Toffeeweb - The Mail Bag - Pretty in Pink

The Mail Bag

Pretty in Pink

Sounds like a great turnout in Sydney today, the Oz lads did the boys proud it seems. Davie Moyes looked happy in his post-match interview.

Looked to me that João Silva was wearing the Number 9 shirt and Magaye Gueye 11.
Michael Kenrick, ToffeeWeb Towers Posted 10/07/2010 at 16:47:20

back Return to the Mail Bag

Comments

Note: the following content is not moderated or vetted by the site owners at the time of submission. Comments are the responsibility of the poster. Disclaimer

Ray Robinson
1 Posted 10/07/2010 at 11:32:42

Interestingly no start for Saha in Sydney. Are we saving him already? How does he get match fit if he doesn't play?

Lee Watters
2 Posted 10/07/2010 at 17:29:02

Baxter was wearing 9 but doesn't mean he will be wearing it next season. Gueye looked good but early days. The team played some good football today. Allegedly Saha lost his passport and only just landed out so that's why he didn't start. He probably just wanted a extra few days off...

Michael Kenrick
3 Posted 10/07/2010 at 17:46:13

Euwew... was that Baxter? Thought he looked a bit short. I think you're right: giving him the Number 9 shirt for the season would be a surprise...

However, as far as I could tell, all the other players were wearing their Premier League squad numbers... and both 9 & 11 are currently vacant. Anyone know when they are required to submit the squad numbers?

Did anyone catch them warming up? Any idea what number Silva got?

Lee Watters
4 Posted 10/07/2010 at 17:54:40

I didn't see what Silva was wearing. I am not sure about squad numbers but I think anytime around the end of July, start of August.

I think Baxter should be loaned out to the Championship... give him some much needed experience.

Brendan O'Doherty
5 Posted 10/07/2010 at 17:49:59

That was a much better performance than we have come to expect from our recent pre-season friendlies. The gulf in class over Sydney was evident and we deserved the win, though they were denied a fairly clear-cut penalty. Arteta was at the heart of most things and Osman was great in the centre as well. The biggest plus was Gueye who looks like he's going to fit in well. When the fitness levels are up a bit it's looking good for the new season!

Landon Donovan fans should note that Phil Neville said in the commentary that he had spoken to him recently in LA, and "he wants to come to Everton".

Chris Wilson
6 Posted 10/07/2010 at 18:14:47

Distin was wearing Yobo's "4" wasn't he? Of course, they could be just handing out numbers too.

Chris Wilson
7 Posted 10/07/2010 at 18:17:00

But that pink...whuh...gonna take some time to get used to. Does anyone know if there will be a match where we have to wear the full bubblegum kit? Oh Chelsea, right? Sweet, Chelsea away it'll look like 10 glasses of Nestle Strawberry Quick running on the pitch. You'll be able to see the match from space.

James Stewart
8 Posted 10/07/2010 at 18:22:03

I thought Baxter was already set for a loan to Oldham?

Michael Kenrick
9 Posted 10/07/2010 at 19:05:32

Yea, so Distin wearing Yobo's 4 and Anichebe wearing Yakubu's 22. Perhaps it means nothing... yet most all the other players were wearing their 'proper' numbers from last season. Has to be more than just handing out numbers.

Chris Wilson
10 Posted 10/07/2010 at 19:24:25

Hey, was anyone wearing Gosling's 19?

Lee Watters
11 Posted 10/07/2010 at 19:51:56

No-one who got on the pitch was wearing 19. I wouldn't look too much into the numbers to be honest as I can't see baxter holding the number 9, but it does seem strange that the only number changes were to Yobo's and Yakubu's.

I wonder has Moyes one big signing up his sleeve... hope so!

Ian McDowell
12 Posted 10/07/2010 at 23:22:19

What an attendance for a pre-season game.

Ian Winstanley
13 Posted 11/07/2010 at 02:37:05

I wouldn't read to much into the shirt numbers. I noted that no one had names on the back of their shirts, which suggets to me that given recent signings, injuries and world cup commitments the nothing has been settled in that regard.

As for Sydney FC they also put together some good moves and shots on target, making Everton work for their win. A good match for a pre-season game.

Great to see 40,000+ at the match of which 10,000+ must have been supporting Everton as opposed to opposition support and interested neutrals. Shows Everton and Cahill have pulling power down here.

Ciaran Duff
14 Posted 11/07/2010 at 03:13:40

Great crowd and good to see so many Everton supporters in Sydney.

Best player (by a country mile) in 1st half for me was Jack Rodwell. Not sure why he was subbed. Also a bit disappointed that Seamus Coleman didn't get a run. Hibbert was good defensively but offered very little going forward. If you can't give young guys a few mins in pre-season friendly then when will they get a run?

Jason Pullen
15 Posted 11/07/2010 at 05:17:46

I was at the game. Biggest dissappointment was Bily. He looked disinterested, even got run down by Dwight Yorke at one point. Baxter certainly added more influence when he came on.

Vic was the pick for me, he started out wide right but with Vaughan not doing much up front (not that we were creating a lot for him to be fair), he was moved more central and definitely the most threatening player we had.

A decent hit-out though with Sydney giving a decent account. I wouldn't say we won comfortably. I would say Sydney had more shots on target than us although we had much more possession. Not a bad performance. Add our missing players and we would certainly have won more comfortably.

i found it strange with all the strikers we bought that James started up front. It will be interesting to see the side that runs out when the season starts.

Tony Hyland
16 Posted 11/07/2010 at 06:25:14

Like Jason (15) I was at the game with my wife, daughter, her two sons and her fella a Liverpool fan). I had had a terrific few days leading up to the game with all our Aussie supporters club guys and gals, it was a real credit to all concerned.

As for the game, I feel that you are always looking for at least a bit of edge in the match which personally I thought was lacking but it was to be expected at this point of the pre-season. One big disappointment was that the Blues did not take a two- or three-minute lap of the pitch just to create that bit more of a bond with the crowd. The reason I mention this is that I heard quite a few comments about it on the way out of the stadium. Let me say again, however, it was just great having the Blues over here.

Martin Clark
17 Posted 11/07/2010 at 07:30:20

Joao Silva never took his jacket off though reckon there is nothing in the numbers thing.

Agree with Jason's comment, as Billy looked to be holding back. Thought Distin looked a lot more comfortable at the back with a solid performance. Was also impressed with Anichebe and Rodwell. Would of liked to of seen Coleman and Silva play. It was surprising to see Vaughan start firstly that he was fit and secondly I had thought he'd be well down the list and possibly moving on. He played ok but didn't get much of the ball.

Peter Bourke
18 Posted 11/07/2010 at 09:31:14

I thought Big Vic, Rodwell and Distin were our best. Baines and Arteta were solid without starring.

I like the look of young Magaye he had some nice touches and I think he will get some first team football this season. He linked up well with Baines also.

Maybe in Melbourne young Silva will get a run along with Coleman.

Gerry Quinn
19 Posted 11/07/2010 at 11:22:13

Tony (#16);

I've said the same thing about a lap of the pitch and "closer" acknowledgement of the blues fans on the numerous USA trips the boys have made here. I'm sure it has something to do with the lack of enough security staff.

Peter Bourke
20 Posted 11/07/2010 at 11:45:06

I think you're spot on, Gerry. The boys were gathering in the centre of the pitch and a couple of them were heading towards our end when 3 pitch invaders sprinted towards the team. They were caught but I think it put some of the players off and they briskly proceeded towards the tunnel.

I cant really knock the boys for this as they have been doing PR stuff non-stop all week and have been more than generous with their time with the fans.

Colin Raj
21 Posted 11/07/2010 at 12:33:01

I think they said on the commentary Rodwell was subbed off because he had a calf complaint. Osman was supposed to come off but stayed on when Rodders came off. Thought Gueye looked good and Bily looked the same as last season, off the pace. Anichebe on the left and Gueye on the right could be interesting.

Richard Porter
22 Posted 11/07/2010 at 13:44:23

Joao Silva wore number 16. In addition to Distin and Anichebe wearing Yobo and Yakubu's numbers, Shkodran Mustafi wore Fellaini's number 25, so I think it's just a case of players being able to choose whatever number they wanted if the player who usually wears it wasn't there.

Interestingly, there's a picture of Jermaine Beckford in the Echo this weekend wearing a heart-moniter vest with "JB 9" written on it.

Also, the official team sheet (taken from Sydney FC website) shows Distin and Anichebe in their usual shirt numbers (but given it lists Gueye as an unused sub, and he came on at half time, it's clearly not infallible):

Everton: 12. Iain TURNER, 2. Tony HIBBERT, 3. Leighton BAINES, 15. Sylvain DISTIN, 6. Phil JAGIELKA, 7. Diniyar BILYALETDINOV (9 Jose Baxter 64?), 21. Leon OSMAN, 10. Mikel ARTETA, 26. Jack RODWELL, 14. James VAUGHAN (17. Tim CAHILL 46?), 28. Victor ANICHEBE (8. Louis SAHA 71?).

Subs not used: 31. Seamus COLEMAN, 11. Magaye GUEYE, 16. Joao SILVA, 25. Shkodran MUSTAFI, 23. Lukas JUTKIEWICZ.

Jason Lam
23 Posted 11/07/2010 at 17:39:58

No names on the shirts, it's just handing out numbers. Back in my day, you could only get large numbers with large sized shirts! All the midgets got the best number them pussies.

Dan Murphy
24 Posted 12/07/2010 at 02:34:27

Failure to come down and acknowledge the massed ranks of Evertonians http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HjDE8X9pnCE was inexcusable.

Add Your Comments

In order to post a comment to the MailBag, you need to be logged in as a registered user of the site.

Log in now

Or Sign up as a ToffeeWeb Member — it's free, takes just a few minutes and will allow you to post your comments on articles and MailBag submissions across the site.