Surely Mirallas will end up there? But I agree we haven't ever satisfactorily improved the right hand side - mainly because of the loyalty and belief Moyes has always had in Hibbert, Neville and Osman , a terrible blind spot.

What I was impressed/surprised at was that Moyes made an early change to go an win the game. I hope this isn't his "told you so" moment, where he decides never ever to do it again.

There's a whole variety of options to play on the right, any of Pienaar, Naismith, Mirallas or Coleman. The Villa goal had nothing to do with the right side, Fellaini didn't come out quick enough and then Howard flapped. Likewise agianst Man Utd Hibbert was one of the best players.

Most of the time we look more vulnerable down the left with Baines bombing on all the time. This means we have to play Distin so his pace can cover Baines out of position, sadly jagielka and Distin are both the passive recovery type defenders relying on pace to get the out of trouble.

WBA's first goal yesterday doesn't happen if Heitinga is playing who's positioning is excellent. The confusion on the right yesterday was because of Mirallas coming on and no-one seemingly knowing where they were playing.

But hey, there's a good reason why only Chelsea have won their first three games in a row. We're not just going to turn over teams week after week away from home. If you miss chances like Fellaini did then you're not going to beat many teams away from home.

Poor Hibbo was 5 yards off his man and then still 3 yards away when it was crossed in. It was terrible positioning by someone who has improved considerably last year. Distin had one if those games he has too often do. Heitinga needs to return to drill the troops.

Well we have options now and I would like to see Moyes respond to a defeat by bringing in some changes - Heitinga and Mirallas perhaps.

Mirallas should end up there long term but right back is a concern. Hibberts delivery is shocking! Let's hope Coleman can step up defensively and get that slot.

I thought it was madness to drop Heitinga our real leader at the back and best defender at the start of the season and I still do.

The right side is a mess though I agree. The only time it has looked anything like Premier League quality was when Donovan was there.

I think Moyes is very loyal to Jagielka and Distin, but he should change the back four after WBA - otherwisw what is the point of strength in depth? I'd drop Distin, Osman Neville and replace with Heitinga, Mirallas and Barkley for Newcastle.

Nothing wrong with Ossie. He's been one of our best players this season and doesn't deserve to be dropped.

Only one of Neville or Hibbo should play at the same time, at right back.

I'd put Heitinga back in for Distin but I don't think Moyes was wrong to play Jags and Distin yesterday. Both played brilliantly against Man Utd and well against Villa.

I don't think Moyes got his team wrong, after a good start - but I would like to see him use his squad and send a message that there are others waiting to play if your performance drops. That's only ever good for a team.

I agree with most of that Jamie.

I do think Moyes was harsh to drop Heitinga after he was our player of the season last year. I suspect it was mainly due to him nearly being sold rather than a footballing decision. Distin and Jags offer the same thing. Heitinga needs to be in the team if we are to start playing from the back. I fully expect he will win back his place at the first opportunity but how long will that take to arrive!?

The only reason Moyes plays Distin over Heitinga is because of the physicality that Distin brings to the back to counter the tall center forwards. We would get murdered if we play 2 small center backs against physical teams like Stoke, West Ham, etc.

#239 Jamie - spot on

Poor Hibbo! He was awful when he came on, the amount of times he found himself one-on-one with their left back and chose to cross it because he lacks any abiltiy to go past a man. I thought I would never see the day Hibbert and Osman would play togehter on the right side after the Chelsea final, but Moyes allowed it to happen yesterday which cost us dearly.

It's time for everyone to wake up and admit that Moyes will win nothing for the Blues as long as he persists with the likes of Neville, Osman and Hibbert. I agree they have had their good times and I even thought Osman had a fine game against Manure but everyone did.

The problem is consistency. Yes, he has it but it's consistently average... and add that to Neville's poor tackling with a lack of speed and Hibbo's poor marking – then it adds up to a big problem.

We cannot blame Fellaini for missing one chance or Jelavic for not converting 2 or 3 half-chance headers but the selection and formation of Moyes.

Funny how managers bring on another attacker once the team falls behind? Moyes has the options now but will he use them or stick with his favourites and drag us back to the same position as last season?

Have to agree with the sentiments here, we were ripped apart down the right as soon as Odinwinge entered the fray. Hibbert was left horribly exposed all too often, indeed after Naismith went off it was very difficult to work out who if anyone was covering the ground ahead of Hibbert.

I was sure Moyes would introduce Coleman who was MotM against Orient in that very position. He of all people would have had the pace to track him and had the ability to to run at their back four truly bizzare tactics from Moyes.

In truth however we lost it in the middle if the park. We were totally disjointed once we lost Gibson. Neville and Osman were simply overrun there. The end result of this was that our defence had the jitters and our forward line never really received the telling passes to enable them to breakdown the opposing defence.

Its not as though we wern't forewarned - we were all over the place in the final 15min at Villa, again as a result of Gibson leaving the field. We should have learned from that experience. Both Neville and Osman are overly reliant on the industry of others. Like many have already pointed out the simple solution would have been to have dropped Fellini deeper as he is one of the few players who is capable compensating for the short comings of others alas it was not to be.

We desperately need the introduction of the young Belgian lad if Gibsons absence is to continue however I'm not convinced he'll get his chance as Moyes has a tendancy to stick with those he believes to be tried and trusted regrettably.

I agree Gerry, I think Moyes would have a very average performance from a safe pair of hands in the midfield, than 'risk' introducing someone like Barkley, who he thinks, it seems, is untrustworthy.

I don't think it had anything to do with the weakness on the right.

I felt the whole team was flat especially Felli who West Brom isolated very effectively.

The energy shown in our first two fixtures was sadly lacking.

Maybe Moyes being missing on transfer duty for a couple of days meant we werent prepared well enough but whatever it was our running off the ball and hold up play was poor.

I also noted we reverted to too many long balls surrendering possession.

The only person I blame for the second goal was Fellaini. Watch his efforts at tracking McCauley's run. Shocking. For all his good points he can be a lazy so and so at times

It's not the first time Fellaini has lost his man when defending a corner Ryan.

I think Howard has to take some of the blame too. He has to start smashing people out of the way to get the ball. How many times do you see a penalty given against a goalkeeper for pushing players out of the way? Hardly ever. He has to be much harder.

Sorry, that should be Colin.

The problem with Felli is when things are not going his way, he lacks motivation and loses concentration, resulting in wayward passes and clumsy tackles. Of course this all coincided with Gibson going off, and with Nev playing midfield, things just went from bad to worse. It may have been better to bring on Mirallas to right wing and leave Nev at right back, Naismith going into the centre. Also agree that we should have played Heitinga over Distin, but hey, we have the luxury of hindsight now. Moysie took a punt with his selection (and decisions) and it didn't work out. Gutted as we are with the loss, we need to dust ourselves of and look forward to the next match. Take each one as it comes.

COYB

Next game bring Ofoe in the centre with Gibson in the middle. With Fellaini playing behind Jelavic maybe? Not sure keeping Fellaini behind Jelavic will work every game though, but we need someone like Mirallas to start and give us an extra dimension.

The left side is our real strength but as everyone has said the right is where we struggle. Which is why we need to swap Mirallas for Osman, and maybe have Coleman at RB for once, they could link up on that side. Who knows?

We have a tonne of options we could try but leaving Neville in the centre with no recognised CM in the team like the game against West Brom was and is a disaster.

In my opinion Fellaini had one of his worst games in an Everton shirt on Saturday, completely out of shape (mainly to West Brom's brilliant marking) and made an abundance of errors.

I really want to see Heitinga back at CB, next to Jags. He's a fantastic leader and marker, and gives us a huge physical presence in defence (not unlike Distin though). Why he hasn't started any of the first three games is anyone's guess. Our best player last year I thought? What's the use in bringing our best defender on in the last 5 minutes of the game?

Would like to see this team against Newcastle, depending on whether Odjidja-Ofoe will be an Everton player, and Mirallas should be up to full match fitness (Gibson of course).

Howard
Coleman/Hibbert Jagielka Heitinga Baines
Mirallas Odjidja-Ofoe Gibson Pienaar
Fellaini
Jelavic

Odjadja-Ofoe should give us a lot of strength in midfield, and will contribute massively to 'counter attacking' football.

BRING HEITINGA BACK!!! he was our rock in defence last year and he loves a battle!!!

Jay Harris (308) got it right for me. Only thing I worried about before the game was Moyes having to be away from training. Nothing against Round, but assistants stay assistants for a reason.

We had chances. Didn't go in. It happens. We'll just have to start a new undefeated streak. We got the lads to do it.

COYB!

So it looks as though Distin is to become the new whipping boy at Everton? Heitinga, much more reliable would not make "so many errors" etc. I am not so sure.

It is amazing how people will focus on the "error" by a certain player and then build up a case against their inclusion. Heitinga is indeed a good player and had a very good latter part of last season and I am very glad he is a member of the squad But totally reliable? I do not think so.

If there is any defender liable to give away silly free kicks in lethal positions outside the box, I would put my money on Heitinga in addition to his ability to ratchet up the card count at a rate of knots. Of course players make the odd mistakes – it is a game played by human beings, but to single out Distin as some form of "liability" is ridiculous. The man is a superb professional, whose strength, height and speed are still an enormous asset to the team.

As someone noted earlier, teams whose strengths lie in aerial threats would lick their lips with a centre-back pairing of Jagielka and Heitinga. What would we then depend on? Fellaini to remain focussed and committed to defensive responsibilities when needed?

Again Fellaini is proving himself to be someone with real abilities, over-hyped at present I would suggest, but with real abilities. Here again, one could make out a "blinkered case" for him being at times a liability, á la Saturday v WBA, where he reverted to his earlier Everton career performances of clumsy, niggling, persistent fouling, lethargic lack of any real pace and drive — to say nothing of glaring misses which certainly contributed to the defeat, and again his own propensity for ratcheting up the card count. Do his "errors and mistakes" warrant a case for excluding him? Of course not - neither should Distin's.

Fortunately we seem to be blessed at present with a squad where "horses for courses" can apply in most (but not all) areas of the team. Jagielka, Heitinga, Distin could well rotate from time to time but could it not stem from a spirit of confidence in each of their particular attributes and the particular challenges and opportunities posed by particular teams? Rather than us making mountains out of "molehill errors" from time to time and demanding that they be either "in or out".

No offense to Hibbo/Neville, but how can we really expect men of their age and pace to keep up with a player with the quickness and speed of Odemwingie? It simply isn't possible, regardless of how well you tackle. I think against teams with the speedier wingers/forwards, Coleman has got to be in there at right back. It's the logical move and really the only move. He's 23, so if he isn't ready by now, he's never going to be. Get him in there. It also provides another potential overlap on the right with Mirallas that should be quite formidable. Hibbo is simply too slow and crosses too poorly to be effective as support. Surely I'm not being unreasonable?

The only problem with that is that Coleman's crossing is worse than Hibbo/Neville's and his defending is pretty suspect for a player who spent a whole season playing RB on loan in the Championship. Admitedly it was with Blackpool, a team not exactly known for their rock solid defence...

Peter Jones. You make Hibbert sound like an old man. I think you will find that he is no older than Odemwingie if you check. Anyway, pace is only part of the equation. Positional sense is just as important, and though he is dire in midfield, when it comes to right back I think you'll find Neville is pretty good in that respect. Just ask Gareth Bale.

We werent complaining about the back4 against Utd and Villa.

I like Johnny Heitiga but Distin/ Jags works better as a unit especially with Distin covering for Baines when he goes forward.

Our real problem is the balance in MF and getting the players motivated in every game not just one or two.

.It was obvious from the minute Gibson went off that the balance of the team was upset and while I think David Moyes is normally pretty good I think he got his substitutions wrong on Saturday.

I would have dropped Felli back as he was having a 'mare against the two big centre backs and left Neville at RB bringing Coleman (who has looked good so far this season) on instead of Hibbo.

Anthony #511, totally agree! Distin would actually be my first choice of all the centre backs. Otherwise, horses for courses.

Re Hibbert, the real question I would be asking, if Hibbert is as fast as people reckon he is, or as great a tackler as he is, is why he let Odemwinge run unchallenged along the touchline before putting the cross in? I have noticed that when he isn't flinging himself into last ditch tackles, he is quite happy to let the winger get his crosses in and transfer the problem of clearing the ball to the centre backs.

Probably because he wan't fully fit, Ray. Hence him starting on the bench.

Our left side is the weakest defensively by a long margin.

Funnily enough, Michael provided the evidence that Hibbert created more assists than Baines last year.... which was a surprise to me.

Heitinga at Right Back maybe? Pretty sure he played there for Athletico at times.

Heitinga and Distin both have their moments at CB and Johnny was pretty shocking at the Euros too.

Howard
Heitinga, Jags, Distin, Baines
Mirrallas, Osman, Fellaini, Gibson, Pienaar
Jelavic

...and then tinker with that after we get a look at Odjidja-Ofoe.