ToffeeWeb - Season 2007-08

The Mail Bag

So we lost to the best team in the division..so what!

After giving up my ticket for the game against Arsenal (remnants of cold/flu from freezing me bollocks off in Alkmaar) I settled down to watch the match on Sultana (good coverage btw) and was pretty happy with the way we started, deservedly went in front and looked good against an out of sorts Arsenal..

So what happened at half time?! I think someone from the Arsenal camp must of spiked our defenders' drinks (!) because we were nothing short of a shambles for the whole of the second half. (I know Eduardo handled for one of his goals) but we lost by 3 clear goals so there's no excuse.

All the old habits come back to haunt us. Cahill, Arteta getting involved in niggles. Arteta, Yak, Nevilie all diving, nobody accepting responsibility in the middle of the park, and what a waste of our corners (albeit our solitary goal was from one).

At the end of the game the air was blue, I battered the cushion (the dogs long departed), me missus thought I was nuts and guess what she said: "It's only a game"

"...*?//***/!" I declined to get drawn in. But after I calmed down, I thought,. ok, we lost against the best team in the division, they did not outplay us. I think we should allow the players this one and put it down to experience. No need to panic, we ain't the finished article yet but we have made great strides this season and I fully expect us to have a fine 2nd half of the season with the current squad and maybe a few loanees in January.

Anyway, hope you all have a calm and peaceful new year (not like the 2nd half against Arsenal).
Tommy Gibbons, Merseyside Posted 29/12/2007 at 19:22:00

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Comments

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Nick Toye
1 Posted 30/12/2007 at 00:24:47

Remember the last time we lost 1-4 to Arsenal? We came 4th that season.

Would settle for the same again.

Charlie Skinley
2 Posted 30/12/2007 at 01:05:19

Tommy.... thanks for putting it into perspective, spot on mate. Some lessons learnt and we just need to get back on track against Borough.

Happy new year to all...

Tony Barns
3 Posted 30/12/2007 at 07:11:30

Must be the longest bout of flu known to humanity or could you just not be bothered because you thought we would lose?

Tom Sullivan
4 Posted 30/12/2007 at 12:02:03

Reasons to be cheerful: At half time, watching the match in the pub, I was convinced we were going to win comfortably. The second half was like an Eastenders Christmas Special where anything that could possibly go wrong did.

Terrible defending, bad luck and predictably biassed refereeing meant a great year for Everton ends on such a sad note. Moyes was dead right after the match when he described it as "route one Arsenal". They managed to welly the ball out of their own penalty area four times and scored each time.

Putting the game into context though I am old enough to remember getting beat 4-1 at home to Spurs in the mid-eighties and going on to win the league that year. One result can't change the fact we have a really good squad and have a genuine top four chance this season. What it might do is remind our manager that there is room for improvement to the squad prior to the transfer window opening.

Pete Parker
5 Posted 30/12/2007 at 13:00:10

Oh No...Not Again! Oh well,,,,play the big boys and again we are found out ! Tactically niave again and the midfield looks waifer then. We need more cover and I hope that will be addressed in the window. Hibbert is not Premiership quality, Yobo still lacks concentration, Howard cannot command his area, Carsley and Neville are very limited players...and why wern't the 2 young guns brought on earlier...Moyes...you still have so much to learn !!!!!!!!!

John Burns
6 Posted 30/12/2007 at 13:25:52

Two Out of Three Ain?t Bad! If the two out the three were Derby and Wigan that would be bad. However, losing to the Champions and Champions elect gives perspective to where we currently reside in the Premier League pecking order. Good but not a top four team ..?.yet. Top four teams make fewer mistakes than we do. The results borne out over Christmas reflect exactly where we are as a football team today, which ain?t bad.

Tony Williams
7 Posted 30/12/2007 at 15:04:18

That’s right Peter, the midfield is wafer thun, so thin in fact that Arsenal opted to bypass them for 3 of the 4 goals.

We have been unlucky (again) with injuries, in that the Gravedigger looked like he was getting back int his stride and then was injured so leaving us with having to put Pip back into midfield.

The next 2 months are going to be a massive learning experience with Moyes, he may even have to settle for a lesser player for coverage in the midfield (ie Vogel, who hasn’t played so far thus season)

We need numbers now due to all our injuries occurring in the same area.

You say that Cars and Pip are limited playes, that is certainly so with Pip but Cars was excellent yesterday.

And what difference would bringing on the "Young Guns" made yesterday. We were 2-1 down and Arsenil were defending deep, hence the reason why AJ was ineffective.

Brendan McLaughlin
8 Posted 30/12/2007 at 15:29:02

Peter Parker - what a load of shit. We lose one match & our team is crap & our Manager a novice. Tony Williams has covered most of the points I would have made but just to point out that it wasn’t Yobo’s concentration that let him down, it was his lack of decisiveness. He or Howard should have taken charge & wellied the ball into row Z.