Fulham v Everton

FT 0-0

0-0 FT. Absolutely a fair result, but that Beto chance, fuck me. That's keeping me awake tonight.

back to the bottom 3

Blue gazza wrote:back to the bottom 3

Yeah Luton are a bit of an issue.

Rotterdam 1985 wrote:

Blue gazza wrote:back to the bottom 3

Yeah Luton are a bit of an issue.

Them and that ten points.

Tonteau wrote:

Rotterdam 1985 wrote:

Blue gazza wrote:back to the bottom 3

Yeah Luton are a bit of an issue.

Them and that ten points.

Luton and them ten points are a bit of an issue yeah. And also our goal-shy strikers. Luton, them ten points and our goal-shy strikers are a bit of an issue. And Spurs at home next. Luton, them ten points etc...

46 attempts at goal in our 0-0. 25-21 to Fulham.

In the Palace v Sheff United five goal thriller, a total of 20 attempts on goal.

Funny old game.

Rotterdam 1985 wrote:

Tonteau wrote:

Rotterdam 1985 wrote:

Blue gazza wrote:back to the bottom 3

Yeah Luton are a bit of an issue.

Them and that ten points.

Luton and them ten points are a bit of an issue yeah. And also our goal-shy strikers. Luton, them ten points and our goal-shy strikers are a bit of an issue. And Spurs at home next. Luton, them ten points etc...

then city isn't it?

Blue gazza wrote:

Rotterdam 1985 wrote:

Tonteau wrote:

Rotterdam 1985 wrote:

Blue gazza wrote:back to the bottom 3

Yeah Luton are a bit of an issue.

Them and that ten points.

Luton and them ten points are a bit of an issue yeah. And also our goal-shy strikers. Luton, them ten points and our goal-shy strikers are a bit of an issue. And Spurs at home next. Luton, them ten points etc...

then city isn't it?

Luton, them ten points, our goal-shy strikers, Spurs next followed by City who have de Bruyne and Doku back and will have Haaland back by then, yeah, they're all issues.

Rotterdam 1985 wrote:

Blue gazza wrote:

Rotterdam 1985 wrote:

Tonteau wrote:

Rotterdam 1985 wrote:

Blue gazza wrote:back to the bottom 3

Yeah Luton are a bit of an issue.

Them and that ten points.

Luton and them ten points are a bit of an issue yeah. And also our goal-shy strikers. Luton, them ten points and our goal-shy strikers are a bit of an issue. And Spurs at home next. Luton, them ten points etc...

then city isn't it?

Luton, them ten points, our goal-shy strikers, Spurs next followed by City who have de Bruyne and Doku back and will have Haaland back by then, yeah, they're all issues.

Good point considering we got absolutely battered second half. Loads of terrible misses, including Beto, but I still think he caused them more problems than DCL

hairy cataract wrote:Good point considering we got absolutely battered second half.  Loads of terrible misses, including Beto, but I still think he caused them more problems than DCL

Yeah I'd start him ahead of DCL against Spurs. Earlier in the season I remember saying that the quality difference is noticeable when DCL goes off and Beto comes on. I don't really see that difference right now.

Just back home from Craven Cottage. I think I aged a few years in that second half Happy enough with a point. Can someone remind Luton that they are supposed to be shit?

Rotterdam 1985 wrote:

hairy cataract wrote:Good point considering we got absolutely battered second half.  Loads of terrible misses, including Beto, but I still think he caused them more problems than DCL

Yeah I'd start him ahead of DCL against Spurs. Earlier in the season I remember saying that the quality difference is noticeable when DCL goes off and Beto comes on. I don't really see that difference right now.

On the one hand, DCL is clearly a "better" footballer than Beto - he has better control, better at laying it off and bringing in other players, and he defends brilliantly. Oh, and he has much better hair. On the other hand, Beto is more of a handful, seems to have more desire to win, and holds the ball up well, backing into the opposition and unsettling them. Faced with a one on one, I'd probably back Beto over DCL, as I would with a towering header (despite his miss yesterday). DCL was at his best under Ancelloti, who told him to stay in the box, but yet again last night I was watching his movement in the box and he just wasn't gambling on deflections or where the ball might land - there was a couple of occasions when the ball rebounded off a defender or the goalie and a poacher striker would have definitely got a goal, but DCL was on his heels just watching the play.

I think it's time to recall Maupay and maybe give Niasse a call and tell him his locker is ready.

hairy cataract wrote:

Rotterdam 1985 wrote:

hairy cataract wrote:Good point considering we got absolutely battered second half.  Loads of terrible misses, including Beto, but I still think he caused them more problems than DCL

Yeah I'd start him ahead of DCL against Spurs. Earlier in the season I remember saying that the quality difference is noticeable when DCL goes off and Beto comes on. I don't really see that difference right now.

On the one hand, DCL is clearly a "better" footballer than Beto - he has better control, better at laying it off and bringing in other players, and he defends brilliantly.  Oh, and he has much better hair.  On the other hand, Beto is more of a handful, seems to have more desire to win, and holds the ball up well, backing into the opposition and unsettling them.  Faced with a one on one, I'd probably back Beto over DCL, as I would with a towering header (despite his miss yesterday).    DCL was at his best under Ancelloti, who told him to stay in the box, but yet again last night I was watching his movement in the box and he just wasn't gambling on deflections or where the ball might land - there was a couple of occasions when the ball rebounded off a defender or the goalie and a poacher striker would have definitely got a goal, but DCL was on his heels just watching the play.

I think it's time to recall Maupay and maybe give Niasse a call and tell him his locker is ready.

Time for some morning-after perspective - we've been in worse positions, when Maupay or Anthony Gordon were our only forward options. Having two under-performing strikers is a bit better than having no proper strikers at all.

We just need to hope that they start performing to something close to Prem average fairly soon. There is no guarantee that DCL will snap out of his slump immediately (think Forlan at United, that went on for over a season if memory serves) but the odds are, surely, that he will start banging a few in soon. They do get service, that's one encouraging thing.

Anyway, some other morning-after takeaways from that game include how surprisingly decent Godfrey looked, how we've probably all overlooked how well Garner held the midfield together despite being the last CM standing, and how lucky we are to have Pickford (a perennial, that one).

Positive thoughts. We're on a bad run and we're at bare bones but we are due a change of luck soon, I reckon.

Rotterdam 1985 wrote:

hairy cataract wrote:

Rotterdam 1985 wrote:

hairy cataract wrote:Good point considering we got absolutely battered second half.  Loads of terrible misses, including Beto, but I still think he caused them more problems than DCL

Yeah I'd start him ahead of DCL against Spurs. Earlier in the season I remember saying that the quality difference is noticeable when DCL goes off and Beto comes on. I don't really see that difference right now.

On the one hand, DCL is clearly a "better" footballer than Beto - he has better control, better at laying it off and bringing in other players, and he defends brilliantly.  Oh, and he has much better hair.  On the other hand, Beto is more of a handful, seems to have more desire to win, and holds the ball up well, backing into the opposition and unsettling them.  Faced with a one on one, I'd probably back Beto over DCL, as I would with a towering header (despite his miss yesterday).    DCL was at his best under Ancelloti, who told him to stay in the box, but yet again last night I was watching his movement in the box and he just wasn't gambling on deflections or where the ball might land - there was a couple of occasions when the ball rebounded off a defender or the goalie and a poacher striker would have definitely got a goal, but DCL was on his heels just watching the play.

I think it's time to recall Maupay and maybe give Niasse a call and tell him his locker is ready.

Time for some morning-after perspective - we've been in worse positions, when Maupay or Anthony Gordon were our only forward options. Having two under-performing strikers is a bit better than having no proper strikers at all.

We just need to hope that they start performing to something close to Prem average fairly soon. There is no guarantee that DCL will snap out of his slump immediately (think Forlan at United, that went on for over a season if memory serves) but the odds are, surely, that he will start banging a few in soon. They do get service, that's one encouraging thing.

Anyway, some other morning-after takeaways from that game include how surprisingly decent Godfrey looked, how we've probably all overlooked how well Garner held the midfield together despite being the last CM standing, and how lucky we are to have Pickford (a perennial, that one).

Positive thoughts. We're on a bad run and we're at bare bones but we are due a change of luck soon, I reckon.

Another positive is that, according to the reality of points actually won so far this season, we are better than Fulham, Bournemouth, Palace, and Brentford, as well as Forest, Luton, Burnley and Sheff Utd. I mean, we don't look it - we looked below the level of Luton never mind Fulham this week - but the table doesn't lie supposedly.

Long story short... we need Doucoure back fit ASAP. This would have sounded mental a yer ago, but he is by far and away our most effective player and biggest goal threat at the moment. With him, we may stay up. Without him, were as good as down.

Goodison_Gringo wrote:Long story short... we need Doucoure back fit ASAP. This would have sounded mental a yer ago, but he is by far and away our most effective player and biggest goal threat at the moment. With him, we may stay up. Without him, were as good as down.

Hard agree (as I believe the kids say). We need to give him a 4 year contract asap. He’s not the most refined player but my days he makes things happen. And he runs for days.

Tonteau wrote:

Goodison_Gringo wrote:Long story short... we need Doucoure back fit ASAP. This would have sounded mental a yer ago, but he is by far and away our most effective player and biggest goal threat at the moment. With him, we may stay up. Without him, were as good as down.

Hard agree (as I believe the kids say). We need to give him a 4 year contract asap. He’s not the most refined player but my days he makes things happen. And he runs for days.

Not sure whether my kids would say "hard agree". More likely a "yeah man init?" if I presented to them the concept of getting Duke tied down to a longer deal.

One of them starts his first proper job in two weeks - teaching kids English, would you believe - and I'm seriously considering giving him his own English lessons before he starts. That said, his weird patois might help him to connect with the kids. Maybe that's why they recruited him. There must be a reason.