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Reader Comments (14)

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Anthony Tully
1 Posted 15/03/2014 at 20:22:28

I think Evertonians are going to need a lot of patience till we get the Manager’s ideas across. No good screaming at the players to kick it long — it won’t happen.

Dick Brady
2 Posted 15/03/2014 at 20:30:31

At the end of the day its the points that matter and we got them.

But there’s no doubt that we made hard work of what should have been a very easy fixture. Let’s be honest we were all hoping for 3 or 4 goals before the game started.

Goal scoring remains the biggest problem. We have loads of possession but lack cutting edge to finish teams off.

Today a defender stepped up and got us off the hook but that’s not going to happen every game and Roberto needs to find a way to get the forward attacking players to score more often.

David Hallwood
3 Posted 15/03/2014 at 22:15:26

Great report Lyndon and as I didn't see the game I'll have to rely on MotD highlights. As Dick(#925) pointed out goals are a problem and the 3 in midfield should be chipping in with at least 25 goals per season, which isn't happening.

Another worry is the amount of goals that we're conceding from set pieces; our last 3 goals against in the league have all come from free kicks, which was one of our strengths last season.

Nigel Gregson
4 Posted 15/03/2014 at 22:23:14

Dick Brady - I'll be honest I was just hoping for a win. No games can be taken for granted at this point in the season - especially against teams fighting for survival. Perfectly happy holding the ball 70% of times, scoring 1 goal and not giving the opposition a sniff as long as it leads to 3 points.

Steve Guy
5 Posted 15/03/2014 at 23:19:24

At this stage of the season it's winning that matters and we did that.

John Boon
6 Posted 16/03/2014 at 00:11:04

As frustrating as Mirallas can be I always feel that he has the potential to score. He always runs with his head down and doesn't seem to know who is available around him. Also as valuable as McCarthy has been defensively I would like to see more forward passes and at least the odd goal,

I was quite impressed by McGeady. I would like to see him start a game.

Lloyd Brodrick
7 Posted 16/03/2014 at 00:21:11

It's why Lineker bothered to give that stat that bothers me, always have to be negative. Then Shearer, "Marshall didn't deserve to be on the loosing side" Yes he did! You can't leave it all to your keeper! Whilst Marshall was outstanding today his team gave up 68% possession.

But for a superb Marshall and a dive by Campbell that was a 5-0 drumming.

Nigel Gregson
8 Posted 16/03/2014 at 00:53:48

@PatrickMurphy - I was thinking about exactly that (as you know I like my stats). I'll look into this further as I think that this is quite an amazing stat (numerically speaking - of course I'd love for us to score more often in the first half ...)

@Llyod - nail - head - Not to mention that clear penalty on Delafeou in the first half that wasn't given, which was conveniently ignored by everyone.

Lloyd Brodrick
9 Posted 16/03/2014 at 01:25:12

In comparison to 28 games last season.
We have won 14 compared to 11
Drawn 9 compared to 12
Lost 5 equal to 5 last season
scored 40 compared to 44
conceded 28 compared to 35 at this stage last year
Goal diff +12 compared to +9
51 points compared to 45.
It's going very well and its all in our hands.

Paul Smith
10 Posted 16/03/2014 at 02:01:20

I'm sorry but I've just watched another virtual testimonial performance which lacked both urgency and bite which is now becoming the norm instead of a surprise.

Ajay Gopal
11 Posted 16/03/2014 at 04:32:53

Nice comparison, Lloyd, much appreciated. On the the balance, for the games played so far, I would say we are where we deserve to be in the league. We were unlucky in a few games (last minute Chelsea goal), but on other occasions we got lucky as well. Most of us have been predicting a big win for quite some time under Martinez, but that hasn't happened. Like last year, we are scraping out single goal margin wins most of the time. Next season could be the one where everything clicks into place and the signs are looking promising.

David Ellis
12 Posted 17/03/2014 at 11:09:05

We dominated. We did n't always do that in the past. We could have blown it...but we didn't. McGeady looked useful. Mirallas was frustrating. Defence from set pieces was dodgy. Putting Naismith out wide was a mistake that I thought we had learned not to do.

Happy with the points to be honest. Was not expecting anything different than a narrow win. We did create the chances today so not so concerned about that as others.

With the obvious caveat mentioned at length in another thread the other results went well for us - assuming (1) Liverpool do not win the title (but now they just might) and (2) the Champions League is out of reach for us (it really is methinks). But for us getting into Europe it was a great weekend. Its ours to give away now.

Geoff Evans
13 Posted 17/03/2014 at 16:30:54

When McGeady and Del Boy play regularly from the start Everton's goal threat will increase considerably. Both players are special.

Brian Burns
14 Posted 17/03/2014 at 18:17:54

Not happy with Distin's negative comments about the Europa League. That's probably the feeling in the dressing room hence average performances of late. If we do finish in the top 6, how many on here, or fans everywhere, thought we would? I'd say 20%.

The pre-Martinez regime was on the whole, negative and the relegation thing was even mentioned! I like him and think with a summer of doing things in the transfer market will shape our team to progress next season...I hope!

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