Fantastic goals blow away The Saints

This is the first time I've felt optimism about Everton in a long time. Let's hope we can keep it together in the second half and come away with a win.

Well done lads, and the manager, tactics were spot on. I sincerely hope this result has helped quell some of the doom and gloom that permeates this website, though I'm not sure it will. I found this pearler actually on the Southampton v Everton preview:

"Let's face facts: if it's not another hammering, all it will be is another below-par performance with more questions than answers.
I don't even bother expecting anything from Everton under this manager anymore. I mean how long is it since we beat a top half team away from home? Was it the win at Old Trafford in 2013?

You know it will be the same pathetic formation that yields hardly any decent attempts on goal and no men getting forward in support of the isolated striker. That will continue until we go a goal down late in the first half or early in the second then soft ollies will bring Naismith or Kone on and we will get caught late on with a goal on the break and lose 2-0.

You can almost read the script, it's just so hard to be anything like positive about Everton at the moment".

I hope that those who are the first to come on here after a disappointing match to absolutely batter the players, and manager, are also the first to come on post-game and hold their hands up when they are woefully wrong.

But again -- huge result. Just the filip we need heading into a tough next few games. COYB

Look at what a difference playing 2 strikers makes. Well done lads.

I get the feeling we will be better away from home on the break this season.

Cleverley overhit a few passes and occasionally we were a bit slow to move the ball on out of defence but that is being hyper-critical. If we can carry this form on who knows how high we'll finish in the PL. My only complaint is the fact that we didn't play in blue!

Just what we needed after a period of doom and gloom. I have said for weeks that I'm willing to reserve judgement until the end of the transfer window. If we can keep this kind of performance going until then and get in the three players we need (and I'm convinced we will) then the whole outlook for the season will be transformed. Keep the faith blues!

What a fantastic performance from every player in "green"?

It's too hard to pick a man of the match but Stones and Jagielka were brilliant. Barkley looked the world beater he can be if he puts in the effort. He chased, harried, tackled and challenged for headers in the middle as well as looking calm and cool and playing some great football. Lukaku and Kone fought for every ball and looked great together.

Every player put in the effort today and it paid off. Well done Roberto and the boys. Top class display.

Ps. We had Stones, Galloway, Browning, McCarthy, Barkley, Deulofeu and Lukaku playing for us today. Not bad for an ageing team.

https://uk.sports.yahoo.com/news/watch--Everton-striker-lukaku-goes-into-the-stands-to-hug-saints-fan-he-hit-with-the-ball-125038639.html

However, to say that one performance negates the " board out" and the negativity that has been expressed based on the previous terrible season( and the long standing lack of success) is short sighted and unfair on those so called soothsayers.

The criticism of the board in particular is based on over a decade of mismanagement and lack of a vision and ambition. This one excellent performance does not diminish that fact.

I for one will always be supporting our team, particularly any player that commits to Everton, but not this pathetic board.

Martinez got it spot on today and deserves full credit. Let's hope he carries on with this 2 striker formation because it worked to devastating effect today.

If you give Lukaku the service, he will score and he was unplayable at times.

I've given Kone a lot of stick but today was a good performance by him, that cross for the first goal was brilliant. The perfect confidence booster to take to Man City next week.

Just a word on Southampton as well: I think they are badly missing Alderweireld and Schniderlin. They look decidedly shaky at the back.

What should we do now? "Terrible mess we are in now Stanley"

By the way, a great result, a credit to the players and manager.

Really, I'll settle for the points, Roberto. I always said you were a good 'un !

You bitch Martinez why can't you get us doing that every week???

Of course, it's Everton, and it's the hope that kills, but...

One thing though, if 3 points affects your opinion of the board and the bloodsuckers on it, then you're a fool. Goodison Park is STILL going rusty, and they STILL haven't invested a penny in 16 years. We STILL don't have any future plans to move or redevelop.

P.S. - I had no intentions on mentioning our owners, but other posters saw fit to bring the subject up.

A great performance, we still need another striker and a playmaker to open up the teams that park the bus at Goodison.

I really hope so!

We were excellent today, all over the pitch.

We covered the pitch well not leaving huge gaps. The back four were pretty tight and space was minimal for Southampton players all over the pitch, through positional organisation.

Kone made a huge difference & played v well today. It shows how when you have someone who can hold the ball up, it allows you to build momentum & attack.

Kone has to start for this reason, but so does Lukaku as whilst he can't do what I one can to allow the play to build, he can most definitely score goals & took his goals well today.

Final mention for Ross: one chance he fluffed aside, I thought he was brilliant today, a mature performance. Played it simple the majority of the time, but when it was on he went for it. Today his decision making was spot on.

For periods, he dictated and controlled the midfield today.

Great run and pass for the second goal, great finish for the 3rd.

I think that's fair.

On a negative though, Roberto said in the interview afterwords that he only needs two more players, that is very worrying. Clearly Mason Holgate is one of the three he said we needed.

Meant to thank Carra for helping our man see the light !

If we can find a striker that also knows where the back of the net as well then that'll be perfect.

Great performance from the lads, full of pace and commitment.

Exactly! I was never in any doubt we'd win this one as well - and by 3 clear goals. I always knew Roberto would come good and Kone is one of my favourite players of all time. He'll be a machine for us.

Actually, I was listening to the match on R5L. Before we scored, the main topic of the BBC commentator was whether or not Stones would be off to Chelski. Check out the BBC match report and there's a sizeable reference to the Stones debate on there as well.

Great result today! Well done to the manager, players and fans. Fear the Blues. Fear the Mighty Blues.

I think I might watch MOTD tonight - or will it be 30 seconds of our win and 10 minutes on "Stones to Chelski" stirred up by Redshite pundits?

Please Roberto...learn from this.

Perhaps he has rediscovered his tru allegiance in later life, as apparently has Carragher et. al.

Completely agree and have said the same myself! I honestly believe once he gets experience he can become the best CB in the World.

Stones is that good, he doesn't even surprise me anymore, I've just come to expect it. I still remember his performance at Anfield in last year's derby, big pressure game & he was immense, so calm & composed that day.

Well done, lads, you were outstanding today. If Billy big Bollox tells you to play any different in the next few games, tell him to fuck off!

But interestingly, the performance did illustrate a (strange..ish) dilemma - something that maybe kind of needs figuring out.

Ok, just food for thought but we were away today to (on paper) a decent side.

So it seemed sort of 'natural' watching that we would, to a degree, sit back and hit them on the break and that our..um.. 'division of concentration' (so to speak) would be more on defence than attack.

Against Utd at Goodison last season it was the same - even though we were at home, it felt right/natural to think in terms of stopping them first, then seeing what we could get on the break.

The outcome was much less 'possession' but great results.

For many of our best results/performance under Martinez, this has been the case (or appears to have been).

So here's a question, should we adopt this policy for every game?

(I'm currently asking myself so I'll ask yooze as well)

One of the problems we have (certainly at home) is that against the 'lesser' teams, we (seemingly) feel obliged to play like 'the home side'.

To come out and...charge!

Laudable of course but...naive?

Certainly some of our home performances in the last 12 months against the likes of Sunderland, Watford, Hull, Palace, Leicester (whoever) suggest a more pragmatic approach might have yielded more points.

I don't like the idea of us not being 'the boss' of Goodison but the frustration I felt coming out of the ground last week (and most of last season) I really hate.

Lukaku's first half performance was awesome.... when he skinned their player in the first 15 minutes, that was definitely a sign of things to come.

Barkley, despite fluffing a great chance, never let it get to him and showed his quality late on. Stones and Jags were solid all game and Seamus was always involved! We actually looked like a team!

Hopefully Martinez adds quality that will fit in to the team. This is his make-or-break season, let's hope today is the start of a great one!

Ross was very good but we still need a playmaker, and then use Ross as a box-to-box midfielder.

We proved in the Europa League that we can do it on the break, but my worry is that at home, when teams play deeper, trying to catch us on the break, that we will struggle. We still need a clever creative type, and back-up for Rom.

Well done Kone, so pleased for him, hope his confidence gets a boost from this, and Barks was class.

Great result .

Look at two points in time. The Utd game last season and today.

If we have to wait that same amount of time till the next fantasmagorical result away from home, then this guy is, or should be toast.

On the other hand if he's had that Damascene moment and has learnt how to manage Everton properly, then that is a reason to be optimistic.

As always, time will tell.

We must start following up these performances on a consistent basis, otherwise this performance counts for nothing. Do not tinker with the side, go with the same players and formation against Man City. With the pace and tempo shown today, we can beat City next week and win a few of the other up-and-coming difficult matches we have, but we must produce what was shown today regularly.

Although Kone was not playing in an out-and-out striker's role, his natural instinct is to get into the box; he was arriving late which gave the defenders a big headache at times.

I honestly feel that this gave the midfield more assurance that the ball was not going to just come back at them, we stretched them defensively and out battled them as well.

The three centre backs were immense.

Full credit to the boss for this one; he got it spot on.

This guy is years beyond his age.

Forget the chavs coming knocking -- we're going to have a bigger problem when Real and Barca come sniffing.

As has been mentioned on an earlier post -- that was like watching Everton from the 2013/14 season. Long may it continue!

But what a great win today. Barkley is a Number 10, that's for sure.

Marks out 10 for Everton:

All players rated a 7, except for Lukaku, who rated a 10, for leading the Everton line with massive strength and power; while scoring 2 excellent goals. Barkley (8) would have been rated a 9 if he had put a relative easy chance away, whose link up play was first class and scored an excellent goal of real quality to seal 3 points.

Did Cara's words have some sort of influence? Probably not I know, just a coincidence.

It's only one result so too soon to judge if a corner has been turned but we can now hope which is something.

COYB.

For the first time in forever... Lukaku looked like looked like he likes playing football.

Kone is a fine footballer.

Cleverley is a very astute signing.

We played with tempo from the beginning, and never looked back.

We put our heads up, looked forward, moved into space. A revelation.

Martinez has supplied a "response" performance, when his hold on his job was becoming tenuous.

The players are clearly happy and enjoy playing for Martinez.

Man of the Match, any one from Barry, Barkley, Cleverley, Kone, Lukaku.

We were owed this win, we were owed this performance and Evertonians deserve it. The players and Martinez deserve to enjoy it.

Optimism returns. That was as good as anything from Martinez's first season here.

Guy (#89), you might've said that tongue-in-cheek but I wouldn't be surprised if messrs Lewis, Richardson, Bates etc....have Ross moving to one of their beloved top 4 clubs tomorrow in the Sunday rags.

Savage made a valid point today. Lukaku has set the bar for the remainder of the season. He has to put that effort in every week. He was outstanding.

I must say, we looked great in the green kit. I love it. Everton forever.

Also... I liked how Lukaku gave the Southampton supporter his sweatshirt and a hug and Galloway's sprint up field to help out with options for the first goal even though he wasn't needed. A great day.

The difference for me was playing attacking football and Kone playing up top giving Barkley and Lukaku the experienced intelligent old head they've been crying out for!

Hopefully Martinez will realise the problems with this teams results do not lie with the players -- it's his tactics! But hats off to him today for changing it round and getting a great win!

Bad day; the Everton whingers, the Everton moaners, the Everton anti-Martinez brigade.

Southampton are a decent side with some good players, but they never really troubled Everton today, Howard was a spectator for most of the afternoon & was comfortable when called upon. How good was Lukaku? When he is up for it & on his game, he looks a top quality forward, some of his touches & link up play were superb & his two goals were well taken.

Just a small mention about Stones, he certainly isn't playing like a player who wants away, keep hold of him Kenwright!

Of course, this result will mean nothing to me if we sell any our jewels before the deadline; we need to keep this crop of players together with a few additions & who knows we could be looking at an exciting season ahead. COYB ETID!

Before that it was far from impressive and the first goal was essential.

Just a little reality check. Great performance though.

It's a pleasure watching Everton play like that, and it should do wonders for the team's confidence. I know it's a team game, but like a few have already said...

HOW GOOD IS THAT JOHN STONES?

"Fucking brilliant!"

Stop the tippy tappy shit, play with one defensive mid and push McCarthy further forward and let Ross come from deep so end up with more players in their penalty area.

Result = less pressure on the defence and more goals from the attack.

I hope this game is a turning point and a lesson for Roberto and that we don't revert to type in future games.

Happy days for at least one weekend.

We were good all over the park and our game management was spot on throughout. We weathered the early Saints storm, our counters were deadly for the first 2 goals, the midfield and defence solid at the start of the 2nd half when Saints battled to get a foothold in the game, then clinical at the death with Barkley's sweet finish.

Barkley looked a player again, Lukaku showed what he is about if the ball if the ball is played in the right areas to him -- 2 touches, 2 goals -- and why flog Stones now for a paltry £30 million when he is going to be worth double that very soon? Imperious! Galloway continues to impress, even though caught out of position once or twice. These games are credit in the bank for him and his future.

I for one am happy the next two games are against Shitteh and Chelski, especially on the back of today's performance. Confidence is on a high and players know they have to be 'perfect' when playing the top sides.

Finally, I know it's early days yet, but a curious anomaly of the season to date is that in the 17 games played in the PL thus far, only 3 have resulted in home wins and there have been 9 away wins and 5 draws. Is that evidence of how effectively teams are set up to counter away from home these days?

I know they shouldn't always play together every game, especially at home, but today they were both superb. Hats off to both of them.

All of us that have been complaining and angry have been saying enough with the slow, methodical sideways passing among our defense. We've been saying get the attacking players up top to give Lukaku support. And for God's sake, attack with pace.

Let's not have one very impressive performance suddenly cancel out last week and last year's poor showing. I don't expect a 3-0 victory away from home every week. But I do expect us to go for victories and attack the opposition. If this signaled the end of the boring football we've become accustomed to then I'll be ecstatic. But it does not mean that the criticism of our Board is invalid and the past criticism of Martinez was invalid.

The crucial thing now is consistency.

A lot of our lads are confidence players and I hope this evidence of their capability lifts them into sustaining today's high performance levels. Happily such a style is well suited to playing the better teams so hopefully we might yet see more of the same in the next month or so...

I know that I have been critical of Martinez. But no complaints today. All this long suffering Evertonian wants to see is my team show some heart. To show some effort. To show some skill. To show some nous. We saw that today. Long may it last.

I was brought up watching the School of Science. My standards and expectations of Everton are high. Let's hope that BK was taking note.

Anyhow, that was great today. No complaints from me. Let's now kick on. 4-4-2 seems to work. So hopefully keep this momentum going.

Last comment, well played Ross Barkley. Keep the goals coming. COYBs

The formation was spot on. Other than the front 3 I thought Cleverley was outstanding.

Also thought there was a nastiness to our play which we has been missing.

I still don't think this is a team that will light up the Premier League as RM needs some new players before the transfer season closes. Many people have been saying this for many weeks and one win, good as it feels, doesn't change yesterday's attitudes. So let's get it done.

Today Everton had four good chances and they took three. Barkley missed the easiest one in the first half.

Southampton did not play as well as we have seen them and, even though they had majority possession, I'm sure many people on this website had ants in their pants for the first 15 minutes of the second half (statistics on my TV in Canada showed 80/20 possession), even though we were winning 2-0. While the Everton defence stood up to them, I have to ask how many headed balls, from corners and crosses, did they put over the bar and how many shots went over as well? IMO, too many.

For a change it was great to see the breakouts up the pitch, not square across it, and to enjoy the pressure they were able to apply.

Southampton's best effort was near the end of the game and Howard saved well.

Still it's three points and let's hope it's Everton's second win of this season after next weeks game.

"Roberto, did you purposely choose to have less possession today to bring the opposition on to you? You looked very good on the counter"

Martinez agreed before he finished the question. I thought he was spot on today tactically.

Koeman acted on the spaces we left down our right side in the first half by playing Mane down that side. Within seconds, Martinez switched Cleverley to right and Kone left. Simple but effective

Man City in for Barkley bid for 㿨m

Or

Man Utd bid for Lukaku for 㿏m

Or

Chelsea make final bid for John Stones for 㿔m

So, MK104 - are you saying that is a good thing or a bad thing - you seem to convey a message of pessimism at the possibility of a non-protest.

I appreciate that you are an Evertonian and a ToffeeWebber but as a mediator should you not stand back a little from being a cheer leader for one side or the other.

Just a thought!

And something we should be proud of as Evertonians and also something the media seem to miss. Too busy trying to flog our players instead of seeing the positives of them being at Everton. Today we finished with 8 players from Scotland, Ireland and England. Put that in yer pipe and smoke it.

Also for me, this "We have only spent £4 million is a bit of a red herring. If we paid £15M for Deulofeu and Cleverley, no-one would be moaning too much. We got VFM that's what Everton do.

Also 4-5 signings is plenty. Continuity is the key for this squad. I am a happy Evertonian today and hopefully lessons have been learned by fans and management alike. Bring on City.

What a difference it makes playing more direct, positive, aggresive and quick football. Lukaku got the exact type of service he's been crying out for - one excellent cross and one great through ball. Feed him and he'll score. He was certainly up for it and as soon as the first goal went in the confidence came back.

Also great to see Barkley have a great game, should have buried his earlier chance. His confidence should be up.

Why the hell have we not been playing like this before! The players can play, stop with the tippy tappy bollocks and just let them play.

STAT FOR MARTINEZ - EVERTON POSSESSION 46% / FINAL SCORE 3-0!

Possession stats are irrelevant, it's what you do with it that counts.

At home we won't be able to play counter attacking football but we need to maintain the aggression and the quicker direct approach.

Great result but I still want the manager out. Will need a lot more of those kind of performances to convince me he knows what he's doing. We've seen enough false dawns.

We also need to fly the BK out banner at every game.

http://metro.co.uk/2015/08/15/Everton-fans-filmed-singing-brilliant-ross-barkley-song-at-southampton-5344901/?

Haven't posted in ages as the constant anti-Martinez thing is getting too much, but well heartened by today. Appreciate the more considered posts too.

Well done all round.

The significance of new contracts for Mirallas and McCarthy shouldn't be underestimated, Ross looks like he's fired up, and I haven't seen that kind of effort from Rom since he arrived. Look at the will, natural finishing and sheer power for his second goal.

Special mention for Kone for persevering in the face of personal adversity and an unforgiving new home since he got here. Now build on this and keep playing with passion. It's all we've ever asked for.

Despite the scoreline by half-time BT's chosen few persisted with their "Pro Saints" bias. Then finally when RB slotted home our 3rd then made an almighty 180 swerve to affirm our well deserved etc etc etc (accompanied with conveniently reversed statistics which had been rolled out all afternoon to suggest another Everton away defeat at Soton).

Thank heavens they have dropped the terminally uninteresting Michael Owen. Even today's bright and breezy performance and 3 pts would have felt like a "self termination" attempt if accompanied by his utter shite.

When teams come to Goodison, the lesser teams anyway, they come to frustrate and that is when we start playing the 'tippy tappy' as some like to call it!

Martinez has had some hammer on here, not by me I might add, but he deserves plenty of credit how he's brought our younger players through, Stones, Barkley, Lukaku, Garbutt, McCarthy, Browning and Galloway.

Galloway looks like Stones material to me; London to an onion that he's a future star in central defence.

Browning looks like he's physically maturing also and I expect him too to become a valuable player for us.

Imagine my surprise when I found out it was 2-0 to us! Spent most of the second half expecting to hear Southampton had equalised, couldn't believe it when I heard that Ross had made it 3-0!

Where did that performance come from?

What a difference a week makes eh? Happy fucking Saturday ToffeeWebbers!!!

I mean, those green shirts, just awful.

The body language of the players seems to me to show thay are a tight, close knit bunch who really enjoy playing together.

Great to not have a weekend ruined.

COYB!

Happy for all us fans today, especially the ones who travelled to Southampton, starting off at such an early hour, happy for Martinez and the players who gave a very positive and energetic performance.

What they had in abundance was MOVEMENT all over the pitch, Cleverly was outstanding for me. Now keep it up.

Who's got a crystal ball? Next week on that performance, we are more than capable of doing the meffs. More than capable of doing anyone.

If we do, or if the players and manager turn that out again is another question. Let's enjoy our moment in the sun. I am.......hic.

Yes, we did tippy tappy... but in the opposing half, always looking for that through-ball.

I'm a happy Blue today!

Barkley poses a real threat in that attacking No 10 position -- Roberto please don't move him out wide ever again.

Great confidence boost to the team' Let's hope we can carry the momentum onto next weeks' game. Our wee team tends to lack consistency in the past, but hopefully we can charge on and get a result against City.

This Evertonian is very happy for the next few days. COYB

As "43" and "109" have said, today should be a benchmark for EVERY game. We don't get angry with defeat providing there's effort all over the pitch. With the sort of game plan and performance today, we might just have opposing managers not quite so sure of what we'll deliver.

But if Kone (and we, as such) are lucky, he might prove to be the exception to the rule (like Peter Reid, in his time). If not, I really do hope RM will see the value of getting another player in the same mold into the first team. Up through the years we've had so many potentially decent forwards/strikers that imploded when they ended up as the 1 in a 4-5-1 system!

They can wear it every week if they play like that! The Green Beret's!

We also have to face another potentially bad reality in that Southampton have sold a strong side and have done badly in both games.

Great day to be a blue. NSNO!!

Enjoy the moment; not an ecstatic one, I agree... but full of hope after a performance as professional as any we may see this season.

If we can get some talented, level-headed youngsters involved this and next season (and get them to stay, despite their 'agents' not understanding it's worth waiting for even greater profits in the long run), I'll be very much relieved. We seem to have such a good mix of good, older and experienced players to mix with up-coming talent, that I really want to issue shoot-on-sight bounties on agents...

Martinez needs to hold back in the transfer market for a left back or cover for central defence. Browning is more than capable as cover and is another top quality youngster who too will also make mistakes now and again, like any other established player, only because he's young. People will say he's not ready whereas with an established player it will be "one of those days".

If we didn't have Stones, I would say he could be breaking into the team on a regular basis so I think we're lucky in that position. Actually, the whole back line if you believe like me that Garbutt will be a very good left back and allow Galloway to move into Jagielka's position eventually.

Just got home from a "Did man actually walk on the moon" lecture.

Just joking, I know we won, but did man actually......

At the end of the day, it,s only media led shite!

Tahir, and he's still only 22!!

Ian Wright might be slightly better -- but not much.

Tactics, Tactics, and my opinion them tactics are too square and too slow with two defensive midfielders. Never again should we let Ross and Rom be stifled with slow football. Made up for Ross; after all the stick, I could cry .

In my day ......

I go to bed praying Martinez has had an epithmany.

I'm very happy to see McGeady omitted and Alcaraz gone. Youngsters getting a chance is the way forward.

But will Martinez realise that, and resist the chance to tinker with a winning formation??? He has tinkered before... with disastrous results. The ball is now firmly in RB's court.

I hope I'm wrong and our big summer signing will be a goalscoring striker like Austin. As much as I'm made up that Kone is putting some kind of form together, will he be able to sustain it over a course of a season?! For me signing another striker is imperative.

As for a No 10, I think that we might be okay with Barkley and Cleverley and think we'll sign Lennon in any case so I think we can keep dreaming of signing someone like Nolito.

I think Miro will be the CB. My worry would be that we only sign two players and they are Lennon and Miro. Would it be enough to improve us significantly?!

And just going back the game. Playing the bigger sides early on might turn out to be a blessing. Saints came out to beat us today, as will City. We know the top sides aren't just going to sit back and press our midfield like Watford the other week.

We've drifted to 12/1 fourth favourites to sign Austin now, behind Newcastle, Spurs and Bournemouth. I fear you may be right.

Mind you the bookies got today's EFC odds wrong, didn't they?

Correct. For me it's Oman and Pienaar. They have to be replaced.

And with the utmost decorum...

That said, I thought we did a job on Soton today, and reduced them to the set piece. I thought the midfield put in a real shift hunting in pairs to get the ball back, and stopping crosses from wide positions. And the attacking at pace, rather than the tippy-tappy, suited the team set up. They all looked comfortable playing that way. And if that is what Kone can do, then bring it on.

I thought his ball into the box for the first goal was well timed, and accurate. Rather than what the report says was hesitation.

I don't understand the Ross coming from deep comments. He causes real problems when he gets the ball behind their midfield, or when there is a gap in the centre of their midfield to go through.
Sorry for any cack spelling. The only explanation is, as Rowley Birkin QC would say. "I am very drunk".

I'd echo most comments in giving a special mention to Kone as he has added so real pace, power, work rate and sheer desire to our attack line. I myself have never been convinced by Kone and I am not holding my breath for that type of performance on a weekly basis, but credit were it's due, hopefully Kone is now past his injuries and ready to show us he is a player.

We must now stick to this more attacking style game plan were we move the ball a lot quicker and get bodies in an around Lukaku to link up the play with him instead of leaving him constantly isolated.

Also good to hear that we played 6 player aged 22 and under. Hopefully the positives are going to become more frequent. Well done blue boys.

Hopefully this Lukaku is here to stay!!

We struggle in a, to steal a basketball term, half court offense. What we really need before the window closes is a playmaker. Someone to pick out those forward passes to our men in the box. Barkley was brilliant today with that second goal but he hasn't shown the consistency to merit the No 10 role. We still need an attacking midfielder and a backup striker in my book before the window closes.

But, for today, it was all roses.

I agree that Lukaku looked as described; I also think it's nothing we have not seen from him before... we just need him to show it more frequently.

I talk to my dad about his runs off the ball every week and comment that he wants the ball played much sooner than it ever seems to arrive. I think we have to play more often to his strengths as he's often left isolated and very frustrated.

Kone is a good foil for him and Ross is an ideal playmaker for him as he's willing to take chances playing the ball forward. I feel Ross has to step up an run our team as we look so much better when he is dictating play. If Ross does not take it upon himself to demand the ball then senior players have to force him onto it. Too often last season, players like Naisy tried to be the man who picked the holes in oppositions defence, but for his efforts he simply does not have the ability to boss a top 10 EPL team, Ross does, he just has to do it consistently.

I think the message best taken from the lads' performance today was we are more comfortable moving the ball forward more quickly and we need players closer to Lukaku more often. Kone looked great but he is just another hard working striker, Mirallas or Naismith could do a similar job if pushed up right alongside Lukaku. That's not to say I would not stick with Kone because I most definitely would, but if he had an injury I would find someone else to get up in and around Lukaku.

I have been critical of Lukaku's touch but today just showed that if you play to his strengths and give him another striker to play off then 㿈m looks a steal. Today was his best performance in an olive shirt and if he is allowed to play in the same formation, week-in & week-out, then we have an exciting season ahead of us.
Happy days!

The back 4 looked solid, and the midfield keen.

Well done to all, including kg the changes in the tactical approach.

Not trying to be contrarian, but I think the kit looked good. As always, the ones I admire most are those loving, loyal supporters of our club, the way they turned up, sang, encouraged ad supported the team by being there was a credit to each and every one and I hope that they all feel they got value for the financial commitment they made.

Well done to everyone.

Time to sober up.

There's also a story about Barkley, quoting Man Utd legend Alan Tonge (?) saying he'll get a big move. Two goals and the nonsense starts up again. After watching the analysis of Rooney on MotD, I wouldn't be surprised if there's now a rash of stories about Lukaku to United. All so flaming predictable.

So far under Martinez's reign we have not lost a single player we wanted to keep. Fellaini didn't really suit the system and I'm pretty sure Martinez was happy to cash in on him whilst his stock was high. I think there's a very good chance we will keep hold of everyone in this window and bring in the three we need. If we keep playing like today then why would any of them want to leave?

Martinez went to plan b and it worked, that's what a lot of posters were pulling their hair out, because he stuck to the same boring sideways football previously.

None of us seen that result coming today, or different tactics, keep it this way Bobby, and ditch the tippy tappy football and results will follow.

Superb performance by everyone. COYB.

Great match report too.

The sport at this level is small margins however. Today we played very well and everything really went our way so the players have earned the plaudits.

The recent pantomime negativity on here has made it difficult to express any opinion other than one of dramatic doom-mongering... good to see one such poster get called out on it.

Class shown by Southampton supporters. Especially when he heads back down the steps.

http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/southampton-v-Everton-fc-romelu-9862787#ICID=sharebar_facebook

I thought Kone was great. Yeah, he's still no world beater but he takes up good positions and with good players around him will cause problems. He worked so hard today in defence and attack.

To be honest, I'm not so convinced we were chalk and cheese against Watford and Southampton. Southampton didn't give this team the respect it still deserves and got battered. For our part we just seemed to have a group of players lift themselves from 6/10s to 8/10s. I think we'll go alright in these big upcoming games -- we have good players.

The test will be how we approach the games we should win. Can we create the same kind of space that these teams are affording us?

Last week against Watford we noticed that Barkley looked sharper than normal for the first game of the season and his post-match interview revealed a maturity we had never seen before. Had our lad finally grown up and seen the light? Had the Stones business pushed all the youngsters up a gear? I think it probably has. It certainly emphasizes the fine character of John Stones who continues to play his normal game.

As for yesterday's match. Let's face it. We were pretty damn good. Watching a re-run of the highlights on Match of the Day, I loved the graph of big arrows indicating our lads charging forward in unison, because that's the way it was. All for one and one for all.

A tremendous rear-guard action from the back seven and a demonstration of perfect counter-attacking play from Barkley, Cleverley, Kone and Lukaku.

The Big Fella was like a runaway train. Absolutely unstoppable. Fit, well and up for it, he was fed the stuff he thrives on and bagged two wonderful goals.

How we fare from here is anyone's guess. We have a very decent first team with a fairly strong back-up soon to be strengthened by the late new signings. The spirit is good and the players are fit and in form. Let's hope we continue to improve.

Like everyone else, I enjoyed our display, although we did still look very vulnerable to high crosses coming into the box.

Therefore I will happily eat what is left of Mark's (190) humble pie. What is more I am going to ask my missus to bake another bigger one for me for next week against City.

Fast attacking football
Dogged defence
Team spirit on display
Fighting for possession
And they looked fit.

Stating the obvious but Lukaku looked a different player with Kone in support and that rubbed off on Barkley.

I thought Barry bossed the game today - he is tough and clever.

Jagielka was terrific.

I thought Galloway really looks like he has something about him over and above football ability.

Browning looked as if he has bulked up from last year and looked very confident in his cameo.

As I watched those youngsters, Stones, Browning, Galloway, and Barkley walk off the pitch, I felt the hope rising in me again.

As Mark (#190) said, it was good to see the unity in the side, celebrating together. The acid test won't be when we play the big boys, but when we face the likes of Sunderland with everyone back, and whether we have the nous to unpick the lock.

I hope that we see more of Kone with Rom, it certainly means we have more tactical options.

The formation was much more suitable for these players, and Kone's movement & hold-up play made such a difference to the rest of the team as we attacked. He's also a pretty hard worker and did plenty of defending, especially on crosses.

I've derided him like many, but he does appear to have something to offer if we can keep him fit - he could be key if we continue to use that formation, but will we?

Will Bob revert back to type when Mirallas is fit for example?

We were second for a while yesterday - I took a screenshot of it to show my Grandchildren.

Good players used with some imagination, surprising our opponents. What surprise is in store for Man City? Well done to players and coach, what a difference.

I thought Kone was brilliant. He's much better with his back to the goals than Rom, and really brings in Ross, McCarthy and the overlapping full backs into the play.

What way will the team set up at home the next day?

I remember him at Wigan, not as a prolific goalscorer but as a handful for defenders. Always on the move, always probing. It's obvious that Lukaku also loves playing with 'Papa Kone' as he calls him. He's spoken in the past of the respect and esteem he has for him as a person and a player so, hopefully, this partnership will grow and flourish this season.

Great game. Credit were its due Bob.

We need to learn how to break down the likes of Stoke, Palace, WBA, Sunderland etc....who will come to Goodison and have all eleven players in their half. The top teams will always play their own football but it's these teams who we seem to struggle against. Unlock that mystery and I think we will be challenging at the top end again.

Need to get round the back of the teams that park the bus, using the vision of our new No 10 with ross starting as box to box midfielder alongside barry or mccarthy.

If Martinez keeps them fit, motivated and playing with the energy and desire they showed yesterday, this could be a good season.

Anyway, right now I remain delighted with yesterday's performance. A tonic for everyone. The travelling Blue Army especially. We shook a few people in the world of football and the Everton name shines as bright as ever.

As for the future. Well, we do have youngsters learning roles, veterans with dodgy legs and slow legs, lads returning from injury and the promised late new signings. Martinez will face huge decisions with regard to starting line-ups, substitutions and general "give someone a rest" rotation. I hope he is up to the task. I also hope we bring in a younger, healthier Osman, Kone, Pienaar type. A football brain on strong legs to do a similar job with Barkley, Cleverley and Lukaku. We'll see.

I like that analysis along with Kone, Osman, McGeady or Naismith coming on late at Goodison to give variety and fresh legs and new angles with packed defences.

The first goal obviously settled things down and I was just about to write a split second before that Everton needed to score first when Lukaku struck. That was the momentum-shifter.

My thoughts exactly. I said near the same thing above. What do you think we could do to change that?

I believe a strong No10 would do the trick. Barkley and Gibson (when healthy) have shown flashes, they aren't that type of player. Michail Antonio could be a decent fit or my preference would be a Serie A player, someone used to cracking defences. Hamsik or Franco Vazquez wouldn't be cheap but I think would fit that need wonderfully.