Everton (Away) C1 SF 1st Leg : Pre Match Thread

[FogBlueInSanFran]

That is WHY he made that comment mate ... we are WELL aware. Would you like to send over some links about the European football ban in the 80's to further inform us about how horrible the last 30 years have been for Everton football club? We're not flying banners over our ground celebrating our Chairman are we? Well okay fine there was that one but every fanbase is going to have a few idiots.

[/QUOTE]

Hmm. Certainly didn't sound like a rhetorical question to me when he asked it. Anyway, good luck x 3 this month and for the rest of the season.

 

[Machiavelli]

Everton fan in peace. I may correct some bizarre impressions you have about my football club but that doesn't mean I don't love you.

First things first ... pointless time wasting guesses that carry no accountability. Everton 10 - City 8 over two legs is my prediction!

You'll probably win. We have a decent chance.

That's about all I can manage as far as crystal ball stuff goes. Hard to say how we will line up because if we get Isco in before Wednesday it might change our formation.

New rule: If you insult our team you don't get to turn around and try to buy any of them in the summer.



Oh dear. We would probably play Liverpool in the final mate. If you have even the most coarse, elementary school understanding of Everton you would understand that we in no way consider this "our Cup final."

I will fly to London from Canada if we make the final (and I have hotels booked already -- refundable of course); I may or may not bother leaving work early to catch the start of the semi on the telly. Just to put things in perspective for you. We've been in a few semi's and finals over the last 5-6 years -- maybe not as many as you but we've had a couple of trips to Wembley (or Wembley stand ins during construction) to keep us busy. It's nice to be here but we aren't amazed to see our side in a semi FFS. Good grief.



It's VERY easy to get upset at how "stupid" opposing fans are if you don't even bother reading what they actually say. He was talking about how YOU got 30k in the 3rd division. Well not YOU of course as you probably weren't a City fan then but ask some of the older cool cats maybe.

I have no idea what attendance we would get in the (old) 3rd division as AFAIK we have never been that low in the leagues in our entire history.



That is WHY he made that comment mate ... we are WELL aware. Would you like to send over some links about the European football ban in the 80's to further inform us about how horrible the last 30 years have been for Everton football club? We're not flying banners over our ground celebrating our Chairman are we? Well okay fine there was that one but every fanbase is going to have a few idiots.



Bitter Lake worth a watch mate.

You squeezed a few veiled insults in. Well done.
4/10

 

[BerkshireBlue]

I don't think YaYa can play two games a week any more so he can sit this one out for Delph or Fernando. Similar for Aguero as he's just come back so Bony to start. Makes us hard to beat and that is all that matters in an away 2 legger.

 

[Hungarian blue]

As others said already, go with a very strong team. Martinez is clearly fully motivated as he said it well before, and it's hardly a surprise given this season looks like another one quite disappointing in terms of Premier League. They play nice football, but the results are probably even more underachieving than ours. We can afford to rest a few players against Norwich then.

Those who want Kelechi to start will be disappointed, I'm sure about that. I was shocked he wasn't even on the bench on Saturday, but if he gets about 60 minutes in our next two cup games, I'll be quite happy with it.

Maybe we should give a go to the Bony-Aguero partnership, though. With Sterling, we already played our good old usual 4-2-2-2 with Pellegrini, albeit with mixed success. Sterling was shite our last game and Bony looked quite good. Aguero is now in the state where he needs more and more minutes as the days go by, until he gets another injury. :)

I'm guessing even Yaya will play, and I hope Zaba will make his return to our first eleven only against Norwich, Sagna is just too good at the moment, and against Everton we will need our best defenders. So rest Demichelis and Zabaleta for Saturday. I wouldn't mind Clichy instead of Kolarov, though.

 

[St.Pauli support]

Half our squad can barely cope with playing 1x a week without being injured. I agree that we have no information about their actual physical state, but I'm not sure what the point of that is. I mean if your point is "trust the medical staff" then sure, I guess, but it's fair to say they've not had a great record at keeping our best players fit. I'm not sure why you think playing them more is the cure.

Your first sentence is not true and you know it, Teddy.

Looking at our injury list all of us should be grateful and humble all day long, hoping for a quick return of Vinnie and Samir of course.

Sergio finally looks good and Silva is on track, too. We are in a comfortable situation and all I say is we simply do not need a discussion right now about young players getting into the first team. We have 17 match-fit experienced field players. They have to get used to a tight schedule anyway. And the big games are still to come...

It will be interesting to see if and when Pellers will take the risk of resting key players. Right now I don't see him urged for the big rotation.

 

[St.Pauli support]

I don't think YaYa can play two games a week any more so he can sit this one out for Delph or Fernando. Similar for Aguero as he's just come back so Bony to start. Makes us hard to beat and that is all that matters in an away 2 legger.

21 Dec Ars: 90 mins - scoring 80.
26 Dec Sun: 62 mins - scoring 17.
29 Dec Leic: 90 mins
02 Jan Wat: 90 mins - scoring 82.

Yes he can. :)
Would be good to give him a rest against Norwich I feel.

 

[We'reNotReallyHere]

Some people seem to underestimate how well a professional player is able to cope with a 2-matches-a-week rhythm. They have learnt to listen to their body and manage their energy during a match. A rest could as well break their match rhythm not for good.
The coaching team is aware of all this and must be well prepared as the season plans have been fixed in summer. The physical situation of the squad is not bad at all. No need to rush the kids in as it seems. Keeping the team in a good mood is more important at this stage of the season. Pellers knows.

Furthermore nobody, nobody on here has got information about the physiological and mental state of any player, how fit they are, and how fit they feel. If I am wrong, let us please share your wisdom. The coaching and medical staff do know. They do see all the 1st team and EDS players in training every day.

Saying this, the reason for all the speculation about the lineup could be impatience, lacking ability to trust the boss, being just bored or pure arrogance.
The latter 2 are heavy sins and you will go to hell or become a rag once... ;-)

Some interesting quotes from Fernandinho posted by City Watch which seem to back this up.

Fernandinho: "My body works best when I'm playing all the time so when I work more and I play more I feel better."
Fernandinho: "I've been happy with my performances. My aim is to keep these levels up throughout the season and help us win games."
Fernandinho: "I can rest at the end of the season and enjoy time with my family. That's when I'll recharge my batteries, not before."

 

[Len Rum]

We need to be at the best to beat them.
They're still bitter about us and it's their cup final.
We always start slowly and between 8th - 13th minute of the Watford game we gave Watford four chances, we can't afford to do the same against the blue bitter dippers who will be blowing a gasket in the early stages of the game.
Play our strongest side Uncle P and be up for it from the kick off, no fannying about for the first twenty minutes until we 'warm up'.

"Joleon Lescott he won the league twice".

 

[jimmygrimblesboots]

this will be a very open game , everton cannot defend for toffee (couldnt resist) , and we are always liable to drop a bollock in defence , we need navas and delph playing wide to negate baines and coleman ,and start with a couple of holding midfield players , because they will commit players forward , martinez can only play one way , with aguero,KDB,silva we can score a couple on the break , quietly confident ,but 3-2 either way , would make the 2nd leg very interesting.

 

[sam-caddick]

Doesn't the away goals rule only kick in after extra-time in the league cup?

I can't see us keeping a clean sheet as I see Everton scoring at least once.

I think this game could potentially be very open game in that it could be something like a 5-4 score line over the two legs.