ToffeeWeb - Season 2009-10

The Mail Bag

Don't get Too Excited

First of all, I thought that it was a brilliant result in Athens considering the injury list. As most players will tell you, going to the likes of Greece and Turkey due to the noise their mental supporters make, I was worried going into the game as I thought that at best we could hope for a draw.

Fortunately AEK Athens have been having a bad time domestically as well. You should never under-estimate these sides as at home they can be very hard to beat. At GP we played well but AEK were all over the place.

I think December and January will be hard months for Everton. I think a win against Spurs is vital on Sunday as I think it will give the lads some confidence. Chelsea will be a game were we will be hoping for at best a draw. After that we have a meaningless game against BATE Borizov.

In the next 2 league games, the pessimist in me says that we could well end up with no points from either. Spurs are going into the game in top form and will be full of confidence. I think we need to get a least 10 points before the New Year to be really out of trouble.
Chris Butler, Liverpool Posted 03/12/2009 at 19:05:20

back Return to the Mail Bag

Comments

Note: the following content is not moderated or vetted by the site owners at the time of submission. Comments are the responsibility of the poster. Disclaimer

Joey Brown
1 Posted 04/12/2009 at 03:39:13

Report abuse

I peaked ahead at the schedule and I have to agree not only short term but for January and especially February we have a challenging schedule. The light seems to be in March- May where if we can recover the injuries and get people back from AFCON and maybe a new player in January time to settle we have what really looks like a whole mess of winnable games. With only the one against Villa looking anything but what you would think a full strength Everton to beat. Here’s hoping.

Dick Anderson
2 Posted 04/12/2009 at 09:57:46

Report abuse

The first problem is going to be Spurs on Sunday.

They have a scary strikeforce. Keane, Crouch & Dafoe.

Lets hope Yobo and Distin are fit or else its gonna be Hibbert and Heitinga in at centre back. Would Moyes risk Duffy against that sort of quality?

Jon Hughes
3 Posted 04/12/2009 at 10:30:07

Report abuse

I would not play Distin or Yobo for the next few games as they are clearly not 100%. I would also not play Hibbert out of position for too long as this may affect confidence if he starts making mistakes (positioning, heading etc). So I’d give youth another chance. A reward for their excellent performance in midweek.

But of course Moyes would rather play Yakubu in defense than give youth a few starts!

Dick Anderson
4 Posted 04/12/2009 at 10:39:33

Report abuse

Jon Hughes are you crazy?

Moyes doesn’t give youth a chance?

Rodwell, Gosling, Baxter, Agard, Duffy and Coleman have all featured this season.

In fact I would say Moyes plays the youngsters too much. Rodwell for example is almost burned out.

How many other managers have played so many kids? Baxter, Duffy and Coleman are getting plenty of experience.

Moyes isn’t stupid he knows you have to play kids at the right time. Throwing Duffy in against Spurs and letting Crouch, Dafoe and Keane roast wouldn’t do Duffy or Everton any good.

Dick Anderson
5 Posted 04/12/2009 at 11:39:39

Report abuse

Moyes started Coleman against Benfica and he got completely roasted.

I also remember Peter Clarke (who everyone rated highly back then) being given a start against Chelsea and he got roasted in that game. We lost 3-0 that day.

Sometimes its best to keep youngsters in cotton wool for difficult games.

Spurs strikeforce of Crouch, Keane and DaFoe would most certainly roast Duffy.

At least Hibbert and Heitinga have the experience to cope with a roasting and maybe even contain them.

Stewart Littler
6 Posted 04/12/2009 at 11:56:47

Report abuse

It does make you laugh when people start with ’he doesn’t give youth a chance’. Forget ye not that Fellaini and Jo are both only 21 as well as the names Dick mentions.

But you won’t get your wish Dick - I don’t think Yobo or Distin will be fit, and Heitinga is suspended for 5 yellow cards. So it’s Neill, Hibbert and Baines, with one of Coleman or Duffy - I’d go with Coleman personally.

Dick Anderson
7 Posted 04/12/2009 at 12:29:21

Report abuse

Well if Distin, Yobo and Heitinga are definately out then we have a real problem. Personally I’d opt for:-

Baines - Hibbert - Neill - Coleman

Ok you have 2 players out of position but at least they are experienced players.

You could always go with:-

Baines - Hibbert - Duffy - Neill

That way you only have Hibbert out of position but then you run the risk of Duffy being roasted by Crouch, Dafoe and Keane.

A real problem for Moyes because we cannot afford to lose another game.

Gavin Ramejkis
8 Posted 04/12/2009 at 14:16:13

Report abuse

Dick and Stewart the obvious comments regarding DM playing youth is that he has to or forfeit the game as he has no eligible or fit squad players beyond the kids to play, do you think if Distin didnt get injured Duffy would have came on? Do you think of Gosling didnt get injured Baxter would have come on? If they were the better player they would start the game, DM doesn’t rate them to start so didnt, he played them as he had to, no rocket science just sweet FA else to do then put what he has out.

Tony Williams
9 Posted 04/12/2009 at 17:04:35

Report abuse

"If they were the better player they would start the game"

And the truth shall set you freeeeeee!!!

Why "give the youth a chance", if they are not up to the task? Someone different doesn’t necessarily mean someone better

Ben Jones
10 Posted 04/12/2009 at 19:36:47

Report abuse

Oh c’mon Dick Anderson, none of them would have played if we had that much injuries!!

Rodwell played so many games because of this. And to an extent, Gosling played last year because of those injuries. I bet, if all our players are fit, apart from Rodwell and maybe Gosling, none of them are guaranteed first teamers!

David McKenna
11 Posted 04/12/2009 at 19:48:06

Report abuse

I reckon we can definitely pick up 10 points before January.

After the derby game and Wednesday night, the spirit is back; you can expect nothing less than 100% commitment from us against Spurs on Sunday and I reckon we will pick up 3 points.

After that our confidence will be back and I can see us easily beating Brum and Burnley at home and can see us at least taking a point from the Stadium of Light.

My heart tells me we could earn a draw at Stamford Bridge but maybe that's being too optimistic. I would be over the moon if we could make it to January unbeaten or with just the one defeat to Chelsea. I think if we achieve that we will be out of a relegation fight but challenging for Europe again will still be difficult cos, even though Neville, Arteta and Jags will be back, we are gonna lose players to the African Cup.

James Stewart
12 Posted 04/12/2009 at 20:16:24

Report abuse

Dick - I can’t agree that Moyes is a great developer of youth. He has only played youth players when he has had little or no alternative. FA Cup final for instance. The game was already lost and he just left Baxter etc on the bench. What's to lose by giving them 15 mins at the end? Absolutely nothing. A chance of valuable experience wasted.

Guy McEvoy
13 Posted 04/12/2009 at 22:32:08

Report abuse

James Stewart: Are you barking? "The game was already lost"? We were only one goal down! It was a slim shout to get back into it granted, but not an impossibility. Stick a bum fluff lightweight child on against one of the worlds best attacking sides is neither going to increase the likelihood of us winning, nor turn the bum fluff kids into Pele by osmosis. Get a grip. The one point in the last 15 years we had a shout at silverware (however slim) is not a moment to pretend it is a pre-season jolly and blood a player!

Chris Butler
14 Posted 07/12/2009 at 14:15:20

Report abuse

Ax In the recent weeks I’ve noticed increasing division between supporters on a wide range of issues. DK was the main topic that had Everton fans divided. When the vote was made 55% including me voted yes. But then I became anti-DK and supported KEIOC like many other fans.

The voters were mainly season ticket holders and other customers at investor level that got the chance to vote. I only realised last season how poor our attendances were considering we were playing well. Considering we only get on average 35,000 fans each league game most of which are season ticket holders.

The other 45% of fans that voted against DK are very important for our finances. If for example we sold 25,000 season tickets and about 10,000 were against DK you are possibly going to lose 10,000 fans paying from around £200 to £550. If you think about it if we lose 10,000 fans it would have a massive effect on our finances. In my opinion Football without fans is nothing.

Another major issue is opinions on Moyes. After going to the match yesterday it appeared to me Moyes is losing interest. It appeared to me he gave up when were 2-0 down which in previous seasons he’s never done.

With our injury hit squad and the tough games coming up I think we need to take advantage of our home games. We still have the likes on Aston Villa, Liverpool, Manchester City, Spurs, Arsenal, Stoke, and Sunderland away from home.

I think our performances bar Liverpool and Benfica away have been down to the players playing badly, not the injuries. We just seem to give away easy goals. At Bolton we gave away 2 points by trying to hang on for a draw and missing chances. Aston Villa at home we should have won as well. Even in the games we have won such as Wigan, West Ham, and Portsmouth we were lucky to win.

Other issues to do with fans not the players are creeping in. Nowadays fans are increasingly coming to blows at matches usually down to bad performances get everybody angry. As I’ve said before, standing and singing is another issue that is dividing fans. I’m sure somebody will mention Hillsborough and Heysel but accidents could happen on concourses at half-time and full-time. The fans that want to stand want to stand in front of their seat not on an unsafe terrace.

But the main issue is our finances and signings many people believe that we don’t have any money for signings but as I sit by an agent who says that we do have money to spend in January. Some have blamed finances for us not being able to get the right players; some believe it’s just the manager’s fault for not buying the right players for our club.

Add Your Comments

In order to post a comment to the MailBag, you need to be logged in as a registered user of the site.

Log in now

Or Sign up as a ToffeeWeb Member — it's free, takes just a few minutes and will allow you to post your comments on articles and MailBag submissions across the site.