Chelsea (A)

[rubecula]

All down to the last one

[rubecula]

YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

[DonKey]

GET IN YOU FUCKING BEAUTY!!!!!!!

[rubecula]

"We're on the march with Davey's Army"

[Steve_E]

Yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeees!

[BrotherEstapol]

YOU FUCKING BEAUTY!!!!!!

[flaminfox]

YYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

Edited February 19, 2011 by the_everton_way

[rubecula]

At last I can go to the bog..... gawd I am going crosseyed here

[DonKey]

My heart is thumping like I don't know what!

Dry mouth, sweaty palms, feel sick.... the whole works!

 

So happy it's unreal!

[LexKing]

Oh lalalaaaaa. I were really nervous when saw nev is shooting loved that heitingas bit push to cole on way to the middle.

[MikeO]

Shaking like a fucking leaf here....don't believe that.

 

(Now watch us lose to Reading )

[Wall Writer]

To be honest, I can't quite believe it. I was just get myself ready to see season the out, with nothing to play for and Bainesy goes and drops one in the top corner. Kind of had a feeling he'd miss the pen, that's just the way it goes.

 

Hopefully, that will galvanise the boys and bring some much needed confidence and prove a real moral boosting win.

 

Totally have no fingernails left, and was clenching so hard through that I don't think I'll be able to shit for a week.

[gillooley]

COYB!!!

[Steve_E]

Heitinga played pretty crappy. But I absolutely loved his arrogance during the penalty shootout.

[rubecula]

Shaking like a fucking leaf here....don't believe that.

 

(Now watch us lose to Reading )

 

Geezus Mike lets enjoy this one first ROFL

[BrotherEstapol]

...loved that heitingas bit push to cole on way to the middle.

That was great! You can tell that's what put him off!

 

Good thing that Johnny finally got his goal...even if it's from a penalty shootout.

 

 

Definitely gonna give Howard MotM though.

Saved our bacon too many times!

[flaminfox]

Heitinga played pretty crappy. But I absolutely loved his arrogance during the penalty shootout.

same

[dark]

That was just like watching the penalty shootout against Man United, the Heitenga push made all the differene to Cole missing his penalty Phil Neville is a legend and MikeO get behing the team ffs we've just won!

[IrbyJFC]

GET INN COYB!!!!! Nervous or what during that game... need to change my undies!!

 

Heitinga with the shoulder barge! LOVE IT!!!!

 

Big Nev what a penno

[Bailey]

Its moments like that, that make me so proud to be an Evertonian, especially when you can see the passion and spirit in the players and the manager. However despite jumping around the front room like a loon when the Baines freekick went in and then again when Nev scored his penalty, it doesnt disguise the fact that it was yet another disjointed performance and in reality Lampard alone could have scored a hattrick for Chelsea.

 

The first questions I want to ask is the about the tactics. When I saw the team sheet, I thought that it was good that we had Beckford playing and I was hoping Cahill would play along side him. Turns out he didnt and neither of them managed to hold on to the ball that well all game in truth. However I was really dissapointed to see Fellaini constantly playing further up the pitch than Arteta. Gradually in the last two games he has done this and I thought today was his worst performance by a long way over the recent weeks. He is a world beater playing as a true DM yet we have him playing as a supporting midfielder and instead get Arteta to sit. It really pisses me off that Moyes thinks this is the way to go as its pure bullshit. Arteta simply doesnt have the defensive awareness to plug gaps and Chelsea constantly exploited it and on another day they could have won 4/5-0.

 

I did however think we pressed better today, at least at the start of the game, but as it wore on we sat further and further back and it was lucky that they didnt really show much quality in the final third. If we keep letting teams play their way in and around our box we arent going to win many matches. Sometimes we look as if we are going through the motions rather than really wanting to win the ball back.

 

Not sure what to make of the subs tbh. I was happy that Cahill came off and when OSman moved inside we did play better, until Beckford came off and we reverted even more to hoofing it in the general direction of Anichebe. The last substitution was a disgrace in my eyes. There is no way in hell we should be bringing on a CB/DM when we are trying to win a game. We simply invited pressure on ourselves and we didnt look like scoring when he came on. Its a fucking joke and its pathetic negative attitude to have. It happens everytime we get in that situation and we will never go on to be anything better than we are if he always bottles it in those situations.

 

Howard was brilliant and kept us in the game several times.

 

Baines was also brilliant. Going forward he was a constant thorn in the flank of Chelsea and his freekick was fairytale stuff. Defensively he was average.

 

Distin was a rock. He did really really well. Without him we would have been in the shit although not sure what was happening between him and Baines for their goal.

 

Jags looked rusty. He did some good things but then sometimes he would be all over the place. Not great overall.

 

Neville was alright but he still keeps leaving too much room for players to get a cross in.

 

Fellaini was poor Imo. He played too high up the pitch and didnt know what to do with the ball. We sat a little deeper he broke up Chelsea's play really well but the amount of times he lost the ball on the other side of the half way line was very poor.

 

Arteta was back to his average form for me. He was sat deeper and did a really poor job of picking up danger around the box. He did try and close people down pretty well and on occasions he looked dangerous but he generally ballsed it up, especially that simple ball to Beckford.

 

Cahill was a waste of space. He did try and close the ball down quite well but he was non existant going forward. He gave the ball away so many times it was unreal and he slowed our build up play down everytime. One to forget for Timmy and tbh Im surprised Moyes had the bollacks to take him off.

 

Osman was a nuisance to Chelsea but didnt really create anything. He looked much better everytime he came central and for me he should have started there.

 

Coleman was a bit like Osman. He was constantly nagging at Chelsea but didnt really do anything of note. Had the better of Cole for the most part though.

 

Beckford did well. He worked tirelessly while he was on the pitch but Ivanovic had his number. On a couple of occasions I thought he shuld have had a shot instead of trying a turn but he put in a big effort for the team. I like the fact he constantly looks to get in behind as this creates space for players to move into, but its a pity a lot of the time they were long diagonal balls rather than him being slid in.

 

Bily started quite brightly with a couple of decent balls into the box and some good movement with Baines and Osman but as we lost possession of the ball he faded.

 

Vic did well when he came on. Like Beckford, the service to him wasnt great (especially as we went long ball even more with him on) but if there was something to chase he did so, and I thought he had the better of Terry several times.

 

Heitinga shouldnt have come on and he looks so uncomfortable in midfield its ridiculous that Moyes still tries to play him there.

 

Im hoping we can take the positives of this game and continue them next week. We need to keep pressing higher up the pitch and just general close down people better, as we still gives teams too much time and space to play. I think Cahill should be dropped or at least played alongside another striker as he has been completely anonymous in the last two games and in them games we have created very little from open play. We need to get Fellaini patrolling infront of the back four, and picking up any loose ball that half cleared when we are attacking. Arteta is creative and generally a better passer, so to have him sitting in these positions is a waste.

 

One of my main worries though is the back four as they arent a unit at all. At tiems they look like they have never played together and hopefully getting Fellini properly infront of them will help that but someone needs to lead them back there, otherwise we will keep giving the opposition chances and its very rare that we will get the fortune we did today. I dont want to put a downer when we should all be celebrating but im fed up of us papering over the cracks. I sincerely hope Moyes doesnt really believe we were 'top notch' as otherwise in our next game we will get found out and then he will go back to being the dour, moaning git he was after the Bolton game.

Edited February 19, 2011 by Bailey

[carlmc25]

Its moments like that, that make me so proud to be an Evertonian, especially when you can see the passion and spirit in the players and the manager. However despite jumping around the front room like a loon when the Baines freekick went in and then again when Nev scored his penalty, it doesnt disguise the fact that it was yet another disjointed performance and in reality Lampard alone could have scored a hattrick for Chelsea.

 

The first questions I want to ask is the about the tactics. When I saw the team sheet, I thought that it was good that we had Beckford playing and I was hoping Cahill would play along side him. Turns out he didnt and neither of them managed to hold on to the ball that well all game in truth. However I was really dissapointed to see Fellaini constantly playing further up the pitch than Arteta. Gradually in the last two games he has done this and I thought today was his worst performance by a long way over the recent weeks. He is a world beater playing as a true DM yet we have him playing as a supporting midfielder and instead get Arteta to sit. It really pisses me off that Moyes thinks this is the way to go as its pure bullshit. Arteta simply doesnt have the defensive awareness to plug gaps and Chelsea constantly exploited it and on another day they could have won 4/5-0.

 

I did however think we pressed better today, at least at the start of the game, but as it wore on we sat further and further back and it was lucky that they didnt really show much quality in the final third. If we keep letting teams play their way in and around our box we arent going to win many matches. Sometimes we look as if we are going through the motions rather than really wanting to win the ball back.

 

Not sure what to make of the subs tbh. I was happy that Cahill came off and when OSman moved inside we did play better, until Beckford came off and we reverted even more to hoofing it in the general direction of Anichebe. The last substitution was a disgrace in my eyes. There is no way in hell we should be bringing on a CB/DM when we are trying to win a game. We simply invited pressure on ourselves and we didnt look like scoring when he came on. Its a fucking joke and its pathetic negative attitude to have. It happens everytime we get in that situation and we will never go on to be anything better than we are if he always bottles it in those situations.

 

Howard was brilliant and kept us in the game several times.

 

Baines was also brilliant. Going forward he was a constant thorn in the flank of Chelsea and his freekick was fairytale stuff. Defensively he was average.

 

Distin was a rock. He did really really well. Without him we would have been in the shit although not sure what was happening between him and Baines for their goal.

 

Jags looked rusty. He did some good things but then sometimes he would be all over the place. Not great overall.

 

Neville was alright but he still keeps leaving too much room for players to get a cross in.

 

Fellaini was poor Imo. He played too high up the pitch and didnt know what to do with the ball. We sat a little deeper he broke up Chelsea's play really well but the amount of times he lost the ball on the other side of the half way line was very poor.

 

Arteta was back to his average form for me. He was sat deeper, did a really poor job of picking up danger around the box and gace the ball away several times. He did try and close people down pretty well and on occasions he looked dangerous but he generally ballsed it up, especially that simple ball to Beckford.

 

Cahill was a waste of space. He did try and close the ball down quite well but he was non existant going forward. He gave the ball away so many times it was unreal and he slowed our build up play down everytime. One to forget for Timmy and tbh Im surprised Moyes had the bollacks to take him off.

 

Osman was a nuisance to Chelsea but didnt really create anything. He looked much better everytime he came central and for me he should have started there.

 

Coleman was a bit like Osman. He was constantly nagging at Chelsea but didnt really do anything of note. Had the better of Cole for the most part though.

 

Beckford did well. He worked tirelessly while he was on the pitch but Ivanovic had his number. On a couple of occasions I thought he shuld have had a shot instead of trying a turn but he put in a big effort for the team. I like the fact he constantly looks to get in behind as this creates space for players to move into, but its a pity a lot of the time they were long diagonal balls rather than him being slid in.

 

Bily started quite brightly with a couple of decent balls into the box and some good movement with Baines and Osman but as we lost possession of the ball he faded.

 

Vic did well when he came on. Like Beckford, the service to him wasnt great (especially as we went long ball even more with him on) but if there was something to chase he did so, and I thought he had the better of Terry several times.

 

Heitinga shouldnt have come on and he looks so uncomfortable in midfield its ridiculous that Moyes still tries to play him there.

 

Im hoping we can take the positives of this game and continue them next week. We need to keep pressing higher up the pitch and just general close down people better, as we still gives teams too much time and space to play. I think Cahill should be dropped or at least played alongside another striker as he has been completely anonymous in the last two games and in them games we have created very little from open play. We need to get Fellaini patrolling infront of the back four, and picking up any loose ball that half cleared when we are attacking. Arteta is creative and generally a better passer, so to have him sitting in these positions is a waste.

 

One of my main worries though is the back four as they arent a unit at all. At tiems they look like they have never played together and hopefully getting Fellini properly infront of them will help that but someone needs to lead them back there, otherwise we will keep giving the opposition chances and its very rare that we will get the fortune we did today. I dont want to put a downer when we should all be celebrating but im fed up of us papering over the cracks. I sincerely hope Moyes doesnt really believe we were 'top notch' as otherwise in our next game we will get found out and then he will go back to being the dour, moaning git he was after the Bolton game.

 

did he? I only remember him giving the ball away once all match and that in extra time. He wasn't particularly cutting with his passing but he was certainly accurate.

 

I thought Beckford was quite simply crap, doesn't work particularly hard, never looked like scoring, control and strength let him down on a couple of occasions. Put it this way, when Saha is fit he'll be back in. Anichebe didn't do anything either but at least he can win a header and has some strength.

Edited February 19, 2011 by carlmc25

[Bailey]

did he? I only remember him giving the ball away once all match and that in extra time. He wasn't particularly cutting with his passing but he was certainly accurate.

 

I thought Beckford was quite simply crap, doesn't work particularly hard, never looked like scoring, control and strength let him down on a couple of occasions. Put it this way, when Saha is fit he'll be back in. Anichebe didn't do anything either but at least he can win a header and has some strength.

 

Actually that first bit shouldnt be in there, I think that might have been a cut and paste mistype. He didnt give the ball away that often but then again 90% of his passes were sideways or 5 yards away. When he had the chance to play forward a lot of the time he chose to go wide.

 

Beckford worked really hard. He was always making runs, always closing down but it never really happened for him. Ivanovic played a blinder against him but Beckford certainly had Terry in trouble a couple of times. I agree that Saha will come back in and rightly so but your doing him an injustice if your calling him crap with the poor service and support he received.

[carlmc25]

Actually that first bit shouldnt be in there, I think that might have been a cut and paste mistype. He didnt give the ball away that often but then again 90% of his passes were sideways or 5 yards away. When he had the chance to play forward a lot of the time he chose to go wide.

 

Beckford worked really hard. He was always making runs, always closing down but it never really happened for him. Ivanovic played a blinder against him but Beckford certainly had Terry in trouble a couple of times. I agree that Saha will come back in and rightly so but your doing him an injustice if your calling him crap with the poor service and support he received.

I don't remember him closing down particularly vigorously and I can't remember him making too many decent runs, when he did he usually miscontrolled or got tackled. Personally speaking I thought he was very poor which was disappointing as I was hoping for a lot more from him today.

[Bailey]

I don't remember him closing down particularly vigorously and I can't remember him making too many decent runs, when he did he usually miscontrolled or got tackled. Personally speaking I thought he was very poor which was disappointing as I was hoping for a lot more from him today.

 

He was pretty much constantly on the move! He made way more runs than Cahill, especially in behind the defence and he closed the ball down pretty well, which was also more than Cahill. Beckford worked for the team but he received barely any quality from the whatsoever. Yes he got knocked off it a few times but it didnt stop him trying. Wasnt happy with the arm tug thing though!

[Romey 1878]

Let's be honest, we were extremely lucky to get through today. We may have had far more of the ball than Chelsea and been the better side overall but they created the much better chances in the whole game and could have won it by 3 or 4 comfortably. Infact, I'm struggling to remember us creating a clear cut chance on goal . And I'm still extremely concerned with our defence. Once again, as individuals they're doing fine but as a unit they're just not functioning at all. Having Jags back there didn't really sort anything out, so maybe it's Distin that's the problem? I dunno.

 

That being said, I am a very proud Evertonian right now. That performance was infinitely better than what we showed against Bolton. For one, we actually looked like we wanted it and it was a committed performance from pretty much every single one of them. Basically, we were a team and they didn't pass the buck or shirk their responsibilites. Right up until toward the end of the second half we closed them down excellently and I lost count of the amount of times we won the ball back from them. We just lacked finesse and cutting edge when we had posession, and that meant we slowed the play down far too much while we had a think of what to do with the ball. I'll be honest when Lampard scored I instantly thought that was game over because we didn't look like we could get a goal in that second half and extra time, we looked much better in the first half IMO. But fair play we pulled a rabbit out of the hat when it really mattered.

 

The win papers over the cracks that are still there, IMO, but it's a win nevertheless. We've got to not let this have been for nothing though and build on it. How many times have we said that this season though?

 

 

 

Howard - He was on fire today. If it wasn't for him we'd have been out of the game by half time in all honesty. Take a bow, my MOTM.

 

 

Neville - Hmm, a bit of a wishy washy performance from Nev I felt. He allows the wide man too much space to get the ball in. Fair play to him though for stepping up for the last penalty and putting it away, that took balls.

 

 

Jagielka - Looked rusty to me, unsurprisingly. He'd do something perfectly and then he'd look way off the pace and like he was struggling.

 

 

Distin - I hate the way he stood off players and god knows what he was doing for their goal. But he did still have a very solid game and won many headers.

 

 

Baines - Much like Neville he allowed the wide man too much space to get the cross in but he made up for that with his tireless work going forward for us by putting quality ball after quality ball in the box. What a fantastic goal he scored as well. He must have balls the size of coconuts to step up for that free-kick knowing that was our last chance of the game, and then to be able to keep cool to show that sort of quality. BOOM.

 

 

Coleman - In the first half he was a constant thorn in Cole's side but his final ball was dreadful to say the least. But for the second half and extra time I didn't feel he ever got into the game.

 

 

Arteta - I thought he was excellent in the first half. He was involved in all our good play and was always on the ball, trying to get us moving, even if he was sat too deep at times. But from the second half onwards I thought he was too in and out of the match.

 

 

Fellaini - A very up and down game from him. He'd go from breaking up the play perfectly to losing possession stupidly in a dangerous position. We need him back to what he was like before the Bolton game.

 

 

Osman - I can't fault his effort for us today, he never stopped working for us and quite rightly was fucked when he came off. But he's just not cut out for the wing and that showed today. Time after time he'd get the ball and look to go past his man but he just didn't have the speed and more often than not he'd lose the ball.

 

 

Cahill - I really don't think he's fit, or anywhere near it tbh. He just didn't look right all game to me and never really got himself into it.

 

 

Beckford - I thought he had an OK game and chased the Chelsea defenders when he could and showed good movement. But Cahill not being much of a support midfielder/striker didn't help him much and neither did his poor decision making. When Anichebe came on I felt it should have been to partner Beckford rather than in place of him, I think we would have seen a much better player then.

[Blue 250]

I said way back in this thread that we could beat Chelsea on our day! but that it would have to be "one of thoes days"....well it was, we didn't exactly play well (we've played better and lost this season), they missed plenty of chances, and we won a penalty shoot out.We must be the first team in history to win a penalty shoot out without using a striker as one of the five takers.

 

Howard was excellent, Baines also.Cahill playing deep, even when fit worries me, it just doesn't usually work, if Tims not on the edge of the opponents penalty area or attacking the goal then he gives away too many fouls or just doesn't really do enough.

Behind Saha when he's on fire in a good Everton team he's probably a big player, but today he was poor.

 

Beckford will probably improve, hell I can see him scoring the winning goal past Man Utd in the FA cup final.

 

The league is still the big worry, I would sell our place in the next round for 9 points if I were honest

[DonKey]

Just as a by the way...

 

Just started watching the FA Cup highlights on ITV, and I'm pretty sure I remember us having quite a lot of the ball and playing some decent stuff.

 

Only things they've shown so far is Chelsea attacking and now we're in the second half already. Beckford has just been subbed and the programme has been on for less than 7 minutes.

 

I hate the media so much.... although we're not last on which makes a change!

[Kohen]

I think it was always going to look like tht Donkey, we played some nice football in the middle of the park, keeping possession well (especially in the first half) but that's not what people wanna see on the "highlights" show.

[inertia8]

Welp, ended up not getting Setanta to watch the game.. it was $16.99, which I was prepared to pay... but then at the very end it said there was also a $16.99 joining fee.. stuff that

 

Lied in bed watching the slow text updates on skysports via my phone, couldn't believe it when it read "free kick, surely this is everton's last chance" at 118mins.. then it said GOAL and penalties were on their way... and I fucking fell asleep . Then I dreamed checking on the phone that Chelsea had won on penalties.. it wasn't till I actually picked up the phone and saw the last comment was still that Penalties were on their way a refresh gave the fantastic news!!! What an awesome way to start the new day

[LexKing]

Its a bit strange. We just got huge victory yesterday, we are getting a really good record vs chelski. Still we just got to 5th round .We had a lot of possesion with the ball , but we had problems to create a threat from it. It has been our major problems this season, aswell set pieces also, our attacking corners have been this season like more dangerous for ourselves than possibility to score. We definitely have something to do a lot better, cause i cant even count how many stupid goals we have conceded this season from attacking corner and oppositions fast counter. Yesterday happily didnt concede any, but it was couple times when looked that they are coming fast and dangerous again. We probably didnt deserve a win, but ill take it, ill love it, ill love FACup. We need to now build on this, its again a chance for major boost for whole team. We still have just 9p ahead of 6th spot in prem and 1 game in hand actually. This season is so constant(prolly wrong word, but didnt remember better, hope you guys get it) for every1 and the point difference has stood really small for one way or another. COYB!

 

Howard- Doesnt have to say much more MOTM. He did give us a chance to grab something for this and before penalties i thought he will pick up at least one.

 

Neville- Well, it was like many times this season, he cant get the ball to teammates, crossing was again terrible, but last penalty to net , did forgive a lot.

Jagielka- Looked like he could be coming back on his level, we need it. Couple errors, but didnt never give up.

Distin- Ok game, lot of very good defensive headers, did lose his position also couple times wich looked rightaway very dangerous

Baines- Again typical Baines. Never give up. Lot of attacking jobs and tryed hard, crosses didnt find teammates yesterday, but that freekick, pure love <3 Anelka skipped him and Mikel on the corner way too easy

 

Coleman- He werent again at his best, is this huge talent just tired and missing focus? Hardly never got throught any enemies with the ball, 1 good attacking header from Baines cross, outplayed cole anyway on couple of occasions, like that header. Had couple of chances to shoot, but just slipped or something, could say unlucky was the best description from him yesterday

Arteta- I liked him yesterday. He really seems to find it again. Just need to get that last drive out there, then can really say Mikel is back, but not yet. He still has to stay away from freekicks and corners if possible. Lot of forward runs with ball, was just hard to find who to pass up there, not many directions available

Fellaini - Is he bit of injured or what. He tryed and did sometimes great, but also did really many times lose ball and when he lost it, it was always really dangerous looking. Ok game, but we got used to see him lot better. Really unlucky that his goal got flagged offside, i think he was onside.

Osman- Bright game from him to be honest, worked hard, he just is bit too weak and slow to drive game on the wing, but still good game from him

Cahill- couple of times ingame forgot hes on the pitch at all. Mr Invisible yesterday.

Beckford- Well, its never easy to be up alone, he worked hard and tryed, but he seriously would needed help up there. Ill still think if he would got 1 clear chance he would scored. He cant do it(at least yet) like Saha, create chances by himself, he needs help. He cant hold ball up there alone, hes more quick striker than a hold up forward.

 

subs: Bily, couldnt create anything, just didnt get in them game at all. Anichebe, he worked ass off, won some headers, but he cant create actually anything, still going down way too easily. But anyway, was better from bench than vs bolton when started. Heiti, hes subs was prolly just that what we needed. We seemed tired and we needed a burst of evil attitude to fight till the end. He cant seriously give us any kind of playmaking or stuff like that(nothing beautiful), but sometimes we need some1 to be annoying, ugly, and hard to opponents. He did that, and put in hes penalty, did nice push to cole and prolly got him thinking something else than blasting the ball in the net.

Edited February 20, 2011 by LexKing