Punchy Palace stun over-confident Blues

Maybe he is carrying a knock.

Dont like Ross playing defensive mid as he is to prone to stand on the ball and not release it early.

Nevertheless if we want 4th we should get through this one.

Hope the crowd is really up for it and stays patient.

COYB

Stones can bring the ball out of defence allowing Barkley to join the attack more often. We are sure to dominate possession and it could be tough to break down Pulis' well organised defence, but with that much pace, trickery and drive coming from midfield we will be very dangerous. Very excited!!!

Martinez got it completely wrong tonight.

It's not quite over yet, Hull can do us a favour and we owe Moyes a good hiding.

Gutted.

First 10 and last 15 we were good. The rest can fuck off.

So can Lukaku if he's going to carry on playing like he has in his last 2 games.

Depressing shit this football lark.

Who'd have had a Palace win and Sunderland draw tonight?

Still scratching my head...

I feel sorry for Martinez having to deal with this bottling group of players. I genuinely thought the corner had been turned against Arsenal but clearly as soon as a modicum of pressure is applied to a match we choke. Better leave it to the real big boys hey rather than pretenders like this lot.

Embarrassing, our league campaign has fallen apart due to losses at home to Sunderland and Crystal Palace. You can only blame the players for that. Cocky and complacent when they've never won jack all for Everton in their careers. Disgusting.

Phil perhaps your pre-season prediction is correct seventh it is after all. We should know better after so many false dawns. FFS

Now we've got to just put this behind us and crack on with getting 4th. One point behind but with a better goal difference. It's still well within our sites. Tonight was an easy opportunity missed but as always with Everton if we're gonna do it then we'll do it the hard way.

Never mind, boys, we will bounce back against Man Utd. We need Jagielka back to shore up the defence.

Unlike of course the wide-eyed, gaping mouthed RS who, after winning the Title, Champions league , the World Cup , the Ashes and Grand National are planning a successful assault on the Dancing on Ice title by 2016

The players performed badly but so did we as fans so to take the moral high ground and sit here slating players when we were just as bad doesn't sit right with me. 4th place is gone. 5th will be tough. On to the next one.

They played out of their skins.

It's still on.

It's going to be hard to pick the players up but if there was any game to do it Moyes' Utd at home has got to be the tonic.

I'm sure we'll have a good go at it anyway. Even if we ONLY end the season on around 70 points, that is phenomenal for a 1st season – a season that many (including me) thought would be a season of transition...

Everton really MUST practice their corners more, both defending them and when taking them. How many goals have we scored from corners this season and how many have we conceded?

Unless we have both Mcarthy and Barry on the pitch, then we're going to concede more goals.

On the other hand, Crystal Palace were lucky with 3 of their 4 attempts going in.

Anyway, it isn't over yet. We're only one point behind the Arse with a superior goal difference....

Funny the 2 teams that have beaten us at home -1 is fighting relagation and now the second one that has beaten us is a team that has been fighting against relagation all season.

Consider arguably our last two most important home games.

Lost to Wigan in the FA Cup semi, conceding three goals and now Palace, another three conceded. Under the lights in a mid week game to boot!

The joys of supporting Everton.

Funny old game.

"We dominated the game from start to finish".

Don't know what game you where watching mate but from my view in the upper Glad they gave us a lesson in how to shut a team out.

We didn't have a shot on target in the first half, they hit the upright then went 2 up at the restart before we had a shot on target !!!!

They got it spot on while we on the other hand where shite.

We were a little unlucky tonight but ultimately the league doesn't lie and it's all very well beating Arsenal one week but if you then lose at home to palace it renders the effort slightly redundant.

More support for the argument that Lukaku is not worth anything like 25m. He was worse than Jerome tonight and some of his hold-up/ link play was atrocious.

Palace are a good side, but we should've won this one. At 3-1 down, we still could've got a result; just didn't get the luck at times. Sloppy, sloppy goals given away tho, which is the most disappointing aspect and Mirallas again frustrates (more so than Delboy).

Champions league football is gone now, I fear.... :/

The last vestige of hope I can leave my fellow blues with, is that we have won every game after a defeat this season.

Sick as the proverbial. Goodnight lads.

4th still within our grasp but three points needed off the Old Moystro this Sunday.

As for tonight's game, it just didn't work out. Some unfair criticism being directed at Roberto. He picked an attacking line up and all season people have been saying not to play two holding players in games like this.

Everything about tonight was wrong. The line up was a strange one and backfired big time on Martinez.

Three wingers, none of who seemed to want to beat their man. Mirallas in particular was woeful for most of the match and didn't seem to know where he was supposed to be playing.

Barkley off the pace and afraid of driving forward.

Baines and Coleman ineffective going forward and sloppy with the ball.

Barry exposed as he had to do his own and McCarthy's job.

Lukaku couldn't trap a back of cement. His first touch is woeful. £25m? Not on tonight's performance.

Distin with his customary sloppy lack of control gave away the throw that lead to their third.

Stones, whilst looking quality at times was too slow to close down for their third and allowed a free header for their second.

The fans. We were quiet for 90% of the game. We have become too accustomed to winning and onto he atmosphere is dead. I was sat in the Upper Bullens and, to be fair to the Palace and, they made a lot of noise fri start to finish.

One lesson in life for the younger fans, Everton always let you down. My first one was the 1977 League Cup Final and it went on from there. 1984 Milk Cup lost to the shite. 1985 FA Cup Final and the chance for a historic treble - lost to 10 mancs. 1985 and we blow the league by losing to poxy Oxford and then compound it by losing the FA cup to the shite. Roll forward to 1989 and once again we get to another final and it's another losss to the shite. Then, more recently we've had the losses to the shite once again in an FA cup semi and the surrender to Wigan at home in the quarters. I'm putting tonight's game in that bracket as it was a real chance to keep the top 4 in our own hands and we bottled it again with a naive line up and players who, when the going gets tough don't have the desire or will to give it that extra push. Say what you want about the shower from across the Park but they do have it this season and you can see why they are right up there whereas we will be the nearly men once again.

The starting line-up was a shocker....McCarthy would be the first name on my team sheet every week. The frequency with which Barkley loses possession is less dangerous when the wall of Barry and McCarthy play behind him.

The Barkley-McGeady-Deufelou axis was awful...they can barely tackle a fish supper between the lot of them. The Spaniard doesn't seem to even know the meaning of the phrase "tracking back".

A lack of commitment in the tackle, slack passing and sloppy concentration was evident all night.

Roberto tried to close the stable door once the horse had bolted, been captured by gypsies and turned into dog food by introducing Naismith and Osman who put the foot in a bit more often and at least gave effort..
However, overall this was pitiful stuff.

Strange selection.

Stones defensively dodgy a few times; "phenomenal" going forward.

Crosses were going in close to the keeper but nobody anticipating – until Nais did and scored.

Why oh why are we so crap at corners – not just getting them into the box but also getting a head onto them.

Delboy always looks threatening – but looks so predictable in that he'll normally take it on the outside of the man. McGready seems to offer more – goes past a man and crosses straight away.

Overall, we were shit and looked like scared rabbits most of the time. We're still in with a shout though. C'mon Jela and Co, give us a chance on Sunday.

ps: Why was Neil Mellor commentating on Sky's game tonight? Same with Dowie who was having an orgasm everytime Palace scored!

Once Naismith had come on at half time, there was nobody else you could say could come on to change the game. McCarthy was a like for like swop for Barry and you can't really say Osman can change a game.

Might have been better starting with Barkley in place of McCarthy as the only change from the Sunderland game, seeing as McCarthy was carrying an injury.

Then again, what do we as fans know???

Why do you build me up (build me up) Buttercup, baby
Just to let me down (let me down) and mess me around
And then worst of all (worst of all) you never call, baby
When you say you will (say you will) but I love you still
I need you (I need you) more than anyone, darlin'
You know that I have from the start
So build me up (build me up) Buttercup, don't break my heart

70% possession 1st half and one effort on target, width on both sides yet barely a body on the end of anything, so frustrating.

Hindsight is a wonderful thing but now at the business end of things the recalling of Jags would of been a wise move, for all his promise Stones still has much to learn. Seen him do similar for Stoke's goal earlier in season, a block Jags would make several times a game.

Lesson learned, and at a high cost, to add to other obvious humblings we and RM have had to digest this season.

Hard to take, I know, but season not over yet. Maybe a good way to ponder in advance just how our midfield should function when Barry is benched vs City.

On another note, I had really high hopes of Mirallas this season but again though his contribution was very poor today. Nice 1st touch for his goal but that was it. And for Christ's sake, Delboy needs to add to the repertoire a bit... just cut inside once... just once.

Come on you Blue Boys. Make the run-in count.

There are NO easy games in this league, we've had a great season regardless whether we finish 4th or not. Just to get back to MC, hundreds of millions spent and all they're going to get back for that is the fucking League Cup. Say's it all really... we can still get 4th, believe.

In recent Palace games Bolasie has been tearing defences apart with lightning speed and awesome power. He has been truly phenomenal. Yet we field a side with no-one to support our right-back. Delboy doesn't defend, McCarthy was missing and Stones is still wearing defensive L plates.

Up front we were completely toothless. Lukaku is big, young and mobile. That's it. Full stop.... Despite our giant No 9, they won every header and were quicker and stronger all over the pitch. A very impressive display from a team which knew our every move before we made it. Not too difficult really. Against a deep lying defence we are always too slow and predictable. Barkley, McGeady, Baines and Mirallis had one or two good attacking moments against a packed defence and two goals would be enough to win most home games. Unfortunately, weak defending cost us dearly at the other end. Being comfortable on the ball is all well and good but there are times when tough experienced tacklers like Jags and Hibbert are sorely missed. Our forwards faced those kind of players last night and found it very hard.

Personally, I won't be too bothered if we don't make the top four. How can I be? At the start of the season I was hoping to finish in the top ten.

Dare I say TGT would have most probably won this one by playing his normal defensive KITAP crap and even saying that makes me angrier at what happened.

Why is it so hard being an Evertonian we get to believe then are cruelly disappointed so many times. I know the season is not yet over and there will be more twists and turns but this should have been a banker home win.

Last Saturday was the same. Cross after cross half a yard off the goal line and no one to put it in.

Why Lukaku stayed on last night I have no idea. It is clear that Mourinho has got him 100% spot on. Distin and Stones looked more likely to score. Mirallas gets loads of stick but scored a proper opportunist goal and was in the right place to have made it a draw, ok a couple of air shots constituted an embarrassment, but at least he was there.

Martinez has done absolutely brilliant this season, keeping us in with a shout of the top 4 at this stage of the season, but, like on a couple of occasions this season, his naïvety got the better of him. All-in-all, a really bad performance but we move on and he must know himself he's got to change it on Sunday. All is not lost.