Everton vs Leeds United Player Ratings: Thierno Barry continues rich scoring form

But I think he should have done it in the first half and changed it. I don't think we were getting a draw if Calvert-Lewin's effort goes in. (It didn't -- I know!)

McNeil lucky to get 4. He should either play on the left or not at all. C'mon Moyesy, we all know that.

And absolute priority signings are two new full-backs, even ahead of a striker.

Good to see some of the lads back from injury. Feeling optimistic for a change. UTT

But why are we not signing new players? Is there a bigger problem we do not know??? Mmmm... makes you wonder!!!

He never crossed one ball into the box and just kept running into a brick wall.

I was surprised Branthwaite and Dewsbury-Hall ended up playing as I am sure they are not fully fit, but needs must.
Hopefully, we can have a near full squad available now and be more consistent.

Why take Patterson off? An attacking full-back in a 3 at back, and leave Ukraine's finest on. The game was screaming for Aznou to come on in that system.

Moyes has done exactly what we needed when he came in and there's no doubt we have improved from previous seasons but if we want to keep kicking on we need a fresh young ambitious manager who actually tries to win games.

One name: Fabregas.

Have you watched the Neville Southall video The Footballs On?

I agree 100% with Big Nev's take on our manager.

I thought Patterson did pretty well and, if he'd not had the gaping hole that is Dwight McNeil ahead of him, he'd have been able to get forward pretty well. I'd be keen to see what happens with Patterson if he has an actual winger ahead of him.

But as is the norm, Dour Davey goes with his safety-first favourites. I can't wait to see the back of him.

He did next to fuck all in the time he was with us first time around. I didn't employ the wasters when he went and also didn't sack the best of the bunch (Silva).

If you're happy with Moyes, then you get what you deserve: boring safety-first football and the guaranteed early cup exits.

I want a bit better than that but hey... let's crack on and pretend all is rosey and Moyesy is doing a great job, shall we?

Mykolenko has got to be the worst left-back in the Premier League, it pisses me off that, every time we break and he gets the ball, it goes backwards or sideways. I don't want to see him at Everton next season.

I take it you don't like Moyes and want to change manager.
You mentioned Silva, has he won anything?

To give Moyes credit, he won a European title and has stabilised us for this and last season. I for one am delighted not to be looking with trepidation at fixtures ahead, worrying where we can get the points to be safe.

As for call to play Aznou, I was at the Sunderland game and he did bring a bit of urgency to the game but I also suspect that he would lose the ball easily as he did when he won the penalty and I certainly don't know if he can defend. I certainly wouldn't pick him from the start but would like to see what he can do if we are prepared to risk losing games.

And we've already beaten Fulham the last two times we played them. Once we get our seven injured players back, no doubt we will ease past them in the table.

No, I don't like Moyes... never have, never will. He's a journeyman and his record proves that. As for Silva, I feel that, if given the money other managers were given when he was sacked, we would be in a much better place.

I'm fed up to the back teeth of relegation scraps, bail out managers and a "safe pairs of hands". I'd like some hope, entertaining football, and the possibility of winning a trophy for my near 800-quid season ticket.

I'm fed up with having to accept mediocrity and being told I should be thankful for it.

Yes Everton played well in the second half with changes, but the game is for 90 minutes and they were fortunate to be only 1 goal down at half-time.

As a manager, you have to be prepared from the start and not after 45 minutes. The standard in the second half showed a lot of improvement and got the draw, but I believe that the 3 points for a win was neglected by poor planning and set-up.

Everton have to improve in this transfer window and strengthen both full-back positions, it is a priority as most goals against us seem to start from the opposition's wingers.
Let's see if our scouts can come up with some better full-backs than what we have.

The two cup defeats this season have really pissed me off, the luck of the draw can take you a long way but as usual we capitulate at the earliest opportunity... 31 years and counting, for fuck's sake!

And everyone knows Aznou is the reincarnation of Dennis Irwin.

McNeil was so poor, but why did Moyes not just play him on the left, his normal position, and Ndiaye on the right, where he always played?

On the other hand, we were circling the plughole until Moyes came back. He's not perfect, nobody is, but being able to grind out a result is something we haven't been able to do for a few seasons.

Several home games ago, he fell heavily on his left shoulder when high up on the left side of the pitch (close to my spot in the South Stand, near the corner flag') and it was apparent he'd been having problems then because with his shirt was off, while being attended to by the physios, you could see there was already a lot of tape on his shoulder/upper arm.

Last night, during shooting practice in the warm up, he shot at goal and immediately afterwards crouched down in some pain for quite a while, clutching the same shoulder (this very close to and in front of Alan Irving). After a while, he carried on, and of course took to the pitch when the teams later came out for the kick off.

During the first half, he was barged by one of the Leeds centre-backs and went down holding his shoulder, and the physios came on. The fact that he continued, after the obligatory 30 seconds off the pitch when the game restarted, suggested the club knows he's struggling, but has stayed quiet so as not to alert opposition yard-dogs from targeting him.

Anyway, and somewhat to my and my brother's surprise, he came out for the second half -- and boy weren't we glad he did. As well as scoring he'd earlier drawn a fine save from the Leeds keeper. Keep going lad; UTFT!

It's been moved from Goodison, it's spiritual home for the last god knows how long.

If we have the opportunity to sell him to a Championship team, I think we'd have to take it.

We can all say it with hindsight, shouldn't have played this player or that player, but most would have expected that line-up, with only really Rohl maybe, the players on the bench were a bonus.

Like to see rohl, Garner & KDH in the middle, Rohl was good against villa.

I'd play Dibbling left, Ndiaye right, get some crosses and service to Barry with Rohl &KDH arriving late.

He had a big scowl on his face when Dewsbury Hall had a word with him after setting him up for the shot. hope he learns quick !

Pickford 7.0: Patterson 7.0: Tarkowski 5.5: O’Brien 6.0 (moved to right-back when Jarrad Branthwaite came on after the break. No he didn’t): Mykolenko 4.8 (Right-back? And we need a new left-back desperately like, erm, Justin): Gana 5.0: Garner 5.5: Armstrong 4.0 (sadly): McNeil 1.6893470356: Barry 7.0: Ndiaye 5.5 (should have been subbed): Branthwaite 6.0: Dewsbury-Hall 6.3: Dibling 5.6: Beto whatever.

Dave L (16): agree with every word of your post.

Anjishnu, you keep promising to sort the edit button out for us. Can you please do it. It’s beyond a joke now. How many weeks ago was it when you told us that you would contact the ‘tech’ crew?

One could also say that had Moyes been given the money to buy players he could have achieved success. After all with limited resources he got us CL qualification only to be hijacked by a dodgy referee decision

The facts are we will never know what could have been. All we know is the here and now and every manager in the last few years have been given money and we have got worse. Kneejerk management of our club. Now that TFG have taken over, the first priority was to stop this annual relegation battle. The next priority is to start building a team and identify a manager to fulfill the football we all would love to see. That however requires a lot of care getting in the quality players we need and a manager to get the best out of them. But be very careful is selecting our next manager. Some names preferred to Moyes in the past included Potter, Frank, Nuno, Postecoglu, Maresca and we all know how they got on trying to manage at a bio club.

Completely agree, Dibling was awful, is awful, looks a lot like more of our money sponked.

5.5, pff I'd have gone with a 3 max.

The kid needs sending back for a refund ASAP.

Mcneils time is up at us, he's the most uninterested player at the club, probably in the whole league, has done a job in the past, but not any more, his times up, cash in now.

Beto us another one, Patterson too, cash in within the next day or so and try our hands with anything else, just don't tie any more bang average players down to long term deals.

A right back with pace and crossing ability, a forward with different attributes/profile to Barry, Beto, DCL etc, someone who can play in more than just the 9, ideally the 10 and either wing.

The players are out there, Brentford, Brighton, Bournemouth etc don't struggle to find them, we need the last few days of this window to be useful and the summer window to be nailed.

I couldn’t get T.S. Elliot out of my mind reading this Les:

‘ We are the hollow men / We are the stuffed men [ … ] Shape without form, shade without colour. Paralysed force, gesture without motion;’

I detest this sideways-backwards- backwards-three foot up the pitch-sideways shite that tortures my eyes and sense of what football can be (‘The eyes are not here / There are no eyes here’). No fecking wonder players have north of 80% pass completion rates: ‘Gana gives it to Garner three-foot away who rolls it back to Tarkowski who feeds O’Brien who feeds Gana who squares it to Garner who goes back to Tarkowski who plays it back to Pickford who plays it to Mykelenko (and so on and so on until) back to the safe feet of Pickford once again. I counted 44 consecutive Everton passes there Ally. They know how to hold onto the ball'.

It can be soul-destroying Les.

No wonder the crowd gets restless. No wonder they hum and murmur impatience. No wonder they boo at half-time.

They are not idiots.

Couldn't agree more mate, football at Hill Dicko has been awful, need to try something different, much faster and more dynamic as what we've seen up to now is shite.

Only game I can recall feeling good about is the Palace game, and had Mateta taken either of his 2 huge chances and we wouldn't have got nothing from that game.

‘Most’ did not want to see McNeil anywhere near the pitch David. Only one poster thought that playing HA behind Barry was ‘awesome’, and he, needless to say, got it completely wrong.

‘I'd play Dibbling left, Ndiaye right’.

Why switch the so far ineffective Dibling to move Ndiaye from his preferred wing?

Moyes was given money at Utd and still served up dross according to Utd fans who couldn't wait to see the back of him.

As have every fan base from every team he has managed.

I don’t understand why you are ‘sure’ Branthwaite and Dewsbury-Hall are still far off being match fit; if they were they shouldn’t make the bench. Both looked plenty fit enough to me for 45 minutes at least, and I am thrilled they came on because they made a massive difference.

Paul (6), I don’t think they’d consider it as a choice between leaving Patterson or Mykolenko on, more whether it was going to be Dibling or Aznou. Once they decided on Dibling (on the right) then Patterson was the obvious sacrificial choice. Patterson has done okay recently but I don’t think he has transformed our attacking threat on the right, and the back three of O’Brien! Tarkowski and Branthwaite looked to have everything under control in the second half up to a frantic last 5 minutes.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DRpcqHiMLso

So all the other managers that passed through Man Utd since Moyes

have received the same treatment from the fans.

Never ever, take advice from a football fan, 99% have nt a clue about how a club is run and the ability dealing with players.

We're not talking about other managers though are we, we're talking about Moyes.

But seeing as you.pointed it out, all those other managers were very successful outside of Utd and other than Moyes, that's why they where appointed.

Moyes was appointed with the caveat that he was never given the money to build a successful team, he was at Utd and still failed, despite having inherited some exceptional talent, some aging players as well I'll grant you.

His personality and integrity hit a new low for me when asked in a Sky interview what it meant to be manager of Utd, his reply..." it means I can go out and try to win football matches".

The man has more faces than the town hall clock imo. I'll admit he's a safe pair of hands but that is all he is.

Remember that league cup semi against Chelsea? We'd done the hard work at The Bridge and came away with a 2-2 draw if memory serves me right, they came yo Goodison and Moyes went 5,4,1 and they dominated the game.

Talk about stealing a living, James Smith (director of scouting and recruitment) & Nick Hammond (player trading) and I dare say they are on a salary that would make your eyes water. Our set up behind the scenes is impressive on paper but there's not a lot happening that is visible.

He is a dour defensive first manager,always has been.

I think we are the only team to qualify for a CL qualifier with a negative goal difference.

Some may say at least he qualified and they are entitled to that opinion.

For me,i have never,or very rarely,enjoyed the football served up under him.

Again,imo,he is an old fashioned manager who plays the same system regardless of opponents.

Against Leeds,after a bright 10-15 minutes start Leeds were drive through our midfield in numbers,realistically speaking we should have been 2 down at half time,game gone.

Most people around me could see the changes he made at half time should have been made after 25 minutes.

The problem for me is he does not react tactically.

Sometimes you find yourself questioning yourself " he must know better than me and the other fans,hes a professional manager"

Imo he is not the manager to progress the club to where we hope.

OK, you are not a Moyes fan, but do you seriously believe, that Pep,

Alex Ferguson, Klopp and along with many more managers, could have improved Everton with the players Moyes had to use.

I think you know the answer, all the above spent millions, then more millions, Everton are not and never have been in that position, sonce the John Moores days.

Horses for Courses.

Ferguson and Klopp would have improved Everton with the players Moyes has at his disposal. I could list others.

They did not spend millions immediately but built teams incrementally. Their success allowed them to invest more in their teams. They also developed players and sold them for profits.

You can write “I think you know the answer”, but suggest you drop that as an assumption as many Everton supporters don’t agree with you.

Horses for courses does describe the decision by TFG to hire Moyes.

We have the same points as Brentford who are 8th and are 5pts off the top 4, it beats me what some supporters expect.

I think you should look at the figures spent by both Ferguson and Klopp,

they would not have gone to Everton, because the money was not there.

As Raymond says, what do you want ?

The fact is, some of you are not fans of Moyes, the same lot, probably

hated Kenwright and the association with Moyes.

OK, everyone is allowed their opinion, but give some credit when it is deserved.

Glass half full.

A trophy?

I think he was a bit better than Davie. So, in short, really good managers can improve teams and players -- not just spend money. There's a manager at little Como doing exactly that.

Moyes is doing a good job and certainly improved us but to get a team to match our fantastic stadium... sadly, he doesn't fit.

On a positive note though, we are not looking at relegation and a steady team. We are not asking for unreasonable unrealistic expectations but an entertaining match and performance for which we all pay good money to watch.

It's also costing me a fortune in thick warm socks to go to the match... anyone else's feet freezing at our new stadium? lol

The times I've been It's taken me ages to clean my shoes to get rid of the dried cement or whatever it on the floors on the stairs and inside the stadium. Don't they clean the place? I've seen them win a couple of times as well.

You started with Guardiola, Ferguson and Klopp could not have improved Everton with the players Moyes had to use. Your point has now changed to they would never come to Everton because the money is not there. Different argument.

You are being defensive of David Moyes, but as Darren pointed out most posters focused on the players' performance rather than the manager. But, it is evident that the manager got the tactics and formation wrong in the first half against Leeds - he changed to 3-5-2, subbed two players off and tried to increase the tempo. Good on him for trying to make changes earlier than he usually does.

It is not "glass half-full" to point out that he messed up the team tactics and selection. It is simply fact.

All entitled to their own opinion mate

Do you think any of the managers mentioned would play in a similar fashion to Moyes ?

Moyes was never going to succeed at United because he was not accepted in the dressing room by the players. Rio Ferdinand expressed as much so he has on a hiding to nothing from the start.

However you were the one who said Silva would have done better if he had been given the resources and I pointed out that maybe Moyes may also have done better than a Champions League spot.

Your response about United is getting away from the points but it also shows that you will keep posting the same line until he is gone. Hope you get the manager you are looking for. (Maybe put your cards on the table and we see how that goes...)

As for Silva, I thought the main opposition to Moyes was never go back so would that not apply in his case also?

Our main problem in my humble opinion is that we don't have any really midfield creator who can spread the ball around like I saw Shaka for Sunderland do in the Cup game. Everything is slow, even Branthwaite was slow in delivering a pass on Monday night.

“They did not spend millions immediately but built teams incrementally”.

Is that not what is happening at TFG? Moyes is only here just over a year; yes, he can be frustrating in making changes, but for the moment, I for one am glad this season is not full of anxiety fearing relegation.

Long term, I also don't believe he is the future but we need to start with a solid foundation. I always maintain that the best football Everton have played since he left first time was with Martinez, who let the team express themselves and play open football.

Unfortunately, that worked for his first season while they still had Moyes's defensive instincts but, in the second season, Martinez ignored the defensive side of the game and we leaked goals.

We need a manager who is strong defensively but also has good tactical awareness and can get the best out of his players. For me, Moyes has maybe two of those qualities,
; getting a manager with all three may not be as simple as you all think. Let's not go on another merry-go-round of managers.

On your certainty that Ferguson would have improved Everton, I would not be as sure as you seem to be. Don't forget that Ferguson was appointed manager at Man Utd in 1986 and didn't win a league title until 1992 with a lot of players bought in.

As for Mam Utd, do you not think his tactics and management style alienated the players?

Silva, I have never advocated us going back for him, so don't put words in my mouth.

As for Moyes taking us forwards, I'll let his past managerial record answer that.

Cards on table: who I'd like as manager? That's a stupid question because whatever I think doesn't matter to the club one iota.

But seeing as you're trying to push me into a corner... Klopp.

Brave call suggesting a former Reds manager but, as you know, that will never happen, an easy one. But I suspect you are being mischievous so cards still off table and no comeback in the future.

By the way, I have no idea who should replace Moyes but do hope that, once the safe pair of hands stabilises the club from its recent turmoil, then TFG will move to the next phase which at a minimum is European competition.

My only concern is that they seem to be giving Roma priority at the moment.

We all want the same thing, a successful team, I suspect the Roma money was guaranteed a while back and they are honouring a commitment

I haven't a clue manager-wise but I'd take the Brighton, Bournemouth and Palace lads in a heartbeat.

Neil, that's probably because they're 5 years into the Roma project and trying to reach the Champions League. Four clubs currently fighting for two slots. Adding attackers like Vaz and Malen right now could be the difference between making it and not.

We're still a startup by comparison. Not the same sense of urgency, I'm afraid.

Mike,

I know you keep asking us to have faith in TFG and, in the main, I do think they are approaching our rebuild (which I believe it is) well. I was lukewarm with Moyes's appointment but he was the safest pair of hands available at the time.

He has delivered what was expected, namely stability, sometimes frustrating, sometimes surprising performances, but no more relegation battles. We all know the team is a work in progress and everyone has an opinion on who should play, who was at fault, and who is only a championship standard. Many opinions expressed in hindsight.

My concern with TFG is that, when we do build a team that may qualify for Champions Leagu,e what is our status if Roma also qualify?

Just one final comment and all these calls for starting Aznou. Firstly, we don't know how good a defender he is, and as a wing-back, has anyone seen him cross a ball? He had an energetic cameo against Sunderland but, before I'd be calling for him to start, I would like to see what he can do for another 30 minutes.

I bet the bastards all meet up for daily benders in some back street alehouse in the South end!

The words 'rope', 'money' and 'old' are swirling around my head as I type...

Well, I was wrong and they were right. He's been the steady hand on the tiller that a club in chaos needed. As to who replaces him, I remain convinced that changeover is a year and a half away.

I don't know the rules on the Champions League. Hope it's a problem soon!

And agree on Aznou. Wish we could have seen him off the bench against Leeds when we went 3 at the back.

Before that they also beat Man City 3-1 at home. Wish our players had the same spirit.

They are Barcelona and Bodø/Glimt.

I've only got as far north as Trondheim, but even there, the winter weather was usually 'entertaining'.