The Mail Bag
The Pain Continues
Comments (23)
Having finally collected my thoughts on today's performance, I am beginning to wonder whether I watch the same game as Moyes. I'm confused constantly by his decision making either in initial team selection or when trying to change things. Does he think last weeks performance warranted an unchanged team today?
At the moment Arteta is stinking the place out, although I have to say today he was a little better. If he is to retain his place what about pushing him out wide right or left? Rodwell is touted as one of Englands best prospects yet he can't get a game in a midfield that is clearly misfiring big time.
The wins against City and Spurs unfortunately are papering over the cracks in Moyes's tactics. I'm also thinking that if he is going to stick with 4-4-2 he needs to start playing Coleman at right back. Neville offers nothing going forward in support of a midfield 4. Today he was poor, is the Tottenham talk affecting him?
Why did Moyes take off Beckford at half time? Lots of people seem unsure about him but he constantly gets in scoring positions, he makes good runs but rarely gets the right ball played to him. Taking him off at half time will damage his confidence and also appears to make him a scapegoat for the teams failings. I'm sorry but last time I checked the most important thing to do is to keep a clean sheet! (How many this season?)
Distin is immense after his shaky game v United, Heitinga is a better passer from defence than Jagielka although he passed it straight out twice today, Baines is playing really well, Neville is ok defensively, but weak going forward, Howard is a great shot stopper but has dropped a few clangers this season. Collectively there is something wrong we need to start keeping clean sheets.
Osman is a squad player and nothing else. He is talented but to lightweight to hold down a regular place, today Moyes makes 3 substitutions yet Osman plays the full 90. Go figure? Is it me, an Evertonian of 40 years, through good,bad and awful, or does Moyes know best and should never be questioned (as per Sharpy on the City phone-in, and all the other Moyes apologists)
andy roberts, Posted 22/01/2011 at 20:22:51
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Arteta used to be one of my favourite players but any fondness is being quickly driven away. He was shocking today and if I never saw him play for us again I would be pleased at present. Horrible dead balls. horrible from open play. Why take corners and free kicks if you know you are shit at them?! He needs to be dropped and I don't care who for.
Arteta was crap. Never thought I'd hear myself saying that but he was. He needs to spend some time on the bench... maybe it'll shake him up a bit.
Thank god for Fellaini MotM.... What the hell is going on?
Why the media haven't picked up on this is beyond me.
Yes OFFENSIVELY he's great BUT
Defensively (his prime job), the guy is w**k. I'm still FUMING he behaved like a 5 yr old girl last week vs the shite for Merieles goal (why has no one mentioned this???? If u can't take a ball in the face then F**k off) and today he lost his man for Spectors goal
Does Bains KNOW how to defend? The guy is a wind up (he was crap against Man Ure too when 2 crosses came from his side cos he refused to close down)
Provide better analysis please Sir
I don't know why Osman was in the team and what exactly he did or was supposed to do in the game. He definitely has the class of a Conference player. We should offload him to free up some wages.
Anichebe. Where was he playing exactly? As a striker or in left midfield? I saw him in the first half and he looked like he just ran a marathon. He is built like a tank and yet he has the mileage of a car bound for the scrap heap. Again, we should sell him.
Why did Moyes not start with Bily and Gueye? Apart from Baines and maybe Coleman, Bily is the ONLY player who has the confidence and technique to crack one in from range. Why pay so much money for him when we are not going to play him?! He is a Russian international and he is not good enough for a starting berth?
With Pienaar gone and us playing a basement club, it was the perfect stage for Gueye to impress. Sadly, he never had the chance to get some premier League experience under his belt. I feel sorry for the poor lad. He should have joined the Shite. At least he would have gotten some decent time under that slimeball Dalglish. Joining Everton could be a career-ending move for him. No young footballer deserves this kind of abuse.
Phil Neville was poor as a rightback and offered nothing as a wingback. The first goal we conceded Coleman had to sprint back to track his man when it was SUPPOSED to have been done by Neville. All too often we saw Coleman isolated near the byline and Neville was always at least 50 yards behind him. Absolutely no support for his winger!
The passing of the team was laboured. 10-15 yard passes in midfield with little end product and the player with the ball often had NO players in support to pass it to. Where is the basic 'pass and move'? When professionals cannot even apply such basics, the the manager and the coaching staff have to take the blame.
Moyes can take a taxi! I don't mind paying for his fare!
Moyes says we are desperate for a striker and we're looking for a loanee-but admits this will be a gamble.
therefore, why did he then loan one of the the league's all time leading scorers to a championship club, and in doing so leave us with anichebe and beckford upfront on sat-neither which are anywhere near his quality.
who are we going to get in on loan at the moment that would have been better than the yak?
can anyone else explain that one.
I don't get the Yak situation either. He seemed to get dropped after playing well in the Goodison derby.
EFC defy logic this season - we are a mess.
Arteta should be ashamed with his performances yet Moyes is apparently not brave enough to shake things up.
Screw the egos in the dressing room.
I think we can (just) scramble enough decent players together from our squad to stay up - but it's going to take some hard decisions / leadership.
Give Bily a run, with midfield of Fellaini, Rodwell and Coleman. Beckford needs 70 mins(min), not 45.
Without major investment we are doomed.
Once the Mersey millionaires we are now nigh on the poorest club in the top division.
Bill Kenwright must now put the club up for sale.
The manger and the players are not to blame. As business cannot progress without constant investment it is as simple as that!
Sarcasm is the lowest form of wit.
And I for one do think that Andy Roberts could do a better job than moyes, because moyes is gutless and clueless, and the sooner he has the decency to walk away from this once great club of ours the better.
Given a relegation battle, from what I have seen over too many games this season, DM isn't capable of putting out a side that can win.
I've said it in another thread but here goes again:
Saha and Beckford are our best striker pairing yet DM chose Anichebe who looked like a young fat Yakubu without the goalscoring ability, then takes Beckford off???
Arteta stinks the place out week in week out, its got to be over a year since his set pieces actually beat the first man yet he still takes them, Picquionne cleared every corner unmarked
If Gueye is seriously that bad a winger compared to Osman and we are skint then WHY is he still on the books???
Fellaini MoTM by a country mile but I personally suspect that without the dismissal of Picquionne he never would have got the space for the equaliser but he covered every blade of grass and I think the only other player's job he didn't do today was the keeper.
Baines looking poor but because he was subjected to what should be known as the "fucked over by Moyes by putting Osman in front of him as a winger syndrome" the other great example of that being Tony Hibbert at the FA Cup Final, Baines doesn't have an overlapping player anymore so you'll see a lot less crosses from one of the best we have on the books unless he ignores his defensive duties and goes alone but that leaves a bloody big hole on that side.
Wonder what the excuses will be next week?
Your right Moyes is the answer to all our woes and I know jack about football! All i want is what's best for this once great club.
Seeing as he's offered more than Mikel - 2 assists in two games when he's been moved more central - how about Osman keeping his place for Arteta with Bily or the french kid to play left wing.
Against Liverpool, Beckford was withdrawn for Vaughn. Why? When has Vaughn turned a game around. A substitution just to change the team, not to change it for the better.
Only a couple of players played well over the 90 minutes but others were in and out and even Coleman had a poor game. Osman had some nice touches but far too often disappears for spells. Arteta played well but not with the intensity we have become used to and Fellaini makes too many errors.
Moyes must take the blame as he persists with the same plan. There has to be a change for next season otherwise it's more of the same old crap.
Despite all the draws we must not say we are hard to beat rather that we are not really good enough to beat any team in this league despite the odd win here and there.
I'm sick of the fact that whenever we fail to win and win handsomely the stick always goes in the same direction - ie to Leon Osman.
Last week he created Beckford's goal at Anfield by drawing three players and slipping a pass through, yesterday he helped to save a point by beating his man and whipping in the cross from which Fellaini equalised. But according to Tony J Williams (#1), he was gash.
Osman may not have been any better than anyone else but to single him out is just lazy and ridiculous.
What I saw yesterday was a well-organised West Ham with nothing to lose and a tentative Everton midfield hamstrung by the fact that whenever they passed the ball forward, Anichebe or Beckford were beaten in the air or out-muscled.
For me, taking Beckford off was the wrong choice, it should have been Anichebe, and Arteta, while improving, is still nowhere near top form. He is however, still a quality player, and the idiot behind me who derided him yesterday with a frankly racist insult should be ashamed of himself.
That was certainly too points dropped but the players certainly can't be faulted for fight or determination at the break.
It was a poor performance all round, but lay off Osman for 5 minutes, eh?
Blame Hibbert instead...
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1 Posted 23/01/2011 at 00:52:21
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