ToffeeWeb - Season 2007-08

The Mail Bag

How many defenders to change a lightbulb?

I know we are all very aware of David Moyes' priorities in terms of defence, but finishing a home match against Boro with 7 defenders (counting Neville and Jagielka) and 1 defensive midfielder on the pitch was a disgrace in my view. Ok, so Moyes was aiming for our first clean sheet in the league to build a bit of confidence maybe, but would the team not have more confidence if we'd won 4-1 than 2-0?

When we got the 2nd goal I really thought Boro were there for the taking if we'd really wanted it. Anichebe for Vic was an ok sub with one eye on Thursday night, but the other two substitutions were conservative in the extreme. The style of football was slightly better than some of our games recently, but I feel we missed a chance to really fill our boots in terms of goals yesterday. Moyes made a comment recently about us not being ruthless enough and finishing off teams - how the fuck can we do that when he brings defenders on for attackers?!?
Robin Byrne, Dublin, Ireland Posted 01/10/2007 at 14:24:30

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Michael Kenrick

As the man himself said, getting a clean sheet gives him more pleasure than watching the goals go in. (Did I get that right?) Walter Smith, eat your heart out!

Peter Fearon
1 Posted 01/10/2007 at 14:37:03

Sorry, as much I loved the result, the performance against Middlesbrough doesn't fill me with confidence. Arteta was the only creative force on the field and there was no bite at all up front. We rely too much on set pieces, our defense was beaten too many times and our second goal, as elegant as the build-up was, had a powerful element of fortune attached to it. I know this is a glass-half-full posting, but we are going to have to play better than this to get beyond the Ukrainian minnows we failed to deal with at home. God knows what a decent striker would have done with the chances we gave Middlesbrough. Even Beattie could have put them away - Jeez! Even Johnson!

Allan Hobbs
2 Posted 01/10/2007 at 16:44:51

Its all about the result. I couldnt care less how we win as long as we win.

Performance was fantastic in my view, 2 scored, none conceded; you lot will never be happy.

Misery guts.

Paul Davis
3 Posted 01/10/2007 at 17:05:44

Moan moan fucking moan, sitting next to these moaning bastards at the match is one of the reasons I would stop going the match. Some of the comments I have read and some of the shite your hear when the team plays poor.

Dave Roberts
4 Posted 01/10/2007 at 17:41:26

Given who was on the bench who would you have brought on then? We had two attacking players, Anichebe who came on and Van Der Meyde who hasn’t played since Dick docked!

The defence were much more assured on Sunday, even TH had a decent game. The midfield was enlightened by Mikky who showed once again that he is a world class player and Peinaar is beginning to show signs. McFadden did ok too. Is there any chance of a bit of bleedin’ optimism out there for once? We know our shortcomings (mainly midfield)but what an improvement over the Metallist and Villa games. And Peinaar’s goal was an absolute beaut in the way it was made!
Have Evertonians forgotten how to smile?

Joe Rourke
5 Posted 01/10/2007 at 17:38:06

Right, I’m going to buck the anti-Kenrick tide today and say well done and keep up the good work Michael( and co )!!!.

Even if there is more negativity than postivity here at times!!!...you can trust this website to keep coming up with nuggets of truth and clarity in the murky depths of all things Everton...

I mean does anybody out there actually look forward to the propaganda of the offical Everton FC website?...everybody who pens an article here GIVES their audience the rightful benefit of reply or comment - whatever it’s ilk...tell me are the ’open’ letters posted on the offical website open to a cogent reply or comment...not a chance!...and do you lot really care about who Phil Neville is "hailing" today? (hailing used to reserved for God, facist dicators and taxi-drivers...and should stay that way too!!!)...

Thumbs up, Toffeeweb!!!

Ben Brown
6 Posted 01/10/2007 at 18:21:04

Bit harsh taking Anichebe off and then making him come on again, eh Robin? :) Yak, you mean, THE YAK. COME ON THE YAK!

David OBrien
7 Posted 01/10/2007 at 18:45:05

Correct me if I’m wrong Michael but if we had kept clean sheets on every game - would we not have won them all and drawn one? If you keep a clean sheet you cannot lose, and not too long ago Newcastle found that being free scoring didn’t matter as they lost the battle for the league title against Man Utd with a shite defence.

Ste Birkett
8 Posted 01/10/2007 at 19:19:13

From the stands, I thought Pienaar and Faddy also looked creative up front, so just concentrating on Arteta is a bit harsh I think.

My heart does always sink when I see defensive players coming on for attackers under Moyes at home, but I can just about fathom it this time. It was only the last 10 minutes and we needed to secure the result to keep confidence high, going into a tricky European away game this week. There have been other games where Moyes has confused me, but this wasn’t one of them.

Glen Tudor
9 Posted 01/10/2007 at 20:04:36

I’ve attended more Fa coaching courses than I care to remember and we are always reminded that success starts with keeping a clean sheet.95% of all goals are caused by mistakes made in the final third of the pitch and well over 50% come from set pieces.Get your defence organised and be accurate with free kicks and corners and you can largely forget midfield.Or so we are told

david moore
10 Posted 03/10/2007 at 03:27:29

i think that thr boro game would’ve been a great tie to introduce shandy andy with 10 minutes left. He would’ve liked th reception and he could get some match fitness. BTW when is Tommy G back