The Mail Bag
Saha?
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Can someone please explain to me why, when we clear the ball out of defence, "King" Louis is almost always stood out near the touchline and not near the middle of the pitch? Standing close enough to Moyes so that he could pull him off means that he has almost no chance of winning/getting near the ball. He is bloody frustrating to say the least. Bring back the Yak.
Lee Courtliff, Posted 23/11/2010 at 23:20:49
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Then Saha gets played while underdone and now his confidence is shattered. Not only has Moyes shattered the Yak's and Beckford's confidence, but he's gone for the trifecta and fucked Saha as well.
Good work Davey boy!!!
I was thinking the same thing during the game, I would have told him go no wider than the edge of the penalty area. Too many times when the ball was cleared it went straight to a Sunderland centre back who never had a blue shirt within 10 yards of him.
There was even a time during the first half we had all 11 players within 30 yards of the goal line, and we wonder why we were on the back foot.
Moyes is a fucking clown when it comes to strikers.
We ruined Andy Johnson in this way; how many times did I see him scampering down into the corner to chase a long ball, but playing on his own of course so once he got there, there was nowhere to go and nobody to pass it to.
Ditto Saha, who is not as fast; if he is the only player forward in a 4-5-1 then our insistence on always playing it out wide for a cross back in means he is the one who has to chase it and them lump it in to ... errr ... himself? or nobody until the defence has had a chance to regroup and reorganise.
Wouldn't it be nice to see us play the ball through the middle sometimes, preferably on the ground (although a ball like that to Beckford on Monday would suffice) where our striker can run on direct to goal and, hey, even have a shot!
Until we cease this slow and one-dimensional attack playing the ball out sideways then a high cross back in, we'll continue to score few goals.
You would have thought Moyes might have learnt that by now, but no... Saha has earnt his place in the team ahead of Yakubu after his 9-month stretch of no goals. Interestingly, the one away game we actually won this season against Birmingham was when Yakubu played and Saha didn't.
It infuriates me also to see him persist with Heitinga in midfield after him being so good last year playing him in his best position. He always starts the team with a negative look about it and then at the end when it's too late he then decides to bring the likes of Heitinga off and the with 10 minutes to go he will finally go with two upfront. It is laughable.
The thing is, even if we played him a lot and he got up to the standard he needs to be at, and became a goal scoring machine for a season, we would soon find him sprinting towrads the corner flags and looking confused as to what's going on ? as has happened with AJ, Yak and now Saha!!
Now there's an (unattractive) thought.
Whats that you say? ? we don't have that other striker... My god! Does Davy know about this???
Saha is shit because he's old. Moyes and Everton haven't ruined him, injuries and age have. He is immobile and because of his injuries is scared. This makes him lazy.
The other 'goalscoring machines' Beattie and Johnson were strikers who had one good season before coming to Everton. They then got found out. Everton didn't ruin them, they just weren't very good in the first place.
The solution to our striker problem is not really going to be fixed by the strikers we have. Between them, they've managed 2 goals this season so there's not really a strong argument to replace any with another. The only solution is Moyes buying a striker and we all know how likely that is!
Couldn't agree more. He is the papers this week saying he needs to work harder??? FFS tell him he's in there to hit the net. Not run round like a headless chicken til he's fucked.
I think I'll start crying if he plays on Saturday. I'll kill myself if he plays again.
Running around chasing balls, closing down defenders, moving into space and swinging your leg back to take a shot, well, that's work for young 'uns. I think he should be afforded a pair of slippers, a copy of the Telegraph, a wingbacked chair, and be left to wind down his Everton career quietly napping in the centre circle.
Moyes is a cowardly gobshite when it comes to attacking teams. That's how we let Sunderland back into the game: go one up and retreat into our own half to defend what we have. I am fucking sick of it!
Oh hang on, somebody else has just had a bumper new contract and is also playing shit.
And the one player really putting a shift in is the one whose contract ends soon...
Personally, I'd like to see Beckford on from the start against WBA with Cahill up next to him and Arteta given the freedom to get right up behind them. Rodwell can hold the middle. Sahahahahaha don't make me laugh!
If they can do it in their first season, why is continuing to do the exact same thing ruining them?
How is it cowardly playing the same way against the "bigger" teams as the "lesser" ones? Surely he would change the formation instead of keeping it the same if he was so scared of them?
Moyes's tactics are so predictable. Why do Everton rarely win by more than one goal? Because when we go 1-0 up Moyes tells our players to defend a lead, rather than build on it and finish them off.
It's no wonder the passion of the fans and atmosphere is sometimes lost when Moyes's negativity is spreading through the club like a disease. What message must this send out to the players? Sit back and defend because you are not good enough to win by more. Moyes goes on about us being a top four team, then why don't we do more to attack the "lesser" teams.
To the best of my recollection, the tactic has only worked twice (against Pompey away when we won 1-0 and against Chelsea at home when we won 2-1).
My own personal opinion on Saha is that he over-elaborates and that he should just get back to instinctive play where he hits the ball first time.
Against Arsenal, Fabregas played on the edge of his own box for most of the 1st half... it was him Coleman ran past for the Cahill chance. We were the better team against a team that has only been beaten at home once in 2010 ? and that was at the beginning of the year. We'll get it right; I'm certain of it.
When do you see Utd, Chelsea or Arsenal defend a one goal lead when they score early? They go and finish the game off; we on the other hand...
As for the striker's role? Then you will have to ask Davey boy that one, one thing I do know, though, is you can't be effective as a striker playing wide and chasing aimless balls into corners.
I asked a question about how can playing a 4-5-1 against the likes of Chelsea be considered more defensive than playing a 4-5-1 against Wolves? It's the same players in the same positions but somehow that 4-5-1 is more defensive than the other 4-5-1.
Nothing to do with how the 3 best teams in the league play, as we are nowhere near the best 3 teams in the league.
Also again no response to the Yak/AJ theory.
Look on the bright side; It's a good job Saha & Arteta didn't get £100k per week ? how shite would they be???
So why is he now playing so atrociously?
I'm not trying to sound all Nostradamusey but I was clamouring for him to be sold in the summer, along with Yakubu. So what if Saha eventually taps in three or four this season, this isn't good enough for Everton. For Moyes to persist with these poor players is an insult to us supporters.
As for the striker conundrum, play them as strikers, not ball chasers.
And Saha, I can't understand why anyone is even complaining about the lad... we knew he was a liability from the get go. If anything, it's Moyes who needs the finger pointing at.
We are an average side that occassionally manage some good results against the better teams. It is that simple and a 4-5-1 is a 4-5-1 no matter which team you play.
So much expectation dashed.
I'm no Pollyanna, but I try to be as upbeat as possible, giving the lads some positive support. I know football is about competition, but you can take it to extremes. Sure, vent a bit, but go out there and give them the old COYB!
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1 Posted 24/11/2010 at 01:57:27
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Hang on......... If he was injured maybe the Yak would be in the starting lineup again. Surely the Saha jinx should be upon him again soon.