Chelsea vs Everton

Let's hope Lukaku feels he has something to prove - not least to us.

No surprises.

We have to stay tight for this one and it's likely to be backs against the wall. I don't want to see Naismith out wide, but I think he should start. In fact I'd even consider dropping Lukaku for Lennon then bang Naismith in the centre. Or Koné.

Robles
Coleman Stones Jagielka Garbutt
McCarthy Besic
Lennon Barkley Mirallas
Lukaku

If we have a go at them then we might got snotted all over the park but we might have an outside chance of a win or draw.

People above want to take a shield to a gunfight. At least take a knife.

Keep them quiet for 65-70 minutes at 0-0 and then it could be backs to the ball getting out of there with a point, but the slightest of slips and any loose balls and it's game over, I'm afraid.

Of course they are a well oiled machine right now, but they lack pace at the back and we are much more likely to gain something from this match if we give them something to worry about. Play like we did against Liverpool and we will struggle.

Sin miedo has been put into the freezer until we get to the infamous 40 puntos.

Why have we not won a match there for so long? It’s not really acceptable for an established Premier League club like Everton to not win a match away to one of its fellow rivals for such a length of time.

I’d be made up with a draw tonight but let’s be bold, let’s have a performance that we simply haven’t really seen from Everton this season, at the minute one we just don’t look like putting in that’s going to be good enough to win, granted but come on, we are due a big big display.

This will be the first season in my memory that we haven’t put in a really "stellar performance" to upset one of the top sides and beat them.
Even under Moyes we couldn’t do it away but at Goodison we regularly fucked up the big boys.

Come on, Blues!!

But I can't resist – so here goes!

You would think law of averages would mean we’ve played these guys enough times that, even just once, we’d luck out... but no, not one win at Anfield, the Emirates, Stamford Bridge or a Moyes-less Old Trafford in god knows how long. White Hart Lane is going the same way (although every other club seems to be able to win there).

As a club, we just have one of the worst mentalities of any team in the league to playing the big boys. The best we hope for is a draw but often we’re beaten before we even start, desperately trying to conserve a 1-0 or 2-0 loss. Next week, you see some side near the bottom of the table having a free swing at one of the big guns, giving them a massive scare on their own patch. It’s never us and that’s infuriating.

Robles
Coleman
Stones
Jagielka
Garbutt
Besic
Mcarthy
Barry
Baines (if fit)
Oviedo
Lukaku or Kone (makes no difference IMO)

Swap 'Sin Miedo' for 'No Pasaran'. A point tonight and a win against Leicester and we could get to the giddy heights of mid table safety.

Couldn't agree more, great post.

I mean it comes to something when most Everton fans accept that us winning at Chelsea is more of a shock than probably even bloody Bradford winning there.

It's clearly something in the blueprint at our club over the last 20 year's or so. You can't blame luck when it's over such a length of time.

Robles, Coleman, Stones, Jagielka, Baines/Oviedo. Mirallas, Barkley, Besic, McCarthy, Lennon, Lukaku.

Nullify their midfield, cut out the supply to whoever is their front man, two wide men in Mirallas and Lennon and hit them on the break. 1-0 win guaranteed!!

Hopefully I will be proved wrong and we will play some football and play them off the park, sigh.

Take a glance these, strange but very true facts..

21 years without winning at Chelsea.

19 years without a win at Arsenal.

We went 51 years without winning at Leeds.

We had a spell of 21 years without winning at Tottenham between 1985-2006.

We unbelievably went from 1987 to 2005 without beating Aston Villa at Villa Park.

1999 since our last win at Anfield.

We have won 3 Merseyside derbies in 15 years.

We went from 1995 to 2005 without beating Manchester United home or away.

We went a full decade from 2000-2010 without beating Chelsea full stop home or away.

I tell you what: if half of these records were not so bad, we could actually be proud of them!

Thank God for West Ham.

Robles
Coleman, Sones, Jagielka, Garbutt
Besic, McCarthy, Barkley
Lennon, Lukaku, Mirallas.

They have a seven-point lead at the top now, so they may be tempted to take their foot off the gas a little. As long as we can keep Stones and Jagielka fit, we'll be absolutely fine at the back for the rest of the season.

This is a free hit really – nobody expects us to win, so the team can play with a little freedom, which has been lacking for months now, especially at Goodison.

I'm looking forward to this, actually; I would like to keep this unbeaten run going if we can't sneak a win.

You can imagine Mourinho's post match interview

"Only one team tried to play football tonight. The other team was playing football from the 1800s. And they parked two buses. The referee did nothing to protect us from this negative football."

Totally understandable if we had leaked goals but it sends out totally the wrong message, almost saying "it doesn't matter how you perform because I have my favourites".

Arteta Derby
Carsley Derby
AJ and Tim Derby
Gosling Derby

That's 4. Have I missed any?

Can't believe it's between 21 years (actually it's far closer to 20) since we won at the Bridge. Vividly remember listening to it on the radio and us getting high praise on MOTD that night... during that spell where the RAF were flying and it felt like we could beat anyone. Even seasons where you flirt with relegation can be great.

Yes, you can include the Gosling derby, I was tending to go with mainly league, and of course the Gosling one ended 0-0 in normal time but hey, what the heck, let's have it.

Yes, I recall watching our last win at the Bridge on Match of the Day, memories of a half built Stamford Bridge, a casual peach of a cross with the outside of Limpar's boot for Rideout to head the winner in the wallpaper white tractor skid mark away kit.

Joe Royle's first away match that was.

Lukaku scoring our winning goal at the Bridge would be nice but nice doesn't necessarily win games. I'll take the winner from any of our players – hoping to see something along these liens, considering the Baines in unlikely to play. Hopefully JM is fit – as he makes a difference.

Robles
Oviedo
Jagielka
Stones
Coleman
McCarthy/Barry
Besic
Mirallas
Barkley
Lennon
Lukaku

One thing I know for sure – the travelling Blues will be singing their hearts out on a cold London night. Enjoy the game everybody... COYB!!!

I agree with you about those teams who are in theory smaller than Everton getting victories against the likes of Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool etc – especially at their grounds. Frustrates me too.

I suppose it's because Everton are much better than these so-called smaller clubs and the bigger clubs respect us more, don't take us for granted, and realise they have to up their game when playing us.

:)

Cheers.

I expect tonight we will see an abominable team selection, where he continually selects chronically out-of-form players. His substitutions will be equally bad, and untimely, post-match – RM verbal diahrrea. I will also see the postings on TW to be virtual replicas of previous posts after most games we've suffered through this season.

If we hold onto to this manager until the end of the season, we will see a mass exodus of players, which could be the downfall of our great club. I hope now supporters will be more vociferous at the next home game, and demand the sacking or resignation of Roberto Martinez.

Colin Glassar, I respect your optimism, but there are times you have to face reality: we have a Muppet for a manager.

I was gutted when Fulham got relegated. I think we won 13 out of 13 at Goodison.

Despite the Barry moaning, if McCarthy or Besic are not match fit, then we are lucky to have him.

I would like to see Kone helping Lukaku at some point, especially if we go behind. And introduce Ross a bit earlier.

In saying that, a draw would be good. COYB – get stuck into them!!!

Some validity about the reasons behind our woeful record at those mentioned venues but for me it's too easy an excuse.

We have underperformed away to these sides for a club of a stature and it's gone on for too long.

A Chelski side under Mourinho will always be the toughest away match in the league. We are expected to lose, so we have everything to gain from a good performance. We will necessarily be pragmatic again, and I do not think three DM’s would be a bad idea given the strength of Chelski’s score, but they will again lead to an AMC playing out of position. I’d prefer to have Barkley than Naismith involved if we do play three DMs, as I think he is more likely to come up with the something special we need, and his lapses will be less costly in a game with three DM’s. We need to work the ball quicker, and get it to Lukaku in the right areas, because he has the skills to worry Cahill and Terry. We should also stick Mirallas on the left, as Chelski can be exploited down that side because of Ivan’s lack of place, and the lack of a genuine right sided mid (unless Cuadrado starts) in Chelski’s starting 11, as Spurs demonstrated through Chadli, and Kane’s runs from the left. I’d also like Robles to stay in goal.

Martinez was praised widely on here in the months after he took over from Moyes, because of his perceived ability to integrate youngsters in the starting 11. But, Coleman had a great six months before Moyes left, and I expect Stones would have emerged irrespective given our CB issues. Recent games have seen Barkley look increasingly poor when he has been in the team, and Besic, Robles and Oviedo have only been given chances because of the absences of preferred first teamers. Given the form of Besic and Robles in particular, Martinez has a chance to demonstrate materially his trust in our very good youth players, and playing a team involving Oviedo, Robles, Barkley, Besic, McCarthy, Stones and Lukaku would give us 7 players under 25 in the first team. Whilst this season has been a washout, I think prioritising the younger players whilst attempting to get back in the top half should be our brief in the league now.

Congratulations, if ToffeeWeb ever dies you've written its epitaph.

Jim (24) most teams have similar records against certain sides. We could justifiably be seen as a bogey team for Swansea (beat us for the first time EVER earlier this season), Fulham (never won a league game at Goodison), Sunderland (before last season hadn't won at Goodison since 1996 & had lost 14 of previous 19 meetings home or away). Funnily enough there's been a bit less fuss made about Martinez being in charge when 2 of those records were lost than there was about us winning at Old Trafford.

On the theme of unenviable records, when was the last time an Everton player scored two goals in the same game? Was it Leighton Baines at West Ham last year? When was the last time one of our forwards scored twice in the same game?

Ernie (#7) – I love your closing line.

I keep saying it but I would never choose Naismith over Barkley if both fit.

We’ll probably start with Barry/McCarthy/Besic in CDM, which means we’ll really struggle to put up any kind of attack. The likes of Mirallas, Lennon (hopefully he’ll start) and Lukaku will be chasing ghosts in the final third. Chelsea will just keep knocking on the door until it inevitably opens.

It’s a tough place to go and they’re the best team in the land so I can understand the defensive tendancy but, at the end of the day, we have to have a go. We simply don’t have the stamina, concentration or players to be able to just defend for 90 minutes there.

If I could pick the team, I’d play a few younger players from the off so that their youth and energy will give Chelsea something to think about. Won’t happen but I’d pick:

Robles
Coleman Stones Jagielka Oviedo
McCarthy Besic
Lennon Barkley Mirallas
Lukaku

I would ask Barkley to sit a bit deeper, more a CM rather than AM role, with Kone and Garbutt to come on at sometime depending on how the game is going.

If we come to just defend, we’ll lose.

Garbutt
Jagielka
Stones
Coleman

Barry
McCarthy

Mirallas
Barkley
Lennon

Lukaku

I'd put Besic in ahead of Barry but think the Pensioners might be a bit too cute for him.

The laws of probability would dictate that he would eventually get one or more of these 'actions' correct, over a given period of time. Chelsea knew this, and quite frankly we were mugged of 㿈 million.

I am not a gambling man but I am thinking about it!

However, my point is that this price shows how far we have gone backwards under this "don't know what you are doing" manager and what the bookies think of us, which has made me feel quite ashamed and not a little sad.

Still I will put my money where my heart is

It also means the forwards aren't all running into one another so there is space to play forward passes to.

I think we have a decent record of draws at Stamford Bridge. My head tells me this is a Chelsea banker but my heart (and bias) tells me we will get something out of this.

21 years without a win will now be 22. If ya know ya history, that is quite shameful.

That is where our comparison should be, as an absolute minimum.

Which forwards are those?

Lukaku is more likely to run into a post than one of our players, they are so far behjnd the play.

I've had my usual score on Everton tonight and a saver on us nicking a point.

I've lost interest in the RM discussion and am just counting off those 10-12 points to safety.

If Howard's starts tonight, let's hope he comes for the ball with conviction, unlike the same game last season. .....