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Feed The Yak and.....
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..?he will make a right bloody nuisance of himself!
So our big guy upfront didn?t score, but you can bet that Skrtel and ?that Greek twat? will be having nightmares about their ordeal having struggled to cope with his movement and physicality all afternoon.
Make no mistake, the Yak put a real shift in today and played an integral part in our success. Yes Distin and Jags were immense, Baines superb and Cahill outstanding? but Yakubu was the real highlight for me because that was the kind of performance we have been missing up front all season.
We can discuss the merits of 4-5-1 vs 4-4-2 all day long ? and many of us have done so recently here on TW. For me, Moyes?s favoured formation is at its most effective when you have a player up top capable of holding the ball up, linking play, and occupying both centre halves through intelligent movement and generally putting themselves about. Yakubu did all this with aplomb.
He showed hunger (the right sort of hunger) determination and a sharpness which many of us had given up seeing from him again. Admittedly, he started breathing out of his arse for the last 20-odd minutes when Moyes, in a pleasingly positive move, brought on Beckford along side him to take up the running from the front and keep up the pressure on the reds in the final third of the pitch.
If he can keep up this level of performance, I believe it is only matter of time before we?ll all be singing ?Feed the Yak and he will score? on a regular basis once again. I believe he is the answer to our striking problems. Not selling him to West Ham in the summer has well, been very much like a new signing!
It has been a beautiful day.... Enjoy, my fellow Blues? enjoy!
Jamie Sweet, Posted 18/10/2010 at 00:11:45
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Yes his style can appear lazy, but the way he can bulldoze through players like he did today is something we really don't have, and couldn't replace.
Was great to see the Yak back looking lively again and out to ruffle a few feathers. Lets hope his eye for goal returns soon as well.
We paid £11 million for 1 season from him. Sorry no more, shame he wasn't sold in the summer for £6 million... we could have used that money to help part fund Donovan's move.
I said at the start of the season he was by far our best forward at holding the ball up and preventing it coming straight back at the defence.
He also links up play very well IMO.
No conincisence that we've kept clean sheets in the last few games Yak has featured.
Now let's see whether Gueye can cut it in the Prem. Who knows? The French lad could be the new Landon.
COYB!!!
Nice day in Nelson, also in Tauranga despite the weather.
Personally I would like to see Yak & Beckford start some matches together. At the risk of starting a 4-5-1 v 4-4-2 debate I just think it is a good idea to have variety in our tactics. Beckford is not as physically strong as the Yak ? I loved that run of his in the first half when the Liverpool guy bounced off him!! ? but he has more pace. It would be interesting to see them playing alonside each other and hopefully Moyes will consider that as one of his options.
I thought Howard Webb had a strange game ? early on his decision making seemed good but I question some of the yellow cards ? even the one for Maxi Rodriquez was strange. The worst challenge was by Gerrard and all he got was a talking to. I thought that there was some sort of crackdown on players asking the Ref to card opponents ? or is that just wishful thinking on my part? I hate to see players brandishing "imaginery " cards, looking to try and put pressure on the Referee. Gerrard is one of the worst "exponents" of this.
It would be interesting to see how loyal some of the Reds fans are if they were to have a couple of seasons where they struggle.
To get back to the main "subject" ? personally I was glad that Yak stayed. Given that he had quite a bad injury which kept him out of the game for nearly a year, I have always felt that we should be patient. Hopefully yesterdays's game will have done wonders for his confidence. Have to disagree with Ernie (4) ? I think Lee Dixon on MOTD 2 summed it up when he said that Yakubu was outstanding.
Now hopefully he can train well and start producing that sort of endeavour every week. If he does, the goals will come and he will once again become a huge fan favourite.
Leon Osman until he was injured played with a true lion heart! He was running about like crazy, chasing every damn ball yesterday! Good on him.
Tim Cahill is magnificent in these types of games, end of!
Distin has received heaps of stick lately, but was top drawer yesterday as well.
Johnny H had a good shift as well, not dictating the game, but being damn robust and tough.
And too see Mikky edging closer to top form is really nice as well.
And of course, the Yak is getting better every game now.
My mom? Tough, real tough but i'll opt for Cahill with Distin a close second.
Ossie for best player in the first half though
The Yak is back! :-D
Obvioulsy no need....
I should also point out that DIstin was top drawer as well, an absoloute rock
More of the same next week please boys....can't wait....three points would put us just 2 behind spurs and firmly in the mix...COYB
It's not champ man, it's not all about signings and off the field activity. We need to keep hold of the Yak, at least until we acquire some real alternatives.
What a result though! Looking forward to Stoke now...
He put in a real shift for us in the derby and has been improving over the last few games. The importence of his hold up/link up play can't be overstated and hopefully some goals will be added to his game soon, he deserves them.
Ernie (4), who would you have started with up front against the shite?
A striker needs to score goals, and lots of them, or he isn't doing his job. Yes, Yakubu worked hard, but so bloody what? Did he play ANY part in our two goals? what precisely HAS he contributed to the team this season? NOTHING.
I have a soft spot for Yakubu, but theres no room for sentimentality in the modern game. get rid.
Moyes's team talk for every game with a fit Yak should be:
Feed the Yak,
Feed the Yak,
Feed the Yak and he will score....
Feed the Yak and he will score!!!!
COYB, onwards and upwards..
Speaking of Beckford, he seemed to play a hell of a lot better with the Yak alongside him than he has done in his cameo appreances so far. It'll be interesting to see if Moyes gives them some more time together in the coming weeks.
Tactics were spot on, whoever gets chance to make that first tackle then make sure to get the marker down. First minute and the Yak closes the Greek down, who collapses like his leg's been removed then low and behold it's Gerrard running to the ref to try and get the Yak booked.
Football-wise, we at last changed to beat the opposition. Quick ball to the front men, get it wide and run at them. Close them down in their own half etc etc.
It was basic stuff and neglected the passing build up we have been guilty of over indulging in. No doubt, a balance between the two formats is the way to go.
Still concerned with Heitinga, Neville showed how to be a disruptive centre midfielder with the change on 70 mins. Bily is another, I can't see where he'll fit in to the side on a regular basis. They were the negatives and were easily outweighed by the positives.
Distins challenge on Ngog summed up an impressive performance from the man.
Jags, yes he hoofed the ball and second half meant we lost possession but his defensive play was superb.
Osman gave us a good balance on the left and the quality of his play meant Pienaar was not missed in those first 45 mins.
Arteta grafted, fought and took the knocks in a way normally attributed to Cahill.
We'll need another performance like this against Spurs, rest up this week, get the injuries eased from Sunday and hope Spurs have a CL hangover from midweek.
Well played Everton, well played Moyes ? you've shown us what you can do, that's why we had hopes for this season, because we knew this side could beat anyone in the league, but it's only with this application that we can achieve the pre-season expectations.
There was a moment in the second half when we had a corner and Cahill kept tapping Carragher on the back of the head. You could see Carragher was really wound up as he kept looking to the Ref for some help. Priceless
For the second goal he did exactly what he is being praised for on this thread. He chased down a ball, held of a physical challenge from Skrtel and laid it off to Bily who won the corner. You don't score goals unless you get hold of the ball in the last third.
He may not have had the last touch, or even the penultimate touch, but without him we wouldn't have got that opportunity.
I am really pleased for Moyes and all the staff, and long may it continue.
The question now is....can he do it again next week at Spurs, the very ground where it all went wrong for him a couple of seasons ago. How fitting it would be if he scored the winner there next week, then we could all say he has gone full circle.
What a feel good factor it's been this weekend!
He's strong enough to hold the defenders off and wait for the midfield to get further up. As soon as he gets one, he'll be back to his best.
I loved it when he sent that little Kopshite flying to the floor with a Rhino-like shoulder charge!
While remaining distinctly inactive (that's my story and I'm sticking to it!) he stood a yard offside and wouldn't let Reina get a sight of the ball.
This was definitely a plan as Mikey toe poked it right at the Yak who stepped aside at the last second and whammo....burst the net!.
Absolute Genius...do you think?
However, I hold my hands up and admit I was wrong. He was my MOM on Sunday and was superb. He held the ball up and fought for every ball (apart from the last 20mins when he was knackered!).
All the other players followed Yak and Cahill by fighting for everything.
It was also important to play the ball to Yak's feet, and not 20 yards in front of him down the channels!
If only he can keep in good shape then along with a fit Saha and a speedy Beckford we may be able to start rattling in the goals more consitantly.Just been watching a very poor Blackburn and still can't figure how we were so bad against them.
Without going overboard I am lookng forward to the Spurs game at the Lane where we have had some decent results in recent times.
Mike #31 hit the nail on the head... I think all fans have a "fickle-o-metre" and we have every right to regularly change our opinions depending on what we see.
Then there's people like Ernie #4 who lock their meter on "fat useless twat" and won't budge - despite what actually happens on the pitch.
And then Jimmy #20 who forgets that the Yak is definitely not one of those players who "never scores". He has 85 Premier League goals to his name for Christ sake! If he continues playing like he did against the RS, the goals will come. Oh yes, the goals will come.
I've been proved wrong about Coleman on the right... he's doing better than Ossie or Bily have out there. I still agree with DM that he's not a long term solution there, and will take over right-back in the coming seasons.
I'm quite hopeful though, that I'm going to be proved right on keeping The Yak. Also the idea of dropping Tim Cahill (which I could never understand)... anyone suggesting that has been proved wrong. No argument about it, he's the man.
Also criticism of Beckford is ridiculous. He did exactly what was asked to him - use his pace to stretch the defenders. He certainly did that.
Moyes did this with Vaughan all the time, although I find it strange that to hold on to a lead, Moyes changes to 4-4-2 instead of 4-5-1.
Quite like it
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1 Posted 18/10/2010 at 04:14:37
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Have to give a special mention to Distin today as he was fantastic. And finally, it should now be official that Tim Cahill is an Everton Club Legend, end of.