Everton v ManUre

Remember, we're not getting carried away by a couple of wins....

But if we win and other results go our way, we could be 7th tonight.

I have a question about Ten Haag - how does he manage to look like either a mafia hitman or a mild-mannered school teacher, depending on what he wears on matchday? I can deffo envisage him whacking one of the Glazers and then going to the training ground the following morning to patiently explain to Harry Maguire how to trap a ball.

Frank Lampard makes one change to the Everton side that won 2-1 at Southampton last weekend.

It comes in the forward line with Anthony Gordon replacing Dwight McNeil, who drops down to the bench.

Everton: Pickford, Coleman, Coady, Tarkowski, Mykolenko, Onana, Gueye, Iwobi, Gordon, Maupay, Gray.

Iwobi!!! Great goal.

Ugh, Gana error 1-1

Some comedy defending on our part.

Gana lost the ball for their first goal and Iwobi for their second.

Terrible defending at times. We are lucky it's not more than 1-2.

We offered next to nothing in the first half apart from the goal. Decent showing in the second half - Onana should have scored a couple of headers.

Yeah, if we needed a reality check, that was it. Still a lot that needs to knit together in a team that features a lot of new players this season. Too often we looked like a scratch side thrown together for a testimonial. It'll come with time, it'll get better.

They ran circles around us in the first half. More even in the second, but a fair result in the end.

Loads of space in the middle of the park for Utd to explore - this surprised me. Both of the Utd goals came from us losing the ball in the midfield and Utd were ruthless to punish us.

Onana is much better with his feet than his head. That was on display today as well against Southampton when his header provided the assist for Coady to score. I can't imagine he was trying NOT to score at that time.

My take from the game was that I hope Obana gave Luke shaw his shirt afterwards. He seemed very keen to take from him every time we got in their box.

Knight of Thorgothshire wrote:They ran circles around us in the first half. More even in the second, but a fair result in the end.

Loads of space in the middle of the park for Utd to explore - this surprised me. Both of the Utd goals came from us losing the ball in the midfield and Utd were ruthless to punish us.

Onana is much better with his feet than his head. That was on display today as well against Southampton when his header provided the assist for Coady to score. I can't imagine he was trying NOT to score at that time.

Me too. I felt like Onana needed to be a bit further forward, we went too deep after scoring early. Although Onana probably felt he had to drop back to babysit Gueye, who had a fucking shocker in possession.

Bit of a subdued atmosphere at goodison last night. Obviously a 7pm kick off on a rainy Sunday didn’t help, but I also wonder if the fact that we started mid table rather than bottom four took the edge off things a bit?

Anyway the only positives I can take are Garner, who looks a player and I wouldn’t be surprised to see him getting a lot of attention this season, and the fact that the fans still got behind the team rather than hurling abuse, despite such a poor display.

Man U were good going forward but shakey at the back and we could have taken an undeserved point off them in the end.

Bit worried for the next few games. Nil points and we will be back in the relegation mix.

hairy cataract wrote:Bit of a subdued atmosphere at goodison last night. Obviously a 7pm kick off on a rainy Sunday didn’t help, but I also wonder if the fact that we started mid table rather than bottom four took the edge off things a bit?

Anyway the only positives I can take are Garner, who looks a player and I wouldn’t be surprised to see him getting a lot of attention this season, and the fact that the fans still got behind the team rather than hurling abuse, despite such a poor display.

Man U were good going forward but shakey at the back and we could have taken an undeserved point off them in the end.

Bit worried for the next few games. Nil points and we will be back in the relegation mix.

A couple of occasions where, not surprisingly, he got caught for awareness, reacted slowly and got dispossessed. That'll get resolved with time and with more games in the PL and once he sorts that out, I agree, he's going to be a player.

Rotterdam 1985 wrote:

hairy cataract wrote:Bit of a subdued atmosphere at goodison last night. Obviously a 7pm kick off on a rainy Sunday didn’t help, but I also wonder if the fact that we started mid table rather than bottom four took the edge off things a bit?

Anyway the only positives I can take are Garner, who looks a player and I wouldn’t be surprised to see him getting a lot of attention this season, and the fact that the fans still got behind the team rather than hurling abuse, despite such a poor display.

Man U were good going forward but shakey at the back and we could have taken an undeserved point off them in the end.

Bit worried for the next few games. Nil points and we will be back in the relegation mix.

A couple of occasions where, not surprisingly, he got caught for awareness, reacted slowly and got dispossessed. That'll get resolved with time and with more games in the PL and once he sorts that out, I agree, he's going to be a player.

True, but there were also times when he got his head up, looked around and made a positive forward pass. My main reservation is that Tom Davies also looked brilliant when he first broke into the side....

hairy cataract wrote:

Rotterdam 1985 wrote:

hairy cataract wrote:Bit of a subdued atmosphere at goodison last night. Obviously a 7pm kick off on a rainy Sunday didn’t help, but I also wonder if the fact that we started mid table rather than bottom four took the edge off things a bit?

Anyway the only positives I can take are Garner, who looks a player and I wouldn’t be surprised to see him getting a lot of attention this season, and the fact that the fans still got behind the team rather than hurling abuse, despite such a poor display.

Man U were good going forward but shakey at the back and we could have taken an undeserved point off them in the end.

Bit worried for the next few games. Nil points and we will be back in the relegation mix.

A couple of occasions where, not surprisingly, he got caught for awareness, reacted slowly and got dispossessed. That'll get resolved with time and with more games in the PL and once he sorts that out, I agree, he's going to be a player.

True, but there were also times when he got his head up, looked around and made a positive forward pass.  My main reservation is that Tom Davies also looked brilliant when he first broke into the side....

Hopefully he offers the creativity we need. He only came on at 75 mins yesterday though. I'll reserve judgment for a while longer.

It was just such an anti-climax after the Iwobi goal.
Gana making more errors than all his time here.
The game felt flat for long periods on and off the pitch, and the crowd juts didn't get going until the last 10 minutes.
UInt just sat and waited for us to makde mistakes and then hit us. That was clearly their tactic.
Our short passing game has to improve, but I'm not sure we have the players for it. Yet in the last 10 minutes when DCL came on we showed some purpose.
Any thoughts on the ex-United lad?

Yankthattoffee wrote:It was just such an anti-climax after the Iwobi goal.
Gana making more errors than all his time here.
The game felt flat for long periods on and off the pitch, and the crowd juts didn't get going until the last 10 minutes.
UInt just sat and waited for us to makde mistakes and then hit us. That was clearly their tactic.
Our short passing game has to improve, but I'm not sure we have the players for it. Yet in the last 10 minutes when DCL came on we showed some purpose.
Any thoughts on the ex-United lad?

Some comments above on Garner. Hairy thinks he's the new Tom Davies. Hot take. I don't think he's good enough to wear the shirt.

Sorry, I went into out-of-context tabloid journo mode there. He looks promising. But hairy has freaked me out now with the Davis reference so I don't want to big him up too much.

I have to say, I'm still reeling from how phenominally, comically, greivously bad Gueye was in that first half. Am I overplaying this, or was he genuinely that bad?

Rotterdam 1985 wrote:

Yankthattoffee wrote:It was just such an anti-climax after the Iwobi goal.
Gana making more errors than all his time here.
The game felt flat for long periods on and off the pitch, and the crowd juts didn't get going until the last 10 minutes.
UInt just sat and waited for us to makde mistakes and then hit us. That was clearly their tactic.
Our short passing game has to improve, but I'm not sure we have the players for it. Yet in the last 10 minutes when DCL came on we showed some purpose.
Any thoughts on the ex-United lad?

Some comments above on Garner. Hairy thinks he's the new Tom Davies. Hot take. I don't think he's good enough to wear the shirt.

Sorry, I went into out-of-context tabloid journo mode there. He looks promising. But hairy has freaked me out now with the Davis reference so I don't want to big him up too much.

I have to say, I'm still reeling from how phenominally, comically, greivously bad Gueye was in that first half. Am I overplaying this, or was he genuinely that bad?

I didn't want to say too much, just stated that the midfield was poor and there were loads of open areas in there for Utd to explore, but the 1-1 goal was shockingly bad by him. He also lost possession just outside our box another time which made me scream out loud in fear. He needs to improve.

Rotterdam 1985 wrote:

Yankthattoffee wrote:It was just such an anti-climax after the Iwobi goal.
Gana making more errors than all his time here.
The game felt flat for long periods on and off the pitch, and the crowd juts didn't get going until the last 10 minutes.
UInt just sat and waited for us to makde mistakes and then hit us. That was clearly their tactic.
Our short passing game has to improve, but I'm not sure we have the players for it. Yet in the last 10 minutes when DCL came on we showed some purpose.
Any thoughts on the ex-United lad?

Some comments above on Garner. Hairy thinks he's the new Tom Davies. Hot take. I don't think he's good enough to wear the shirt.

Sorry, I went into out-of-context tabloid journo mode there. He looks promising. But hairy has freaked me out now with the Davis reference so I don't want to big him up too much.

I have to say, I'm still reeling from how phenominally, comically, greivously bad Gueye was in that first half. Am I overplaying this, or was he genuinely that bad?

He was bad, but he's looked brilliant up til now, surely? To be fair, I only saw him give the ball away a few times but it was always in a dangerous position.

I wish I hadn't mentioned Tom Davies now. And I take on board that Garner was only on for 15 minutes, but what particularly impressed me was how much he wanted the ball, wanted to influence the game. Looked pretty confident in his ability, and very positive in his actions. But them so did Davies when he first broke through....

Davies’ problem was that he read too many headlines and has wanted to develop an “influencing” career alongside his soccer career. Ultimately very badly advised. As such his ability (and confidence) to shape the game, has been progressively whistled away.

OOOh, see what I did there…

hairy cataract wrote:

Rotterdam 1985 wrote:

Yankthattoffee wrote:It was just such an anti-climax after the Iwobi goal.
Gana making more errors than all his time here.
The game felt flat for long periods on and off the pitch, and the crowd juts didn't get going until the last 10 minutes.
UInt just sat and waited for us to makde mistakes and then hit us. That was clearly their tactic.
Our short passing game has to improve, but I'm not sure we have the players for it. Yet in the last 10 minutes when DCL came on we showed some purpose.
Any thoughts on the ex-United lad?

Some comments above on Garner. Hairy thinks he's the new Tom Davies. Hot take. I don't think he's good enough to wear the shirt.

Sorry, I went into out-of-context tabloid journo mode there. He looks promising. But hairy has freaked me out now with the Davis reference so I don't want to big him up too much.

I have to say, I'm still reeling from how phenominally, comically, greivously bad Gueye was in that first half. Am I overplaying this, or was he genuinely that bad?

He was bad, but he's looked brilliant up til now, surely?  To be fair, I only saw him give the ball away a few times but it was always in a dangerous position.  

I wish I hadn't mentioned Tom Davies now.  And I take on board that Garner was only on for 15 minutes, but what particularly impressed me was how much he wanted the ball, wanted to influence the game.  Looked pretty confident in his ability, and very positive in his actions.  But them so did Davies when he first broke through....

In fairness that was only the second or third full game I've seen this season, due to my burgeoning second career as a University transport service/airport shuttle runner for my fucking kids and various relatives. I'd have even missed Sunday's game had it been a regular kick off time as I had to collect my father-in-law from Stansted.

So I haven't seen much of Gueye, or indeed anyone, this season. I've read that he's been really good so far. Just my luck for him to turn all Schneiderlin on us when I tune in.

Rotterdam 1985 wrote:

hairy cataract wrote:

Rotterdam 1985 wrote:

Yankthattoffee wrote:It was just such an anti-climax after the Iwobi goal.
Gana making more errors than all his time here.
The game felt flat for long periods on and off the pitch, and the crowd juts didn't get going until the last 10 minutes.
UInt just sat and waited for us to makde mistakes and then hit us. That was clearly their tactic.
Our short passing game has to improve, but I'm not sure we have the players for it. Yet in the last 10 minutes when DCL came on we showed some purpose.
Any thoughts on the ex-United lad?

Some comments above on Garner. Hairy thinks he's the new Tom Davies. Hot take. I don't think he's good enough to wear the shirt.

Sorry, I went into out-of-context tabloid journo mode there. He looks promising. But hairy has freaked me out now with the Davis reference so I don't want to big him up too much.

I have to say, I'm still reeling from how phenominally, comically, greivously bad Gueye was in that first half. Am I overplaying this, or was he genuinely that bad?

He was bad, but he's looked brilliant up til now, surely?  To be fair, I only saw him give the ball away a few times but it was always in a dangerous position.  

I wish I hadn't mentioned Tom Davies now.  And I take on board that Garner was only on for 15 minutes, but what particularly impressed me was how much he wanted the ball, wanted to influence the game.  Looked pretty confident in his ability, and very positive in his actions.  But them so did Davies when he first broke through....

In fairness that was only the second or third full game I've seen this season, due to my burgeoning second career as a University transport service/airport shuttle runner for my fucking kids and various relatives. I'd have even missed Sunday's game had it been a regular kick off time as I had to collect my father-in-law from Stansted.

So I haven't seen much of Gueye, or indeed anyone, this season. I've read that he's been really good so far. Just my luck for him to turn all Schneiderlin on us when I tune in.

geez, as a grandfather myself - that can only lead to some really challenging developments, that would make Idrissa's below par display seem chickenfeed

Da Judge wrote:

Rotterdam 1985 wrote:

hairy cataract wrote:

Rotterdam 1985 wrote:

Yankthattoffee wrote:It was just such an anti-climax after the Iwobi goal.
Gana making more errors than all his time here.
The game felt flat for long periods on and off the pitch, and the crowd juts didn't get going until the last 10 minutes.
UInt just sat and waited for us to makde mistakes and then hit us. That was clearly their tactic.
Our short passing game has to improve, but I'm not sure we have the players for it. Yet in the last 10 minutes when DCL came on we showed some purpose.
Any thoughts on the ex-United lad?

Some comments above on Garner. Hairy thinks he's the new Tom Davies. Hot take. I don't think he's good enough to wear the shirt.

Sorry, I went into out-of-context tabloid journo mode there. He looks promising. But hairy has freaked me out now with the Davis reference so I don't want to big him up too much.

I have to say, I'm still reeling from how phenominally, comically, greivously bad Gueye was in that first half. Am I overplaying this, or was he genuinely that bad?

He was bad, but he's looked brilliant up til now, surely?  To be fair, I only saw him give the ball away a few times but it was always in a dangerous position.  

I wish I hadn't mentioned Tom Davies now.  And I take on board that Garner was only on for 15 minutes, but what particularly impressed me was how much he wanted the ball, wanted to influence the game.  Looked pretty confident in his ability, and very positive in his actions.  But them so did Davies when he first broke through....

In fairness that was only the second or third full game I've seen this season, due to my burgeoning second career as a University transport service/airport shuttle runner for my fucking kids and various relatives. I'd have even missed Sunday's game had it been a regular kick off time as I had to collect my father-in-law from Stansted.

So I haven't seen much of Gueye, or indeed anyone, this season. I've read that he's been really good so far. Just my luck for him to turn all Schneiderlin on us when I tune in.

geez, as a grandfather myself - that can only lead to some really challenging developments, that would make Idrissa's below par display seem chickenfeed

Lol. Nah I've just been on a run of about 6 weekends out of 8 where I've had to go to either Leeds or Nottingham to move them into digs, or to Gatwick to drop off and then pick up my eldest and his missus, or last weekend to Stansted to collect my wife's arl fella who's back from Greece for my brother in law's 50th. Saturday I'm collecting the daughter from Nottingham to attend same birthday bash, then I'm dropping her back Sunday evening because she needs me to take the second batch of stuff up to her Uni digs. This trip is causing me to miss an Ed Gamble gig (a comedian who, to be honest, I've never heard of) for my mate's birthday.

No wonder I'm missing most of Everton's putative Lazarus season. But hey, I don't mind, because I love them and I like spending time with them. Without these trips, my interaction with my daughter, for example, would consist solely of a series of WhatsApp photos showing her looking pissed as a fart at some house party at 2am, with me in reply demanding full personal details (including career aspirations and football club supported) of every male I can see in the photos.