Everton v Burnley

My first visit to GP since lockdown last night. Most enjoyable it was too.

We stood in Lower Gwladys for the whole 90 minutes without being told to sit down once. When did that start to happen? Is it just for cup games? It was great, a reminder of how standing at football enhances the atmosphere (although winning 3-0 also contributes to that).

We took our first trip to see the new stadium beforehand and had a pint in the Bramley Moore. The sharpness of the wind whipping in from the water at the new stadium, well, let's just say that's been noted for future ref.

We played OK, didn't have to be better than that, Burnley were terrible. They're merely a vehicle for Kompany, a vanity project, he doesn't give a shit about Burnley and whether they'll survive. His kamikaze play from the back stuff worked like a dream in the Championship but to not change it at all now it's obvious they've been found out in the Prem strikes me as being a dereliction of duty. He's advertising himself and his style for his next job, at somewhere like Palace or Lyon or Betis. Burnley going straight back down again will simply be collateral damage for him. So if any aspirational mid-table team in Europe wants to watch pretty triangle patterns between CB, RB and keeper, followed by a 50 yard hoof down the line when they're pressed effectively, Kompany's your man. He knows Pep, so you can't go wrong.

Two players who you have to watch live to fully appreciate their strengths and what they contribute - Garner and DCL. Also, I love Beto, there was much love for him from the players and crowd after his assist, everyone wants him to do well. The problem is, the gap in all-round ability between him and DCL is considerable. That's not his fault, it's just that DCL (touch wood) looks fully-fit and almost back to his best form. But Beto acknowledging his song at the end after that goal was the highlight of the night. Even Young basically acknowledged it as Beto's goal during the celebrations.

Standing in the Street end, watching a routine cup win. Time travel. It felt like I'd been transported back to 1985.

Rotterdam 1985 wrote:My first visit to GP since lockdown last night. Most enjoyable it was too.

We stood in Lower Gwladys for the whole 90 minutes without being told to sit down once. When did that start to happen? Is it just for cup games? It was great, a reminder of how standing at football enhances the atmosphere (although winning 3-0 also contributes to that).

We took our first trip to see the new stadium beforehand and had a pint in the Bramley Moore. The sharpness of the wind whipping in from the water at the new stadium, well, let's just say that's been noted for future ref.

We played OK, didn't have to be better than that, Burnley were terrible. They're merely a vehicle for Kompany, a vanity project, he doesn't give a shit about Burnley and whether they'll survive. His kamikaze play from the back stuff worked like a dream in the Championship but to not change it at all now it's obvious they've been found out in the Prem strikes me as being a dereliction of duty. He's advertising himself and his style for his next job, at somewhere like Palace or Lyon or Betis. Burnley going straight back down again will simply be collateral damage for him. So if any aspirational mid-table team in Europe wants to watch pretty triangle patterns between CB, RB and keeper, followed by a 50 yard hoof down the line when they're pressed effectively, Kompany's your man. He knows Pep, so you can't go wrong.

Two players who you have to watch live to fully appreciate their strengths and what they contribute - Garner and DCL. Also, I love Beto, there was much love for him from the players and crowd after his assist, everyone wants him to do well. The problem is, the gap in all-round ability between him and DCL is considerable. That's not his fault, it's just that DCL (touch wood) looks fully-fit and almost back to his best form. But Beto acknowledging his song at the end after that goal was the highlight of the night. Even Young basically acknowledged it as Beto's goal during the celebrations.

Standing in the Street end, watching a routine cup win. Time travel. It felt like I'd been transported back to 1985.

Lovely stuff, Rotts. I really hope Beto can get a few goals soon and settle his confidence as he has a lot of the right attributes to do well for us. Talk to me more about Garner, I really like what I've seen of him.

Sounds like a great visit to the old lady Rotts. And no, not the old lady that Rooney allegedly frequented.

And yes, tell me more about Garner. Rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.............

Alright, Garner (based on one viewing in the flesh and several watches on the telly) - I don't want to big him up too much because it's still early days, but the signs are really good. How did United not know what they had? They sold him to us for £9m plus add-ons, and the following day bought Antony, a spineless waster who does a few tricks with the ball and apparently knocks women about, for £82m plus add-ons. They didn't even insist on a buy-back clause. The same summer they decided that they'd rather sign a 30-year-old Eriksson, a really good player but whose legs have gone, than give Garner a go. And now they're getting outworked in midfield every game and wonder to themselves why that is.

That stands as a monument to their dysfunctional folly. We robbed them blind, which is ironic given how much money we've wasted in the last 7 or 8 years. It's nice to win one. For all I know, Garner may well have been devoured by the pressure of United like so many other players, but it's the fact that they didn't even give him a chance that I find unbelievable. He had been on their books since he was 7 years old. Astonishing.

He seems to do everything well, he has everything you want from a central midfielder - he's over 6 ft, is mobile, has a team-first attitude (which might be another reason why he didn't fit in at United), can tackle, pass, shoot and he works really hard. Three things about him excite me the most: firstly his intelligence, he has a lot of football savvy. Some of his tracking back last night to cover defenders was really smart and at times absolutely necessary, Dyche referred to this in his post-match interview. This brightness goes a long way to explaining his versatility. Doesn't matter where you play him, he doesn't let you down, he's very adaptable. Which is nice to have, but he now needs to stick in CM for as long as possible to continue his growth.

And that's the second thing that excites me - he's improving fast. He's 22 and has only been a starting CM for us for five minutes but he genuinely gets better every time I see him. So let's not get carried away at this point, because he's starting to stand out in what is admittedly a fairly average team. But his confidence is growing and he'll get even better when he has better/more confident players to play with, and when he realises that he's the man we're building a team around.

The final thing is that he is brave, he has character, which is often difficult to define in a football context but you just know it when you see it. Remember that he's emerged and prospered as a young lad in a team that has been really struggling. That tells me he has some cojones - he knew he was signing for a shitshow when he joined us. Compare with, say, Godfrey, who looked decent when things were going well under Ancelotti but whose regression has kind of mirrored the regression of the team and the club ever since. And to return to the theme of this post - compare with United, who are sinking once again because most of their players don't have that kind of character, to take an underachieving team by the scruff of the neck and assume individual responsibility to drive improvement. In this sense Garner isn't on his own (Branthwaite is made of the same stuff, I think, and the likes of Tarko, Young, Pickford, McNeil and of course Seamus have leadership qualities that United are crying out for) but Garner has played his part in that. We may have limited quality - United would doubtless destroy us in a keepy-uppy competition - but I think we have a lot of fight and character right now that they lack.

When I look at our current team and squad, in my head I like to split them into "medicinal players" who I think are only here to help get us out of trouble and who will be replaced as and when we start to get better, and those who I can genuinely see remaining in an Everton team that might be competing for top 6 or top 8. Yeah, I know that feels far away despite recent improvements, but all the same, I can absolutely picture Garner thriving in an Everton team in the top half of the table.

Final comment - Idrissa came on for Onana with about 10 minutes left, and demonstrated in that little cameo that he just knows how to play that CDM position. Again this is something you see better live than on TV; positionally at least, he's a master of his craft. Yet he's lost his starting place to Garner and it's absolutely right that he's done so, because in terms of vision, versatility and ability on the ball, Garner leaves him standing. So Garner still has a lot to learn, he's not the finished product, but I think Dyche deserves credit for making this call. How brave was that decision though, really? Maybe the evidence on the training field was just overwhelming and obvious, to Dyche at least, if not to United.

Nice one Rotts. You never disappoint when asked to provide a bit if in-depth analysis.

Tonteau wrote:Nice one Rotts. You never disappoint when asked to provide a bit if in-depth analysis.

Indeed, very well done.

The write-up also highlights the difference watching the game live vs. on the TV.

Knight of Thorgothshire wrote:

Tonteau wrote:Nice one Rotts. You never disappoint when asked to provide a bit if in-depth analysis.

Indeed, very well done.

The write-up also highlights the difference watching the game live vs. on the TV.

Ever heard of RottsGPT?

Da Judge wrote:

Knight of Thorgothshire wrote:

Tonteau wrote:Nice one Rotts. You never disappoint when asked to provide a bit if in-depth analysis.

Indeed, very well done.

The write-up also highlights the difference watching the game live vs. on the TV.

 Ever heard of RottsGPT?

Elon reckons AI will mean we won't have to work in future.

Imagine the length of my posts when I don't have to work? Eh? You've been warned.