Everton (H) | PL | Post Match Thread

bluegaz13 said:
Amongst the many worrying things to come out of this horrific run is the downturn in the second half performances.

Previously it never worried me losing at HT because we always seemed to play better in the second half.

Is it tiredness or a change in tactics or do we change tactics in anticipation of tiredness setting in on an ageing team.

Where did the quick passing (quicker than in the previous matches) go to in that second half.

Doku has come in for a lot of flak today but by the time we got the ball out to him there were sometimes 4 players surrounding him, we were that slow.

Also agree with some of the comments about Akanji, if he sticks to the basics like in his first season he is a 9/10 defender but I think he thinks he’s a better footballer than he really is…..poor going down as though he had been shot after losing that header near the end. He also slows down the tempo.
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It's a fitness issue, has to be.
 
bluegaz13 said:
Amongst the many worrying things to come out of this horrific run is the downturn in the second half performances.

Previously it never worried me losing at HT because we always seemed to play better in the second half.

Is it tiredness or a change in tactics or do we change tactics in anticipation of tiredness setting in on an ageing team.

Where did the quick passing (quicker than in the previous matches) go to in that second half.

Doku has come in for a lot of flak today but by the time we got the ball out to him there were sometimes 4 players surrounding him, we were that slow.

Also agree with some of the comments about Akanji, if he sticks to the basics like in his first season he is a 9/10 defender but I think he thinks he’s a better footballer than he really is…..poor going down as though he had been shot after losing that header near the end. He also slows down the tempo.
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I agree. We never break fast anymore. Doku could be far more effective if we did. I dont think we are getting the best out of him but this goes back to the team as a whole and playing quicker football.
 
bluedreamer said:
Spot on
Time for a change.
Stick Foden up front. Get back to total football like the old days.
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Tend to agree...Haaland -based tactics are a luxury we can't afford atm...teams put a fire curtain between him and our attack and he lumber around behind it with stooped shoulders...rolling his eyes...do so fookin work, Haaland...break back through that curtain and grab possession ffs..
 
Pretty much repeat performances now some slightly better or slightly worse. Either we change the tactics to get more out of the players or we buy in January to try and get back on track. Qn is that are the right players o the market to bring momentum back to this team?
 
dom said:
Tend to agree...Haaland -based tactics are a luxury we can't afford atm...teams put a fire curtain between him and our attack and he lumber around behind it with stooped shoulders...rolling his eyes...do so fookin work, Haaland...break back through that curtain and grab possession ffs..
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I know this is controversial but if we cant use Haalands strengths anymore perhaps we should bag 100 million for him and buy a few top quality players. If we have strikers that can get us 20/25 a season and others chipping in we may be in a better position.
 
cleavers said:
Agree with this, we were certainly doing lots of things differently in the first 45 minutes at least, however things weren't coming off. The header off the post should be working the keeper (he didn't move so on target it's a goal). Bernardo's shot (well) wide should be working the keeper too. There was a fantastic KdB style cross from Foden, somebody should be on the end of that for a tap in.

The "dribbling" though is an issue for me, Savinho runs into dead ends constantly, and is like a wet lettuce when tackled, Doke dribbles one way then turns back or into a crowd and gives it away nearly every time. The route 1 should work more often than it does too.
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yep absolutely re. Savi. he loses the ball so many times and only knows Row W. Yes he is a skilful lad but rarely beats his FB, instead just passes backwards. He's hardly Sane is he.
 
I just wanted to jump on here and agree with every shitty newspaper and third rate internet based sports outlet such as Goal.com.

Jordan Pickford and Seamus Coleman are shithousery geniuses. Amazon Prime are the first to offer a six figure sum for the potato heads to tell their story.

A poll on X says Terry Wogan should return from the dead and revive his tv show to conduct a blockbuster interview.

We are blessed to be living in these times and witnessing these players.
 
cleavers said:
Players today who I thought played quite well, Bernardo, Ake, Kovacic, Lewis (poor on the goal - ball watching), Ortega and Akanji didn't do much wrong either.
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I think that's a bit harsh on Lewis tbh. The ball flashed across the area & had a deflection from Akanji. However the control & shot by their scorer was instant & unstoppable. There's no chance Rico could've humanly reacted quickly enough to do anything about it. Sometimes we've just got to acknowledge a brilliant finish.
 
Dribble said:
I think that's a bit harsh on Lewis tbh. The ball flashed across the area & had a deflection from Akanji. However the control & shot by their scorer was instant & unstoppable. There's no chance Rico could've humanly reacted quickly enough to do anything about it. Sometimes we've just got to acknowledge a brilliant finish.
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The problem for that goal was before it got on the box for me. Doku’s pathetic attempt to win the ball and the inability to stop the cross going in.

Do we ever get piss easy chances like this? No, because other teams can defend properly unlike us.
 
The greatest manager in history, certainly in our history, is currently facing a several conundrums. None of us know what they are. Clearly players are seemingly struggling, physically and mentally, plus the usual shit of living in a gold fish bowl of one of the biggest clubs in the word.

Therefore he is better placed than any of us, or anyone to find a solution.

We are entitled to our views, to be disappointed, anxious (each game seemingly more nerve racking than a CL final).

Time to dig deep, ride it out and see where we are at the end of the season.

The season we won the treble was looking like a car crash at one point. That won’t be repeated, but with some luck things will turnaround.
 
Dribble said:
I think that's a bit harsh on Lewis tbh. The ball flashed across the area & had a deflection from Akanji. However the control & shot by their scorer was instant & unstoppable. There's no chance Rico could've humanly reacted quickly enough to do anything about it. Sometimes we've just got to acknowledge a brilliant finish.
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And the fact that sides that know how to defend would not have allowed the ball to get to the player in the first instance.

Along with pedestrian build up the main reason we have won one game in our last thirteen is that we don't know how to defend well anymore.
 
Millwallawayveteran1988 said:
The problem for that goal was before it got on the box for me. Doku’s pathetic attempt to win the ball and the inability to stop the cross going in.

Do we ever get piss easy chances like this? No, because other teams can defend properly unlike us.
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Doku wafted his boot at the ball like Martin Petrov used to, pretending like he was seriously giving a challenge. It's not Doku's game, but with the inverted FB's, he's essentially a wingback which doesn't work.

During that first 20 minutes, Jeremie's lack of defensive prowess didn't really matter, because we played a flat back 4. After the goal, both Rico & Gvardiol inverted which played into Everton's hands, because we're kidding ourselves if we think we can rely on Doku defensively.

It's not fair on the kid, because we bought him for his attacking skill-set, not because he could motor up & down the pitch like Paul Dickov.
 
Stevieatlasblue said:
Wtf we played good some really good football today and today our crowd turn on them. I was also there., I’m not entitled I back this team win lose or draw and believe me I’ve seen some shit over the years both home and away there again I’m old skool
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The crowd didn't turn on the team today.

Everyone was hoping for a winner and there was a little excitement when 6 minutes stoppage time was added but we did nothing with it.

Some may have booed after the final whistle but I don't know because we headed for the stairs straight away.

I was pleased with our performance until they scored from nothing apart from our catalogue of errors.

The decline started from there but we were thrown a lifeline with the penalty and fucked it up.

Our fragile confidence drained in that moment and theirs grew.

Our wingers were completely anonymous from that point and it took far too long to change it.

Keep saying it but these are shit teams playing poorly who are getting results against us.

Fuck knows what will happen if a good side on form plays us.

Our next game is now fucking huge when it should be a run of the mill encounter against a team in relegation trouble.

2 fucking months this has been going on.

Something isn't right and fans are entitled to question the performances of players and management.
 
cleavers said:
I thought he was one of the better players, but wasn't close enough to the guy who scored, not his fault, plenty of other shit happened before that.
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That's the glaring issue with the inverted FB tactical formation. Either we're missing our retreating FB's altogether, or they're caught trying to set themselves to defend whilst furiously back pedalling.

Either way it's not good & we need to get back to our 4-3-3 basics, & rebuild our form & confidence from the defence to attack. We've still got the tools, but they're being wrongly utilised. We just don't do the inverted FB well enough without Rodders. It's time Pep conceded this fact & set us up for who we have available now, & not who we had available last season.

How long will we continue with the inverted FB's? Rodders is out for the season & it'll probably take him another season before he's back to being anywhere near his best. Pep needs to act now. The first 20 minutes today perfectly illustrated the immediate solution to our current woes.

Everton only came into the game after we switched from a flat back 4 to a back 3 with inverted FB's. We've been found out & it's no longer working. Can anyone see Guardiola changing tack any time soon?
 
makinghistory said:
I know this is controversial but if we cant use Haalands strengths anymore perhaps we should bag 100 million for him and buy a few top quality players. If we have strikers that can get us 20/25 a season and others chipping in we may be in a better position.
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I'm pretty sure that there's only one club Haaland is going to, and we'll have to wait for them to make a move before we can start talking money.

Dropping him won't make any real difference to him other than personal glory. Playing him in a system built around him will almost certainly produce the goals.

As matters stand, Haaland and his agent(s) hold all the cards.
 
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