Goodison taps Everton DNA to drag Blues to stirring win over Arsenal

The alternative support showed how it's done by a wonderful sound of clapping and cheering. Proud of my fellow supporters.

1) Was it not he who signed Gray?

2) Intensity is key to Everton performances until and "when" we can improve on quality.

3) And finally, Richarlison was truly magnificent.

It would be ridiculous to say we are now the finished product, but we needed a win so badly and finally brought the dedicated fans to be the much-needed extra man.

I know the camera flashed to Bill Kenwright quite often. I am probably going to get criticism for saying this, but I saw him for what he is: "A genuine Everton supporter". He is blamed more than is ever fair for the doldrums of the past 20+ years. He is an easy target and fans have needed someone to blame. He is not beyond criticism and he may have made mistakes but I think the bully boys have gone overboard.

Win or lose, being an Evertonian has been one of the major pleasures of my life. Games like Monday's give us at least a glimmer of hope for a brighter future. All supporters need to continue to get behind the team and stop looking for people to blame. It is a negative way to follow a team and only leads to frustration. Just try to take it one game at a time.

Excellent report Lyndon.

Not seen Goodison rocking like that for a while, l loved it.

Wonderful to see Gomes again, hope he can stay fit. Reports we tried to sell him and Mina pre season but both offer something to this squad. The only thing that bugged me was Mina going off. Get him fit.

Onwards and upwards, we all needed that. A night that got us all on side again. Something to build on.

Although we won, it was alarming how much space Odegaard constantly had by simply standing between the midfield and defence. On another day, or against another team, we would have been severely punished.

Obviously Richarlison and Gray were excellent, but I thought that Anthony Gordon is showing more and more maturity. He was constantly up and down the pitch and isn't afraid of putting a tackle in. I think he'll be a vital part of the squad in years to come.

Everton started the game well and pressed high up the pitch and were by far the better side but cruel justice had been done when Richarlison scored only for VAR to rule it out and then, just to rub salt in the wounds, Arsenal scored right on half-time, much against the run of play.

Just a mention over the walkout on 27 minutes, it was hard to judge just how many walked out but the majority stayed in their seats and also used the 27th minute to be even more supportive, although everybody got behind the team from the first whistle.

I think when Mina went off after 30 minutes, I feared the worst. Holgate came in and, by and large, played well for the remainder of the game, but the star of the show in defence was Michael Keane – absolutely outstanding.

Arsenal seemed happy with their 1-goal lead and really didn't cause us too many problems. Everton again were the team looking most likely to score – and they did: again, it was Richarlison, and again, VAR over-ruled the goal.

Now I can think of many Everton sides who would have thrown the towel in, but not last night. Then Benitez takes off Townsend and brings on Gomes and goes to a midfield 3, something a lot of us have been asking for over the last few weeks.

Maybe this is what the players had asked for at their rumoured meeting with him. But, whatever the reason, it was the right decision; it freed up Doucouré to play 15 yards further up field and play to his strengths which is running at teams back 4.

Then, at last, the goal we had deserved came, a shot from Gray was touched onto the bar by Ramsdale and Richarlison made no mistake heading in the rebound. Goodison erupted as only Goodison can on night games.

I have to be honest, with the way the game had gone, having chalked off 2 of our goals, I would have been happy with a draw. But the players quite rightly wanted the win. And what a winner it was Demarai Gray unleashed an unstoppable shot that clipped the inside of the post on the way into the back of the net. Cue Goodison going apoplectic, the atmosphere was electric, best I have seen it for a while.

I think the players and fans deserve great credit for last night's performance, and none more so than Richarlison and Michael Keane, who were both outstanding, followed closely by some very good performances from their teammates. But that display from Richarlison took me back to watching Dave Hickson on one of his brilliant swashbuckling performances.

When I got home, I switched on Sky just in time to hear Carragher say that Benitez seems to thrive on causing unrest at clubs, and he should know. I think this victory was despite the despicable one and not because of him. This was players and fans coming together.

The delight on Seamus Coleman's face at the end said everything, you could see how pleased he was for his team-mates and the fans that we had got the victory we definitely deserved.

Finally, we were told Moshiri would be at last night's game; from my seat in Upper Bullens, I couldn't see, but I am reliably informed that he wasn't there, I wonder why...?

Once he settled into the game, Gomes gave a very good account of himself. His composure and passing ability were just what was required in the final stages. A 20-minute cameo, similar to those he gave in the wins at Huddersfield and Brighton earlier in the season, does not however mean he can do it for 90 minutes. In the short term, at least using him sparingly as a second-half substitute may be the best option.

I was impressed with Anthony Gordon's ability in the air last night, especially in the second half. He got his head to several long balls lofted in his direction, enabling the team to switch the point of attack. We await his first goal but he is showing evidence of improvement.

It was pleasing also to see Gray back on top form although I thought he was one of our better players in the derby. The performances of individuals, notably Richarlison, Doucouré and Gray demonstrated yet again teams can only be successful when most of their best players are on the pitch.

Now that we have them back together, hopefully they will stay fit and available. With Calvert-Lewin to return at the end of the month, we can perhaps look forward to a few more victories in the coming months.

Dropping a player because he voiced possible squad opinion would be the greatest misjudgement since Custer stood atop the Little Bighorn saying "Injuns won't come up here".

Perceived victimisation would be a sure way of causing total meltdown – take it with a pinch of salt, mate.

I agree, Richarlison was immense. Gray and Doucouré superb... and pleased to see others acknowledge how well Keane played, often stepping out into midfield.

Have to disagree on Gordon who I thought was very average and who rarely got involved in the first half and who struggled to cope with the tracking back and marking responsibilities, sometimes taking an earful from Coleman for his lack of awareness.

But let's not quibble. A bear-pit atmosphere, an incredible late winner. What's not to savour?

And I'm sure, once Anthony Gordon scores his first, we will see him flourish.

“I think this victory was despite the despicable one and not because of him” – Who is the despicable one you are referring to, Brian?

I never took part in the demonstration even though I believed it be about Kenwright not Mr Moshiri.

This, in turn, allows a spearhead of Richarlison, Gray, Townsend and Gordon, with options for interchange of positions. All four forward players also offer defensive (gegenpress) qualities too.

We will see how Rafa sets us up at Palace, but if – as it appears – Digne is out of favour, would Delph be a workable stop-gap at left-back? He played there for Man City in their Premier League winning seasons, and he has the skill set to be effective, although purely in the defensive role, as he would offer nothing going forward.

Anyway, it's damn cold where I live, but my heart has been warmed this morning by seeing Goodison truly rocking again, and with our fans and the team being back "on the same page". Perhaps we needed that horror show in the derby game – and its aftermath – to re-set the agenda... after all, catharsis is essential to the drama, as our Chairman will know!

Richarlison looked like a Brazilian international and was the inspirational figure who led the second-half effort. Allan too was much more positive and the defence was a lot better, though we were fortunate on a couple of occasions.

Let us hope we can add a bit of poise to the effort and let's get three more points against a faltering Palace on Sunday.

But I'm also pleased that Lyndon acknowledges in his report how immense Michael Keane was also, something that was not acknowledged by others last night until a handful of posters did so this morning.

I understand the appeal Ben Godfrey has for some. A blood-and-thunder recovery defender whose fortes are his speed and strength. He isn't a ball-playing defender. In that regard, he appears to me more Phil Jones than Rio Ferdinand.

Keane by contrast was near immaculate in his defensive duties and time and again stepped forward into midfield, turning Arsenal back, with an accurate array of ground and long aerial passes.

There is a reason he is the only player to play every minute of our Premier League season to date.

I was impressed with the control in Everton's pressing game. Of course Arsenal were very poor, we should bear that in mind, but whether it's Benitez's coaching or the intelligence of the players on the pitch, the timing and co-ordination of our press has been impressive, even in the disappointing fixtures of the past few weeks.

The critical problems at the back have been the ease with which Coleman's lack of pace is exposed and the erratic form of Michael Keane. But if we keep working to this template we should pick up more points before too long.

A shout out to Allan as well. I know he can sometimes be too easily left standing by an opponent, but his work-rate and will to never say die are just immense.

In those last 15 minutes or so, I was taken by the number of times he was still busting a gut to get back to Keane or Holgate, to take the ball and then push forward with it. The car might struggle to get up to speed at times but the engine just goes on and on.

We need to work on getting those partnerships right across the pitch to make us more than the sum of our parts.

The quicker you get over here to watch Michael together with me the better, only speaking to you when he does something wrong, I’ll be speaking throughout the game!!

Immaculate !! nearly beats another poster on here who had him down as flawless, not once but twice last season, unbelievable.

I'd have a full-blown migraine and brain hemorrhage listening to you at t'game!

Just seen we doubled Arsenal last night with a good 2-0 win for the U-23s. We remain mid-table and Arsenal 3rd, so decent.

Sweet.

As I point out the many mistakes of Michael, your migraine will clear away as you see for yourself how many he makes.

To be honest I think he will be gone before you get over here to watch him together.

Keane was quality last night, but games like that play into his hands. He is one of the best in the league at defending the edge of his own box. However, let’s not get fooled that he will do equally as well when we play higher up the pitch. He won’t.

We need to realise who is best suited to the game in which we try to play and play those players accordingly. Keane is a vital member of the squad, barring injuries, he should just be a squad player though.

The Arsenal chances towards the end of the game were also far more clear-cut than I'd thought at the time, and the lad who hit the post should really have buried it and things would have looked very different this morning had he done so.

I was annoyed by Iwobi's missed chance at the game, but hadn't realised how deep he'd come from to get on the end of the pass from Richarlison, although I still think he should have buried it, I understand how having made such a long run, he wasn't possibly as composed as he might have liked to have been.

On another night, Godfrey could have collected three yellow cards and a red (I know that's not possible, but you know what I mean), but thankfully, his rash challenges weren't punished to the fullest extent of the law.

Last night was both an 'unlucky' and 'lucky' night which ultimately gave us all what we needed the most a victory and the three points.

It's a start and will do wonders for the confidence of the players and possibly the manager too, but the attitude of last night has to be maintained and hopefully, the team can use it as a catalyst to improve performances in the coming months.

Last night doesn't mean that the hierarchy should ignore the dissatisfaction that is felt by many Evertonians or the need for changes in how the club is run, but it proves that only the players on the pitch can alter the mood at the club for good or ill, their performances are far more important than what goes on in the boardroom and if Benitez can ensure that his players give everything in every game, the 'revolution' will happen on the pitch and not on the terraces.

I’m looking forward to a front 3 of Richarlison, DCL and Gray with Doucoure rampaging behind them. Though if Benitez doesn’t fancy Digne we need an alternative who can dribble and cross, which Godfrey cannot.

The tackle early doors last night set the tone for a much more aggressive display than we have seen of late.

'but games like [last night] play into his hands. He is one of the best in the league at defending the edge of his own box.'

Ehrm...but that wasn't how the game played out, was it? Our game was not a deep-lying 'back-to-the-walls' one.

We mostly defended with a high line, near and beyond the half way line. And the centre back who primarily stepped forward with the ball, beyond the Arsenal press, into their half, hitting good ground passes forward and accurate long diagonal balls was...Michael Keane.

No problem Kevin. I'm used to the stereotyping you and others make of Michael, which often bears no relation on how the game actually played out or how he performed.

Not only would he gain authority both by personality and example, but he might be just the kind of character to get the team buzzing again. He might be the Roy Keane leader (less the filthy play) we've needed for so long.

Poor Seamus will never fail to give everything, but he is sadly past it and is now the main focus for opposition teams; I'd rather seem him put out to grass rather than be remembered as someone who played too long and made too many errors in his final season(s).

The following is a really good site to get a collective and individual overview of who did what in the game.

Everton v Arsenal Data

Scroll down to the image of the footy field where you can then click on the image of any player which opens a window showing every metric of every play each made in the game.

Michael Keane had 58 total touches in the game, 51 of those were passes. 37 of those passes found their man for a 73% pass success rate.

Tellingly, 16 of his passes were in our defensive half. The majority - 21 - of his passes were in the Arsenal half. No other Everton player on the night got close to Michael's team high passes made in the opposition half. The next best was Richy with 16, Doucoure 15, Gray 11. Townsend 7.

How could Michael achieve those numbers if, as Kevin implies, he sat and defended deep the entire game?

*Out of contract in the summer. 16 in 17 for England U-21s. I can't say i've seen much of him, but dreadful miss aside, I wonder if he would be worth a punt?

Forget the stats Jay, if you could back to whenKeane was at Burnley would you still buy him for the money we paid for him, no forget about the money we paid for him, would you still sign him?

He did well last night going forward and has a good range of passing but look at where he was for the Arsenal goal, Ill give you a clue nowhere. He seems to lose all sense of concentration when the ball comes in the box.

A good CB would have made sure everyone was marked but he looked like a little boy lost which he does on far too many occasions.

Anyway lets not spoil a great team performance with dwelling on individuals. I thought the team were absolutely together and well driven on by the fans except for the 27 who left on 27 minutes.

Everton came out on a mission and it was obvious from the start there was more intensity than the previous 8 games.

Despite some decisions going against them (and one for them, the Godfrey incident) and losing Mina they still had to show some grit after going behind at a very vital time and we were all pleased to see the effort.

However with 11 minutes to go they were still behind and it looked like it was going to be yet another disappointing result.

Up pops our secret weapon and deal of the century Demarai Gray and you would have thought they had just won the cup although there was a heart stopping moment at the death when Arsenal should have equalized.
Sometimes in a bad run you also have bad luck but it was our turn to get some good luck and lets all hope now we see some better results into the new year.

When we had the ball we were far higher up the pitch, hence the large number of passes in the Arsenal half, and Keane did very well bringing the ball out - which is another of his strengths, he is also a very good long range passer. But this doesn’t mean that we defended high up the pitch, or in the Arsenal half as you suggest, it simply means that we pushed up when we had the ball. The fact that we played a more direct style and only had 36% possession also gives an indication as to why he made more passes than more attacking players.

I’m not criticising Keane, like I said he is an excellent player at doing the job he does. But he shouldn’t play against teams where we genuinely defend high up the pitch and leave space behind the defence. In these situations he is often either dallying too far behind the rest of the defence or is exposed by pace.

Brian #7... "I think this victory was despite the despicable one and not because of him." Yeah, I know Rafa isn't popular, but if he takes the blame for games where the team's effort is weak, he deserves some credit for when they're strong, and there was some serious mental strength on display yesterday after Mina was injured and those two goals were chalked off. The team and the fans overcame the opponent, not the manager.

Jay #16, Keane has been amazingly consistent all season, and his numbers show it. He is 6th in the league in blocked shots, 2nd in interceptions, 5th in headed clearances, 7th in clearances and 11th in aerial battles won. He has made virtually no major mistakes. And he remains our best long passer while improving significantly on the shorter ones. He had a crossfield ball out to Gray yesterday that was downright majestic. He'll never be anybody's dream CB, but at this point he's doing a fine job and getting the absolute maximum out of his abilities.

As for Godfrey, I still have no idea how he stayed on the pitch. It was good to see his old aggression reasserted, but he'd better splash some cold water on his brain.

There is statistical data (as per the Footmob website) and there is empirical data. That which you see with your own eyes.

Dave wishes to dismiss the statistical data which confirms the view that Michael Keane played the majority of his passes in the opposition half, thus disproving the claim that he sat deep defending the edge of his own penalty area for the bulk of the game. Dave further picks out the failed passes (one in four) rather than the successful passes (3 in 4). The failed quick free kick was Townsend, Dave. Not Michael.

Jay claims on empirical evidence that for the Arsenal goal Keane was 'nowhere'. You need to watch it again, Jay. Keane did his job. As Thierney's cross came on Martinelli ran to the near post. Keane was 100% right in tracking him.

Odengaard, the goalscorer, running late into the box was not his man. That responsibility rested more with Allan and Gray who were nearest to Odengaard but didn't track back, or even Godfrey who should have been more alert to the threat but didn't react quick enough.

Two unsurprising examples to me the lengths some will go to critique anything and everything about Michael Keane when there is clear and obvious evidence to suggest otherwise.

I know I watched Everton v Arsenal. Maybe you watched Rotherham v Stockport, two teams with similar shirts to the PL teams.

I'll give you the benefit of the doubt and presume you, like me, did indeed watch Everton v Arsenal. The difference being I watched it with my eyes. You watched it with your eyes.

Breaking news, Kevin. People can watch the same event and reach different conclusions.

The way I saw it MF should have picked Odegard up but MK should have either shouted for cover or covered it himself. IMO he was nowhere near Martinelli nor Odegard and Godfrey was too late to the party too.

As I said lets just enjoy a momentous night for all blues.

There’s a reason all of our recent managers have continued to pick him - you know what you will get from him, which is generally 7/10 every week. Mina is up and down and often injured. Holgate has dropped off dramatically. And Godfrey is still young so has ups and downs because he is still learning the game.

Keane is like Dave Watson, he just needs a decent consistent partner, preferably with a bit of pace.

That was the most passive Arsenal team I’ve probably ever seen, and they were also very snide, constantly wasting time, with players feigning injury. I was glad about this, because once they opened up near the end, they carved Everton open a few times, missing two gilt edged chances, and also forcing two fantastic defensive blocks, from both Coleman and Godfrey, because when a team get the ball down and play forwards, Everton are just two easy to play against?

On another day Iwobi would have buried his chance but then again so would the lad who hit the post and Aubameyang in the last minute.

There was a noticeable difference when Gomes came on, Doucoure moved further forward and Allan sat deeper, where I think he's better.

Great result but the issues still remain. Now let's turn over Palace

I loved the spirit the blues showed last night, and pulled together, we deserved the win. Several standout performances. Credit to the manager (he will have had easier weeks).

Going by your own stats Keane made over Twentyfive per cent poor passes a bit of a let down for someone who was nearly immaculate.

Would you still sign Michael Keane from Burnley if you could go back in time?

Danny (47), Keane is nothing like Dave Watson, Watson was a leader and a captain who made other players play, he led players same as Alan Stubbs, Watson has to be talked through a game, like Mina was talking to him and other defenders before he went off.

For the record I thought Michael Kean was really good last night and that Anthony Gordon did really well, switching wings when asked to and occupying the full back. When Iwobi came on, all of a sudden Tavares had the run of our right.

Jacques - what press, there wasn't one for the first 30 mins, after that it was sporadic and uncoordinated.

Brian - totally agree last night had nothing to do with Benitez. His team selection was pretty much Hobson's choice. Everyone understands that with the current personnel we can't just play with two in midfield, we get over run every week, Gomes should have been in from the start. Iwobi for Gordon - do me a favour. We had 32% possession at home to a poor Arsenal side. There is no way that the inspiration for last night's win came from Benitez it was 100% down to the players feeding off the crowds sense of injustice.

But isn't it great that we can have these diverse opinions?

No!

I thought Arsenal deserved everything they got last night. Even their goalscorer Odengaard lamented 'we started playing not to lose, rather than go and get the second goal.'

I understand Thierney is returning from injury, so maybe that was the reason Arteta replaced him with Tavares on 65 minutes. For me our former 'no-one-is-better' did us a favour, because from that point onwards there was little or no threat coming down that flank and we pinned them back more.

Arsenal were HORRIBLE in the last third of the game! Feigning injuries. Time wasting. Trying anything and everything to break up any rhythm of the game. It made our victory, in the face of a great deal of adversity, all the sweeter.

Once we equalised with a legitimate goal, as you say Tony they started playing forward again, but equally we were very dogged in our defensive work and aggressive in getting in and around their penalty area.

I saw nothing from Arteta in the period of negativity by Arsenal that he tried to cajole them to play differently. Not one of his substitutes worked for him either. Rafa's did.

I don't have to look retrospectively -- I didn't want us to sign Keane back then after watching Lukaku destroy him at Goodison in April 2017. But he has proven to be a solid, courageous competitor and a true Blue in my opinion, and I always admire players of character even if their abilities are somewhat limited.

Long may it continue.

Oh yeah, that's not why I came here. Nice take Brian! I've read several stating it was dire but that was the game chosen. We pressed to disrupt their flow and it worked. Most of their possession was sterile and the moves forward typically ended with high risk passes over the top or ran out of options as the defensive rotations were effective. You could hear the coaches prompting the close downs and directing assignments. The focus was to block the channels and upon turnovers push up field along the sidelines to keep them from settling in our side and to give Duke some room to work it out of our end.

After the glow subsides we'll get into the choices between three in the middle and the 4-4-2. I like the 4-4-2 early on and then moving to the three in the middle later with the subs.

Michael Keane may not be a leader - he is very much a confidence player. But in terms of how they play, the comparison with Dave Watson stands up. Neither is the most mobile or quick on the turn. Both are good headers of the ball and solid defenders. Both need a bit of pace next to them. And both had a sticky start at Everton.

We saw the best of Watson with Ratcliffe and Unsworth next to him. And we have seen the best of Keane with Zouma next to him.

Watson was a 7/10 or 8/10 every week, Keane is similar. Not spectacular, but solid, he just needs a consistent partner.

He's showing consistency up agree, he needs to be led and talked through the game. I also agree that he would benefit from having a leader and consistent partner next to him, which he has rarely had.

I have never quite worked out the difference between spouting stats and trying to support an opinion by offering somebody else’s. Too often do I see stats form an opinion rather than support it.

Keane had a smashing game last night. Maybe his best. But some of the stats quoted here are right up there with the ones put up about Seamus last week I had to read the claim that he had made virtually no major mistakes this season about four times.

Some of the clangers keane has made this season have had many in the crowd sitting with their heads between their knees. I don’t think anybody who watched those games needs to be reminded of them.

Re-writing of history aside. You are only as good as your last game and Keane was excellent last night.

The defenders all took up the correct position for Arsenal goal. They were entitled to expect midfield players to cover late arrivals into out box. Once again Allan, couldnt or wouldnt stay with his man and the Arsenal man strolled into our box without opposition

You’re post 30 said

Ehrm...but that wasn't how the game played out, was it? Our game was not a deep-lying 'back-to-the-walls' one.

Then later on you say

Breaking news, Kevin. People can watch the same event and reach different conclusions.

I don’t think we’ll ever agree on the merits of Keane, but you do love to invite an argument

And take responsibility for your own provocative statement 'dunno which game you were watching' to which I responded 'sorry Kevin, but...' etc.

No, he won't improve much, and he's not a CB to take us into Europe, but he's done better than I expected and I think he's earned genuine respect.

How long that lasts we shall see, but I wouldn't underrate the ability of our manager to persuade players, perhaps players of limited self-belief historically, that they do indeed have gifts and should not be frightened to use them.

I wasn’t at that match Joe, but remember it as being a game when the two teams looked dead on their feet, but I thought Arsenal were very continental in their approach last night, and with Everton being the team that played with a lot more aggression, fortune definitely favored the brave, in the end.

Dogged defending, was Coleman and Godfrey throwing themselves towards the ball blocking goal bound shots, because Arsenal started cutting through us once we equalized, but the game had become really stretched by this stage, and Everton finally found a little bit of luck, for once.

We just need better players all round.

Anyway, on a lighter note, I laugh every time I watch the replay because you can see a moment when Gomes is about to release the ball forward and then obviously thinks "shit not Iwobi" and passes to Gray instead who is in a worse position.

It's like playground football - where you end up with a dud in the side to make up the numbers.

He is also a much better player when paired with Mina who is more vocal and more of an organiser of those around him.

I don’t think Everton have been much better than mid table since Michael, first pulled on the shirt, and looking at the table this season, only four teams have conceded more goals than Everton, which doesn’t really surprise me.

He was good last night, I think he’s had a few decent games lately, but our defence is still all over the place when teams attack us, and only when we rectify this, will we really push-on as a team?

The bottom line is that Everton at this point has nowhere near enough talent to compete regularly with the best. We will eventually require improvement at every position. To me, midfield is -- and has always been -- the biggest weakness and the top priority.

I think that’s fair enough but I don’t think players like Keane are the pressing problem. It’s the lack of depth in the squad that means we have had to endure players like Iwobi, Rondon, Holgate, Delph Tosun and Gomes still getting game time when it’s patently obvious they will never be good enough.

The biggest disappointment last night was watching Thomas Partey, because whenever I watched him for Atletico Madrid, (admittedly not that often) he was always full of aggression and forward running, and is definitely the type of player I’d love to play alongside Doucouré.

I’d add Gray based on a small sample of games and despite his dip in form I wouldn’t give up on Digne yet.

However it’s about a squad so some of the players who are currently first choice could do a job for you.

First priority is to ship out the deadwood over the next two windows and add six or so quality players

The reality is that to be consistently top4 is gonna be almost impossible considering the dominance of the top3, Man Utd have financial dominance that will always work.in their favour.

Look at Leicester, despite being the benchmark for many fans on how to construct a club, they have failed to reach top 4 and are having a poor season. But no-one will doubt their strategy.

Our ambition is for us to become a club worthy of supporting. A club that might challenge at the top, that will win the occasional cup, but equally will have the odd blip but that won't be the end of the world. A club with a strategy for long term.

I don't think it comes down to top-4. Because that's setting ourselves up for disappointment and failure.

We're currently a basket case of a club, and we've had loftier ambitions than we could realistically achieve, and this has led to a number of bad decisions that have ruined the last 5 years.

Graham, this isn't a dip in form for Digne. It's coming up on two full seasons -- the end of 19/20, most of 20/21 and nearly halfway through this one -- since he showed his best. I would not be surprised if Rafa has made the decision on him.

Fran, you are probably right that Top 4 is out of reach, but I don't think Moshiri and Usmanov invested in the idea to be Leicester either. I think Best of the Rest and the new stadium are their minimum ambitions.

He still had more assists than any other player last season. He’s at his best bombing forward. Benitez doesn’t really play his full backs like that and I suspect that this is the root of the problem this year.

You may be right about Benitez’s view though.

Keep it going Stephen.

I don't believe Moshiri now has a clear ambition for his Everton project - because there are now 3 clubs with vast wealth and 2 additional commercial giants (along with quite a few similar / better resourced clubs).

I expect he would happily take the glory of a few cup wins and European adventure to make his pretty disastrous tenure look respectable.

I met a few Arsenal lads this morning who’d stayed over night for a jolly, in the Weatherspoon handy for the station, and they said the atmosphere was great and knew that Everton would win.

Great to win, character and grit, long may this be the minimum every game.

Immense and brought the feel good factor back, which has been missing far too long.

Let’s see what happens, next in the corridors of power at Goodison Park.

Next up Palace, and for more of the same.

Or in other words buy players who still have something to prove.

Just thought that needed to be said. UTFT!

So if you hear Jules Laurens asking who is worse than Everton let him know, Arsenal. That guy is off the Xmas list.

They need to follow up with a good performance against Palace to put them in good heart for the tough one against Chelski coming up.

Gray Winner v Arsenal

I appreciated on the night how well Andre Gomes worked the position in the centre circle, with 3 Arsenal players in close attention, to send the ball through to Gray, but until this video I hadn't really seen how well Allan chest controls Holgate's hooked clearance mid-way in our half before playing an astute reverse pass into Andre's feet. Vital to the whole move.

Also watch out for the pitch-wide angle (around the 2nd or 3rd angle shown) which shows the whole playing area. Note Holgate on the centre circle collapse to the floor in relief/joy and how nuts the whole team goes.

Good stuff.

Back to the game. The Arsenal time wasting antics really worked against them because it just wound GP up more which in turn made our players more determined.

A while since I have enjoyed and seen a proper game of footy, I thought our attitude was fantastic and the support magnificent.

I was talking to a couple of Gooners on the way back to the car park. They were well impressed with our support last night.

Leceister City, of course, had just pulled off their shock title win.

City was a powerhouse, but this was still the City of Pellegrini and they just scraped 4th with Pep due to arrive.

United, as we all know, swiftly derailed under Moyes, then had two okay-ish seasons under Van Gaal, finishing 5th, with Mourinho due to arrive.

Liverpool transitioned from Rodgers to Klopp mid-season and finished 8th. They were nowhere close to the side that Klopp would eventually build.

Chelsea were the defending champions, but imploded under Mourinho, finishing 10th, with Conte due to arrive.

Second and third went to Arsenal and Tottenham. Arsenal were still a Champion's League stalwart under Wenger, but hadn't seriously contended for a League title in some time, much to their fans' chagrin. Spurs were flying high under Pochettino by this point, but were still just a few years removed from being a comparable, if not lesser side than us.

Southampton, of course, finished 6th and qualified for Europe, which was a big part of the reason we went for Koeman.

It's not hard to see why Moshiri would evaluate that landscape, with so many clubs in flux, and conclude that Champion's League was attainable with a surge of investment.

Now we've got juggernauts entrenched at the top of the table and a league that's become so competitive that Ancelotti got us 59 points and that was barely enough to ensure a top-half finish, let alone any sort of European qualification.

I tend to agree with Darren and have yet to see any statto count the number of times someone is caught out of position, lets someone run off him, picks the wrong pass, takes the easy option etc.

Keane had a decent game last night but let’s not get carried away. 73% successful passes and more touches than anyone else, might be because he (his position) is the one outfield player least likely to be pressed into misplacing his pass by the opposition, because those touches happen to be furthest away from the opposition goal and therefore least likely to do any damage.

Oh and don't be wearing a bro-bra either.

Those are very difficult things to assess, and in the case of “the wrong pass” I’d suggest that will (except in extreme cases) generally be open to subjective interpretation.

Statistics are good in a binary sense; pass completed, header won, tackle made - yes or no. And then as aggregate measures; distance covered, shots on target, blocks, interceptions. Statistics are starting to get more complex, and working with interpretation and probability, with xGoals being a good example. I think we’ll soon be looking at more complex categories, with passing difficulty being assessed in a similar way as xG, and with passes being broken down into distance, ground made, and possibly even number of opponents that a pass beats. So maybe we’ll soon be looking at broken down stats for every player for every game, and I suspect doing so will encourage players to be more progressive - in the same way that the introduction of pass completion stats encouraged players to swap meaningless five yard passes on the halfway line when under no pressure.

I imagine that Michael Keane’s detailed passing stats - if such metrics were already available - were very good last night. He made a lot of passes while under pressure, including a number of long passes that retained possession and put us on the front foot deep in the Arsenal half. His long-passing, off both feet, is crisp and strong and is something that we can use now that we have wide players with pace who want to provide that outlet.

I also want to give Doucouré some credit for the run he made outside Gray for the winning goal. Once the ball got to Gray there was a moment where Doucouré realised what Gray would probably want to do - and that it was up to him to make the touch line decoy run in order to give him the space and time to do it. Doucouré found the energy and pace and determination to make that 40 yard sprint, and Gray did the rest. That’s great football.

I agree with pretty much everything you say. I was just making the point that most of these “fanboy” stats don’t tell half the story and are not the slam dunk that some people believe they are, to prove their point on how well someone performed.

Holgate’s position for the Arsenal goal is atrocious, and Keane’s position for the header that hit the post is possibly worse.

Why Holgate is drawn so far past the front post is hard to fathom, and why Keane is doing something similar, instead of anticipating that the danger area is a lot closer to our goal, just shows a complete lack of “understanding and togetherness” and these really are two massive parts of defending as a team.

I’m aware it’s easy to be critical, but I’m also aware that it’s impossible to defend “most things” by yourself, and that’s why your partner is just as important as you are, sometimes, and it’s why defending as a unit, whenever possible, is also so important for any team.

I don't know about you but, every time Holgate gets the ball, I get nervous! Seems to me you can feel others round about feel similar?

He sometimes seems to wander around and get attracted to the ball and not look for the defensive shape or line. I'm sure there was a time in the second half he got caught in possession fannying around near the half way line… I must have a look at the tape.

The 3 points were all that mattered but Arsenal surely did have some chances.

He had great potential and, despite being quick, he is a liability, much like Stones was. His situation is like Barkley's who also failed to reach the heights after being sent out on loan.

I think Holgate is very short on confidence but I still feel he was hard-done-by after the QPR defeat, considering he'd had a very good game alongside Keane just before this at Brighton but was totally bombed after this cup tie.

He is way too casual at times though, and that's why I think you can feel the crowd getting nervous at times when Holgate is in possession, John.

I think that the issues for Arsenal's goal start far before Holgate's final position.

Both Allan and Doucouré try to press, but Keane and Holgate both stay deep. This creates a massive gap where Lacazette and Ødegaard are free. When the ball goes to Lacazette and he lays it off to Tierney, Coleman moves over and Holgate, possibly anticipating Lacazette to join the attack, moves across in tandem. When Lacazette doesn't dart forward, Holgate is then left marking no-one and can only stand there hoping to block a low cross. When the cross is high, he is taken out of the game.

This is where either Godfrey, who is alone at the back post and able to see everything, or one of the midfielders should have spotted the danger that Ødegaard presented and reacted quicker as Keane already had Martinelli to deal with.

Ultimately though, if Keane and Holgate had stepped forward 5 yards when both Allan and Doucouré initially pressed, then the space in which Lacazette got the ball wouldn't have been there and the goal potentially wouldn't have been scored.

Totally agree that it was a poor defensive decision between them, but I think the main mistake happened far sooner than the final positions.

There were several occasions on Monday when he almost lost the ball when pressed or was lucky to get away with a poor touch. It comes across as overconfidence, even if that's not how he actually feels.

The goal he gave away against Aston Villa is the perfect example – faffing around even when the last man back.

But maybe a run in the side would help? All I know is that he gives me the willies.

I very rarely disagree with you when you speak about positioning of players... but I couldn't disagree with you more about Holgate's positioning for the Arsenal goal... It was textbook. I don't think there is a coach out there (worth his salt) who would not have expected him to take up that position.

When a centre-half sees his full-back beaten down the flank, the very first thing he is taught to do is go to the immediate danger. That is the near post. If you are playing left side (as Keane was), you go to cover the near post if Godfrey is beaten, and if you are playing on the right, as Holgate was, you cover that area immediately.

The reasons the centre-half is coached to do this are pretty obvious. You have to make sure the attacker doesn't have a free run at goal (the immediate danger). You also have to be there to cut out any low or poor crosses. However, If the attacker is good enough to lift a good ball over you into the danger area, the responsibility falls upon your partner (Keane in this case) and the other full-back (Godfrey). Both did their job and took up good positions.

The back four can only do so much. They are entitled to expect a man coming from deep will be tracked by a team mate... The Arsenal scorer actually runs past Allan and is completely unmarked when he scores.

For me Allan, gets a very easy ride on here (although he doesn't get it at the match anymore). No matter who he chases, he always seems to look like Reidy chasing Maradona. He doesn't run, he trundles.

I wonder how long it will be before those people who lauded him as a great Carlo signing start to admit his howlers. His form at the moment is abysmal. His awful pass to Rodri against Man City got the treatment it deserved. As did his willingness to sell himself so cheaply for the Shite's fourth the other night and why did he lie down When Henderson scored instead of breaking his neck to close him down? this is all in the last few games!

I know one thing: If Tom Davies had allowed Ødegaard to run off him and swan into the area as Allan did, he would have been hung drawn and quartered on here... That's four goals in the last few games.

I get why Allan is popular; he is a trier. He tackles everything that moves; he had a ready-made fan club when he got here, but he is proving to be a liability. More so than any of our much maligned defenders.

Holgate is playing with an arrogance. Not the arrogance of a good player, but the arrogance of a player who thinks he is good. He's been like this since he "made the big time" with his long contract and bumper pay rise. For me, that makes him the exact opposite of Allan: he isn't liked. While one of them is popular and gets away with murder, the other isn't and often gets blamed for mistakes he didn't make.

Stuart.

That perfect example of a Holgate mistake you gave... It didn't happen, mate. It was Mina and Keane you saw being skull dragged at Villa Park. Holgate didn't get on.

I totally agree. It's alright the midfield pressing higher up the pitch but, if the defence hasn't got the confidence to go with them, then we leave big open gaps between midfield and defence, as with Arsenal's goal.

There were times in the first half where we tried to press Arsenal high but one of our central midfielders – sometimes Doucouré, sometimes Allan – wouldn't press.

The reason why seemed to be Lacazette routinely dropping into the pocket between our back four and the midfield pressers and, as neither Keane nor Holgate or Mina would follow Lacazette, it obviously put the onus on one of those two midfielders to take up a position in no-man's land to try to stop the quick ball into Lacazette.

If Keane or Mina or Holgate would have had the confidence and vision to step up and mark Lacazette – they were both completely alone and were not marking anyone – then our press could have offered some proper pressure. As it was, either Ødegaard or Thomas Partey or Xhaka were always able to use their man advantage and beat the press.

On the Holgate - Keane debate. I tend to agree with most here.

'Casual' is a good way to describe Holgate. I hope to be proven wrong, but I don't see him reaching the levels I want for Everton. He seems to have a blasé "I've made it" attitude. I say that without knowing the individual admittedly.

Keane. I have to be careful as I've been critical since I thought we got seen off by Burnley, paying £30M for a Man Utd reject who was over-hyped and over-rated because he's English. Too nice for a centre-back.

Back to footballing opinion, for me, it's his concentration and anticipation that lets him down more than anything. Aside from that, he's a good footballer and decent defender. But he's 28 going on 29 now and I don't see that improving.

If we play higher up the pitch, way too often he watches the ball go over his head before reacting. And he doesn't have the pace to recover the situation. I don't want just 'decent' for Everton either, but that's an expectation thing.

Kevin @120. Mind the gap in midfield. Myself and others noted that last season. With the players we currently have, it calls for a 4-3-3 or to play a sweeper, which is almost the same thing. I actually think Allan could do that, but his instinct is to go and hunt the ball.

Given his legs aren't what they were, I could see him transitioning into something like what Mascherano did for Liverpool and then Barcelona? Maybe not as good, but just a thought.

Tony's point on the partnership thing is key. There has to be understanding and, as part of the centre-back union, it is more crucial there than anywhere else on the pitch because, if you mess up there, it's usually fatal.

In basic terms, communicate: one attacks, one covers the space. Don't both get drawn into the ball or the players. On the latter, that's why there is an argument for zonal marking. But you take responsibility for marking the space. And communicate; take responsibility.

I'm not sure it's always possible to make sure everyone is marked, but I'm probably being a little bit facetious because this is definitely the best description of what our back four are currently not doing, Jay.

Sorry for going on, but Ancelotti showed us last season how important it is to defend as a unit; if Benitez can get us doing something similar, with Gray and Richarlison breaking forward on either side of Calvert-Lewin, then I think we could develop into a decent team.

Watching Allan again is worse than I thought when I watched it the first the first time. He simply quits as Ødegaard runs 30 yards to score unmarked.