The Mail Bag

Cambridge 1 - 2 Everton [HT]

Comments (40)

Two very nicely taken goals from Lukas Jutkiewicz to put Everton back in the game. This is nice to watch!
Michael Kenrick, ToffeeWeb Towers     Posted 19/07/2008 at 15:31:08

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Shez Khan
1   Posted 19/07/2008 at 15:38:06

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How?s Van Der Meyde looking?
Chris March
2   Posted 19/07/2008 at 15:48:24

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Pretty decent performance, Rodwell looks like he’s been with the first team for a long time and O’Kane has had a few nice touches as well.
Robert Jones
3   Posted 19/07/2008 at 15:51:41

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Never heard of O’Kane until pre season, maybe coming to prominence the way Big Vic did a couple of pre seasons ago? How did Eunan play overall and did Baxter play?
David Barks
4   Posted 19/07/2008 at 15:51:26

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I can?t believe I?m saying this but Van der Meyde is actually looking quite dangerous on the attack. His delivery into the box has been very good, he?s taking on his man and getting by him, but this is a lower league defender. But regardless of that, he?s working hard and making a lot of very good passes. Rodwell is another guy who is looking good. He?s so comfortable and composed. He seems to like having the ball at his feet and looking for the next open man. AJ has been a bit disappointing, having the same issues with finishing as he did last season. It seems that if he is through on goal with just one man guarding the goal line, he will always shoot directly at that man.
Chris Canning
5   Posted 19/07/2008 at 15:56:38

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(Half time) O?Kane hasn?t been on the ball overly much, he?s got a bit of pace but what?s inpressed me so far is his eye for a pass. Speaking of good passing - if Rodwell can learn to read the game and improve his postional sense then we don?t need a new Carsley. He?s got pace, can tackle ? comfortable in possession & can spread the ball across the pitch with ease. Let's see how the second half goes...
Tony Williams
6   Posted 19/07/2008 at 16:03:04

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Shandy Andy is looking great going forward, as should be expected against Cambridge, however, he is sorely lacking in the defensive aspect of his game, continually leaving Irving on his own.
Karl jones
7   Posted 19/07/2008 at 15:56:53

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O’Kane looks very promising. Mainly right footed, but playing down the left. Sees the early pass, and plays it accurately and along the ground. Baxter is on the bench I think..I just wish Ratcliffe would stop saying Lucas J looks so tired every time the ball goes in his direction.
Paul Gladwell
8   Posted 19/07/2008 at 16:05:47

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AVDM spraying some lovely balls around showing what class he can possess such a shame really we know what will happen but being an Evertonian I say the words "you never know he may shock us".
Robert Jones
9   Posted 19/07/2008 at 16:11:24

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Is this on TV? If not is there someone sitting at the match watching it or is it on one of those webcasts?
Michael Hunt
10   Posted 19/07/2008 at 16:21:08

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Robert, It’s live on EvertonTV (subscription service via official site). Pretty good stuff.
Robert Jones
11   Posted 19/07/2008 at 16:26:09

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Oh right, damn, anyone know if it’s on a webcast anywhere?
Neil Davis
12   Posted 19/07/2008 at 16:41:51

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If this is what we?ve got waiting in the wings, no wonder Davey is reluctant to give them a chance.Some are so bad as to be embarrassing. Whilst Shandy loks a star player... aren?t Cambridge in the Conference now?
Matt Sheff
13   Posted 19/07/2008 at 16:44:20

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We are 4-2 down now, their 2nd is a cracker.
Shandy has gone off for Arteta.
Baxter looks good since he replaced Lucas J and Agard has put himself about.
AJ has had a few chances but not converted.
Steve Pugh
14   Posted 19/07/2008 at 16:46:28

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Unfortunately the Everton game is one of the few friendlies not available on a webcast again. We aren’t even important enough to get mentioned on the BBC’s videprinter scores and according to Sky Sports online scorecentre the score is 0-0.
Mike Coates
15   Posted 19/07/2008 at 16:58:37

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Dammit.

Spent the whole game trying to get net working at mates and logged in to watch some of the game.

I can?t even tell if its over.. I presume it is though.

All I saw were the two final goals in the second half of Cambridge (dammit)..

I couldn?t really tell what happened but we lost with pretty much a reserves team on the field.
Michael Kenrick
16   Posted 19/07/2008 at 17:00:17

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I really got confused by the subs... and it seems so did the Official Site:

1) Did Sinnott really come on for O?Kane at half-time? I don?t recall him getting a mention.
2) Arteta, Agard and Molyneux came on; Who went off? Van der Meyde.. Valente... ?

The OS is missing Arteta coming on.
Ken Mills
17   Posted 19/07/2008 at 17:01:48

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I watch a fair few Reserve team matches and would say that in its present format the league they play in is just about on par with the Conference. This means it?s a massive step up when the kids play in the Prem although they should have felt at home against today?s opposition.
Early days but Moyes has real problems unless he signs half a team before kick-off.
Aide Dews
18   Posted 19/07/2008 at 16:55:48

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According to Sky Sports News it was quite an embarresing affair for us and only Lukas Jutkiewicz played decent today and the bloke reporting the game said the Everton fans were booing at the final whistle?! He also said BK was in the stands watching the game, i hope this viewing and the reaction after the game gives him a kick up the arse and makes him realise that he needs to start giving Moysey the cheque book NOW so he can splash the cash and start adding to are thread bare squad!!!
Nick Broadhurst
19   Posted 19/07/2008 at 17:07:07

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The OS is a load of cack tbh. The stream on Everton TV was fine but updating the site itself was taking forever. Plus they cocked up with the subs and such.

Despite losing 4-2 in the end I thought most of the players had a decent game.
Viv Sharma
20   Posted 19/07/2008 at 17:07:08

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Anyone notice the thumbnail picture of AJ used for the Match Report vs Cambridge (on the OS)?
Just about sums up our performance!
Haha
Chris Canning
21   Posted 19/07/2008 at 17:10:36

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Don?t listen to Sky Sports, Aide, if that is the report Sky put out its a load of bollocks. The game was a very even affair. The difference between the sides were who could hit the onion bag & it wasn?t us. It is an embarrassing result, the main problem being you couldn?t tell who was a first team player and who plays in the reserves!
Gavin Ramejkis
22   Posted 19/07/2008 at 17:38:15

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Chris if you don’t think getting pumped by a conference side is embarrassing and a striker that looks like he would struggle to score in a brothel then would love to hear your definition of what is.
Ric Wallace
23   Posted 19/07/2008 at 17:42:42

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Gavin, you do realise that this is only our 2nd pre-season game?

I don’t know if that small fact is lost on you..

Also as I recall half the team was made up of reserves or youth players?

Tell me Gavin, do you really care about this result?
Gavin Ramejkis
24   Posted 19/07/2008 at 17:52:38

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Ric I appear to give a fuck about the hard fact this is the best squad we could put out with just a few weeks before the season starts. Come on, Ric, explain for us all why I wouldn?t care that the majority of players we could put out were reserves as we have injured players that won?t make the start of the season and gaps from players we don?t have? Unless DM gets some cash from BK and KW gets off his fat overpaid arse and signs them up, these same players are those we will have to use.
Colin Evans
25   Posted 19/07/2008 at 18:59:59

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I agree with Gavin. That is shite!!! Our youth team should beat these failed undergraduates. And, he is quite correct re his comments about the squad.
Iain McWilliam
26   Posted 19/07/2008 at 20:01:02

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I agree with Gavin to be honest. A pre season friendly is primarily about getting the squad match fit but its also a PR exercise. For as long as Ive been supporting Everton the club has been poor at friendlies. The worst being was getting thrashed 6-1 by Real Madrid when we were last league champions FFS.

We fans constantly moan at the club for being poor at marketing, well if you are happy getting beat by conference sides then we dont deserve any respect/coverage from anyone IMHO. Sky Sports amazingly took an interest in us today and sent a reporter down there but we just look a bunch of amatuerish arses. If the result doesn't matter then why don't the first team play the reserves behind closed doors on our ?world class? training facility?
Ian Butler
27   Posted 19/07/2008 at 20:43:00

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Shandy Andy looked knackered and looks like he smokes 40 a day, but he did try hard for once and gave a little bit of a clue as to why we got him in the first place. What you didn?t see on tv was him being ignored out on the wing and being screamed at by Neville all the time to chase back and stay in position. If you watch our second goal he got so pissed off with being ignored he drifted onto the opposite wing and provided the cross for the goal.

All in all pretty poor display but what else can you expect at this stage with the players available? Great to see Arteta back and he showed a few touches of class that we have been missing.
COYB

Jay Wilson
28   Posted 19/07/2008 at 20:59:41

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Perspective is needed I think. It was our second pre-season friendly! We are missing our first choice centre back, first choice keeper and first choice striker. They will be back next week along with Pienaar. Last close season, by this stage we hadn?t signed anyone although we were close to signing Jagielka. Baines, Pienaar and Yakubu weren?t even in our thoughts and we were all ranting that we hadn?t signed Smith, Richardson or Nugent for fuck's sake.

I went to watch our penultimate pre-season friendly last year against Crystal Palace and we were awful... but things didn?t pan out too bad once we got underway.

Pre-season is all about fitness... players don?t want to get injured before it all begins whereas a team like Cambridge will quite rightly have treated this as a real opportunity to take a Premier League scalp.

We lost... big deal... 10 years ago we?d have barely registered this performance... but thanks to the internet we can watch it... disect it and start fretting over something that matters not a jot.
Michael Kenrick
29   Posted 19/07/2008 at 21:20:43

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Jay Wilson,
You may not have been plugged in 10 (or 11) years ago but I got news for you: others were... Tranmere 3 - 0 Everton. Remarkable how similar the wailing and gnashing of teeth was back then too, eh?

Some great names there... and I don’t mean the players. Everton fans from an era when the internet was a lot younger but not much more innocent... where are they now?
Lynn Thorne
30   Posted 19/07/2008 at 21:34:34

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FAO Aide - don?t believe everything you hear on Sky Sports. We were there - there was NO booing. Lucas was average - needs to be loaned out. I liked the look of the young right back - John Irving. He got forward, was not afraid to tackle. Think a couple of the goals went through our experienced centre backs!
Jay Wilson
31   Posted 19/07/2008 at 21:41:46

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Michael

I wasn?t, I didn?t even own a computer until 2001 and boy wasn?t life before a computer a more innocent and stress-free time for me. I knew nothing of rumour and only cared about the result when it actually mattered.

Hey ho... there?s no going back I suppose.
Connor Rohrer
32   Posted 19/07/2008 at 21:55:35

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I’m not arsed to be honest. It’s a pre-season friendly and the key is fitness.

Doesn’t bother me in the slightest what score it was. I did enjoy the match though and it was very end to end.

Some good performances by Rodwell, Van der Meyde, Irving and O’Kane.

Rodwell is ready as far as I’m concerned, I have no doubts he’ll be part of the squad. Some of his passing was excellent and he’s so calm on the ball. You wouldn’t think he was 16/17 watching him......quality young talent.

Van der Meyde had a good 50-60 minutes, after that he tired. Showed flashes of quality, some good passing/crossing and a few dribbles here and there. Offered nothing defensively though but you can’t doubt his talent on the ball.

Hopefully these two will contribute next year. The best they can look for is squad player but they are perfectly capable.
Dave Samuel
33   Posted 19/07/2008 at 22:27:47

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I was there too. It was a good run-out to build fitness but clearly early-days. John Irving was impressive at right back - tackling like Hibbert but with much better distribution. VDM had some half-decent moments but I agree with other comments about his defensive abilities and work-rate. Jack Rodwell has got a good range with his passing and is being groomed for that defensive midfield role without a doubt. And Arteta....only on for a few minutes but what quality he has on the ball! Not the best performance but let’s keep it in perspective and recognise that we started with only 2 players who are likely to be first choice once the season starts - Jags and Joleon.....although, as another post points out, the centre of defence was not as water-tight as we would have hoped with these two in situ! And there was no booing.

I was struck by the amount of time that AJ spent waving to the crowd when the game had finished. Seen something similar when the Canadian Pole left to enhance his career at Fulham and when Big Dunc played his last game at Goodison. Was this AJ’s final farewell?
Dave Samuel
34   Posted 19/07/2008 at 22:56:29

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....sorry, forgot about Phil Neville but perhaps that was just wishful thinking!
John Marlen
35   Posted 19/07/2008 at 23:40:12

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Let's not talk about good performances please... if we aren?t going to take the result seriously, as we shouldn?t do, let's not praise too many in a team that got beat 4-2 by a Conference team.
Simon Potter
36   Posted 20/07/2008 at 10:23:12

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Why can?t a second string team from a TOP SIX Premier League side beat Cambridge United? Not only is our 1st team squad completely threadbare, but the lack of depth is truly worrying. Some of our ?second stringers? were signed for more than their entire squad! I know it's only preseason but honestly how is this acceptable?
Daniel Miller
37   Posted 20/07/2008 at 10:59:39

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This isn’t good enough - kiddies or not. Not only are we doing very badly but the missing/unsigned guys aren’t getting any play time. One struggles to work out why Moyesie wasn’t able to offer Lee Carsley assurances of 1st team football if no signings have been forthcoming
Simon Skinner
38   Posted 20/07/2008 at 10:51:20

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Just watched the extended highlights on the official site. It was very clearly a preseason walkabout, so don?t get too worked up about it.

Somebody stated that central defence looked shakey even with Jags and Lescott. Lescott especially was just walking through the game, wasn?t closing down attackers at all, and not staying tight at corners etc. Clearly just a fitness game for him

Remember Jags is a blood-and-thunder centre half, whose greatest quality is putting his body on the line with last ditch tackles. Clearly not going to happen preseason.

Although you can?t really rate players in games like this, you can get a feel for the style of the younger players and see whether theres a place in the squad for them if they can make the step up.

In front of goal, Lucas Juijbvdfvbdfj (close enough) looks handy enough in front of goal, but pretty useless in link up play. Decent enough in the air (he looks 6?3 ish?), and we?ve a lack of aerial threat up front, so maybe theres a place on a seven man bench for him, to be sent on for the hoofball in the last 10 minutes when we need a goal (as opposed to the hoofball in the first 80 minutes, which occurs further away from the opposition's goal....)

You especially can NEVER judge ball winners in preseason. What I will say about Rodwell is that he is very comfortable on the ball, both spraying passes wide when he had time and the quick short simple stuff too. You can see why they wanted to convert him to midfield - he has that ability to find the simplest and most effective one touch pass in tight situations to get out of trouble. Compare to Neville or Carsley, who will always return the ball from where it came when under any pressure - it always bugs me when Jags (say) knocks it to Neville, who gives it him straight back, leaving hoofball as the only option.

As I say, you can?t judge his ball winning in preseaon, but if that side of his game is up to it you can certainly imagine Osman, Pienarr and Arteta enjoying playing alongside him.

Irving looked ok I guess a right back, but not standout.

Oh, and I finally understand why Ruddy is ranked below Turner in our pecking order. He had a shocker.
Andy Hogswart
39   Posted 20/07/2008 at 18:23:43

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Lukas, though scoring 2 goals, looked slower than my Grandma. I?d be surprised if he steps up to the Prem.
We looked very uninterested in the 2nd half.

I asked AJ after the game if he was going to be playing for us next season and he said.....
"I think so, yeh"
Which I took as a No!

Shandy will not play in the Prem despite shining against a Cambridge side who also had a few 1st teamers missing!
Rob Baker
40   Posted 21/07/2008 at 13:29:09

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I went to game and wished I hadn?t. I knew in advance virtually the first XI would be missing, with only Jags, Lescott, Valente, Neville, Arteta as sub (some silky touches out there) AJ, Rodwell, Ruddy & Andy VdM with PREM experience. We were awful. Jags and Lescott were all over the place. VdM didn?t do much to be honest, great delivery but he has no pace and no ability to beat the man. AJ looks so far short of the player he was in summer 06. My MoM for Everton was either Rodwell for a very effective perfromance or Lucas J for 2 very well taken goals. I am very worried about our sqaud after this showing!!!

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