Coleman: First half not good enough

Let's hope half this squad isn't with us next season.

We played with real aggression and skill for two periods. Unfortunately those periods were five minutes long and very late in the game.

We are doing no better under Koeman than under Martinez and that is a big problem. Maybe they are being overworked in training and reach the end of the week knackered. Maybe there is a problem behind the scenes between the players and manager...

Whatever it is, I hope we go into February with some new talent because these players are not going to get it done. Nobody emerged from that game with any reason to be proud, least of all Koeman.

These are the only players worth keeping. Maybe Barkley and Deulofeu could offer something but currently there is something seriously wrong with them. The rest of the players are dispensable.

Bring in some youngsters, Davies, Holgate, Dowell. Sell the rest. Build a new team over the next 2/3 years (it will probably mean losing Lukaku).

Hopefully the manager is up to the job.

Thanks, Phil, but enough. Make Coleman the captain – he proves he has the ability on the international stage and saved us quite a few times, perhaps he could help install some balls in the other dummies ahead of him.

It was very much gloom and doom yesterday but please don't be one of those who never have a positive word to say – I'm sure you'll agree that Gana was again very good.

I remember when Jemain Beckford was here and in one game he was complaining of being tired. Moyes said to him through Neville, you don't get tired at this club. Also Distin said after training he had to have a nap, when he first arrived. So Moyes certainly got something out of the players that Koeman or Martinez seem to be lacking.

Not enough tough characters in the team. Far too nice to each other. Seamus seems to have a bit about him. That's about it.

I'm not saying he's not an asset. Maybe if his role was expanded, I would be more impressed.

The one I am really concerned about is Bolasie. I was warned the minute we bought him that he was all head and no Guinness and I am afraid that may be true.

It doesn't take a FIFA coaching badge to see Bolasie is just another headless chicken. Slows the play down and delivers 1 decent cross in 10. Koeman's eye for a player is worrying me.

Yesterday, there was nobody controlling the flow of attacking play. Bolasie, Lennon, Lukaku, Mirallas and Deulofeu may occasionally do something exceptional when they are given the ball, but don't contribute a lot to the team ethic, and that leaves just Ross Barkley. I don't know whether Ross could cut it with a good playmaker alongside him, but he certainly can't on his own.

Put it down his way, if we had three or four more like him with his attitude and quality, we'd be right in the middle of the leading group in the table and not struggling to stay in the second one.

I couldn't agree more. I didn't express myself very well, I meant there is a need for a maximum of one dedicated "destroyer" in midfield.

The rest of them need to work much harder – the 6 other players I mentioned need to be sat down and watch film of Johnny Morrisey, Howard Kendall, Peter Reid, Andy Gray or Tim Cahill.

Coming off the back of that humiliation at Chelsea, they should have been at it from the 1st minute. They weren't, though Swansea were far better in the first half and deserved to lead going in at the break.

Yes, we had a lot of the ball in the 2nd half but created virtually nothing We've got at least 8 players who are clueless and offer nothing creatively at all.

I couldn't believe he left Bolasie on yesterday. Is it the transfer fee that's keeping him on the pitch for 90 minutes? He was awful and how he's getting his place is shocking.

To think young Davies wasn't even on the bench and yet the likes of Cleverley and Deulofeu were makes my blood boil.

Jagielka is shot to bits now. Two penalties given away at Man City, shocking performances at Burnley and Chelsea. Yet he still captains the side... oh and the penalty yesterday. It's a joke.

I said on Friday that Chelsea result won't be the last hiding we get. Not with that back four. A decent side with pace would have picked us off easy on the break yesterday, but it seemed like Swansea decided "What we have, we sit on." We were lucky to get a point because I honestly thought we'd never score.

I'm sick to death of our players coming out after shit performances and trotting out the same old shite. Nothing has changed under Koeman and, if he thinks the likes of Depay etc will come in January and turn our season around, he's fucking deluded. Shower of cowards, the lot of them!

Very few players in blue did anything on Saturday, most of our squad don't deserve to play for us, but for some reason only Barkley gets a mention.

Out of around 22 first team players, only Ross, Rom, Coleman, Gana, Williams and Bolasie (last 2 debatable) would get anywhere near any top 6 sides in the Premier League.

By my counts we need to bin 15 (-ish) players before Ross and Co even begin to get a mention.

How long have you got (re; Barkley)??

Firstly, he holds down no particular position – so he's detrimental to the shape of the team. I thought if he had any chance he would be a "supporting forward" but he lacks any killer instinct, and he dawdles. Yes, he gets the occasional goal and assist but that's what he's supposed to do in that position, and he doesn't do it enough.

Secondly, he'll never be a midfield player – not a chance... never. He's the single worst player I've ever seen when we haven't got the ball. He floats around, dangles a leg, chases shadows, and often he does this thing where he actually shows the opposing player the easiest route around him – unbelievable! This then creates a gap that another blue shirt has to cover (as I was saying about the shape – we're one man down).

I could go on, I mean it's there to see; it's time we stopped with the Barkley stuff now – it's not going to happen.

Get a couple more "Ganas" in the team and let Ross Barkley do what he is good at.

Depay is another Mirallas type player, slightly better maybe, but not a team player. Other than him, we have not been linked to any other creative attacking midfielder, only an endless list of under 20-year-old strikers who would struggle to get in the team.

Barkley's only chance to shine is to surround him with top class players and see if he can match them; at the moment, he has no competition at all and is virtually fireproof.

We have lots of wingers, with only Bolasie being the one Koeman has faith in and that's because he bought him. Bolasie is a maverick and will never form a partnership with a full back, which is why we play with two defensive players in the centre, in Barry and Gueye. They cover, as Gueye did with Oviedo at Man City.

I personally prefer the Baines - Pienaar wide type of play but we don't have a Pienaar at the club. Given the squad we have at the moment, I would prefer us to go 3-4-3 until January.

My team would be, all things being equal:

Stekelenburg,
Holgate, Williams, Funes Mori.
Coleman, Gueye, Barry, Baines
Bolasie, Lukaku, Barkley.

Subs: Robles, Jagielka, Oviedo, Cleverley, Lennon, Mirallas. Deulofeu.

That team should be hard to beat and maybe nick a few wins.

I would only play one of the kids in an emergency as being near the first team at present would more likely break them than make them.

You have the right to your opinion, but IMO we have no-one good enough to displace him.

You talk about lack of work off the ball, so there goes Deulofu's chance of replacing him as he's as bad, but with less game time in him (he's blowing out of his arse after 60 minutes).

If you want to replace him as a supporting striker, who would you replace him with? Let's list the options: 1. Kone, 2. Niasse, 3. Cleverley, 4. Valencia, 5. Mirallas, 6. Lennon.

Who is a better supporting striker than Ross of the 6 options?

Kone, Niasse, Cleverley, and Valencia are clearly not in the same bracket as Barkley, and never have been or will be. Even if you don't rate Ross, anyone who knows anything about football can see Ross has more in his locker than all of the above put together.

Lennon has averaged 3 goals a season for a decade, and has always been criticised for his lack of end product.

Mirallas I have supported, but Koeman has given him a chance to shine and he's not taken his chance. Week-in week-out, he gets a go: no goals, no assists... he either isn't good enough or doesn't want his spot.

If we added the option of changing to an extra midfielder, then McCarthy, Besic and Gibson would be considered. Ross hit double figures last season, the above 3 didn't hit double figures between them.

Ross is the least of our worries, he's clearly one of our better players, plus he's one of our own. He's young enough to get better; he creates chances and that at Everton is a rare commodity.

My view on our starting 11 is this: we need a top-class goalkeeper; we possibly need a left-back – although Baines may come back to his best and we have good kids in that position; Jagielka needs replacing; Funes Mori should be given a chance; Browning and Holgate should have a chance to press their claims for his spot; Gana is our centre-midfielder who would demand a place in some of the top 6 teams... meaning, if we want to be a top 6 team, then Barry, McCarthy, Besic, Gibson and Cleverley need moving on.0

Bolasie is the closest thing we have to a good winger; Deulofeu isn't living up to the hype (although his displays for Spain U21s tell me he's worth holding onto); Lennon wasn't good enough for Spurs and was replaced by Townsend... who's now at Palace!

Lukaku is our only forward who is worthy of Premier League football, meaning Kone, Niasse and Valencia are basically Championship players.

We still own McGeady, Kone, Oviedo, Robles, Lennon, Niasse, Cleverley, Gibson... all of whom take wages of at least 㿊,000 a week and don't even play. Moving them on would save the club millions of pounds a year but, for some reason, you only seem to find issue with Ross; it just seems strange to me.

He's been indulged by Koeman and Martinez and is allowed to do "a bit of this,and a bit of that" – in the hope it will eventually happen (and I mean regularly, not once a season).

Now – if he was a Le Tissier, Beardsley, Mahrez, Hazard, Mata – I'd say "Go on, Ross, do your stuff." But he's not and he never will be. Any Everton player who performed in a defined role would improve the team at the moment.

That's not bad for a lad who's playing for a bang average side with very limited movement ahead of him.

I also think Ross dawdles on the ball because ahead of him is usually one player, who would be Rom, and he's not known for his movement.

I honestly think Ross in a free flowing side like Arsenal, or the current RS side would bring lots more out of Ross.

Before Ross was initially dropped by England, he had created more chances than any other English player by a country mile, yet he only had one assist, that says to me that we aren't lethal enough, even though chances are being created.

I'm not just defending Ross for the sake of it, I just feel that in our current squad he is easily in the starting 11.

If we were to buy another 8-10 top players I might be as inclined to drop him.

I didn't read Seamus's quotes above. I could guess what he had to say. Ultimately, club-fed press statements are worth fuck all.

To be honest, I'm confused by Koeman. It's not really clear what he's trying to do.

The thought of our upcoming run of games is almost terrifying. The thought of watching that fraud Bolasie flatter to deceive is infuriating. In my 35+ years of watching Everton, he's the first player I've actively disliked.

Saints (a)
Man Utd (h)
Watford (a)
Arsenal (h)
Liverpool (h)
Leicester (a)

Football is a strange game and we have to hope the team can show improvements in the near future – otherwise, what is the bloody point of us taking any interest in the game at all???

Howard = Robles
Hibbert = Coleman
Jagielka = Holgate
Distin = Williams
Baines = Galloway
Carsley = Gana
Osman = Davies
Pienaar = Bolasie
Arteta = Deulofeu
Cahill = Barkley
Yakubu = Lukaku

Robles
Coleman Holgate Williams Galloway
Bolasie Gana Davies Barkley Deulofeu
Lukaku

Subs: Stekelenburg, Jagielka, Baines, Barry, Lennon, Mirallas, McCarthy

I wonder what's happening with Besic, Gibson, Kone, etc?

In the next transfer window, my priorities would be: a striker, a creative mid-fielder, a left-back.

Gueye is great for us but there's no point playing him and McCarthy, they're both too similar. We missed Barry's presence where he can start attacks on the pitch, and Gueye can go about the pitch like he does. It's a perfect balance.

Having no Barry meant the side ways Martinezesque passing in the first half. That was a big part of why we were poor against Swansea. Getting a long-term replacement for Barry in January has to be a priority for me.

Our opponents must believe in Santa.