Everton v Forest

A relegation six pointer and with no new striker so we'll struggle for goals. Hopefully we can scrape a 1-0 win.

Rondon starts up front with Gray and Gordon. Onana on the bench.

Rondon off. I thought he did OK. No striker on the pitch now.

We need someone up front. Dele even.

Fuck

Gray!!!!

Oooo... Forest should score there

Same old, same old from last season. Plenty of huff and puff but not enough quality. At least the defence looks more solid.

I don't think it achieves much to judge/write off players on the strength of three games. Or bits of three games. In a struggling team. Lineker didn't score a goal for us until his fourth game, and he joined a team that was reigning champions.

I myself have written off Iwobi more times than I care to remember but he's quite important to us right now.

Also our manager is still on a learning curve, trying to work out who to play and in what formation (yes, it could be argued that he has decided this by now, or should have done, but I still don't think he's 100% set on our best formation) while new players arrive in dribs and drabs with the season already up and running. He's also having to compensate for the lack of a striker worthy of the description.

As Tonts says, the striker situation is overshadowing everything at the moment and, I think, makes it difficult to assess the whole. The lack of any end product puts even more pressure on the players. We can't ever get ahead, relax a bit, play with a bit of freedom. And it's a different world playing for a struggling big club compared to playing for, say, a struggling Norwich or Bournemouth in the PL.

I expect nothing but struggle for the whole of this season but it's going to be particularly horrible until the World Cup break at least, for all of these reasons and more. I'm hoping that we can get things sorted a bit when we're actually able to hit a mobile striker and score some goals. I'm not sure it's feasible to realistically assess individual players within the context of the shitshow that exists right now.

Supporting Everton remains a living nightmare, there are no guarantees, and we may well go down. Rondon is no solution, I don't even want him as back-up striker. Much is changing though. I'm not yet writing us off as relegation certainties although we most certainly are solid candidates. There are signs of improvement, particularly at the back. Onana should be a big presence. But FFS find us a striker please, give a below average team a bit of a chance, at least, to win games.

I think we're one of the worst teams in the PL right now, and I can't see that changing too much in the immediate future. We started brightly, but soon faded and, after the substitutions in particular, we looked pretty awful. Tarkowski had a poor game, he's clearly not comfortable playing on the left side of a three. Mykolenko, in my opinion, is not a very good defender, but Patterson looks good for a kid of his age. The less said about McNeil the better, though I guess he can't be judged til he's given a role that actually suits him.

As others have said, I don't see any way we can lose Gordon at this stage. He might have no end product but, as Bubbles said, he's the only one bringing any energy to the team, with the exception of Iwobi who is probably our key player at the moment.

Onana. Okay, I bigged this lad up, but I had my head in my hands within minutes of him coming on. He's very excitable. He spent far more time trying to get the crowd going than he did playing football. Calm the fuck down, you have to earn the right to wave your arms at the Street End, and you don't do that by giving the ball away and running around like a puppy who's had a snoutful of coke. I have a horrible feeling that he's going to cost us a few goals this season. He could end up being a fan favourite, but only if he does his job properly.

On the positive side, what a lovely goal. Great pass by Pickford, and a brilliant run from Gray. His first touch was perfect, as was the finish. He really is a great player when he wants to be.

As usual, I'm in two minds about whether to go up for the derby. Do I need that kind of misery in my life? We shall see.

callmebubbles wrote:I think more wishful thinking than anything. He would make a massive difference, but no, dont have any real hope there. We will probably end up with Barkley and Batshuayi for Gordon and be barely any better off

Cheer up, we've got Brentford away next (beat Man U 4-0) followed by Leeds (beat Chelsea 3-0), then it's home to the Shite (beat us 4-1 last time).

Let's be honest here, it would be absolutely astonishing if we're not bottom three (most likely bottom one) after six games.