My biggest beef is the lack of basic football skills on show. We have poor control and woeful passing ability. Arteta is the only creative player we have, he does have ball control and always looks comfortable. Pienaar has control and dribbling skills but cannot pass accurately, so all his hard work normally has no end product.

We are actually crying out for a Moutinho and a Palacios. I think that is all we need to make progress so long as we don't have any more long-term injuries. I agree that Gosling and Rodwell will come on next season but the jury?s out on Fellaini as far as I'm concerned. He seems to lack stamina and pace, plus his tackling is very clumsy ? he is certainly not a box-to-box player!!!

Oh, one thing that needs to be factored into next season is the African cup of nations. Assuming our African contingent are all fit, that little tournament will punch a hole in our squad at a crucial time in the season. Not only do we need to generally improve the quality in the squad and add extra dimensions and elelments to the mix (pace, guile etc) we need depth too. This season has been horrific for injuries, but imagine a few of the European players getting crocked mid season and the AFCON kicking off.... ouch.

Like you Fran I was not best pleased that Upson was picked ahead of either of our defenders. What exactly has Upson done that warrants an inclusion over Jagielka or Lescott? And surely considering it was a friendly would there have been any harm in playing Baines?

Anyway, onto the important subject, that being: What Everton will do in the summer? Well, I don?t think there will be much activity yet again. If Moyes moves sharply then we might be able to get Downing for a decent price. Say what you will about him, but he certainly has pace and would give us balance. A winger we have needed for years.

Also, considering the precarious position that Valencia are in, we should go for a few of their players. We could probably get Manuel Fernandes for a couple of million. Argue all you want that he should have signed for us and so on but if we were to sign him (and I believe he will be available on the cheap) then that will be a real coup. Add to that he is a good footballer and will fill the void left by Arteta?s injury.

And if they could afford him, forget going for Jo and buy Darren Bent instead. But even if he isn?t affordable, I'm sure Downing and Fernandes would be and I for one think both would be very good signings.

Get Tuncay off Boro when they sink and Jonas off Newcastle when they go as well. If either of them have anything upstairs, they?ll have relegation clauses in their contracts. I reckon you could get both for the region of £10M if they both went down.

What the fuck has Engerland got to do with Everton? Even when our players get selected they either get played out of position and the twats won’t pass to them making them look shite a la Andy Johnson or they get splinters in their arses a la Jagielka, Baines and Lescott - forget Engerland and think Everton.

I?d rather our players weren?t played for meaningless England friendly matches; some may call me selfish but we have a squad which is virtually at breaking point and the last thing we want are more injuries from now on 'til the end of the season. We have plenty to play for.

Gavin, I’m with you on this one. I appreciate what international recognition means to individual footballers, in both patriotic and financial terms, but as an Evertonian I still have flashbacks about Southall sticking his foot in that pothole at Lansdowne Road, not to mention the fact that Barmby and Rooney both returned from England duty with dressing-room tap-ups buzzing in their ears.

May I offer a counter argument?

How about we all stop thinking about how many Everton players are on the pitch and start supporting the England National Team?

You may not like or rate some of the players on the pitch but they DO represent your country. So may I suggest you either switch off the TV and pay no further attention or support your country and your national team by showing some English pride!

I bet you lot will be the first ones moaning when we go out in the next set of Quarter Finals too.

Gavin. Actually, that was pretty much my point. A boring England friendly against a Championship quality (at best) team gives me no interest. The slight flicker of interest is if a Everton player plays for them, just like I would watch spain if Mikky played for them, Aussies if Tim plays, Nigeria if Yak plays etc...

However, as no EVERTON match can currently be talked about I thought of it an apt time to discuss EVERTON and our aspirations for next season (totally pointless I know, but there is nothing currently to discuss other than this).

Also, Garry, I do not support England, I am English; however, I do not get bowled over by the ?COME ON ENGLAND? chants, call me unpatriotic but hey, I am.

For one, England are a Big Team only in the eyes of the English. We play crap footy, consistently. I admire the football played by Spain currently, France 6 years ago, Brazil every other 4 years. As does everyone else in this country. No person in Spain, France or Brazil admires the English team's style.

They are also playing Beckham when there is Young, Lampard when there is Carrick, Terry when there's anybody else as everyone is better than him, etc.

And Garry, it's an everton website, don't ask people on an Everton website to stop thinking of Everton. If you want to blog about the England team, go on Sky Sports, BBC, The Guardian, The Daily Mail (actually don't go on the Mail, you?ll get filled with some racist jibberish that makes no sense).

Garry Corgan ? It's old ground and the reasons are a plenty but it's pretty safe to say that scousers and/or both Everton & Liverpool fans don't really give a toss about England.

In response to the rest of the original comment, I was as low as I have ever been last summer & the start of this season, which is amazing when you consider the shite we went through in the 90s, but I am fairly certain that we will have a very similar one again as far as spending and players in goes.

I imagine we will swap Jo & Castillo for 2 more loans. Nash, AvdM (thank fuck) and Jacobsen along with a few lesser/younger squad players will be moved on and we will hopefully get in a few Bosman recruits and maybe, just maybe, one larger transfer of around £8-12 million.

One big difference is that hopefully we will have the majority of our 1st team squad available for pre-season which we didn't last year. Also, apart from the CL clubs and Man City, I can't see any of our closest rivals splashing out due to the current financial climate. It's all educated guesswork but make sure you get a good holiday cos, football/Everton-wise, the summer looks bleak.

In order to make further progress, our midfield needs to be completely reconstructed - not good enough; totally inconsistent.

I reckon we should try to get Glen Johnson from Portsmouth. He would complete the back four with Baines, Lescott and Jags (picture an all-England international back four!). He is fast and can turn defence into attack just like Baines on the other wing. As with Baines he can play as a wingback or in midfield if required, so it's ideal for our preferred 4-5-1 formation.

With Portsmouth in financial trouble, we could drive the hard bargain. Who knows, if rumours are anything to go by (which they usually aren?t) we could be getting Kranjcar as well!

I thought the Everton trio played an exceptionally good game. Their defence of the bench was second to none, carried out with flair and imagination.

By shuffling along midway through the second half they showed any likely threat to their position to be problematic.

I see a long and happy career on the bench for these three, and maybe one or two others.

On a side note, Beckham will still be chosen ahead of anyone else even after he?s dead because he can bring that extra touch of class to any England team ;0)

ps: I forgot to mention, the next time Everton play a home match kick-off 3:00pm on a Saturday will be in 2053 ? book tickets now!

The only problem with trying to get Johnson, is that there will be a lot of clubs looking at him. Also, Pompey have used their heads by tying him up to a new contract, so anybody intrested would have to pay big money.

I?d love to see Tuncay join, and from what I hear here in Istanbul, he has a £5 million pound release clause!

I saw the second half of Belgium-Bosnia yesterday. Misimovic and Dzeko dictating play there. They?ve been doing that for Wolfsburg all season long too. And we could have had Misimovic for as little as £1 million. Another missed chance.

Oh and by the way: Fellaini played for Belgium. Really invisible. Slow and disappointing. At one time the Belgian commentator said that his play suffered so much from the time he started playing in England. Like he forgot how to play decent football... Oops!!!

Totally biased Everton supporter view on Upson and England, Jags and Lescott had chances for England and didn?t perform well (Croatia and Spain etc). Upson won?t be too old on Wednesday and getting to the World Cup is the main aim at the moment!!

Martin is correct and provides the only unbiased view so far about Upson. While I know Jags & Lescott are better and I wouldn't swap either of them for any defender apart from Ferdinand and he?s getting on. Upson has been steady for England. Jags started well but did what we all know, he made a shocking pass and it led to Spains 1st goal. Lescott looked nervous in his Enlgand games so far so I don't blame Capello for picking Upson.

As for summer signings, I believe what I have thought for the last 3 years but we have not done much about. Any transfer money should be spent on signing quality midfielders with pace & power.

Some of you are going on about how Upson is nowhere near as good as Jags and Lescott. One question: how do you know? Do you go and watch Upson every week?

Capello must see something in Upson that Jags and Lescott haven?t got. Also, at the end of the day, doesn?t Cappello know better than us?

Spot on John Martin, I agree with all that, and like you, I wouldn?t swap them also. Jags been brilliant this season but Capello is playing it safe with Upson in a position that's vital.

I agree the Everton lads should have been in ahead of Upson ? you only have to look at Everton's defensive record compared to West Ham?s since Xmas to see who?s best. However, playing for a London club helps when England are playing at Wembley ? Carlton Cole is average at best but gets in the squad.

Having said that, the chances of any of the Blues playing in the next game are remote and that?s good for Everton because they can?t get injured not playing, which always plagues Everton players. We are only concerned with these lads performing at the top of their game for Everton. We know they are top class without them actually playing for England. Remember Howard Kendall?

I?m still smarting from yesterday's defeat in Holland, and with all due respect to the majority of other supporters on here, I could not give a rat?s ass about England or their trivial matches against inferior opposition, why the need to play such an irrelevant game yesterday? I am at a loss.

That said, I do care about the welfare of this club, and with the break we have right now, maybe some good will come out of it, as it gives the players a chance to regather their composure from recent outings and even if the weekend was hard to take to say the least, on domestic matters, hopefully I can see negatives turned into positives and maybe, just maybe, this last 36 hours can be put to rest, and beyond even, and hopefully the season can end on a happy note.

One last thing. Who?s that bloody person who keeps turning up at football games each week? Always seeing him in attendance, sitting there with a smug self-righteous look in the stands, always on TV, turning up at fixtures all the damn time.

He was there again yesterday, the ubiquitous ass.

What's his name again? Capello or something.