Everton (A) - 16 Sept 18 4pm ko - Match Thread

Expat_Hammer

Just need to get him a new contract then ;whistle

IronHerb

Well that made the drive home on the cone infested M6 so much more enjoyable.

It wasn't so far away from the Arsenal performance with the exception of us burying the ball in the opponents net when the opportunities arrived.
I think we saw Pelles influence start to show through with the performances of Rice and Obiang. We know what they can do but they both showed deft passing ability which was previously missing. On this Rice performance Diers England spot would be under threat.
It was strange to watch at times as you found yourself thinking 'just clear it upfield' but then we played it out and you think 'yeah, that's the way.'
I'm not sure why Arthur is taking so much stick. He's not the best at defending, no worse than Cresswell, but gives us an out ball and sometimes a spark of genius.
Leon Osman described Yarmolenko as a tricky winger built like a centre forward and he showed that in spades yesterday.
Too many good performances to decide upon a MOTM for me. All we need to do now is show the same intent and level of performance.

COYI

steve

Nice bit about us from Leon Osman on the bbc ,just about sums us up I think

Yeoldhammer

But Leon Osman also notes the one thing about Yarmelenko to. His whole career is cutting inside on his left and curling it in. Once teams clock onto this a large portion of his game will be cut out.

IronHerb

But it's not that straightforward. How has he managed to make that career by cutting inside when everyone knows that you musn't let that happen? He's a handful.

Yeoldhammer

Yes but its how you nullify his best attribute. If you can stop Andy Carroll heading the ball or stop the crosses coming in. You would bet he would score a lot less than if the ball did land on his head.

In the same way you wouldn't want someone like Salah with the ball at his feet, making players play a lofty ball to him is going to better your chances of him doing something magical than letting him have the ball at his feet.

IronHerb

I agree Yeold but no one has managed to do that consistently hence his career.

BubblesNeverDies

I think there's a little more to his game than that if this is anything to go by ;wink

claretandbluesky

Arnie and Yarmie look like they could cause mayhem in some defences this season as both very strong but also very able with the ball at their feet.

The biggest difference for me was Rice in front of the defence, and in my view if there was one change that would have made for a different game and result it would have been that, he made us very solid. Echo the contract calls made by others.

The only player I feel unsure about is Balbeuna but he deserves more time, however if Reid can get back to somewhere near his old form I feel Diop and Reid could be very good indeed.

grey_til_I_dye

Herb

I know what you mean about thinking 'get rid', and then correcting that thought.

At times it will probably cost us, but I agree we need to persist.

What I liked yesterday was that at times a player would recognise we were under too much pressure, and give it some right welly to give us a chance to reorganise.

We're a long way from their standards, but it is clear Pelle wants us to not be afraid of the ball in the same way Guardiola or Klopp have their teams.

IronHerb

Grey,

agree that Row Z must always be an option.

Cuz1

When I played it was always my option lol

IronHerb

I said an option, not the option. ;lol

IronHerb

https://twitter.com/LP10oficial/status/1041658485329551360

grey_til_I_dye

When we signed Fabulousanski I thought he and Adrian were about even, but now I think he is quite a bit better.

Slaven_Cups_His_Beard

Those commentators really did stir it up about Perez didn’t they? ;angry

TheMadcapLaughs

Cuz1 said:

When I played it was always my option lol

I was a very cultured player. I used to curl the ball into row Z with the outside of my boot.

I think my current favourite player is Diop. Looks a cracking player to me.

And I love the look of our front three. If fed the ball early, Anderson, Arnie and Yarmolenko will certainly cause problems.

Hope I feel this positive next monday. ;scarf

Cuz1

They didn’t use the outside of your foot in my early days

WHU_Champo_league_in_7_years

Grey

Fab has been nothing short of fantastic

Like you I had my doubts whether he was that much of an upgrade about has been brilliant even on days where our defence haven't helped

IronHerb

I'd have Fabianski in goal over Pickford any day of the week.

Yeoldhammer

IronHerb said:

https://twitter.com/LP10oficial/status/1041658485329551360

At what point can a player start to sue the media for Defamation of image ?

MrsGrey

I suppose at any point they thought they could prove the media did it knowing it was false.

Lukerz

We are going to need to improve at the back. I thought we showed class in most areas but how many times did Everton whip in or pull-back a cross, unchallenged, to players who weren't being marked; either at all or very loosely? Tosun (three times), Sigurdsson, Niasse. That should've been 3/4 goals right there.

We deserved the win & played very well in the middle & attacking thirds of the pitch but we are going to need to sort that back four out.

chicagohammer

The footage shows one of the coaches talking to Perez and he is simply shaking his head, that could literally be in response to anything, only our media took it to mean he refused to go on.

Some things you see just cannot be made up, but unfortunately, IMO, this appears to be a situation where it was felt to be totally reasonable to do just that.

In reality, IF a player truly refused to warm up when asked to do so by the management team, I think that the body lanaguage and remonstrations would have pretty clear for all to see.

Maybe the liberal interpretation of the footage does not support a formal libel case, but I think he is certainly owed an apology.

Kuchinghammer

This is oversimplifying things, but Noble playing and Wilshere not playing made all the difference to me. The MF worked in tandem, with Rice mopping up close behind. Both Obiang & Noble were able to get forward more, and both did. Obiang was my MOM, but he can't be mentioned without Noble and Rice getting credit too. Wilshere and Anderson both dribbling into dead ends (I didn't rate Anderson as highly as many) is one too many, and means we suffered too many turn-overs. These three hardly ever gave the ball away.
Defensively, it's good to see Diop turning into a bit of a panther. He's reading the game better and making lightning tackles. I'm looking forward to him facing Lukaku!
And we beat Everton! Only in the Year of the Snake did this happen in living memory.... ;scarf

McHammer

Looking at the celebrations for big arnies goal he seems to run freely over to the fans. Someone jumps on his back, he fixes his socks and then seems to limp away slightly. Hopefully just a minor tweek.

MrsGrey

pesky socks

Lukerz

Just seen we didn’t have one offside in the game, even Antonio stayed onside.

I thought we got the press right for the most part when Everton had the ball (77 recoveries) but this offside trap we try and play is causing us problems because by doing it the players leave their markers to get to the 18 yard line (leaving them all offside), but if the cross or pass doesn’t come at that moment & it is worked wide quickly, the people they have left now all become free & need to be picked up in time before the second phase cross comes in. Just seems to be a difficult one to get right.

WHU_Champo_league_in_7_years

The there are very few teams that look good defensively (and still have creativity) bar maybe Liverpool who have the best CB in the league, Watford who are just in great form and possibly wolves

Huttonhammer

It looks like the break worked for us.
A much better performance . Also you should give credit when it is due, I thought Mark played one of his best games for a while.
Fingers crossed we have turned a corner.