Blues fail after fantastic start

All-in-all, a very good performance, but just not our day.

I thought Vellios did more than enough in the 15 minutes he was on to justify a starting role soon.

We're carrying Naismith and Hitzlsperger (due to injuries) and Jelavic (due to form and a quality replacement).

The chase is still on for fourth though.

It's the end of a tough run so let's see what January brings us.

Horribly disappointing though. Let's bounce back with a win at Newcastle. We also need to invest in another right sided mid/winger. Naismith looked very limited again.

Baines, Pienaar and Osman were excellent though. Everything we did today came from them.

Don't know what's wrong with Jelavic lately, he's missing chances he would have buried last season. Vellios looked dangerous when he came on and should be getting more opportunities, but Barkley looked out of sorts and off the pace.

Let's look forward to the new year now, if its the same as the last few seasons then Jan to May is normally our best half of the season.

IMWT! COYB! NSNO!!!!

Same old story: not putting the chances away and late substitutions having no real effect. Very much a throw of the dice as once again we have no Plan B.

Ross gave the ball away a couple of times so I won't be expecting to see him getting any more game-time.

Well we are 6th at the halfway point and maybe we can push on in the second half and push Spurs and Arsenal for 4th. It's a tall order without some reinforcements, ie, keeper, striker and creative midfielder. Two or three loan deals are a must if are to have any chance and that ingredient (luck) that we have been a bit short on so far.

Still, 2013 and all to play for... COYB.

Fine margins; you have to take your chances and keep an eye on Fat Frank.

Personally I felt quite proud of the way our team played and put Chelsea under so much pressure with such a depleted team. Distin had a fabulous match and did not deserve to be on the losing side. We lacked that one killer pass but hit the woodwork three times and forced top saves from Czech in the first half and one from Turnbull in the second.

I cannot wait to see our best team back to full fitness as we will be a match for any team. Anichebe had a fine first half and tired a bit late on. Velios had a decent cameo when he came on but Barkley looked raw and a bit overawed. It's pretty obvious why DM has not put him on more often.

We do not have adequate replacements for Mirallas or Osman nowadays. Oviedo may come good but I'm not convinced just yet. Jags is not a fullback but tried manfully, he was missed in the centre of defence as Heitinga, although playing better than recently, was totally overshadowed by the excellence of Distin.

With a full squad, we have no-one to fear in the league and it was great to see Mirallas and Fellaini sitting watching the game and Pip watching from the stand with his son. Our team spirit is excellent and it's a crying shame that Moyes has no real money with which to add to his squad.

Hitzlsperger, Heitinga and Naismith are all substandard for my money. Anichebe is strong and purposeful but lacks real passing ability and close ball control. Vellios looks a good prospect and Jelavic just needed a semblance of luck to hit the net instead of the woodwork with his two fantastic efforts... especially the header!!

All-in-all, a very creditable performance from a shadow Everton team against a very good Chelsea side.

That's just a cliche.

We had more chances and more of the ball.

The difference today was just down to luck.

If Jela's free kick or header had gone in instead of hitting the woodwork we would have won IMO.

I am really proud of the lads today particularly as it was a scratch side and kudos to Moyesy for the way we were organised and motivated.

Very unlucky and we played well today. Upcoming fixtures should be winnable. Get healthy, push on, and top 4 by end of January.

Given at least 4 first teamers were out I thought the overall performance was spot on. Can't point the finger at anyone in particular with regards to the goals we conceded also.

One thing I will say though: it is clearly evident that Hitzlsperger and Naismith are not good enough; the sooner two of Fellaini/Gibson/Mirallas – even Neville! – are back the better.

I hope Barkley starts against Newcastle on Wednesday.

COYB

Just seen the goofy sewer rat has scored a second... Twats... No doubt 2013 is going to be "their year" now they are 2-0 up against the might of QPR.

There is no point making subs for the sake of it if you end up weakened by doing so. Look at our bench to theirs, enough said. Let's give some praise for an excellent performance instead of slagging Moyes off but that wouldn't be right for some people, would it?

If we had won that game, Moyes would be praised to the rafters.

We lose... but he's blameless.

Just sayin...

But overall can you be disappointed? With the loss of course, but the game itself, the effort... no. I think we were simply unlucky and we played well.

Overall, it was a really good performance given we had four starters out and the defeat was unlucky. Does any team hit the woodwork as much as Everton?

Didn't think Ossie was as good as some are making out. He was out-muscled and out-paced by their midfielders at times and was caught in possession at least a few times. Not saying he was bad, just that he was not as good as he has been in some games this season.

Jelavic fluffed one great opportunity and got caught offside a couple more times than he should, but he very nearly scored twice and was really unlucky on about half a dozen occasions that the ball was behind him or the cross was over-hit when he was in excellent positions. What do people think dropping him will achieve? Just more likely to make him frustrated / anxious when he is on the pitch.

Ross Barkley passed once to no-one and was dispossessed too easily on another occasion which led to a break they should have scored from. However, apart from that he looked comfortable on the ball, capable of running with it and looking to play others in, and won a fair few tackles. Not the complete load of crap that some are claiming.

Tim Howard did nothing wrong today and yet there are still people saying a new keeper is an urgent priority.

Just shows that people will cling to the flimsiest of evidence to prove their pet theories.

There was no massive drop off in our play as we still managed to fashion some good opportunities, although they had a few good break-out opportunities as well. pretty much the most that you would expect against a top team in that position.

a - Mark fresh air?
b - Mark an opposition player?

watch the replay as the ball floats over him stood marking fresh air in the middle of the box and Fat Frank jumps completely unmarked for a free header and goal.

I missed my 1st game of the season today as on my hols, so had to watch from a pub in Aberystwyth but from what I saw we played well with a weakened team and didn't deserve to lose.

It's fair to say I'm gutted* that but for the wood work we could (should) have won that game. Piss poor defending cost us again and the lack of quality in the squad exposed - please give Moyes some dosh in Jan Kenwright, don't fuck up another opportunity - it could be our last for many a year.

* Totally pissed off and banished upstairs away from the kids.

Hitzlsperger lost him for the second, giving Jags the impossible task of marking two. He got caught in the middle of the two and could only recover enough to spoon it into Mata's path.

Do you log on just to have a pop at Moyes - your comment "dithering Dave"? Does it get you going when we lose so that you can slag off the manager - the good thing is though, I bet Moyes has had you gagging at the keyoard quite a bit this season!!!!

Did you watch the game? All of it? We hit the bar, the post (twice) plus a couple of chances just wide - is that Moyes fault? We dominated a lot of the game but were just unlucky but I'm guessing that aint what you want to hear!!! What the fuck was Moyes supposed to do with kids on the bench? We are not Chelski, so please do not talk about sticking some young kid on who the likes of Lampard will shred - almost a 3rd goal when Barkley gave the ball away!!

We played well and will still give 4th place a go. Fuck, that was Chelsea who just walked away with 3 lucky points claiming it was one of their toughess games this season and also admitting that they road their luck!!

I tell you if Moyes walks then you will see the shit hit the fan, so fucking hang about, I will love to read your post match comments then.

I thought we matched them all over the park, so it kinda drives a coach & horses through the theory we have a paper thin squad.

Valiant effort all round and a good game, no blame for anyone concerned.

I am inclined to believe you are having a laugh.

We needed to put their reserve keeper under more pressure than he got.

I'm fed up with Moyes blind loyalty to Naismith. No way does deserve a start. A spell in the reserves is needed for him, way off the pace yet again today.

And I wish Abramovich would hurry up and fuck Lampard off. This twat always scores against us.

Lets stick with Naismith then who makes no mistakes, maybe thats cos every time he recieves the ball he runs back 10 yards then gives the ball back to a defender. Or Anichebe who's good at erm ..........

We played well today and deserved more from the game.

No-one has said we couldn't get a performance out of 18 or so players but that is still pretty low numbers for a squad.

Don't forget that Hitzlsperger was a late acquisition and most likely temporary. The jury is still out on 4 or 5 players at least in terms of long-term usefulness, and some of our oldsters will really be hitting 'the wall' in a couple of months.

Naismith was crocked and Hitz shoulda come off for an attacking player much earlier when we looked to be dragging.

?? No?

That'll do for me.

I thought Naismith was at fault for the first though. Poor.

Too many players out today though. Oviedo should start.

But as Michael said, had we drawn it then it's likely that same people would have praised the substitutions. Were they that late really?

I'll take that part back.

I don't quite understand this perennial preoccupation with 'positives' and 'negatives'. The world is real: it includes good things and bad. It's called 'life'. I would respectfully suggest that those who seek to shut out one and focus only on the other are a little lopsided, to say the least.

And yet we played some good stuff, gave them a run for their money, were unlucky with a couple off the woodwork and a few other near misses and chances.

I thought Anichebe played very well. Really chased, put himself about, had some good touches and layoffs. Naismith certainly not as bad as some on here are saying until he tired later. Distin very good despite a few frights later on. Baines his usual form. Peanuts very good. Osman good though up against a fast, class midfield. Howard did little wrong.

So why the negativity from some on here! Deserved a draw. Proud in defeat. Come on the barcodes.

We didn't deserve to lose, but we didn't exactly do enough to win. That's football.

Si #963, I think it's disingenuous to claim we had a 2nd XI out there. We were maybe 2 players short from what you could expect. You should also bear in mind that Fellaini doesn't tear it up every match he plays anyway - and prior to today we'd won 2 of the 3 he was suspended from.

I'm cathartic about it. 6 points from the 9 available that Fellaini was missing from doesn't look too bad. Especially when set against our spate of draws recently.

We are shipping far too many goals. KITAP1 is obviously out of the window, but we're not a team that can be guaranteed to outscore the opposition (thankfully, too old for that!)

So T'webbers, why are we suddenly so fragile at the back?

All you ever read on these boards is we have very thin squad, no chance of 4th etc. because we have no back up.

I think we have as much depth, if not more than Spurs let's say. Proven by the fact we were missing 5 first teamers (I forgot to add Hibbo) and still had quality such as Oviedo on the bench.

To reiterate, that's half of our first choice outfield missing, and we at least deserved a draw today against the European Champions.

Not too bad a squad at all!

In a balanced world, Everton win and Moyes gets the parise; Everton lose and Moyes gets the blame.

There's nothing inherently wrong with that... unless you are someone who is "always seeking the positives" and cannot handle anything 'negative'. That's where the lack of balance comes in. But something tells me I'm probably wasting my time here...

I want Ross to be a success, but given the choice, the German starts for me. Ross is likely to cost a goal as much as create one at the moment. If he plays it can't be in the middle. Distin bailed him out big time today.

Lately Pienaar's form hasn't been good but this is a strange game to have a go at him after. A few people seem to be bringing out comments that may have been appropriate a game or two ago, but aren't really up to date. Ossie wasn't outstanding today, though he has been lately, and Tim Howard has noticeably improved in the last few games though his knockers are still desparate to get shut. Naismith did okay, working hard if not dazzling, and may still work out as a squad player.

Ross Barkley misplaced one pass (glaringly) and got dispossed too easily on another occasion (he didn't actually have that many options with about 8 of our players upfield of him and 3-4 Chelsea players closing him down) which probably no worse than every other midfielder who played for us today. He could be said to have been a little bit unfortunate to have been played when the team was really under pressure to make something happen. Apart from that he won and kept possession pretty well, and looked capable and positive on the ball. His mistakes, however, will be enough for the ultra-conservatives to banish him to the reserves for a couple more years to learn how to be perfect.

However, I have seen some comments today, especially in the live forum, that were negative in the extreme and of the "I told you so" variety.

Same for Jelavic, Naismith (only good enough for Scottish football apparently), Howard and Anichebe (both of whom made valuable contributions today). Some people only seem to notice the headline stuff that happens on the pitch.

Agree that Hitz has enough quality to do a job for us (though he definitely should have stuck with Lampard for their second).

I think you're doing him a slight disservice when you state that he misplaced one pass: it was aimed at Jeli to come short and give back but jeli being a striker rather than a midfielder, didn't read it.

The second error however .... Lampard had too much know how for him.

As to what our "perfect" XI is, I'm sure we'd all disagree. Suffice to say I don't think it's unreasonable to say as soon as we do lose 1 or 2, we're down to the bare bones. Not quite as bad as a couple of seasons ago when some of the bench needed a note from their mother...

What seems obvious to me is that some players can be largely average but people only seem to notice the things that work for them, whereas others can be generally good but if they make a few mistakes that is what people fixate on.

As Col states above the most important thing is to keep having faith and playing well and hopefully get 3 points at an out-of-sorts Newcastle team. We're very much in the chase for Champions League though I suspect we will need a few additions and better luck with injuries (not to mention referees and woodwork) to make it over the line.

Get Coleman, Fellaini, Gibson and Mirallas into that team today and we should be looking good and a match for anyone.

We were unlucky at times today but some of the players out there are just not good enough. The Hammer is not a Premier League player anymore and neither is Naismith. Both of them were goosed after an hour and both of them were crap as well. It needs freshening up even if it's with those on the bench as it's like we are taking to the pitch with 9 men every game.

Newcastle is a must-win or we are defo out of the 4th place race... God help us if we end up in the useless Europa Cup as well.

Its really all down to money and we are punching miles above our weight and I am proud of the squad Davey has built.
If the man has some financial support then this team can shake all the top four.
If he has to rely on the flimsy squad we have then it will just be effort that wins us games.

I would love to see Mirallas, Felli and Gibson back plus either Hibbert, Neville or Coleman to choose a right back from and then Im sure we will carry the fight for 4th up to the end of the season.

FFS we shook Chelsea up and very nearly turned them over with a shadow side.
Im so proud to be an EVERTONIAN.

But, I agree with an earlier comment think it was round the 60 min mark It was clear Naismith was struggling and couldn't get near the ball why could Moyes not see this and act first by making a positive sub he is so predictable with his subs and left it far too late and after we went behind to try and change it.

A little moan in an otherwise Good day.

I would also hope that those fans constantly berating Moyes for not picking young Barkley to start games might understand why. He is a young boy learning his trade and needs time to adjust, which I hope he does and I am sure when he is ready then Moyes will play him.

He should of been dropped long ago. People will point to his goal record from last season and say he will come good. Sorry, no. To many chances missed. Again. Everyone slates Heitinga for his performance well Jelly is equally as bad if not worse.

Fortunately only 2 of them have turned the corner - SO FAR.

6th is our real target but the impending "Moyes thing" with it's uncertainty provides all the excuses under the sun for trouble at mill.

The ball just fell to Chelsea, whereas when we got balls in or when the ball rebounded it didn't end up in our feet.

I thought we gave them a real go, and with the players missing- (Fellaini, Mirallas, Coleman, Gibson, Neville and Hibbert,) they did really well
We deserved a draw but Chelsea had more chances so I think they edged it.

Looking forward to the next game, if we can play that well with so many players out then I am quietly optimistic that we can get some good results with players like Fellaini and Coleman back.

We missed the pace of Mirallas and the strength of Fellaini. You can't knock Osman when the forwards aren't making the ball stick, or are not working the channels.

Frustrating as fuck.

Agree with just about all your observations apart from the Hammer. He's missed a lot of football with a serious injury but has still shown enough to warrant a contract. Hardly wasted a ball today and showed some classy touches and vision. You don't get 52 Germany caps if you're crap.

I believe that we were unlucky today. An inch here or there and a shot/header is over the line.

In your world you want to praise Moyes' selections and tactics if we get a favourable bounce, but criticise him if we don't. Same selections, same tactics, changed outcome on a minor detail that is out of his control.

Today was a good performance, so Moyes and the players deserve credit regardless of the fine margins that decide victory or defeat.

Barkley was a liability and showed why Moyes doesn't play him.

Vellios did a very decent job in the short time he got, he should have come on a little sooner for me. Maybe Moyes can start using Vellios instead of Jelavic for a while, put Jelavic on the bench and let him come on in the 60th min.

Next game we get Fellaini back, but we are still left with the same problem, we score very few goals and concede every game we play. Moyes does not seem to care about the defence, if he did he would have tried Duffy by now.

The one positive thing from this game was the fact that Barkley and Vellios got a little playing time, which was long overdue. Mirallas and Gibson worry me, it seems they are both injury-prone and stay out for a long time when they do get injured. That is something that needs to be looked at, a specialist is looking at Mirallas, but I think the same is needed for Gibson if we are to get him back soon.

Fellaini would have made a big difference today, and the loss should be placed on his shoulders because of his headbutting.

Other than that, I think something bad is looming in the squad: Jelavic and Heitinga are off pace and I think Moyes and his contract thing is starting to affect more and more players. Howard has been in the forefront of addressing this issue, so no wonder he is playing badly.

I think many of the first team players know Moyes so well that they know he has other plans. Though I do not care if he signs or not, the situation should be addressed, and there should be plans for who the players and manager wants as the new boss.

CL will be difficult to get, we need more players with real quality; right now, we are skin and bones.

Hopefully with Fellaini, Gibson and Kevin back in the side, we can get back to winning ways against Newcastle.

Naismith ran a great furrow down the right and won a few good headers. Hitzleberger is looking more match-fit with every game and beginning to show his class. Even old Victor made a real old nuisance of himself.

Just guted that, again, we couldn't keep a clean sheet. Two individual errors for their goals - Heitinga fell asleep for the first and Jags screwed up a clearance for the second. Both preventable and need to be eradicated if 4th is to be attained.

Now it is critical to bounce back with a positive result against Newcastle.

It's only about the money and we haven't got any.

I don't even get upset anymore.

Anyway, five winnable games coming up: Newcastle, Swansea, Southampton, WBA, Villa.

Every game is winnable but most teams would tend to think that this season.

The team as a whole played really well and I'm confused when Moyes should have made his dithering substitutions ? 30 seconds before Jelavic's terrific header that hit the bar instead of putting us 2 - 1 ahead, or two minutes later just before Chelsea stole it.

Bottom line is Chelsea got out of jail and we should have had the points today.

On the rumour mill at the moment is Heitinga going to fund a bid for Lescott with a loan deal for Milner or Sinclair on the cards Next one is Neville missed the game as he is going to be named Blackburn Manager.

On we march

Waited for MOTD2 to finish and was going to watch Sports Relief 2012, and lo and behold a Frank Lampard feature is on, now my telly isn't.

I can see the Neville thing being true, maybe he only came back against Wigan to complete his 500 Premier League games. Perhaps he could do us a favour and sell us that Scottish striker for a fiver!

If Lescott is going to be in the region of 8m+, I think even if we were flush with money that would be a big gamble.

Either Milner and Sinclair would be welcome, but someone said that Sinclair won't be elligible due to 2 clubs in a season rule.

Besides all that Moyes has re-itterated that we are not going to be in the market for new players.

That's why you don't earn £3.5 million a year.

Ridiculous comment fella. He played very well today

Short version; Everton 1- Lack of squad depth(cash) 2.

On the one hand; due to LofSD we have to carry 2 players, Heitinga and Jelavic whose form is abysmal. 2 players who lack deep match fitness and stamina, Hitz and Naismith. Osman is in the form of his life but fades every 2nd half He's a very good ballplayer who gets into positions but can't shoot. Anichebe who has attitude problems. These will do just for starters. But nobody had a bad game / stinker everybody hit or improved on their average form for the month.

On the other hand; I give you Frank Lampard, some say all he did was ' score 2 goals ' bearing in mind he isn't even a forward and has scored more (from midfield) than ANY Everton player since Dixie.

Look and also listen again, he was always getting a mention doing the simple thing getting it giving it....All he did was score 2 goals???

Chelsea are thinking he is not good enough for them now. Thats what decent squad depth does for a team. It helps them, so long as they put in the effort and don't roll over to win games like Sundays.

The boys dun good....close, but no cigar.

This match won't decide top four... and neither will Newcastle. Spurs and Arsenal look good at the moment, and have very good teams... but they both have confidence issues, and will get tired with the extra European football they have to play. We will go back into the top four this season, but to stay there, we must bring some people in in January.

I think our subs did okay when they came on, had some nice touches etc... but really, we lack the ability to change a match from the bench, and we mustn't be in a position where a few injuries leave us with Victor and Naismith playing out of position in the starting 11.

Also, I don't think it is fair to judge Barkley on that performance. He is a very young and inexperienced, and the match was played at an incredibly high tempo. I think we should loan him back out after the FA Cup personally for a little more first team experience though, as he won't benefit from the odds and ends he is currently getting.

Also... if Lampard does leave Chelski, well, I think we should jump at the opportunity to get him in. Still has a season left in him, and is one of the most natural goal-scoring mids in the world.

As I said before, it was an unjust result. We took on a very good Chelski team with a lot of injuries, and outplayed them for large segments of the match. These consistent performances against the top teams also bode well for the FA Cup I think (hope).

Jim #099 Lampard ONE season left in him? I think he might have 3, 4 or more. His Dad was a terrific stayer. I'd have him in a second, though wages and moving north of the Watford Gap seems to put off a lot of these Cockneys. My bet is he'll end up back at West Ham and in 3 years he'll be getting them promoted again.

DM's got a player guaranteed to score while Jelavic feels like he has been disciplined has he?

So we continue with Jelavic who is looking jaded and according to my Rangers friends he is a goal poacher and does nothing more than puts the ball in the back of the net. (Anyone remember the Yak?) Now we have him playing out wide and coming back for corners. Moyes's record with strikers is there for everyone to see.

I was hoping for some smarts from Moyes, we had a depleted side and we knicked a goal in the opening minutes. I for one would have enjoyed a backs-to-the-wall 1 - 0 win with all hands to the pumps. We pressed forward for a second and left ourselves open at the back. How many games is it since a clean sheet?

I point to our record against the top 6 sides and so far we have a 1 - 0 over Man Utd. I think we are a top six/five side and can get into the Europa League but that's not where the money is so why bother?

The football is nice to watch but, if you're not scoring goals, we need to ask why... and then look at our tactics. How many sides have we hit on the break? They all get back and we have a wall of defenders to contend with. It's no surprise that we get lots of possession and the football is very pretty and joined up but the chances we create are not clear-cut. The very few clear-cut chances we do get have been fluffed (Osman v Stoke; Fellaini v WBA; and the Jelli one yesterday to mention a few). It all points to us being just that little bit short on real quality when it counts.

Don't know what to make of this game. On the preview I said that victory certainly wasn't vital to finishing fourth, but now that we've lost... I don't know. I feel really down about it. I don't understand everyone saying how good the team played. I think we probably were unlucky not to win as we were slightly better than them, but they were dreadful compared to how they've played the last month or so.

Baines was good against a club that might want him - don't know if that's a good thing or not. However, I do think he's been drinking from Arteta's old water bottle as his free-kicks regularly hit the wall, and his corners aren't inspiring much confidence.

I think also, the players need significant shooting practice before the Newcastle game. I can recall a handful of shots from Jelavic, Osman, and others I can't recall when the only thing missing was the placement of the shot.

I suggest you open your eyes and watch the game for yourself.

Oviedo is about as two footed as Arjen Robben.

And yes, Jelavić is a poacher but he also has a tremendous work ethic. Your Rangers mate doesn't know what he's on about.

I feel that Jelavic is probably knackered, simply because of the sickness he had and didn't train for a week, since then we have played two games a week. It sounds like nothing to us but we are talking about professional athletes at the peak of their fitness.

I would rest him against Cheltenham and hopefully we will see the "first touch" maestro return.

On another day, Jelavic could have had his hatrick but with the coaching Moyes and the boys are giving him, he's shooting 6 inches too close to the goalkeeper, hitting his free kicks 6 inches too close to the posts and putting his headers 6 inches to high. Bloody coaches.

Roman, I'd like to think they looked dreadful because we played well and made it look that way?

People slaughtering Hitzlberger as well, need to watch him a bit more and see he rarely wastes possession and has good vision. He is well worth a short term contract with options.

Still, there will still be people wanting Cahill and Donovan back so they can have a bumper payday for two months during their close season.

I can't understand anyone questioning Jelavic; he was outstanding yesterday. He looked back to his best and on another day would have had 2 or 3. Only a matter of time for him now...

Special mentions to Distin, Osman and Pienaar — superb performances. We've played worse than that and won. Let's go to Newcastle now and put that smug cunt Pardew in his place. Footballing lesson indeed... dickhead!

With 5 first team players out we did pretty good but it's still points dropped at home, and no Gibson for a month... :(.

We can get 13 points from the next 5 games, and will need to, and start a cup run... or not...

I am assuming the player is fit, but I think I would send him on holiday for a week, chill, relax and reflect on the facts as I see them which are he is a deadly finisher,works really hard for the team and then remind him that form is temporary and class is permanent. He has that knack of being in the right place at the right time which has temporarily deserted him just now, but will be back. Peanut has been enduring a difficult spell, but his workrate has been immense and the signs are that he may be finding that elusive form that we all love and admire.