probably has his poorest display for us. Nothing worked for him. I suspect its a case of not being fresh from midweek. It doesnt give him an excuse but Im not going to lay into him for one bad performance when you could see he was trying.

 

Cahill was probably the worst player on the pitch. To start with he looked leggy and Bolton nulified him really well. As mentioned he was at fault for their first and he should have scored himself, but Bolton didnt give him any time on the ball and while I love Timmy he isnt the greatest when he has players instantly hassling him as his technique isnt the greatest and then he wasnt given an inch by the CB's (completely understandably). He did keep trying to plug away but given the tactics of both teams he was never going to have his best day. Another problem I have with Cahill is that when he does get the ball in that space, our build up play is generally much slower and predictable. We should have been looking to attack Bolton and catch them on the counter but instead we let them re-organise and tried whipping it for their CB's to ease it clear (if we even got that far).

 

Vic is copping an unbelievable amount of stick, especially when for 60ish minutes the guy gave his all against 2 massive CB's (technically 3). To start with he had no support whatsoever and the piss poor service he was given gave him no chance. It doesnt matter whether it had been Vic, Saha, Yak, JV, Becks, Dixie Dean etc, when the quality of ball coming from midfield/defence is that bad you will just surrender posession. If you actually watch his performance (especially when we started to actually get hold of the ball) his movement was pretty decent. While it was explosive like Sahas has been recently, we was trying to make runs down the channels and he was coming to short to give a passing option. I fully admit that at times his control was poor BUT so was Cahills, so was Colemans etc etc. As I said in a previous post, Vic has played his best stuff for us coming off that right wing and surprise surprise when he moved there (after the subs) he instantly started finding more space and got into the game much more than he had and in truth he did more in that 10min cameo than Coleman had for the rest of the game. Beckford should have been on at half time (for Coleman) and Vic should have moved right.

 

Of the subs, Osman was really poor. He was just simply off the pace, Becks didnt really get the support to exploit Boltons backline. He made the runs, but the ball was either a poor one or we just didnt bother trying. Baxter at least got a shot away and while it was good to see him get some game time, he didnt really contribute.

I agree with a fair bit of that, particularly the scapegoats - although it works both ways in that people also have their favourites, the current one being Fellaini.

 

What I don't agree with is that Fellaini was the best player, as mentioned in other threads his distribution wasn't just bad, it was criminal. Also, how anyone can defend Bily after that I'll never know, Fellaini was poor but Bily took poor to a whole new level. He isn't good enough, he can't play on the wing and we wasted £10m on him. Why on earth Moyes spent £10m on the world's slowest winger I'll never know, you need at least a modicum of pace to play in the premiership and even more pace if you're on the wing. I do agree that Arteta played well and Anichebe really got stuck in, it's not his fault nearly everyone else (Arteta aside) around him couldn't play a decent final ball.

 

I also agree we weren't that bad, we were nowhere near as bad as the first half against Liverpool for example. We controlled most of the game, we just let in (again) sloppy goals and lacked a little with the final pass. With a bit more luck in and around the box we could have won it. What was disappointing was the reaction when we went 2 down, everyone apart from Arteta gave up.

[The Beard]

I also agree we weren't that bad .

 

And in another thread you called me delusional.

[Bailey]

I agree with a fair bit of that, particularly the scapegoats - although it works both ways in that people also have their favourites, the current one being Fellaini.

 

What I don't agree with is that Fellaini was the best player, as mentioned in other threads his distribution wasn't just bad, it was criminal. Also, how anyone can defend Bily after that I'll never know, Fellaini was poor but Bily took poor to a whole new level. He isn't good enough, he can't play on the wing and we wasted £10m on him. Why on earth Moyes spent £10m on the world's slowest winger I'll never know, you need at least a modicum of pace to play in the premiership and even more pace if you're on the wing. I do agree that Arteta played well and Anichebe really got stuck in, it's not his fault nearly everyone else (Arteta aside) around him couldn't play a decent final ball.

 

I also agree we weren't that bad, we were nowhere near as bad as the first half against Liverpool for example. We controlled most of the game, we just let in (again) sloppy goals and lacked a little with the final pass. With a bit more luck in and around the box we could have won it. What was disappointing was the reaction when we went 2 down, everyone apart from Arteta gave up.

 

Yeh certainly agree with the favourites as well and I admit Felli is one of mine but Felli was nowhere near as bad as you make him out to have been imo. I agree his distribution wasnt as good as it should have been but I would still bet he had one of the highest % passing of all of them and the number of times he won the ball back for us makes up for that. In reflection Motm should probably have been Arteta but thats the fav thing again

 

Again I dont see quite why your laying into Bily. Coleman was the worst player on the pitch but he did keep trying and so did Bily. Bily even put in a couple of crunching tackles on Elmander which was nice to see (even if he didnt always win the ball! ). I dont think he is a winger and that fault lies with Moyes and not bily, its like trying to ask Cahill or Rodwell play out wide and we have also seen how shit they can be in that position. He wasnt good Sunday but there were worse players (including Osman when he came on!) and for the rate some people are laying into him (and only him) is ridiculous.

[Matt]

Yeh certainly agree with the favourites as well and I admit Felli is one of mine but Felli was nowhere near as bad as you make him out to have been imo. I agree his distribution wasnt as good as it should have been but I would still bet he had one of the highest % passing of all of them and the number of times he won the ball back for us makes up for that. In reflection Motm should probably have been Arteta but thats the fav thing again

 

Again I dont see quite why your laying into Bily. Coleman was the worst player on the pitch but he did keep trying and so did Bily. Bily even put in a couple of crunching tackles on Elmander which was nice to see (even if he didnt always win the ball! ). I dont think he is a winger and that fault lies with Moyes and not bily, its like trying to ask Cahill or Rodwell play out wide and we have also seen how shit they can be in that position. He wasnt good Sunday but there were worse players (including Osman when he came on!) and for the rate some people are laying into him (and only him) is ridiculous.

 

Bily was a close worst player, Coleman was too, but 1 player stole the show in that area...

 

As for Arteta being a favourite, hes been hammered on this site for most of the season so theres no favouritism going on there, he was just the best of a shocking bunch.

[Formby]

I dont think he is a winger and that fault lies with Moyes and not bily, its like trying to ask Cahill or Rodwell play out wide and we have also seen how shit they can be in that position. He wasnt good Sunday but there were worse players (including Osman when he came on!) and for the rate some people are laying into him (and only him) is ridiculous.

 

Absolutely.

[Romey 1878]

I do love the way Carl talks about members on here having favourites that they seem blinded to when he clearly has his own. You're not immune to it Carl, none of us are.

[carlmc25]

I do love the way Carl talks about members on here having favourites that they seem blinded to when he clearly has his own. You're not immune to it Carl, none of us are.

everyone has their own favourites, it's human nature - I just personally don't vote for my favourites when they play rubbish and I can still view their performance objectively. I mean I like Bily, he seems a nice guy who has scored some cracking goals but the fact is he was abysmal at the weekend and has been consistently poor since we signed him. Fellaini has been our best player, although the hype has exceeded the reality imo, but again - I thought he was very poor at the weekend.

 

What has always annoyed me is that the more talented players - Arteta/Gravesen in particular, often get the most stick because their performances seem to be judged against different criteria than the rest of them. As I've said in other posts, Arteta keeps it simple he's a waste of space, Fellaini does it and he looks classy and 'keeps hold of posession.' Performance should be judged on contribution imo, not on who is playing to their maximum potential. Some jobs (such as tackling) are a lot easier to do consistently than it is to open up defences and dribble past players, which are heavily reliant on confidence.

 

I really couldn't pinpoint who my favourite player is, it would probably be between Arteta & Yobo, but I do have a bit of a soft spot for most of the players, in particular Anichebe (possibly unwarranted) and Coleman.

[marcopaulo]

everyone has their own favourites, it's human nature - I just personally don't vote for my favourites when they play rubbish and I can still view their performance objectively. I mean I like Bily, he seems a nice guy who has scored some cracking goals but the fact is he was abysmal at the weekend and has been consistently poor since we signed him. Fellaini has been our best player, although the hype has exceeded the reality imo, but again - I thought he was very poor at the weekend.

 

What has always annoyed me is that the more talented players - Arteta/Gravesen in particular, often get the most stick because their performances seem to be judged against different criteria than the rest of them. As I've said in other posts, Arteta keeps it simple he's a waste of space, Fellaini does it and he looks classy and 'keeps hold of posession.' Performance should be judged on contribution imo, not on who is playing to their maximum potential. Some jobs (such as tackling) are a lot easier to do consistently than it is to open up defences and dribble past players, which are heavily reliant on confidence.

 

I really couldn't pinpoint who my favourite player is, it would probably be between Arteta & Yobo, but I do have a bit of a soft spot for most of the players, in particular Anichebe (possibly unwarranted) and Coleman.

 

arteta isn't there to keep it simple..felli is

[carlmc25]

arteta isn't there to keep it simple..felli is

mainly because Felli isn't capable of doing anything else, how's that Arteta's fault?

 

from what I've seen they've both been playing similar roles, in fact it has sometimes looked like Fellaini has been employed as the attacking midfielder and Arteta as the sitting player (crazy tactics). So are you saying that Arteta should be judged negatively against Fellaini (eg both play 10 x 5 yard passes to a team mate) because he's more talented, rather than judging him solely based on his contribution...?

Edited February 17, 2011 by carlmc25

[marcopaulo]

yeah i do..seein as he is paid a lot more money for that talent

[Romey 1878]

As I've said in other posts, Arteta keeps it simple he's a waste of space, Fellaini does it and he looks classy and 'keeps hold of posession.'

 

 

Like Marco has said, it's Fellaini's job to keep it simple and keep hold of posession, and then give the ball to someone with more ability on the ball (say, an Arteta perhaps). He's not there to create, he's not even there to score goals (which is a criticism you've levelled at him, strangely).

 

But Arteta is there to create, and to create he's simply not allowed to keep it simple as often as he has done this season. He needs to make things happen for us, make us tick, spark us into life. Maybe chip in with a few goals (although, I don't mind so much if that doesn't happen because he's there primarily to create for others to put the ball in the back of the net). I don't even care so much about his wage rise because even without that I'd still have expected a hell of a lot more from him.

 

I agree with you about the people who voted for Fellaini against Bolton, I thought he was shocking. I voted for no one in that game.

[carlmc25]

Like Marco has said, it's Fellaini's job to keep it simple and keep hold of posession, and then give the ball to someone with more ability on the ball (say, an Arteta perhaps). He's not there to create, he's not even there to score goals (which is a criticism you've levelled at him, strangely).

 

But Arteta is there to create, and to create he's simply not allowed to keep it simple as often as he has done this season. He needs to make things happen for us, make us tick, spark us into life. Maybe chip in with a few goals (although, I don't mind so much if that doesn't happen because he's there primarily to create for others to put the ball in the back of the net). I don't even care so much about his wage rise because even without that I'd still have expected a hell of a lot more from him.

 

I agree with you about the people who voted for Fellaini against Bolton, I thought he was shocking. I voted for no one in that game.

 

I haven't criticised Fellaini for not scoring goals or not creating goals, all I'm saying is he hasn't done either and our defence are shipping goals left, right and centre so exactly what is he doing that is so brilliant? that was my question to those creaming over him every week, he's either a defensive midfielder - in which case why is our defence letting in so many goals if he is playing like the best midfielder in the country? or he is an all rounder, all rounders create goals and score some goals, neither of which he is doing. I am just trying to break down some of the hype about his performances and get people to judge players on what they actually do on the pitch and not who they are, what haircut they have or what they are paid.

 

When I've seen Arteta play, he hasn't been the brilliant passing, goalscoring, creative controlling maestro I expected him to be this season, far from it (miles in fact). But when I have seen him play he's been performing a similar job to Fellaini, he's worked hard, tackled, kept posession, sat fairly deep - possibly due to Moyes instructions - and yet he gets slated and Fellaini lauded. He's been disappointing but some of the criticism of his performances have been well ott just because of who he is and not because of how he is actually playing. If Bily was playing in midfield and doing the job Arteta is people would be raving over it.

 

Arteta played well against Bolton, he needs to be pushed forward or on the wing as we have basically no one with any creativity now that Pienaar has gone. I don't think Arteta has been lazy this year or hasn't tried, he simply seems to be playing in a stupid position. Hopefully the Bolton game will drive him on as we need him, he's the only hope we have to win anything and climb the table.

 

Rant over that being said Romey, I've never thought you were one of the biased ones anyway, I do think you've been a little unfair on Arteta (oh and Anichebe!) on occasions but your match reviews seem to usually be pretty spot on and impartial.

[MikeO]

I am just trying to break down some of the hype about his performances and get people to judge players on what they actually do on the pitch and not who they are, what haircut they have or what they are paid.

He was being savaged by many not that long ago and he had the same haircut.

 

Heitinga was God a year ago and now he's the devil incarnate.

 

Saha goes from King to jester in the course of a month.

 

Favourites are favourites for a reason, and they're not favourites for ever...we're a fickle bunch.

 

At the moment 98% of us think Fellaini is playing superbly. I don't think that's for any reason other than the fact that he's playing superbly.

[marcopaulo]

the defence is leaking goals cos the defenders are making stupid mistakes and we get punished nearly every time..without fellaini i think we'd have conceded many more..teams don't seem to make many chances against us but take every single one they get and that is a problem for the back 4 more than fellaini..he can't stop everything

[carlmc25]

the defence is leaking goals cos the defenders are making stupid mistakes and we get punished nearly every time..without fellaini i think we'd have conceded many more..teams don't seem to make many chances against us but take every single one they get and that is a problem for the back 4 more than fellaini..he can't stop everything

I actually probably agree with that, we do seem to be unlucky in that (even at Bolton) we can totally dominate posession, Howard can have no saves to make and yet every effort they have on goal seems to go in, usually via a deflection! That being said, whenever I see us play there always seems to be a huge gaping cavern in front of the defence where the DM should be, we seem to allow the opposition midfielders a lot of room to run into and sometimes almost invite teams to shoot from just outside the box. We haven't actually let in as many goals as I'd thought, we just never ever keep a clean sheet.

[Bailey]

As for Arteta being a favourite, hes been hammered on this site for most of the season so theres no favouritism going on there, he was just the best of a shocking bunch.

 

If you were referring to my post with that, I think you may have caught the wrong end of the stick. I actually voted for him Motm as he was the best of a bad bunch, along with Fellaini.

 

mainly because Felli isn't capable of doing anything else, how's that Arteta's fault?

 

from what I've seen they've both been playing similar roles, in fact it has sometimes looked like Fellaini has been employed as the attacking midfielder and Arteta as the sitting player (crazy tactics). So are you saying that Arteta should be judged negatively against Fellaini (eg both play 10 x 5 yard passes to a team mate) because he's more talented, rather than judging him solely based on his contribution...?

 

From what I have seen this season Felli has done more than Arteta in both an attacking a defensive sense. The thing I like about Fellaini is that he is always looking forward to play a pass and sadly until recently Arteta just knocks it sideways.

 

I judge Arteta and Fellaini on the same merit. Felli dicks all over Arteta in terms of winning possession and stopping the opposition getting forward (which he should imo) and Arteta should be creating more opportunities going forward which he hasnt been. How many times have we seen Arteta break past a striker? I can recall a number of occasions where Fellaini has and thats not when he played up front. In my opinion Fellaini is prepared to take the risk to make something happen, whereas Arteta looks he doesnt, despite possessing the ability to do so. The last couple of games Arteta has looked more lively but its still a long way from the real Mikel we have seen.

[Bailey]

I actually probably agree with that, we do seem to be unlucky in that (even at Bolton) we can totally dominate posession, Howard can have no saves to make and yet every effort they have on goal seems to go in, usually via a deflection! That being said, whenever I see us play there always seems to be a huge gaping cavern in front of the defence where the DM should be, we seem to allow the opposition midfielders a lot of room to run into and sometimes almost invite teams to shoot from just outside the box. We haven't actually let in as many goals as I'd thought, we just never ever keep a clean sheet.

 

See this is where I think Moyes is missing a trick, especially when Rodwell is fit.

 

We more or less play with Arteta and Fellaini playing along side each other and it means neither are actually covering the back four. I think Fellaini naturally drops a little deeper and he does plug a certain amount of that space but its not enough against certain teams, especially with a back 4 lacking in confidence.

 

I would have Fellaini sat in that gap between and let Rodwell and Arteta do the job Fellaini and Arteta are doing now. The problems come with supporting the striker and making sure he doesnt get isolated but with the athleticism of Rodwell, Arteta, Coleman and Bil... erm... we have the ability to break quickly from midfield, meaning he shouldnt be alone for long. Plus playing this way you would hope we would win the ball back a bit better and be able to keep possession well.

 

I personally think Moyes is getting stuck between a 451 and 442. At the start of the Bolton match he started with Cahill, Arteta and Fellaini as the midfield three but they had no shape whatsoever. To start with Cahill was the deepest, which is strange to say the least. Then slowly Cahill moved alongside to play off Vic and then when they scored he went to a more 4-4-2 shape with him more or less as a striker.

 

If we are going to play 451 then get people playing in their best position and if we are going to play 442 lets have 2 actual strikers on the pitch.