Man City

[GoodisonRoad]

Shocking second half. Did nothing. Lacked tempo, poor passing, lathargic. Disappointing.

[marcopaulo]

not sure we're lucky to get away with 3-1..if that penalty hadn't been given then who knows...if the one for us had been given then who knows? if silva had been sent off like he should then who knows? it's one of those days

[foobiezw]

Deserved to lose yes, but what could've happened if the ref was a bit more consistent!!!!

[Hafnia]

And that's why he's shit haf! Right there!

I think your schadenfraude for naismith may be hindering your enjoyment of watching the team. my schadenfraude of Moyes is at least conducive to supporting Everton.

 

look we don't think naismith is a good footballer, I don't think any of us do, it's just the fact that he has to do a certain job in the way kuyt did for Liverpool. sometimes that job is valuable to the team.

[Shukes]

Ye Brett but when he's playing better than most the team what can we do? Not play any of them? We don't have a big enough squad to drop Naismith and any players playing below hos standard.

 

Or do you want to play Mirralas and Gerard ahead of hi even though they are playing worse than him? What will that tell the young lads in the squad? That there's no point in working hard as it gets you nowhere!

[Smodger]

And kone laughing at the end what a player

[Shukes]

not sure we're lucky to get away with 3-1..if that penalty hadn't been given then who knows...if the one for us had been given then who knows? if silva had been sent off like he should then who knows? it's one of those days

Agree with this. It could so easily have been different.

[Toffee_in_LA]

We can complain about the ref all we want (and he was terrible believe me) but the bottom line is that City had their way with us. Their passing in the midfield and even in the final third was pretty sublime and I feel that we are lucky to get away only losing by 2 goals. Our midfield could not keep hold of the ball, which starved Lukaku from any service. Our passes were poor which gave City plenty of opportunities in our third.

Edited October 5, 2013 by Toffee_in_LA

[Peter H]

Naismith wouldn't get in any other side in the top seven of the premier league, so why is he good enough for us?

Good old plucky everton, good solid team, eleven behind the ball, will surprise a few this year...... That's what the likes of haf and peter h beleive in.... Its boring after à while!!!!!

Thanks for getting me involved in this.

 

Naismith is not half the player that ie Deulofeu is. Everyone can see that but he works his arse off which can inspire his team mates to put a shift in. Deulofeu is talented, exciting, great on the ball etc but looks like a lazy git at times. Hangs his head, wont defend etc. He can pull other players into the dumps, creating team mates that hang their heads instead of fighting.

 

You are a twat Brett now dont go giving me shit when I wasnt even involved in your discussion.

 

If you look back you would see that I have been very hard on Naismith in the past. Borderline hatred. My least favourit player at Everton. He does look a different player this season though. Still has one wooden leg though.

[pete0]

not sure we're lucky to get away with 3-1..if that penalty hadn't been given then who knows...if the one for us had been given then who knows? if silva had been sent off like he should then who knows? it's one of those days

If the ref had blown for Negredo squaring up. 4 huge cock-ups, game should be replayed. Up there with Atkinson for Liverpool, result was always going to be forced.

[Cornish Steve]

Fuck off you bent ref.

 

I've given my views on this before. If we let the betting industry spend many millions on sponsoring teams in the league, it won't be a surprise when we learn that games are fixed - with either players or refs paid off. Of course, no one can say that without the FA banning them, but it's so obvious. No matter what the impact financially, and for the integrity of the game, no betting company must be allowed to sponsor or otherwise finance football activities.

[Sibdane]

Deserved to lose yes, but what could've happened if the ref was a bit more consistent!!!!

 

Agree with this. We didn't play our best came, but the ref wasn't doing us any favors either -- seemed to be doing them for City though.

[marcopaulo]

testament to barkley so far the amount of attention city gave him i guess

[Cornish Steve]

Honestly, we played away against the likely league champions, so it's no surprise that we lost. What matters, now the unbeaten streak is over, is consistency over the long haul. I really believe we have the opportunity to finish the top four.

[MikeO]

not sure we're lucky to get away with 3-1..if that penalty hadn't been given then who knows...if the one for us had been given then who knows? if silva had been sent off like he should then who knows? it's one of those days

 

Exactly. Draw a line under it and move on....bad day at the office (for us and the ref).

 

Shouldn't dent the confidence and hopefully we'll batter Hull in a couple of weeks to get back on track.

[Cornish Steve]

I agree with one of the comments at the BBC website: Lukaku is a 45-minute striker. The last couple of games have revealed that, so give Kone the chance to shine for a complete half.

[Hafnia]

Key points in the game which indicate a fucking atrocious refereeing performance

 

• Lukaku foul in the box not given at 1-1
• Milner given yellow instead of red at 2-1
• Silva not getting a card till the 3rd time he should have had one
• City getting away with cynical fouls all first half till the ref realised he lost control of the game and booked every single foul
• A penno given to city that wasnt anything l;ike the one he missed
• a daft free kick given in first 2 minutes for aguero falling over
• barkley penalised for being pushed in the box

 

All those decisions for me actually got to our players, totally lost focus and spent time getting involved - we should have got into him from the first moment, we need jags to protect us from weak refs and turn them onto the other team - why are we the victims???

 

please for fucks sake, Naismith is a poor player - technically our least proficient IMO, however in terms of positional sense, closing players, challenging, protecting his full back he is excellent. If we had 2 deulofeus on either flank we would have been spanked today - he didn't want to know once he realised he was in for a tough day at beating his man - he can't play against Fulhams defence every week. Talent is not always the answer, and this is from someone who hated moysies workman like jobbers. Until old plums upstairs give martinez the money to not rely on workhorses on the wing, loets get behind him.

[Newty82]

Okeydokey...at best I expected a draw here. Im not disappointed with the result. And yes, ref was appalling...but we should be able to get over that.

 

I am disappointed that yet again we only seem to be able to play for, at most, 45 minutes. And it concerns me...in training, have we focused too much on passing and left fitness behind? Are we losing that 'edge' or 'snap'? One to watch I think.

 

We were just poor today...a load of players had a bad game...we gave the ball away umpteen times in the 2nd half. It was just aweful to watch.

 

I was interested to see how RM would react to us being down. But I didnt notice any sort of plan B.

 

Hopefully just a bad day.

[rubecula]

We did well in the first half but that seems to be the same every match we play. Where the hell is the team in the second half of these games?

 

In the second half today for example (and I refuse to single out any players) ball control got worse and worse as time went on. Passing went astray more and more often. First touch was woeful and ideas rapidly fell apart.

 

Yes the ref was awful.

 

Yes City were the better team at the end.

 

Yes we could have turned the screw a bit in the first half.

 

But in all honesty the loss comes down to our inability to continue to play for a full 90 minutes.

[Sideliner]

We were clearly brought down to earth today - ref was bad but City was far better team -

did not agree with Martinez's subs - Osman and Gibson are equally invisible at def mid - both bench players at most

Delefue should have replaced Naismith who runs around like a Jack Russel in a dogfight - lots of energy but little effect - pure championship quality

Barkley has little confidence in his right foot - wastes time with too many touches to get it on his left foot -

Lukaku has 60 min in him - no more - Kone should have come on 10 min earlier-

We seem to have a problem with fitness levels in general required for Martinez's style of play-

The second half Everton was very disappointing - but City was good

[Romey 1878]

 

Barkley has little confidence in his right foot - wastes time with too many touches to get it on his left foot -

 

 

:dont know:

 

He's right footed...

[MikeO]

We were clearly brought down to earth today - ref was bad but City was far better team -

did not agree with Martinez's subs - Osman and Gibson are equally invisible at def mid - both bench players at most

Delefue should have replaced Naismith who runs around like a Jack Russel in a dogfight - lots of energy but little effect - pure championship quality

Barkley has little confidence in his right foot - wastes time with too many touches to get it on his left foot -

Lukaku has 60 min in him - no more - Kone should have come on 10 min earlier-

We seem to have a problem with fitness levels in general required for Martinez's style of play-

The second half Everton was very disappointing - but City was good

 

He's right footed isn't he ?

[Sideliner]

watch closely - Barkley hesitates when the ball is on his right foot - but strikes much faster with his left -

[Hafnia]

watch closely - Barkley hesitates when the ball is on his right foot - but strikes much faster with his left -

 

he's right footed...

 

he can strike it well with his left as you seen against Norwich but he is starting to try and sell the shot with his right foot to open the angle for a shot with his left... that is all

[Romey 1878]

In the first half there was plenty of positives to take, despite us ending up going in at half time 2-1 behind. We looked very confident on the ball, we moved the ball about quickly and with purpose, we were dangerous on the break. We weren't overawed at all and gave as good as we got. That was until late in the half when we faded quite worryingly. Then we looked very susceptible to the break ourselves. It wasn't helped that our passing went to shit from that point as well. Another worrying factor was just how bad we looked defensively. City honestly looked like they could score whenever they went forward. Half time came at a good time for us because we were well and truly on the ropes. I thought we'd get ourselves sorted during the break.

 

It didn't transpire that way. There was absolutely nothing from us in the second half. A complete no show. The passing and defending actually got worse. Players who had had decent first halves played like shite. We lacked energy all over the pitch.

 

The ref was shit and punished us badly but I think the (much) better side won and got what they deserved result-wise.

 

Hopefully we just put this one out of our minds and return to what we know we're capable of against Hull in a couple of weeks.

 

 

Howard - Maybe could have done better for the goals (I really think he should have stopped the penalty with a stronger hand) but he also made a couple of saves near the end to stop it being a rout.

 

 

Coleman - What a nightmare of a performance. He looked like he'd never defended in his life. He was daydreaming for their equaliser and generally got murdered all game. He gave away a soft penalty which shouldn't have been but his positioning for it was terrible. I have no idea what he was doing. And apart from a run or two towards the end of the game he offered nothing going forward as well.

 

Jagielka - His lack of pace was exposed badly. He looked like he was running in quicksand up against Aguero at times.

 

Distin - The only one of our defenders to come out of this with any sort of credit. Once again he was rock solid and kept the opportunities for City down.

 

Baines - Barely figured in the game at all.

 

 

Mirallas - So, so, poor. You suspect he wasn't anywhere near being fit for this one. He offered absolutely nothing. Unless you count being totally off the pace and giving the ball away.

 

Osman - Won the ball back a couple of times and that's all I can remember him doing. He really should not be anywhere near being a regular starter.

 

McCarthy - I thought he was the only one of our midfielders and forward thinking players to turn up for the whole game. He was neat and tidy, he used the ball well, he won the ball back, he ran forward with the ball, he made himself available to receive the ball at all times and he put himself about. A very strong performance from him and he was my MOTM.

 

Naismith - Whatever your views on his ability (or lack of) there is no doubt that he was our best player in the first half. His first touch wasn't the best but he was bright on the ball, he found space for himself, he worked his arse off for the team. He did everything that you would ask of him. Second half was a different story, however. He was garbage. I mean, really bad. His first touch was atrocious, not just bad. His passing was shite as well. His anticipation of anything that might happen around him was awful. He lacked concentration. And this all lead to him getting frustrated and his nasty side came out a bit.

 

 

Barkley - Easily his worst game this season. Yes, City did pressure him at every opportunity but he's got to adjust accordingly and he didn't. He just carried on playing like he'd have loads of time on the ball and was easily dispossessed time after time.

 

 

Lukaku - He scored but other than that he had a bad game. He didn't hold the ball up well at all and his passing wasn't very good either. His confidence dropped more and more every time he lost out and as any sort of service to him dried up he'd try even harder whenever he did see the ball, and invariably would just lose out again.

[Droobie]

 

I've given my views on this before. If we let the betting industry spend many millions on sponsoring teams in the league, it won't be a surprise when we learn that games are fixed - with either players or refs paid off. Of course, no one can say that without the FA banning them, but it's so obvious. No matter what the impact financially, and for the integrity of the game, no betting company must be allowed to sponsor or otherwise finance football activities.

 

Well... I would have thought that it would be better money to have us win?!

[Blue 250]

Matched a very good City side in the first half and should have had a penalty, whilst still bedding in a few new players.Clever use of Lukaku will be needed unless he ever develops into a 90 minute player.

 

Coleman looked ok going forward but struggled with his main duty at the back, Maybe it's Hibbo back against teams we know will be pressing us and Coleman against teams where we know he can get forward, but that probably alters who you can play infront of them!

 

Naismith put in probably his best game for Everton and showed what he must doing during training, something keeps getting picked by Martinez.

 

City were the best team over the 90 minutes, but I think if Martinez can get us playing the 2nd 45 minutes like the first' not many teams will beat Everton.

 

McCarthy, Lukaku and Barkley are still only a few games into the season, Barry and Pienaar can be added to those as players who haven't had much time together, things are still looking good.Some of our early play today was excellent when you consider the opponents.

[Sideliner]

Without Barry I fear for our left flank - who is going to replace Barry ? we haven't got a DM with the same qualities - so if we want to win we will have to score a couple of goals because I don't see us keeping a clean sheet against City -

we have a serious problem against top sides if Barry is out - Osman and Gibson were spectators in defense today - both bench players at best

Edited October 5, 2013 by Sideliner

[Steve_E]

we have a serious problem against top sides if Barry is out - Osman and Gibson were spectators in defense today - both bench players at best

 

Gibson will come good once he gets into some rhythm imo. Though I do expect him to start on the bench more often than not. McCarthy-Barry will be the starters most games.

[GoodisonRoad]

I agree with one of the comments at the BBC website: Lukaku is a 45-minute striker.

Pretty rediculous comment when you take into account that is only his second start all season so it will take him time to get fully up and running and also the whole team were poor for the second halves of both of those games not just him.