Season 2011-12
The Mail Bag
Stick with a winning formula!
16 Comments: This season, Everton have been losing too many games, and have never quite found that winning formula that has been there in the past. One of the reasons for this is the constant change of the first eleven squad. The experimenting needs to stop; I think Moyes has enough information now to pick the ones who are in form, and leave the others who are not out.
Vellios, Stracqualursi, and McAleny have been tried and tested on different occasions and have never been played consecutively. Only Saha and Cahill have been given enough chances up front in the hunt for a winning formula. Though Saha and Cahill have failed to score, Vellios on his own has 3 goals thus far, but he has not been included amongst that first eleven for a long time now.
"Never change a winning team" is the saying, and quite rightly so. But David Moyes has not found that winning side yet, and he changes the strikers every other match, it seems.
One constant with teams in good form, like Tottenham for example, is that the midfield and the strikers stay the same in every match, after finding that first victory.(Even the defenders should stay the same.)
After the Wigan game Vellios should have started along with Drenthe, but they have not been afforded the chance to do that. It was only after Drenthe and Vellios came on we looked likely to score, so why not stick with them for 5-10 matches in a row, and then see where that leaves you?
Moyes seems afraid to stick with the same team unless they include the names Tim Cahill and Louis Saha. Why is that? Now is the time to stick with those who have been in form during games, and who have scored goals or made assists; leave the under-performing players such as Saha and Cahill on the bench. The only way we can get to that 40-point mark is by finding and sticking with that winning formula, even if that excludes Cahill and Saha.
David Moyes, It is time for you to be brave and trust those who have performed so far this season.
By sticking with out-of-form players, you are setting the team up for failure, and perhaps even relegation.
Jimmy Sorheim, Posted 16/01/2012 at 14:11:49
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Anyway Moyes has to try and adopt because the game is just passing him by now.
Generally Moyes' changes are born out of necessity. He sees the players day in, day out and he knows who he trusts. Others get a look in because we have a paper thin squad. If they have a bright 10 mins the the mob want them in the starting XI.. It's disrespectful really and naive to think that you can appraise a player better than Moyes from 10 mins on the TV or because they chased more lost causes than Louis Saha.. Hence I've tried to avoid these selection themed posts because they are generally subscribed to by kids and FF Managers... Bloody hell Jimmy, you lured me in!!!
the only Silva that Billy could be likened to is the Lone Ranger's horse which was put down about 30 years ago.
I also think Tim Cahill looked a lot better gainst Villa in his MF role so would stick with him.
Saha seems to have forgotten where the net is by not getting into goalscoring positions often enough and for missing great opportunities when they come his way.
For now I would play big Vic with Velios and keep putting balls into the box with the whole team playing further up the pitch and showing more spirit than they have in recent home games.
Jimmy the experimenting done not to stop but you need to look a bit closer to home mate.
To that point, based on glimpses of quality, fans on this site have over the years clamoured for everyone from Osman, to Jose Baxter to Bily to Drenthe to get more playing time and yet each one of these players has been vilified by the majority of fans after Moyes actually gave them a bit more playing time.
I have a coaching license myself (granted, it is a very very low level compared with Moyes) but I seen mediocre players who can't hit a barn door all week somehow fluke a goal at the weekend only to give the unsuspecting fans the impression that the fluke was a sign of their real quality. If Bily, Vellios, Drenthe etc were as good as some people think then why did no one else sign them? More to the point, why is no one bidding for any of them now?
It is not as if we have the ability to rebuff offers. I can only conclude that, based upon daily interaction with the squad, that the team Moyes sends out actually represents his best line-up. I know, it is depressing isn't it? But maybe it's time to accept it instead of getting our hopes up when the next Kieran Agard wins Reserve Player of the Year, or the next 16-year-old Baxter or Barkley makes a promising debut before settling into medocrity.
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514 Posted 17/01/2012 at 14:05:21
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I think Moyes' hand has been forced with his starting XI for most games with injuries, but the midfield and defence looked the right options for Villa so its only Cahill I'd replace for the Blackburn game. This position is key for Saha to play well and I'd have Bily play there for the first time ever!! Not as much running required as the flank and a place where his ball control and passing will come to the fore. He could be like a David Silva in that position, though a David Silva with a belly full of Yorkshire pudding.