The Mail Bag
Striker
Comments (12)
After an entertaining game against the Germans, one area that really stood out for concern was the lack of clinical finishing from our boys. Arteta showed his class once again, out playing everyone on the pitch, even their playmaking Brazilians. All the effort he put in with his crosses and especially the huge amount of corners we had, there was nobody to put them away.
AJ showed great effort again, but it showed that we lacked an out-and-out goal scorer. If we had a 'fox in the box' tonight, we could of won that game by a bagful.
This could of been a great game for Beattie to get a goal, and get some confidence back, but he didn't make it onto the pitch. This must have been the final nail in the coffin of his Everton career.
Kristian Boyce, Posted 01/08/2007 at 01:34:36
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Peter Singer
2 Posted 01/08/2007 at 07:44:19
2 Posted 01/08/2007 at 07:44:19
You mean a giraffe in the box? :)
And a left-back. Sadly Nuno can no longer cut it. Too often was he caught out of position and his crosses were generally worse than Hibbos’. (It’s even sadder that the one we scored our first goal from was pure class. We know he’s capable of that yet ultimately he’s wasteful.)
Arteta’s footwork is quicker than ever and surprisingly Ossie is following him closely in his footsteps.
And a left-back. Sadly Nuno can no longer cut it. Too often was he caught out of position and his crosses were generally worse than Hibbos’. (It’s even sadder that the one we scored our first goal from was pure class. We know he’s capable of that yet ultimately he’s wasteful.)
Arteta’s footwork is quicker than ever and surprisingly Ossie is following him closely in his footsteps.
Steve L
3 Posted 01/08/2007 at 08:12:51
3 Posted 01/08/2007 at 08:12:51
Wasn’t some of the play fantastic? At one point it looked like an exhibition in one touch pass and move football.
On the striker front I didn’t think the final ball actually resulted in that many chances. At times the keep ball was good but the build up ended up a little ponderous. It’s something that needs to be looked at when we play teams with 10 men behind the ball.
On the whole though it was entertaining which is a vast improvement.
On the striker front I didn’t think the final ball actually resulted in that many chances. At times the keep ball was good but the build up ended up a little ponderous. It’s something that needs to be looked at when we play teams with 10 men behind the ball.
On the whole though it was entertaining which is a vast improvement.
Steve Flanagan
4 Posted 01/08/2007 at 08:37:34
4 Posted 01/08/2007 at 08:37:34
Steve L - agree with you totally mate.
If we can keep making some of the excellent moves we were making last night and then actually finish them, then we could make the move upto 5th and maybe (dare I say it) the top 4 - but it will be a case of playing like that consistently.
I was very pleased with the performance last night (apart from Anichebe though)
If we can keep making some of the excellent moves we were making last night and then actually finish them, then we could make the move upto 5th and maybe (dare I say it) the top 4 - but it will be a case of playing like that consistently.
I was very pleased with the performance last night (apart from Anichebe though)
Ray
5 Posted 01/08/2007 at 08:54:50
5 Posted 01/08/2007 at 08:54:50
How much would Gudjohnson’s wages be though?. He has probably been on £80,000 a week for the best part of his career and we simply wouldnt be in for that..Surely the sighting of Leighton Baines means something has happenend with that deal behind the scenes..Unless he just fancied going to a pre season friendly with James Vaughan( I doubt it) he must be close to a move to Everton..The game showed though what we already know..Next season preety much like last seaseon, Everton must perform with a high tempo and never drop off with slack performances..We drop off we dont win its that simple..Everton Football Club play better when the ball is kept on the ground..Take note and remember Davie Moyes.
Chris Lawlor
6 Posted 01/08/2007 at 09:16:41
6 Posted 01/08/2007 at 09:16:41
The overall performance was good, We lost our way once Lescott & Yobo went off ( shows the value). As stated Valente is a makeway for Baines based on last night’s showing. VDM cant even get passed the 1st man anymore, I cannot see Davy being impressed by him at all so far. AJ toiled as usual, Ossie looks to have been taking extra lessons from our mercurial Spaniard, he was electric last night. Neville was wasteful and his passing and composure on the ball was eratic to say the least. The result was a fair reflection on the game, Our wasteful finishing up front and our reliance on Joey and Joleon were the determining factors in my humble opinion. Roll on Europe though, We aint no push over these days!
Peter Laing
7 Posted 01/08/2007 at 09:45:09
7 Posted 01/08/2007 at 09:45:09
I would love a swap deal involving Beattie and McCarthy, Benni knows he is playing in the backwaters at Blackburn and would love a move to Everton I’m sure. One thing about McCarthy is that he’s an absolute dog of a player, selfish, a goal poacher and he scores loads of scruffy goals. Exactly what we need and his return is far more productive than Alan Smith’s.
Dan Mckie
8 Posted 01/08/2007 at 09:47:28
8 Posted 01/08/2007 at 09:47:28
The substitutions did break up Evertons flow but remember it was only a friendly and we showed that with our 1st 11 that we can control a game against very good european opposition! He wont be subbing Yobo and Lescott when the real games get going!
John Fowler
9 Posted 01/08/2007 at 09:57:27
9 Posted 01/08/2007 at 09:57:27
Was a decent game, you could tell it was only a friendly with the pace at times, but that’s to be expected cos they want to avoid injury. Still not long left now to get that full sharpness back.
Some of the play was fantastic, really good to watch but again, that final ball is usually lacking, especially from the full backs as said before.
And to that guy who picked us up at the bus stop and gave us a lift to stop us being late, thanks again for that mate, confirms Evertonians are the best race on earth :)
Some of the play was fantastic, really good to watch but again, that final ball is usually lacking, especially from the full backs as said before.
And to that guy who picked us up at the bus stop and gave us a lift to stop us being late, thanks again for that mate, confirms Evertonians are the best race on earth :)
Brian Waring
10 Posted 01/08/2007 at 10:07:06
10 Posted 01/08/2007 at 10:07:06
Some good positives from the game last night.Arteta is the maestro,Osman with some sublime skill,some decent football,but agree with some of the other comments on us lacking firepower up front,AJ seemed to spend to much time out wide.Phil Neville should never be allowed to have a crack at goal(his shooting is woeful)When Lescott and Yobo went off we got done for pace at the back(the cover we have for these 2 is lacking in pace and could be a problem).One more point, I thought Hibbert had a good game.His tackling was solid,and his distribution was better than usual.Not a bad display at all.
Ray
11 Posted 01/08/2007 at 10:13:08
11 Posted 01/08/2007 at 10:13:08
Get real boys..Mark Hughes would be strung up in the street if he did a deal with Everton involving cash and Beattie..Why would he sell a player who is attracting interest from Chelsea in a swap for a player who scored two penalties last season?. Madness..To sign Benni in todays market would cost at least 10 million, we dont have that cash.. Everton have got themselves in it now though with Beattie..He played no part last night and that only says one thing for the future but if we cant offload him we are going to be stuck with him until January at least..We may have no choice but to play him.
Brian Waring
12 Posted 01/08/2007 at 10:19:45
12 Posted 01/08/2007 at 10:19:45
Maybe the reason Beattie never played Ray, was because there is a deal on the table with another club,and Moyes didn’t want to take a chance on him getting injured.
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1 Posted 01/08/2007 at 06:15:23
I think we’ll get Smith in the next few days if the Tevez saga gets sorted.
It’s nice to play well against a very decent European side and will stem the nerves of those who, amazingly, where having coronaries at the Real Salt Lake result!