Stevenage (CoC)

[Shukes]

I think Naismith should just go, he is never going to get a fair crack from our fans. That much is obvious, he just isnt fashionable enough.

 

I have stuck up for him before because i thought he deserved it, pre-season he was a different player than last year.

Last night he actually played well. He was a constant pain for them, won so many headers against thier defense. Was neat and tidy at times and seemed to get in the right position on so many occasions.

 

The funny thing is that when he sent Kone through and Kone's shot was saved.... he still got stick from us?

He then found himself in the right position and we got a bit of luck and scored the winner. He also was involved in creating more chances, showed that he has a decent engine and is a willing runner. But still we want him out!

 

Naismith.... do yourself a favour and move if you get the chance!

 

Sorry, back onto the match.

 

I thought we had a very tidy game again but worry so much over our vunerability on the break. Ronaldo exploited us pre-season without having to try too much and since it seems to be a constant thorn for us.

Attacking wise we seem to be getting in the right position but shooting at the wrong times, or trying to emulate the old Arsenal and play the ball into the net.

 

I know Kone needs time and a goal to settle, but he should have had three last night.

Although we had a lot of chance we didnt seem to have many clear cut chances.

[Romey 1878]

Well, for the first half I was more pleased than I was against WBA. I felt we had more purpose to our play, rather than just going nowhere with our passing. I still think we need to speed the passing up a bit but it was better and the signs were good. It looked only a matter of time until we'd break through them. Unfortunately, due to some extremely poor defending we conceded a goal out of nothing. Stones was at fault when the ball was played over him; it was obvious their player was going to get to it but he just gave it up. And then the rest of the defence, instead of watching the Stevenage players and going towards them, decided to just watch the ball, leaving their men completely alone and allowed one of them to put the ball away. We did eventually get back into the game with a superb effort from the ever bright Deulofeu. It was a great run at pace, then he showed excellent composure to turn the ball on to his left foot, lose two Stevenage defenders and then coolly slot the ball home. Other than Barkley, he was the only one of our midfielders capable of something like that. The others would have either stopped mid run and turned backwards (I'm looking at you, Osman!) or just given it someone else.

 

I felt we made very hard work of the second half though. Apart from an early driving run and effort by Barkley I thought we were lethargic and lacked ideas. We seemed happy to just let Barkley and Deulofeu do all the work. As good as they both are you expect your more senior players to give two 19 year olds more support. The only time in the second half we showed any sort of urgency to win the game was the last 5 minutes. That's not acceptable.

 

I spent extra time with my head in my hands. It was awful and looked like it was just going to peter out into nothing and we'd go to penalties. Fortunately, we got a massive slice of luck for our goal so I was saved the agony of having to endure anything more when Fellaini slotted home a gift wrapped chance.

 

 

Robles - Really didn't have much to do so it's difficult to say anything about his performance.

 

 

Hibbert - You could really tell he was just coming back from a long lay off. Not at the races.

 

Stones - Looked extremely composed on the ball, but I thought he made a couple of defensive errors. Most notably for their goal when he just let their man go and gave up on the ball like it was just going to go out of play.

 

Jagielka - Solid.

 

Oviedo - Extremely poor showing from him. Where has the exciting Oviedo from pre-season gone?! He was petrified to take a man on last night. Every time he had the opportunity to do it he just stopped, turned back or gave the ball to someone else. He was up against Stevenage, not Chelsea! Also, whenever he did put a delivery in it was terrible.

 

 

Naismith - I don't think he was anywhere near as bad as some people had him last night. Yes, he did serve up some absolute shite but he also did some good stuff as well. If you're going to criticise him when he messes up you have to acknowledge the good he does as well. So, you had some poor passing on his part and losing the ball by getting caught in possession. But he also showed some good link-up play and made a few driving runs forward with the ball. It was a frustrating performance from him for me, rather than a bad one.

 

Osman - Great at passing the ball 5 yards doing absolutely nothing for our game. But being influential? Nope.

 

Heitinga - Did his job - sit in front of the defence and keep things ticking over.

 

Deulofeu - I was so pleased to see him starting and he didn't disappoint. He started off a bit nervously; for the first 5 or so minutes he looked a bit scared of taking his man on and looked for a simple pass back to Hibbert most times. But he quickly found his feet and was looking go past his man every single time he got the ball. He was so direct. Something we badly need. His delivery from open play was often hit and miss but I thought his delivery from corners was really good and extremely threatening. He whipped the ball in with pace and put the ball in dangerous areas pretty much every time. Late in the second half (or maybe extra time, I can't remember) he put a quality ball in right on to Fellaini's head, but he put it over the bar. And his goal? Wow. We don't have many players who could have scored that goal. He ran forward with the ball at full tilt, shifted the ball on to his left foot and then hit it into the net all in one movement. Special. He tired quite badly but he still gets my MOTM vote because every time he got the ball I was excited.

 

 

Barkley - Probably tried to do a bit too much himself at times (necessity?) but another great performance from him. He rarely lost the ball, showed his passing off to great effect, looked dangerous and unruffled in possession, and a willingness to run forward with the ball. A performance of a player far older than him.

 

 

Kone - Can I pretend he didn't play so I don't spontaneously combust?! No? Last night was my worst fears coming true about him. He was shockingly bad. He missed sitters, not just chances. That one in the first half that he blazed over not long after Stevenage had taken the lead was embarrassing. There were countless others though. If it was just the missed chances I wouldn't have been tearing my hair out though. His first touch was terrible, he didn't spend enough time actually being up front, his passing was poor, he wasn't physical enough. Occasionally he showed some good link-up play, but not nearly often enough, and I pray to whatever God he believes in that he improves a hell of a lot with more games. If he doesn't then we've chucked £5million away.

[Alguna Vez Tonelada]

Pretty much agree with everything in Romey´s post. Especially about Kone. Some of the chances especially first half were misses you wouldn´t expect to see in a Sunday League game.

Worst performance from a blue No 9 in a long long time. FFS I was even calling for Jelavic to be brought on.

Think it also showed how much Fellaini and Baines will be missed if they do move on.

[rubecula]

The result is the main thing above all else. Yes we only sneaked through against a lower league opposition, and extra time was needed to seperate the two sides but it's still a progression. Take this opportunity to applaud Stevenage for making it difficult and giving the crowd a scare and so nearly pulling off a surprise tonight, and Martinez did field a severely weakened side for this competition, with expansive changes of usual personnel, but in the end it was enough to get through, but many wouldn't have envisaged such a close call. Pleased to have got through, but we'll have to improve a little if we're really going to go a long way in this competition. Regardless of caliber of opposition, I would have fielded the strongest side available tonight, rather than take chances with a changed or weakened squad. In the end, we just about got away with it.

 

Once again I totally agree with DK

 

OMFG!

[pete0]

I felt we made very hard work of the second half though. Apart from an early driving run and effort by Barkley I thought we were lethargic and lacked

Kone - Can I pretend he didn't play so I don't spontaneously combust?! No? Last night was my worst fears coming true about him. He was shockingly bad. He missed sitters, not just chances. That one in the first half that he blazed over not long after Stevenage had taken the lead was embarrassing. There were countless others though. If it was just the missed chances I wouldn't have been tearing my hair out though. His first touch was terrible, he didn't spend enough time actually being up front, his passing was poor, he wasn't physical enough. Occasionally he showed some good link-up play, but not nearly often enough, and I pray to whatever God he believes in that he improves a hell of a lot with more games. If he doesn't then we've chucked £5million away.

If it makes you feel any better we only spunked £2 mil on him, the rest is in bonuses that on todays performance we'll never have to pay.

[thoward18]

Naismith was brutal in the first half but picked it up after assisting Deulofeu's goal.

 

Kone, though... no words. Hopefully it was Ramadan or first game jitters or something else. But I've seen some Wigan followers insist that this is typical of him. He's like our Gervinho now. Wonderful

[Matt]

If it makes you feel any better we only spunked £2 mil on him, the rest is in bonuses that on todays performance we'll never have to pay.

hope to hell thats true....

[pete0]

hope to hell thats true....

We'll find out by Monday .

[Bailey]

If Jelavic, Kone and Vic all started the same amount of games I would put my house on Kone scoring more. He didnt score double figures last season as a fluke.

 

Apart from a few poor touches (especially midway through the 2nd half) his all round link up play was excellent. He drops deep, takes a pass under pressure and laid it off to a midfielder and then made a dart towards the box. Jela and Vic would still be stood marked scratching their arses while Kone was looking for a pass and had the other two had the foresight to get involved in the link up play then they would still be stood 30 yards out scratching their arses while the ball was in the box. Yes Kone's finishing last night was really poor, although there were also a couple of great last ditch challenges and a good save from the keeper in there too.

 

Whats more, instead of sulking he got right in there again and starting trying to make something happen.

 

Its a disgrace that Everton fans are practically writing off his career here after one performance.

[pete0]

If Jelavic, Kone and Vic all started the same amount of games I would put my house on Kone scoring more. He didnt score double figures last season as a fluke.

 

Apart from a few poor touches (especially midway through the 2nd half) his all round link up play was excellent. He drops deep, takes a pass under pressure and laid it off to a midfielder and then made a dart towards the box. Jela and Vic would still be stood marked scratching their arses while Kone was looking for a pass and had the other two had the foresight to get involved in the link up play then they would still be stood 30 yards out scratching their arses while the ball was in the box. Yes Kone's finishing last night was really poor, although there were also a couple of great last ditch challenges and a good save from the keeper in there too.

 

Whats more, instead of sulking he got right in there again and starting trying to make something happen.

 

Its a disgrace that Everton fans are practically writing off his career here after one performance.

We love a player who is shite but gives his all ie. Dennis Straq. However that performance yesterday was a disgrace Kone showed absolutely no evidence that he is a pro-footballer he had the touch of Carlton Palmer, the decision making of Pienaar, the shooting ability of Radzinski, and worse of all the laxy-daisy attitude of Kevin Campbell. It was like watching someone who had won a competition, worst player on the pitch by a mile.

 

Hopefully it was a fitness thing, but even without match fitness you should be able to control a ball with either foot.

[Bailey]

We love a player who is shite but gives his all ie. Dennis Straq. However that performance yesterday was a disgrace Kone showed absolutely no evidence that he is a pro-footballer he had the touch of Carlton Palmer, the decision making of Pienaar, the shooting ability of Radzinski, and worse of all the laxy-daisy attitude of Kevin Campbell. It was like watching someone who had won a competition, worst player on the pitch by a mile.

 

Hopefully it was a fitness thing, but even without match fitness you should be able to control a ball with either foot.

 

I must have been watching a different game to everyone else because his decision making, attitude and touch were all fine over the whole 120 minutes. Yes he finishing wasnt very good at all yesterday, but his efforts inside the 6 yard box werent tap ins by any stretch of the imagination. He did all the right things in the one that the keeper saved and had he been given a better ball by Naismith he would have had a better angle to score from. The most frustrating one for me was when he found the space in the 6 yard box, sorted his feet out quickly and went to place it high in the far right hand corner but blazed it over.

 

He isnt shite and he did a lot of hard graft yesterday that appears to have gone unnoticed.

[Steve_E]

Koné deserves to start against Cardiff based on the Stevenage game. I must have watched a completely different game than the rest of you, because I thought he played really well, except for finishing off the chances. Poor touch and misplaced passes? I must have been blinking when those happened, because his touch and passing was very impressive. He was heavily involved in our play, much more than Anichebe or Jelavic ever are and still I can't remember a misplaced pass apart from one to Coleman (which was a misunderstanding, not a lack of skill, as Coleman was making a run trying to get in behind right when Koné passed it to him). Then he also played well with his face to goal, taking people out 1 vs 1 and moving the ball on again.

[pete0]

 

I must have been watching a different game to everyone else because his decision making, attitude and touch were all fine over the whole 120 minutes. Yes he finishing wasnt very good at all yesterday, but his efforts inside the 6 yard box werent tap ins by any stretch of the imagination. He did all the right things in the one that the keeper saved and had he been given a better ball by Naismith he would have had a better angle to score from. The most frustrating one for me was when he found the space in the 6 yard box, sorted his feet out quickly and went to place it high in the far right hand corner but blazed it over.

 

He isnt shite and he did a lot of hard graft yesterday that appears to have gone unnoticed.

A few fluffed chances in his first game isn't the cause of alarm. It was everything, 2 left feet. His rare good link up plays stood out because everything else was so bad, over hit, under hit, miscontrolled, couldn't didn't read the pass he ticked all the wrong boxes yesterday and his efforts on goal where...

 

At first I thought it was just rustiness and he'd be fine once he's gelled with the team, but everything was awful. Hopefully, he'll up his game and get on the teams wavelength.

Edited August 29, 2013 by pete0

[Bailey]

Koné deserves to start against Cardiff based on the Stevenage game. I must have watched a completely different game than the rest of you, because I thought he played really well, except for finishing off the chances. Poor touch and misplaced passes? I must have been blinking when those happened, because his touch and passing was very impressive. He was heavily involved in our play, much more than Anichebe or Jelavic ever are and still I can't remember a misplaced pass apart from one to Coleman (which was a misunderstanding, not a lack of skill, as Coleman was making a run trying to get in behind right when Koné passed it to him). Then he also played well with his face to goal, taking people out 1 vs 1 and moving the ball on again.

Thank God it wasnt just me.

[Bailey]

A few fluffed chances in his first game isn't the cause of alarm. It was everything, 2 left feet. His rare good link up plays stood out because everything else was so bad, over hit, under hit, miscontrolled, couldn't didn't read the pass he ticked all the wrong boxes yesterday and his efforts on goal where...

 

At first I thought it was just rustiness and he'd be fine once he's gelled with the team, but everything was awful. Hopefully, he'll up his game and get on the teams wavelength.

Sorry Pete but thats complete bollocks. Your entitled to your own opinion and all that but you're wrong

[pete0]

Sorry Pete but thats complete bollocks. Your entitled to your own opinion and all that but you're wrong

 

Sorry Pete but thats complete bollocks. Your entitled to your own opinion and all that but you're wrong

Fair enough, but if you made a clip of his highlights and lowlights the latter would be much much longer.

[Alguna Vez Tonelada]

 

Fair enough, but if you made a clip of his highlights and lowlights the latter would be much much longer.

But as a striker he is in the team to score goals and he will not get 3 better chances all season

[c1982]

I must say I've watched the game back having been there on Wed... still thought it was an awful performance from Kone. The worst part for me was that he had a couple of chances to latch onto things/pick up the pieces but he was stuck on his heels, he didn't seem to read the game which is vital for a striker, especially a lone striker.

 

Jelavic must start on Saturday in my opinion.

Edited August 30, 2013 by c1982

[Matt]

I must say I've watched the game back having been there on Wed... still thought it was an awful performance from Kone. The worst part for me was that he had a couple of chances to latch onto things/pick up the pieces but he was stuck on his heels, he didn't seem to read the game which is vital for a striker, especially a lone striker.

 

Jelavic must start on Saturday in my opinion.

Im not convinced he wouldve put them away in his current form either.

 

Cant believe im saying this, but would rather Vic started

[efc1111]

It was his first start since last season after a minimal pre-season with his new colleagues. He's still learning about them and vice versa so I think we need to be patient and he should start on Saturday. He showed pace and good link-up play at times, which is something we've not had up front for a while, and we can't just write him off.

[Cornish Steve]

It was his first start since last season after a minimal pre-season with his new colleagues. He's still learning about them and vice versa so I think we need to be patient and he should start on Saturday. He showed pace and good link-up play at times, which is something we've not had up front for a while, and we can't just write him off.

 

I'd rather he came on as a sub, because he's not yet fully fit.

[Dalziel Kane]

There is a game tomorrow isn't there ?

 

You know, a small matter of a fixture somwhere in South Wales, but no mention of it ? No matchday thread that is ? Maybe a little surprising as the time is almost upon us ?

[MikeO]

There is a game tomorrow isn't there ?

 

You know, a small matter of a fixture somwhere in South Wales, but no mention of it ? No matchday thread that is ? Maybe a little surprising as the time is almost upon us ?

 

So why not start one....rather than pointing out the lack?

 

Just a thought.

[Dalziel Kane]

If I had wanted to, it would have been done by now. Was only surprised no-one came rushing in or the usual names etc. It was an innocent enough observation.