Sheffield United (Away) Saturday 26 December

[Wiggytop]

25 minutes ago, MikeO said:

This has been the worst commentary team I've ever heard.

Nigel Spackman, Ex Liverpool as co commentator, so anti Everton comments to be expected, drove me mad, never mind his mispronunciations of players names. 

[plaidharper]

14 minutes ago, London Blue said:

Importantly we ended the Richy Injury Curse!!

This!

Also, felt like Davies and Bernard both played well. 

We will have tougher tests ahead and hoping our injured players recover quickly!

[MC11]

The flat back four has turned our fortunes around - no doubt about it.

Hopefully the star players that are out, come back fitter & sharper to push us in the final 3rd of the season. 5/6th must be our immediate target now. 

[Wiggytop]

We won, and at the moment that’s all I care about, 3 more points and we’re 2nd.

Dull, ugly game against a dull ugly team, would like to think we’re going to perform better, but we’re missing key players and don’t have a great bench to call upon, so it’s OK for me.

Solid back four again, Tom did well in the role he was asked to fulfill, decent moments from Iwobi, Siggy and Dom, but overall a solid team performance that did the job again.

[Romey 1878]

Until near the end of the game I was a little embarrassed by how we played if I'm honest. But, we ground out another three points to keep us in and around where we want, and need, to be with the games coming thick and fast.

Onwards, blues.

[pete0]

Pickford - some good distribution to keep the tempo up and try and catch them on the attack. 

Godfrey - very much what you'd expect from a right footed centre half playing left back. Bit clumsy in his positioning at times.

Mina and Keane - not much today. Kept the crosses without too much fuss.

Holgate - better than Godfrey but you could tell he was playing out of position. Hindered the play going forward but defensively solid.

Davies and Doucoure - controlled the midfield and drove us forward but were hindered by Gordon and Sigurdsson. 

Gordon - off the pace. Nothing seemed to come off for him. Defending was more a frantic panic than that of a player who was sure of himself. Reminded of Deulofeu when he first came.

Sigurdsson - too often slowed the attack and undone the good work from the players around him. He's got a bad habit of turning like a defensive midfielder looking for the safe pass. Needs to turn and look to drive forward or find a pass to the attackers more. Good finish for the goal but overall a very poor performance. 

Iwobi - the only shining light going forward. Had Sheffield players terrified on their heels. Just a shame the players round him didn't do more with the space he was creating.

DCL - reminded me of Fellaini with that chest control but shame about the finish. Worked hard all game and deserved better service than he got.

Bernard - changed the game. Offered the creativity that had been lacking from Gordon and Sigurdsson. Really caused them problems. 

Gomes - anonymous for the first 10 mins but after we scored he came into life with the extra space from the game being more open. No idea how var didn't give him a pen.

[milesey05]

7 minutes ago, pete0 said:

Pickford - some good distribution to keep the tempo up and try and catch them on the attack. 

Godfrey - very much what you'd expect from a right footed centre half playing left back. Bit clumsy in his positioning at times.

Mina and Keane - not much today. Kept the crosses without too much fuss.

Holgate - better than Godfrey but you could tell he was playing out of position. Hindered the play going forward but defensively solid.

Davies and Doucoure - controlled the midfield and drove us forward but were hindered by Gordon and Sigurdsson. 

Gordon - off the pace. Nothing seemed to come off for him. Defending was more a frantic panic than that of a player who was sure of himself. Reminded of Deulofeu when he first came.

Sigurdsson - too often slowed the attack and undone the good work from the players around him. He's got a bad habit of turning like a defensive midfielder looking for the safe pass. Needs to turn and look to drive forward or find a pass to the attackers more. Good finish for the goal but overall a very poor performance. 

Iwobi - the only shining light going forward. Had Sheffield players terrified on their heels. Just a shame the players round him didn't do more with the space he was creating.

DCL - reminded me of Fellaini with that chest control but shame about the finish. Worked hard all game and deserved better service than he got.

Bernard - changed the game. Offered the creativity that had been lacking from Gordon and Sigurdsson. Really caused them problems. 

Gomes - anonymous for the first 10 mins but after we scored he came into life with the extra space from the game being more open. No idea how var didn't give him a pen.

Gylfi and Iwobi!!!

some shocking analysis on this game. I can’t have been watching the same game 

[Finn balor]

23 minutes ago, Romey 1878 said:

Until near the end of the game I was a little embarrassed by how we played if I'm honest. But, we ground out another three points to keep us in and around where we want, and need, to be with the games coming thick and fast.

Onwards, blues.

They are a pub team and I was pissed off but this season is mad. We are solid now. Let’s keep it up 

[pete0]

34 minutes ago, milesey05 said:

Gylfi and Iwobi!!!

some shocking analysis on this game. I can’t have been watching the same game 

There was comments on here to sub him off before the goal. 

You think Sigurdsson was very than Iwobi over the 90?

[Matt]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/55373751

[pete0]

Everton have now enjoyed four consecutive wins twice in a season for the first time since the 1986-87 campaign, when they were last champions of England.

Good omen

[Romey 1878]

5 minutes ago, pete0 said:

Everton have now enjoyed four consecutive wins twice in a season for the first time since the 1986-87 campaign, when they were last champions of England.

Good omen

Also good to finally get rid of the monkey on our back of not winning without Richarlison.

[chicagoblue]

Had to watch on a delay. Awful game but brilliant result. A lot of the regular villains showed up today and at least put in proper shifts. Sheffield are a terrible team but they did fight and the conditions plus our injuries made it very tough. 
 

if we can turn iwobi into a full time brawler we’ll have a real player on our hands. Still floating a bit in and out of matches but has some good touches. 
 

 

siggy finally starting to earn some of his coin. Great take and ran his socks off. Can clearly see why it’s him and not Gomes starting. 
 

Mina was a beast all game. Got to everything and never gave up. 
 

subs all did well, even Bernard with a great touch on the bulls up to the goal and showed his quality and composure. 
 

Gordon was not good today. Tough conditions but he wasn’t competing at the same level as the rest of them. 
 

Thought Tom did really well tonight. Always found a man, protected the ball when challenged and constantly got stuck in.  Like everyone else his passing was poor but he didn’t take the unnecessary risks that have seen our fans make him a scapegoat. 
 

up the toffees

[chicagoblue]

3 hours ago, MC11 said:

The flat back four has turned our fortunes around - no doubt about it.

Hopefully the star players that are out, come back fitter & sharper to push us in the final 3rd of the season. 5/6th must be our immediate target now. 

Huh... we’re second

[Cornish Steve]

In such atrocious weather, I'm surprised the score wasn't 0-0. Both teams spent time early in the game getting a sense of the weight of the ball, and there were a lot of patient passes in defence.

We were OK, I thought, but not great. Sheffield United were not as bad as others imply: I can think of three or four teams perhaps more likely to face the drop. Still, it would have been a travesty not to win this game after three impressive wins already this month.

In addition to the awful weather, we paid the price of focusing on the League Cup. I won't dwell on this, because everyone's already fed up with my views, but we risked these three points unnecessarily. At least we won't face even more pressure on a limited squad in early January.

Our defence is coming along nicely. Keane, Mina, Holgate, and Godfrey make an excellent unit and appear to be increasingly confident and understanding of each other's abilities. In this game, I thought Mina was particularly impressive. In some ways, he actually reminds me of Jack Charlton.

Calvert-Lewin impresses in every game these days, even when his overall contribution might be less in some than others. The way he chested Keane's long pass was incredible: What a goal that would have been if the volley had hit the top left corner!

The midfield is struggling without Allan, and I still have the sense that Sigurdsson doesn't really fit - even though he was the goalscorer. The same is true of Gomes, and I'm glad he wasn't brought on until the end. Davies is a decent backup in a limited squad, and I thought he had a very good game. Doucoure was reliable, but he seemed tired today - a victim of the ridiculously busy schedule right now. Coleman was also off his game and clearly needs more time to work his way back to full strength.

We really miss the creativity of Richarlison and James, and I can't wait for both of them to be back. We won this game through workmanship: When they both play, we win games through brilliance - and that is far more exciting to watch.

A word about Bernard. I watched his positioning carefully after he came on, and he's just all over the place (not a good thing). He's rarely in a place where he can accept the ball safely and make good use of it. Yes, his touch to Doucoure that led to our goal was excellent, but that was an exception and not the rule. He's rather disappointing to me.

Also a word about Gordon. He got a bad rap from those commenting afterward on the game, but I didn't think he did too badly. Most of our activity in the first half was on the other side of the field (with Iwobi in particular), meaning Gordon didn't get many chances to shine. You could argue that great players create activity wherever they are, but that's not so easy in pouring rain. I'd like to see him get more chances.

Pickford did OK, but I really wish I had the confidence in him that I had months ago. Once again, he dawdled on the ball and almost paid a price as the United forward rushed in. Let's hope such incidents become fewer and fewer and he returns to better form.

A win is a win, and it doesn't matter that we ground this one out. They all count. On to the toughest game of the month: Manchester City.

[Cornish Steve]

3 hours ago, chicagoblue said:

Huh... we’re second

When games in hand are taken into account, we're potentially fifth. There's quite a pack of teams in the running right now, with just four points separating second from ninth.

[Matt]

Not bothering to wait for the extended highlights, because I’m not sure there’ll be one  

[RuffRob]

I think being 2nd in the table given the volume of games missed by Rodrigues, Richarlison, Digne, Colman and now Allan, is very encouraging - Defiantly noticed a massive improvement in Iwobi and Siggy these past 4 premiership games - these players stepping up when others are out is huge for us.

Davies will never get an easier game to 'shine' in - as not much pressure on him.

I tend to agree - give some fringe players a chance against Man City so others can have a break before we play West Ham on New Years Day.  I think play the solid back 4 of central defenders, although would be happy seeing Coleman back - as he's not played so much. 

In particular I would like to see DCL and Doucoure get a day off. Even though both players give so much to  the team - probably the two least replaceable players at the moment given current injuries.  Especially against a team like Man City. 

It shows we could really do with decent back up to DCL. Shame Richarlison is out as would happily see him play as the front man in place of DCL.

 

 

[Bill]

If we had played some of the line ups I saw on this forum yesterday we would have lost that game.

We must always play the best eleven we have for every game, if these players can't play two games in a week there's something wrong with them.  180 minutes a week FFS.

[Palfy]

16 minutes ago, Bill said:

If we had played some of the line ups I saw on this forum yesterday we would have lost that game.

We must always play the best eleven we have for every game, if these players can't play two games in a week there's something wrong with them.  180 minutes a week FFS.

Totally agree Bill, some are looking to rest our better players against City that is a massive defeatist attitude that belongs in the world of fairytales and Princesses, not the world of trying to beat the best teams in the league and finishing as I as you possibly can. 
I hope every player given the opportunity to play any game would be standing up and not sitting down. 

[pete0]

9 hours ago, Cornish Steve said:

about Bernard. I watched his positioning carefully after he came on, and he's just all over the place (not a good thing). He's rarely in a place where he can accept the ball safely and make good use of it. Yes, his touch to Doucoure that led to our goal was excellent, but that was an exception and not the rule.

Noticed similar with him drifting in the middle and Sigurdsson to the left, assumed it was tactical could be Sig just noticing the danger and covering though.

[Cornish Steve]

4 hours ago, Bill said:

If we had played some of the line ups I saw on this forum yesterday we would have lost that game.

We must always play the best eleven we have for every game, if these players can't play two games in a week there's something wrong with them.  180 minutes a week FFS.

Thanks to the League Cup, it will have been four games in nine days, which is ridiculous. It gives major advantage to the teams with large squads, even though Klopp can still find reason to complain. 

[Gwlad]

Can you ever see that miserable git over the park finding something to be positive about?

[MikeO]

4 minutes ago, Gwlad all over said:

Can you ever see that miserable git over the park finding something to be positive about?

Didn't see it but the radio commentators said he was "John Cleese-esque" (guessing they meant Basil Fawlty) when Rhys Williams was penalised for a foul a minute after coming on

[Wiggytop]

The weekend just keeps getting better 

[Cornish Steve]

1 hour ago, Wiggytop said:

The weekend just keeps getting better 

We just need Wolves to score twice. 

The Wolves-Spurs fixture reminds me the UEFA Cup final back in the 70s. 

[RuffRob]

10 hours ago, Palfy said:

Totally agree Bill, some are looking to rest our better players against City that is a massive defeatist attitude that belongs in the world of fairytales and Princesses, not the world of trying to beat the best teams in the league and finishing as I as you possibly can. 
I hope every player given the opportunity to play any game would be standing up and not sitting down. 

its a world of 'fairytails and Princesses' to think most professional athlete's don't become tired and fatigued playing games every three or four days over three or four weeks. Proper 'recovery' is very important - that's a fact. 

Its fairy tails to think our players are somehow immune from fatigue, its also fairytales to think on the law of averages that we can week in week out yet compete with Man City's of this world. That's just 'pride'. and this could be a case of pride before a fall. Fatigued players against Man City, only to be even more fatigued against the Hammer on Friday. 

I am a realist not a defeatist. 

Player performances do drop when they are fatigued (and some are now fatigued) and when player performances drop points get lost.  3 or 4 point is likely to make a big difference in the league table standings come the end of the season.

 

[Palfy]

2 minutes ago, RuffRob said:

its a world of 'fairytails and Princesses' to think most professional athlete's don't become tired and fatigued playing games every three or four days over three or four weeks. Proper 'recovery' is very important - that's a fact. 

Its fairy tails to think our players are somehow immune from fatigue, its also fairytales to think on the law of averages that we can week in week out yet compete with Man City's of this world. That's just 'pride'. and this could be a case of pride before a fall. Fatigued players against Man City, only to be even more fatigued against the Hammer on Friday. 

I am a realist not a defeatist. 

Player performances do drop when they are fatigued (and some are now fatigued) and when player performances drop points get lost.  3 or 4 point is likely to make a big difference in the league table standings come the end of the season.

 

But that’s the same for all clubs it’s a fairytale to think it’s just Everton players that get tired, when the big games come up you play your best team, it’s more important to try and take points off the likes City because if you can keep them below you you’re gonna have a fighting chance to get into the top four, DCL Richarlison Doucoure Iwobi and Gylfi will be gagging to play in that game that’s what good players want to be play in the big games, not sat at home or on the bench. 

[Gwlad]

2 hours ago, Cornish Steve said:

We just need Wolves to score twice. 

The Wolves-Spurs fixture reminds me the UEFA Cup final back in the 70s. 

Off topic but Burnley Spurs always reminds me of 1962 Cup Final - probably the first one I was aware of!!

[Bill]

In reply to a couple of posts ......  an hour and half of football every 3 days is not tiring believe me, I've played two games on a saturday, two more on the Sunday and still gone to five aside training on Tuesdays and Thursdays. If I could have found a match being played under floodlight I'd tried to play there as well.

Not playing your best eleven is fine when you have £50.000 subtitutes sitting on the bench, we can't afford to do that because if we did we would lose games and points, its swings and roundabouts whether you play with a weakened team or a few players who feel a bit tired.  The only way they get tired is  having to carry all the money they get to the Bank.