A Noticeable Arc of Improvement

It's great to see we've matched Leeds's effort. The use of younger players and possibly higher intensity fitness training has brought the team up to shape to compete.

Iwobi once again with great vision for the killing pass. If Gueye comes in, he would even have more freedom to do the work up top.

Not sure why Lampard didn't use any of the subs. Gray look exhausted towards the end. Surely a youngster can press and chase down the ball?

I was shouting for subs but, in the clear light of day, I realise our bench would have brought nothing to the team.

Our problem for their goal was defending from the half-way line at the start of the second half. Once they scored, we pushed up 20 yards and we played okay again

I watched the game on a Thai stream in Italian! But as you said, there is improvement.

I said after the Brentford game that we are only a couple of players short of a decent team but frankly was amazed at the negativity.

Lampard is putting in a good spine, but a big test will be this weekend. Any result would be welcome but if we can take all three points it will be significant!

Didn't use any subs, despite players being on bookings. This is a long hard season written all over it, and the lack of any midfield control or goal threat should have everyone worried.

This was against Leeds, a relegation rival. And we looked feeble, as we did against Forest. Tougher games still to come up – played 5, 3 points.

It's a results-based business, and I thought Frank could turn us around. But I can't see him making it past the West Ham game.

That first international break is the marker of where we are and, as a club, we are miles behind. Blame the board, players, medical team, scouting set up and manager. They're all responsible for this.

Hard work alone will always earn a certain amount of points a season, hopefully when the team gels a bit more and we have a full quota of playing staff playing in their proper positions, them draws will become wins.

All our matches so far have been tight affairs and there do seem to be signs of progress, although when winning we seem to shrink very quickly into allowing teams to come at us. Confidence is a hard thing to create when we’ve suffered the 12 months that we’ve had.

433 seemed to have us more balanced and we just need to keep the ball a bit better at times. Onana, Gueye and Iwobi (with Doucoure to come in too) is a very decent looking midfield; something we’ve not had for a good few years and it should allow us a bit more control and solidity in matches.

I’m not sure I feel quite so confident as Lyndon that relegation battles will not embroil us this season but there does seem a plan. We are becoming harder to beat and that is a good start on the road to recovery.

Lots of encouraging individual performances. We just need to add the goals. Hopefully Gueye + a striker with the potential to be better than what we've got will turn up very soon.

I also think Leeds are a very difficult opponent at Elland Road and that's a good point on the road.

A little more relaxed about things after last night, especially having seen how close we came to winning. It's about results at the end of the day, and Frank needs to start picking up wins. One win in 3 months was what did for Rafa.

There is an improvement though strikers win matches and we need Mauphey scoring and DCL back in this team asap.

Remove goals from an average team and you have a relegation battle. We have lost Richie and DCL injured.

Overall team performance has improved, we aren't carrying any passengers, all of the 11 last night put a shift in.

I disagree with Lyndon's formation. It was 451 last night with McNeil almost playing like a 2nd right back for most of the 2nd half.

Fine margins in the prem between about 12 clubs. Looking at our next 6 games we are going to have to score a lot more goals to get points on the board.

I'm with much of the sentiment here. It's getting better, slowly. Anyone who expected a quick magic fix is living in cloud cuckoo land. I also wondered about lack of subs, but wonder if it was more about not upsetting the balance that was, just about, clinging on. Bring on someone 10-15 mins from the end (especially while we're defending heroically) and there could easily be a few minutes of bedding in - enough for them to pounce? Just a thought.

Gana is going to help he midfield, he will add a boost of confidence to Onana and Iwobi. Maupay and DCL back soon will give us more strength up front and allow more desperately needed options from the bench. A combination of those two things will see us controlling games better, wins will follow.

Like that mate, wished I had thought of it. Keep 'em coming need a bit of clever wit on TW amid the doom and gloom of some of our throng !

Never like slagging off any of our highly paid players but sometimes they deserve it. Tom Davies proved yet again that Bette Davies was a far better player in his position. He has developed ball watching nearly as accomplished as Gomes, I hate the way with the ball about 10 yards away and he has no intention of chasing it, where he lifts a leg about eighteen inches as if he had just missed out !

Although we certainly look more solid, we are still surrendering possession far too easily and aren't clinical enough. Onana could and should have scored as was the case at Villa Park. Patterson should have finished that chance, too. That is the difference: better teams take their chances. Maupay will help but we need a firing DCL back and I still think we need more attacking options before the deadline tomorrow.

Maupay and Gueye in that team will make a massive difference. I hope Iwobi continues in his current role as that will allow Gordon to continue what appears to be a free role.

It's great seeing us grind out hard earned points that last season would have been a loss. This is a work very much in progress but at long last we can see the beginning of a team identity.

Do we look capable of keep a regular clean sheet or scoring a couple of goals to win a match?

We back off far too much for my liking, and that invariably gets punished in this league. The 2nd half was inevitable – succomb to concede, à la Saturday.

The team for all its better collectiveness, has a pityful number of goal scoreres you can hang your hat on. Players with one goal a season dominate our squad.

To stay out of trouble you're looking at 40-50 goals. So how are we getting to those numbers with what we have?

It is better, but we are still bang in trouble unless you get that quality defensive midfielder to break up the play, try and get more control of the midfield. And more attacking threat to win games.

The next 48 hours is huge for this club, as we can't afford to go down.

In my choosing Everton in 1976, for many of those years goals scored have been low (we know the years we scored). In the Premier League era it's been dreadful.

To underline this we all know Greame Sharp is Everton's all-time scorer. Salah across the Park has smashed that goal tally already in just a few seasons.

Sharp? All time scorer? That'll come as a surprise to Dixie Dean's family.
Puts Salah in the shade too.

Incidentally, Fred Pickering is almost always overlooked when talking about goal scorers, he managed 56goals in 97 appearances before injury stymied his Everton career.

The bad... our passing is still very poor,we sit far too deep and just invite needless pressure,we still rush our game in the final third,our set plays are fruitless it now seems, poor substitutions or none it all?

I generally think that we'll improve with Frank at the helm but I also think that our gaffer will always play it safe and our trophy drought will just continue...we just need to be braver in games in general.

And I don't know how Gray's goal didn't count (well, I do – because it went to VAR and they drew imaginary lines to his wrist). That offside call was absolutely rubbish.

Keeping Gordon is a must and it looks like he'll be with us for the season, and hopefully longer - let's get a long-term contract in front of him now that he's happy to sign (preferably without a release clause).

God forbid that we have to put up with the jet engine of negativity until then. We may have made some excellent buys and we may even see Top 10 by the end. I look forward to seeing it.

I think Gary Lineker would come in at second in the goals-per-game ratio but it's all academic. As we all know from Sky et al, football only started in 1992.

I think that's a good way to look at it. It is likely to be a pretty up-and-down season overall. In all honesty, I'm not fussed whether we finish 8th or 14th this season.

What I want to see is a style of play emerging, players being braver and settling into a system, formation, and regular first XI etc that gives me hope of finishing in the Europa League places, winning cups etc. None of that is going to come immediately.

There is improvement. We don't fold or collapse. I was informed on these very pages that we were doomed to defeat against the high-intensity Leeds. We contained them and actually controlled them first half. They obviously got a rocket at half time and we tired. But again, we didn't fold. Likewise, I was told we should prepare to be defeated at home by Nottingham Forest.

You risk defeat in every game of football as much as you risk winning or drawing.

If we look at this strategically, we are picking up points. A very good point made by Lyndon, was made by my son last season. We didn't turn enough eventual defeats into draws. We're doing that now and the wins will come. Even the 2 defeats have been close matches. Chelsea more so than Villa I would say.

We generally look more solid. We are not lying down as easily and we are standing up for ourselves. Even when a dick of an opposition manager is trying to influence an already incompetent official by continuously showing him his latest Apple I-Watch. We get it, you've got a new watch.

Finally we have multiple leaders on the pitch. Coady and Tarkowski constantly barking out the orders and organising the team. We've lacked that for so long.

I'm confident for Saturday. But then I always am. If I keep saying it, it will happen. I particularly want to see Onana say hello to Henderson.

I have to mention the "offside" goal. My instinct at first glance was offside, but it clearly wasn't. I don't know where he got it from or how reliable the source, but my son showed me a feed that claimed the VAR could determine so went off shadows to make the decision. I hope not. If we are making decisions off shadows, it's just ridiculous.

First win on Saturday.

You probably know a microchip in the ball for offside at last is going to be used now in the Champions League and World Cup, no doubt closely followed by the Premier League so it will cut out the "It's only Everton" discretionary big calls, especially v the Top 6. Should really start it after the World Cup break but, failing that, it will be next season so some inept idiot in a van can't do as he pleases.

Football tends to complicate matters when more competent officials supported by technology might be a better solution rather than trying to fix it with technology alone.

Microchips in the England versus Iran opener. Makes me feel nervous and suspicious!!

But we need goals and thus players with goal-taking instincts.

Yes, I'm talking about strikers…. c'mon Frank & Kev: please make it happen!

Training will continually reflect the play on the pitch. There will be a high degree of players interpreting their roles and deciding themselves what they need to do. Players brought in have the necessary robustness for this. This licence of free expression particularly suits Iowbi and players like Gordon, Patterson, Tarkowski, Coady, Nano are increasingly buying into that when the formation is one they know, Mykolenko and McNeil will also buy into it. Gueye will love it and a hard working Maupay will benefit as well. Gordon is officially Richarlison's replacement.

This is the way I see it, but still not sure how much it is design by Frank or just him stumbling into this style of play. He does want to play open attacking football, but the extent that the players are having to cover the weakness of such a style of play or by Frank's game management is open to question.

Microchips in the ball will not solve the VAR armpit, shoulder, shoelace offside decision unless they start putting microchips in the players!

How hard are they making it for themselves? Just call 'level' onside and let's all start watching goals go into the net instead of bureaucrats that have never kicked a ball before in the lives further ruin the beautiful game.

That said, I'm impressed with the reported profile of those we've signed - none of whom, Idrissa aside, I admittedly know anything about.

It's where we still are folks, after thirty years of pantomime acting by the worst ever owner/chairman of a Premier League club, and for the past six years the performance of the only alleged owner who could possibly have wasted £hundreds of millions in backing that very same muppet.

40 points is the target. Let's see when and if we get there, and who's still standing at the time.

Ah, they use a synchronised optical system with it. Simples.