Another Anfield let-down from passive Everton
Liverpool 2 - 0 Everton
Ellis Simms made only his second Premier League start but found it tough going in the absence of Dominic Calvert-Lewin
Everton were brought swiftly back down to earth from last week’s impressive win over Arsenal as they were comfortably beaten by out-of-form Liverpool in the Merseyside derby.
The Blues came into the Anfield edition of the local grudge match hopeful of being able to take advantage of the Reds’ mini-crisis and the “new manager bounce” provided by Sean Dyche’s arrival but they never really got going and were hit by a couple of sucker punches that exploited their vulnerability in transition.
The first half turned on a moment at one end where James Tarkowski headed off the post and Jürgen Klopp’s men raced away on the counter to take a 36th-minute lead before Cody Gakpo netted his first Premier League goal with another counter-attack four minutes after half time.
Everton, for their part, struggled to make inroads in attack in the absence of the injured Dominic Calvert-Lewin but should have had the platform to make a game of it in the closing stages but substitute Tom Davies wasted a gilt-edged chance to halve the deficit nine minutes from the end.
With Calvert-Lewin ruled out with his recurrent hamstring problem, Dyche handed a second League start in Everton colours to Ellis Simms as the only change from the side that had started against the Gunners nine days ago.
Unfortunately, although he made a decent enough start and made some intelligent runs in the early going, the raw 22-year-old cut a largely isolated figure up top and couldn’t make much impact on the game.
The first half chance fell Simms’s way in the fifth minute following a slip by Joel Matip but his shot was blocked but it was the home side who started to exert their superiority as the first period wore on, with Darwin Nuñez volleying a ball across the area that Gakpo could only steer wide with his head and young midfielder Stefan Bajcetic seeing a speculative effort comfortably gathered by Jordan Pickford.
Idrissa Gueye had a sight of goal back down the other end on the half-hour mark when he smashed a volley over the crossbar from 25 yards following a corner but when Everton got another set-piece from the same side six minutes later, they came within inches of taking a precious lead.
Tarkowski rose above Fabinho at the back post to meet Alex Iwobi’s delivery but his downward header back across goal came back off the woodwork. Simms collected the rebound and laid it back to Dwight McNeil and when his ball back into the six-yard box again fell kindly for Liverpool, the hosts streamed away with four red shirts easily out-stripping their blue-shirted opponents for pace and Gueye electing not to take a yellow card for felling his man to stop the counter in its tracks.
The move ended with Nuñez centering for Mohamed Salah who had been given an open net in which to steer the cross because Pickford had gone AWOL trying to anticipate the flight off the ball to the farther side of his box.
Half-time brought no changes from either side and it was soon 2-0 when Everton lost the ball near the right touchline from their perspective when no foul was awarded to Iwobi. Liverpool accelerated through midfield and moved the ball wide to Trent Alexander-Arnold who swept it across the area to the back post where Conor Coady let it run past him expecting a goal kick only for Gakpo to arrive behind him and knock it into the empty side of the goal.
Jordan Henderson almost made it 3-0 but shinned it wide at the back stick after an awful error from Tarkowski had handed possession straight to a red shirt while Gakpo curled wide after Dyche had withdrawn Simms in favour of Demarai Gray with an hour gone.
Two more changes saw Neal Maupay replace Dwight McNeil and Davies come on for the somewhat quiet Amadou Onana and it was the Scouser who should have reduced the arrears when Iwobi picked him out unmarked with a beautiful cross but he couldn’t put his header on target and the chance went begging.
Tarkowski prevented Salah from increasing the damage in the 82nd minute with an excellent saving tackle and Pickford made a reflex, one-handed save to divert the Egyptian’s shot behind after Vitalii Mykolenko had missed his tackle before referee Simon Hooper blew for full-time.
So a set-back for Dyche following the high of his debut match in charge but a result that Everton largely brought on themselves by being too timid, too passive and too open in transition.
Though arguably three points better off after the new boss’s first two games than many expected, tonight’s result nonetheless keeps them the Toffees the bottom three with 16 games to play and puts enormous significance on Saturday’s clash with fellow strugglers Leeds at Goodison Park and the home clash with Aston Villa the following weekend.
Reader Comments (96)
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2 Posted 14/02/2023 at 07:04:15
Poor goals to give away. Coleman and Gana had to take a yellow and stop the counter. Instead, Pickford did a shit Fifa thing being caught in no-man's land. A top international, sorry but no.
The second was not much better. Again a chance to stop Robertson in a central area went begging. Coady let's it go through, and Gakpo scores with Coleman watching on for another piss poor goal.
The passing was really poor last night, and highlighted the madness of playing through the lines. The accuracy and movement is appalling, no wonder managers have had the chop trying to play a style that these players clearly don't have.
Lastly, Calvert-Lewin out again. Despite a World Cup for a 6 week period and a 1-month teransfer window, we finished weaker in squad terms than before. That is simply pathetic from the board and recruitment team. Either that's sheer incompetence or it is clear we are financially broken and fans have been lied to by Moshiri, or probably both.
3 Posted 14/02/2023 at 07:05:26
Our biggest issue, clearly, is the lack of pace. It's clear to see how other teams have been hurting Liverpool because they overload so heavily in their high press that they open themselves to the sort of counter-attack that they scored against us from.
We need Calvert-Lewin to play consistently or it's going to be very easy to play against us. I can see Dyche going for his favoured 4-4-2-ish against Leeds.
4 Posted 14/02/2023 at 07:20:16
The season isn't lost against these teams though, it's the dreadful results against Southampton, West Ham, Bournemouth etc that have us marked for relegation.
String 2 results together and it can start to look better but the post Moyes era, apart from the Martinez blip, has been a long study in decline.
How the heck did we get here and how the heck do we get away from here to midtable finishes again? Certainly doesn't work not replacing Lukaku's goals.
5 Posted 14/02/2023 at 07:59:45
We now have to look at taking results in tranches. My take is we now have to identify and win one of Leeds or Aston Villa. Win one of Brentford or Fulham. Win one of City, Newcastle and Spurs, beat Bournemouth. 4 home wins.
We will then need a win away and pick up a few draws from Forest, Palace, Leicester and Wolves.
6 Posted 14/02/2023 at 08:08:56
How can the team that doesn't score goals expect to win enough games?
As I said, the Arsenal game was the exception to the rule.
Last night was the Everton we all know and hate so well that came back after one week off to show its very ugly head again.
If I was Sean Dyche this morning, I'd have them in a room and tell them that they do actually know a football match was played last night, a Merseyside derby?
Because it seemed that most of them didn't want to be there, couldn't cope with being there, or just were scared shitless as usual.
7 Posted 14/02/2023 at 08:17:29
Unfortunately the team we put out last night is absolutely a Bottom 3 team in terms of attacking quality. In fact, it's the worst in the Premier League by some measure.
Simms showed why he has needed loans to develop – and would certainly have benefited from remaining at Sunderland for his own development. For all those people calling for Cannon and others to be blooded, this is what you get.
Dyche showed that, like Ancelotti, he is not a magician.
The RS showed that you can get away with mediocre centre-backs like Gomez, Matip and a right-back who barely defends if you have a lightning fast high quality trio up front and 3 workers in midfield.
In terms of points, we need to convert away losses to draws and win at home. Any away win is a bonus. It remains hard.
8 Posted 14/02/2023 at 08:19:21
Last night was a real kick in the nuts for the fans and too many more of them and it won't just be the board in the firing line.
9 Posted 14/02/2023 at 08:27:38
Don't think that's what Dyche had in mind when he arrived...
10 Posted 14/02/2023 at 08:33:20
Poor Tom Davies has got such a lack of confidence in front of goal that he makes Stuart “Jigsaw†Barlow look like ice-cool Messi at his best, but at least he turns up, fights a bit and doesn't fail to get on the end of crosses – unlike Calvert-Lewin: “If I'm half a second late, the winger gets the blame, not meâ€
Simms is not a Duncan Ferguson goal-scoring miracle worker reincarnation, but then neither was Duncan Ferguson, most of the time. He's certainly worth persevering with and may strike up a combination with another more jackal oriented player, a sort of “not a complete human shit†version of Lineker.
Overall, a huge disappointment, partly due to horrific misfortune – Tarkowski hits the inside of the post, the second – bad – shot from outside the penalty area hits Doucouré on the back of his legs and rebounds to an advanced, unmarked Redshite player. When did we even have a marginally fortunate single instance of good fortune?
11 Posted 14/02/2023 at 08:37:28
Keep it tight and hope for a goal from a corner. That's not going to work out too often. The Arsenal game was a home (plus Calvert-Lewin for an hour) version of exactly what we did away to Liverpool.
Sometimes we won't score the corner.
But it's about our best (only) chance. No manager is a miracle worker.
Don't forget, we sold our joint top scorer. The other was sat on the bench. Our biggest threat on the pitch was McNeill (2 goals).
It's pathetic. But it was pathetic before last week, it was pathetic last week and it is pathetic this week. I just can't get worked up about individual performances or matches. It's like complaining because water is wet. We're crap and have no goals in us. That will not change – no matter how many items of clothing get banned from training.
12 Posted 14/02/2023 at 08:40:58
I'm not criticizing him because he probably thought it was logical to keep a winning team.
However, we gave Trent Alexander-Arnold, an absolute shocking defender, his easiest day of the season by putting McNeil and Mykolenko on his side, two players that just can't run.
I'd vouch we would have given Liverpool far more to worry about if we had Godfrey left back with Gray in front of him.
It's little things like this that does my head why managers can't see it.
We go to these games thinking you can get away with doing nothing to hurt the opposite team but just sit deep and try and hold on and get a set-piece.
13 Posted 14/02/2023 at 08:47:39
Watching Leeds at the weekend, they were impressive against the Mancs and will come here with the same attitude. These changes hopefully would help.
14 Posted 14/02/2023 at 08:57:20
Rodrigo
Bamford
Sinisterra
Summerville
Gnoto
Harrison
Rutter
Aaronson
Our predicament and results aren't something tactics, personnel or formation will vastly change.
The fact is that, without Calvert-Lewin, we will struggle to score.
15 Posted 14/02/2023 at 08:57:50
I assume Sean Dyche was on the phone to you last night and confirmed that Calvert-Lewin is a bum and a coward who does not want to play?
Otherwise, your post is made-up bollocks.
16 Posted 14/02/2023 at 08:58:39
Arsenal last Saturday, once again, we seen a team fighting for the badge. They went awol again last night. It's just not good enough to stay in this league.
Good luck to Dyche but I've watched this crap long enough to know they'll let him and us down.
17 Posted 14/02/2023 at 09:03:47
We'll slip off into the night, without a whisper. Nice work, Farhad, truly outstanding. No wonder Arsenal didn't want you or your crooked, oligarch mate anywhere near their club.
18 Posted 14/02/2023 at 09:07:16
I thought Mykolenko was our best defender last night. Often left one on one, he did quite well against a top player. The 2 centre-backs where terrible with pathetic schoolboy errors and Coleman should be holding his position rather than go chasing younger faster players around.
On Saturday, I would bring Gray in for McNeil. I assume Calvert-Lewin would still not be available so would stick with Simms. He had no service at all last night and nobody around him for the 2nd balls but is still better than Mauphay.
Big game Saturday.
19 Posted 14/02/2023 at 09:30:09
And try to win the matches from set-pieces.
No point playing forwards if they never ever score
20 Posted 14/02/2023 at 09:30:53
I'd then leave Gray up on his own when we defend set-pieces.
21 Posted 14/02/2023 at 09:34:51
Any young man in a job which requires 90 minutes of largely non-contact running about one afternoon a week for about 2/3rds of the year who cannot get fit in 2 years is either permanently physically damaged or dodging responsibility.
Seamus Coleman came back from a really bad broken leg after 10 months; André Gomes was back from a horrific injury within the season. These were real injuries but the players had resolve, guts and recovered – albeit never fully in poor Gomes's case – but they didn't come back for half a match, play in a half-hearted manner, and then limp off whining after 60 minutes.
I didn't like Lukaku's attitude and thought he was dressing room poison. Calvert-Lewin brings the same attitude but without 1/10th of the talent. What a tragedy we lost Richarlison, not this lead-swinging mannequin.
22 Posted 14/02/2023 at 09:36:57
If we are going to stay up, our wide men have to support the striker. It's ridiculous how isolated Simms was. In the first 10 to 15 minutes, he had people round him but after that, there was no chance for the lad with no service or support. Iwobi is off the boil; get Gray in, supporting Simms.
Leeds game is massive; we need to find some goals, Gray is our best hope, imo.
23 Posted 14/02/2023 at 09:36:57
This is nothing new to Everton. Since the Lineker goal haul way back in 1986, only the Yak and Lukaku have managed over 20 league goals in a season; Tony Cottee came the closest after that. For any professional football team, that's shambolic.
I look across the Park at the riches of strikers they always seem to have and think where the hell did it all go wrong at Everton?!
24 Posted 14/02/2023 at 09:42:01
The side has a more reasonable structure with five in midfield with two of them playing wide and McNeil is certainly at home on the left. Iwobi is a talented, hard-working footballer who doesn't seem to have a natural playing position so he shifts to right wing where the gap is.
Doesn't make much difference if we play without a proper forward who can hold the ball up and preferably score goals. Unfair to be harsh on Simms who is a rookie thrown in at the deep end in desperate times. He is, however, 22 so he has a lot to do if he is going to make the grade.
A team which doesn't score goals, and always looks like shipping more after the first one has gone in, is always going to struggle badly.
We've largely played all the teams around us at home in recent weeks and lost. Saturday is the last of these fixtures, so it is critical but the post World Cup period shows we've no real reason to be optimistic.
25 Posted 14/02/2023 at 09:47:54
It's a derby – where was the early hard challenge, total commitment, hard running and helping your teammate do his job? No need to be the world's best to do these basics – just a need to realise these games are important, especially to us the fans.
That was a free game last night that should have had us going into the up-and-coming vital games high on confidence. We just showed how badly we needed a striker and someone to create from midfield.
Where are our goals going to come from? Answers on a postcard, please.
26 Posted 14/02/2023 at 09:48:01
We all know why there is such a gulf between us. For 30 years, we have been shocking, a badly run football club.
No other reason.
Not the fault of the managers or the players, solely the fault of the owners and board of this great football club.
27 Posted 14/02/2023 at 09:54:57
I think you have to look no further than the people at the Academy who had four days watching Erling Haaland and said:
“Nah! I mean, what use would a big, ugly hugely talented goal-scoring monster bring to Everton? We'd rather have Calvert Lewin in high heels and pretending to be Naomi Campbell (but without the aggression).â€
28 Posted 14/02/2023 at 09:56:02
Doucoure and Gana through poor passing and Iwobi and McNeil from running into trouble.
Before this game, people were saying we had too much power for Liverpool in midfield. If that was the case, we wouldn't be 18th.
There are several reasons why we're in trouble and giving the ball away cheaply is up there with the lack of firepower. Now may not be the time to bring in youngsters but I thought that Mills lad looked steady when he came on recently.
How far off is Garner? And personally I'd like to see Tom Davies given a fair crack at a run in the team. I cannot understand why we brought back Gana and let Allan go unless it was for financial reasons?
29 Posted 14/02/2023 at 10:01:34
I'd be tempted too to add some pace to the defence; otherwise, it's going to be a backs-to-the-wall job in most games. I'd start with Godfrey for Mykolenko. Our stats with Mina playing are always better, I think he's a better quality centre-back than Coady, he should always start if fully fit. I'm torn over Holgate for Coleman at right-back, there's pros and cons in it.
In midfield, Garner for Gana has to be considered too. We retain the tenacity but get a bit more forward thrust from Garner. Better at set pieces, he has a shot on him too which he could score from or someone from the rebound. We have to be thinking about it.
Up front it's simple: it's Calvert-Lewin or a big struggle ahead. Finance, procurement and recruitment debacles have ensured there are no alternatives that can make a difference. It's gut wrenching that the club have allowed this to happen. However, I am still optimistic we can get safe with Calvert-Lewin fit.
Playing five across the midfield demands a quality No 9 to get points, or having to rely on a set-piece goal. It's obvious that we've been working hard on the latter, as Sean Dyche and his team know this too.
30 Posted 14/02/2023 at 10:05:28
From what was on show last night, the Arsenal result may well have been a dead cat bounce.
31 Posted 14/02/2023 at 10:08:08
We've played 25 games this season. And in only two of those have we scored more than once.
With the quality of Premier League opposition these days, one goal is so often insufficient to win a game.
Have been wondering if Lampard and now Dyche believe they have got to get the team playing "good football" to get Evertonians onside.
Not in our league position.
I'd like to see a big man/small man combo up front, with us getting the ball up there as often as possible. I believe Maupay would thrive in such a set-up. Similarly, Simms.
And if Dom wasn't fit, I'd have Michael Keane leading the line. Yes, Michael Keane. Think I'm right in saying only two of the squad have scored more Everton goals than Keane.
Get the team scoring more goals, the mood changes for the better and the confidence goes up a gear.
32 Posted 14/02/2023 at 10:15:19
Further to your derby match analysis, my first derby was 1985 when the match programme head-to-head history shows there were 45 wins apiece at the time, so in 38 years they have pulled more than 30 ahead of us, mainly due to our abysmal record this century alone.
We actually weren't that bad in the 90s against them, went from 1990 to 2001 without losing at home to them. Kenwright turns up in 1999 and virtually since then we have been their favourite opposition for victories… surprise, surprise.
33 Posted 14/02/2023 at 10:20:36
In the absence of Calvert-Lewin, I think Keane would be worth a punt. He's tall, a good header of the ball and skilful on the ground, unlike Maupay or Simms who aren't any of those things.
34 Posted 14/02/2023 at 10:22:24
If we don't beat Leeds and Villa, we're about done.
35 Posted 14/02/2023 at 10:29:38
Obviously the Calvert-Lewin situation is a real worry – the scans show nothing yet the player is still saying his hamstring... something isn't right.
Seems a long time since he had a run of games in the side, and right now, without him, Dyche has been left with no credible alternative.
36 Posted 14/02/2023 at 10:32:45
Without playing, the modeling will dry up, and he won't be wearing an England shirt again. Christ, I remember reading on this site he's gonna be better than Harry Kane!
37 Posted 14/02/2023 at 10:44:32
Just plain made-up nonsense to suit your obvious prejudice against the man. Personal attacks on players are tiresome and childish and not in the slightest bit funny or clever.
38 Posted 14/02/2023 at 10:46:00
We show up and put in good performances against the Top 6, but fail to do the same against mid- to lower-table teams.
39 Posted 14/02/2023 at 10:46:55
That said, before Arsenal and OBC (our bastard child), would you have taken 2 points from drawing both or 3 points from a victory and a loss?
For far too many years, Everton choke. Always:
A) After one good performance
B) Away from home
C) Against OBC.
To be honest, the list is endless. And it has been clear for decades we have been improperly run on and off the field.
As for Moshiri. He cannot sack the board. It's in the clubs articles Kenwright insisted on, together with other vital caveats, when the sale was made.
So how to escape this nightmare?
Put faith in Dyche to pull every rabbit out of a battered and trampled hat to keep this once-great club up.
40 Posted 14/02/2023 at 11:24:04
We already passed all of the points at which something could have been done. And we didn't do any of them.
We're down to the last bit now. Where we cling onto the unlikely scenario that the former Burnley manager renowned for keeping things tight takes a team that has no attacking options and can't score, and somehow improves their goal return.
It's Calvert-Lewin or I really can't see what improves our attack. Maybe there's a 2-man strike force that finds a way to get something out of Maupay.
Gray will need to be utilised in some way. He can actually produce something.
It's desperate alright.
41 Posted 14/02/2023 at 11:28:41
42 Posted 14/02/2023 at 11:58:40
Those pathetic specimens like McCarthy who were carried off the pitch in various states of extreme distress all managed to return within a year and, mostly, to keep going for some time. At least they looked as though they wanted to play.
Calling someone's factually-based opinions "bollocks" is of course, a time-honoured method of winning an intellectual or scientific argument, and my years of studying Aristotle, Plato, Kant and Wittgenstein (not to mention Russell and Frege's formal logic systems) were obviously wasted when I could have produced a devastating refutation of Goedel's Theorem, Andrew Wiles proof of Fermat's last Theorem or Eddington's empirical support for Einstein's prediction that light would be bent by a sufficiently large gravitational field by simply saying something like "That hairy Swiss bloke is talking bollocks", we'd have been straight back to Newtonian dynamics!
But wait! Here's some shock news from today's 'Goodison News': 'After the 2-0 defeat against Liverpool, Sean Dyche has hinted that he may have to give Calvert-Lewin extra time to recover so that his body doesn't break down again, and picking him for the next game is a “tough callâ€. '
What happened, did he stand up too quickly and feel a bit dizzy? He certainly wasn't injured on the fucking pitch! That must be worth 3 months physiotherapy and 𧴜,000 a week (that's ٣.2 million a year for doing fuck all apart from throwing yet another sickie in an endless series).
The problem at Goodison since the luvvie gained influence has been an ever-increasing lack of guts. Joe Royle won the FA Cup with a mediocre but spirited team - the Dogs of War - David Moyes gritty managership kept us afloat, but sadly the pervasive "kindness" has resulted in a club where third best is good enough, lack of commitment and where skiving and leaving your teammates in the shit is not just tolerated but vastly rewarded.
As to being "called out", I think that is what low-IQ blue haired female American "students" on 'Grievance Studies' courses do when they find something which is true but they don't like it or have any way of refuting it (or indeed any method of argument, since all they've been taught is how to be offended).
Actually, I liked DCL very much when he started, I though he was a bit lightweight and was pleased when he got a bit more solid, I was delighted with him when he began knocking them in for fun under Ancelotti, and even enjoyed his silly clothes stuff with Tom Davies as adding to the general amusement. However, he has proven to be another easily led, stupid and lazy footballer who thinks he is something more important than the club I love and ceased to put in effort or to look interested in getting results.
That's why I am a huge supporter of Seamus Coleman, Tom Davies (even on his worst days), despise Anthony Gordon, and am very favourably disposed to Amadou Onana, who despite just arriving from Belgium with no known connection to Everton has shown very much the right attitude. Also why I shall admire Richarlison as long as he plays; he no longer owes Everton or its supporters anything but while he was here he was excellent.
43 Posted 14/02/2023 at 12:02:53
44 Posted 14/02/2023 at 12:19:16
45 Posted 14/02/2023 at 12:20:23
Sadly I don't see any change for the near future because the hierarchy dithered when they should have acted and brought in some better strikers.
Everton it seems are relying too much on the ''air force'' to score goals but they came unstuck yesterday. Once behind, Everton very rarely come back much to our disappointment.
With, hopefully Soton and Bournemouth being the bottom two it may be a dogfight with Leeds to see who joins them.
46 Posted 14/02/2023 at 12:23:27
Salah - cant buy a goal, some fans saying he has gone AWOL since his big wage increase
Gapko - no goals since arrival, struggling, what a waste of money.
Solution to all the above: play Everton. All your problems solved in 90 minutes.
I agree with Charles about Calvert-Lewin, something not right with that lad for the past 18 months and I don't think it's just physical injuries.
Anyway, we have 3 more points than expected 10 days ago, that's a positive isn't it???
47 Posted 14/02/2023 at 12:34:43
Now of course we're deeply disappointed with 3 points.
48 Posted 14/02/2023 at 12:53:09
49 Posted 14/02/2023 at 12:53:51
Sadly we have no options. Very poor displays result in being in the team for the next game. It breeds a lack of drive and ambition and mediocrity which is visible to all.
50 Posted 14/02/2023 at 12:56:46
1960s: 5 versus 3 defeats
1970s: 3 versus 9 defeats
1980s: 4 versus 10 defeats
1990s: 6 versus 7 defeats
2000s: 2 versus 12 defeats
2010s: 1 versus 9 defeats
2020s: 1 versus 3 defeats
The other 45 encounters were drawn. What is surprising is the number of defeats in the 1980s but, in this century, our record against them is truly shameful.
The last 38 league games against the rivals reads:
Won 4 Drawn 15 lost 19 GF 29 GA 60 Pts 27
51 Posted 14/02/2023 at 12:57:59
52 Posted 14/02/2023 at 12:58:45
Just a little off subject are there any techno regulars going the game on Saturday who can really help me out.
I have a funeral in a couple of weeks and trying to compile some videos to burn on a dvd to give family friends.
Every software I use puts a watermark on the video or shortens the length so you can only get so much on it.
Are there any techno people out there that could burn me a copy of a DVD burner, without having to have a serial key, something I can pick up on match day, install it on my Windows 10 laptop and then be able to compile and then burn the DVDs.
I'm really sorry to the admins for going off track but I could do with a big helping hand fellow Blues, just this once.
See you all Saturday.
53 Posted 14/02/2023 at 13:07:38
I can't really add a lot to what I've already said.
Saturday is more important now. Another long trip. But I don't mind.
I'm still very upset. It will take me a few days to come down from that. They were there for the taking.
54 Posted 14/02/2023 at 13:17:32
We simply have to beat both Leeds and Villa
2 breakaways 2 goals, Davis misses a straightforward header. The devil has not left Mordor
Surrounded by red tossers
Half my mates I've known from the day I was born and followed the RS all over the world until a few years ago cos they can't get tickets understand our situation and are decent guys
Unfortunately the rest if them are just pure scum
55 Posted 14/02/2023 at 13:39:06
I've only ever used it for ripping my own DVDs, but I think you can also burn them as well.
56 Posted 14/02/2023 at 13:44:23
We are where we are because we are a poor side basics is dreadful. Bin the coaching manuals and manage the players available stop trying to be something we haven't been for decades. And no talent coming through the ranks that I can see.
57 Posted 14/02/2023 at 13:45:52
58 Posted 14/02/2023 at 13:59:46
After being at Goodison for the Arsenal game, I was filled with hope once again. Watched the Shite later the same day and thought - WOW, this is our time. If we had only shown the aggression, the willingness to work, shown the passion, last nights game could and would have been so very different. While - yes - they have speed and forwards with ability, their midfield is average and defence - capabable of making big mistakes. We didn't test any of that.
God help us - if you can't get your blood up and fight for every ball, run til you drop, in a Merseyside Derby, tell your manager to give your shirt to someone that will.
I don't think that we exploited their obvious weaknesses by not playing 2 up top to press hard, and not bullying them off the ball in the midfield, as we could have done.
The result was one thing. The lack of heart, balls, passion, aggression is something I can't swallow. I am empty of emotion and broken today. Listening to those smug guttersnipes at Anfield taking the piss again.
I've played hockey all my life at club, county, region and International standard and have NEVER gone into ANY game, without giving my all and fighting until the final whistle goes, and I was never paid to play !
As so many ToffeeWebbers say - 'It's the hope that kills you' and this time, it has killed me.
59 Posted 14/02/2023 at 14:00:04
The performance was the worst aspect.
No belief like against arsenal.
451 will only work if it becomes 433 when attacking.
Or midfielders support or even imagine this get beyond the striker!!
If we play 3 centre mids then the wingers have to push on or we are just fighting fires all game.
Maupay, dcl or simms and gray to play against Leeds, garner if ready.
Shake it up
60 Posted 14/02/2023 at 14:04:08
I bit more complicated back in those days as Germay was only just forming as a nation.
I always find it interesting that Switzerland is often considered French speaking whereas they are over 60% German speaking. I think it's close to 65%.
Sorry random one.
61 Posted 14/02/2023 at 14:17:40
Good players relish and embrace the battle, and taking yellow cards for their team, is all part and parcel of this, imo.
One thing that looked pretty clear though, is that Everton, would definitely be a mid table side if they had played the season with a half decent centre forward.
All this talk is just repetitive, because we need to start getting points on the board now. This isn't going to be easy, when you look at the complete lack of even half decent forwards, that we have in our squad, right now.
Let's stick together, and we can start this by acknowledging that this squad is lacking in quality players, especially going forward, and they really need our help now.
62 Posted 14/02/2023 at 14:31:23
Also, Danny, when I lived in Switzerland, in Basel, the majority of the cantons were German-speaking (of rather Schweitzerdeutsch, something my (Ecuadorian) secretary laughed at me for attempting - inadvertently: "Charles, you sound like an Englishman trying to sound like a Swiss peasant"). The German Swiss all hated the French Swiss and wanted them to join France, and everyone despised the Italian speakers, it was a macrocosm of Europe, except the distances were shorter. Romansch was like the mad granny in chains in the attic, no-one acknowledged it existed.
Isn't ToffeeWeb fun!
KENWRIGHT FUCK OFF!
63 Posted 14/02/2023 at 14:36:23
64 Posted 14/02/2023 at 14:39:30
As Tony 61 just said we know what our problems are and the result last night was no suprise to me at least.
We are not going to get enough points if we cant score, apart from DCL's injury problems we are just lacking ability in vital positions.
Dyche is going to have to be a miracle worker to keep us up I fear, we have lost to all the teams around us which was a disaster and shows how poor we are most of the time.
65 Posted 14/02/2023 at 14:56:02
On the topic of last night's game, that performance was just inexcusable from so many aspects. Pulling out of tackles, lack of effort, lack of fight, unforced mistakes. I mean Tom Davies, for fuck's sake. He's got to be getting that header on target. He was unchallenged.
Regardless of how crap we'd been and how well they were doing, you used to be able to rely on us turning up to a derby match and getting stuck into them. Whatever the outcome. It never seems to happen anymore.
66 Posted 14/02/2023 at 14:59:10
67 Posted 14/02/2023 at 15:04:35
68 Posted 14/02/2023 at 15:21:01
That was when Frank was still with us and before the false hope of the Arsenal game.
69 Posted 14/02/2023 at 15:24:42
From that day on to this very day, it made me realise that there is something very wrong with Everton Football Club in local derbies.
I imagine we'd struggle to beat Marine if that match ever came about.
70 Posted 14/02/2023 at 15:24:47
We should have gone for pressing their back 4 and not letting them play balls out of defence.
We knew the pace of Salah and Nunes so why did we go all MF instead of up top.
LAst time SD put the high press on with Burnley and got a result.
My only guess is he has seen how poor MAupay and Simms are and was hoping MF would compensate but luck was against us for the first goal and that gave them the confidence to rip us apart second half.
Lets hope DCL is fit for Leeds who play a similar but lower quality to the RS with pacy forwards and high press.
71 Posted 14/02/2023 at 15:46:17
Separately, if we get relegated, I can see the new ground being sidelined.
72 Posted 14/02/2023 at 15:52:24
It was Tranmere v Bournemouth and an extremely elderly gent in the Shed end slid between the rails and for absolutely no reason attacked the Bournemouth 'keeper with his brolly. The Woodchurch bovver boys went giddy with pleasure.
73 Posted 14/02/2023 at 16:14:08
74 Posted 14/02/2023 at 16:22:51
75 Posted 14/02/2023 at 16:27:17
76 Posted 14/02/2023 at 16:28:45
My only solution would be to put Godfrey into midfield to give us more strength and pace, and put Gray back in to an attacking midfield role behind or just on the shoulder of the striker. Other than that, we are stuck with what we have, with such a weak bench.
Good luck to Dyche sorting this bunch out.
77 Posted 14/02/2023 at 16:34:13
78 Posted 14/02/2023 at 16:41:36
79 Posted 14/02/2023 at 16:45:18
80 Posted 14/02/2023 at 17:22:35
Charles @ 62 KFO I wish. Sadly he became immortal after the mysterious shenanigans surrounding the Arteta deal. He has the only copy of The Book of the Dead which he moves from theatre safe to theatre safe to thwart Bluenoses.
Anthony @ 73 🤣🧤🌂
Will @ 74 🤦😄
Brent @ 79 😂📦ðŸ©
Maybe, after an education on principles of ideology during this thread, we need to switch Z-Cars to Bruce's Philosophers Song (Monty Python).
81 Posted 14/02/2023 at 18:30:20
If they were a painter, they would not have a brush.
If they were a football team – ha, ha, ha, stop it please. A football team! Everton!! you must be joking!!!
Sean Dyche: Your mission, should choose to accept it, is to turn the Everton players into a team that can win 6 or 7 matches from the 16 games remaining. Good Luck with that.
82 Posted 14/02/2023 at 18:57:53
Every time we could have challenged, attacked and shown fighting skills, we let our fears overtake us and simply passed back. If we continue in this vein, then Helm's Goodison Deep will fall... and ignominy will stain every player who made an appearance this season, currently fit or unfit.
83 Posted 14/02/2023 at 18:59:18
It was a quad tear. And a few people (myself included) have given insight into what a tough injury that is to recover from.
Dyche's comments didn't mention mentality. They were all about getting his body right. He talked about slowing things down to get him right. That's an about-turn from things he was saying last week which suggests to me that he got it wrong previously – understandable given he'd only had a few days.
It's not unusual to have niggling injuries after such a bad injury.
84 Posted 14/02/2023 at 19:37:45
Back on track. A quad injury is a very difficult one to recover from if not managed correctly. Just when you think it's okay, you break down again. Same as hamstrings. I hope I'm wrong, but I fear for Dominic.
85 Posted 14/02/2023 at 20:30:36
86 Posted 15/02/2023 at 01:07:09
Stick Iwobi and McNeill at wing back. 3 centre mids with licence to join up with the attack. 2 up front - big and little (Maupay and DCL or Simms). It gets slightly more attackers onto the pitch.
Won't happen though. We'll play 4-5-1 or 4-4-2.
87 Posted 15/02/2023 at 05:42:28
Desperate now for some good news from the treatment room. We need as much power and pace as we can muster so I'm impatient for Godfrey, Patterson and DCL to become available again.
To get anything like a decent chance for the remaining fixture we've got to be able to hold up the ball in the opponent's half and have plenty of recovery pace for dealing with counter attacks.
88 Posted 15/02/2023 at 06:42:34
Yes, it was the emptiness of the performance which was so depressing, an abandonment of all the things which had given us hope in the Arsenal game. That's why I'm so concerned: in the course of 9 days, we lost ourselves, and the absence of DCL for a 60-minute stint can't explain that.
I've dismissed those on here who were giving up for no apparent reason, but we do look quite awful a lot of the time. Our ball retention, in particular, remains appalling.
My view is that the next two games will decide where we're going to end up, and the deep collapse of spirit on Monday – after Dyche had worked with them – worries me most of all.
89 Posted 15/02/2023 at 06:55:30
Pickford - Clown-like positioning for 1st goal
Coady - Clown-like defending for 2nd goal
Davies - Just go. Not good enough for primary school reserves. Please just go.
90 Posted 15/02/2023 at 08:55:51
Me arl fella, who's 91, has a saying for most things, his Everton one he's been saying for most of my 61 years you'll all be familiar with: "Always Let You Down"!!
91 Posted 15/02/2023 at 10:19:42
92 Posted 15/02/2023 at 10:30:49
This incompetance is entirely down to the board and Manager
Bring in an out of contract player even for 4 games.or put one of the big defenders up front and tell the media that it's our only option after the disgraceful transfer window... put the blame back.on the board
93 Posted 15/02/2023 at 17:45:35
94 Posted 15/02/2023 at 20:56:21
95 Posted 16/02/2023 at 10:39:25
The main disappointment was the lack of passion. Tom Davies and Neal Maupay not good enough. I cant believe we didn't give Dyche some money to buy a forward.
96 Posted 17/02/2023 at 17:21:14
I think the first half was quite good, Everton kept their shape, maybe we were a little bit too cautious in our approach.
If Tarkowski´s header had entered in the Liverpool net, I´m sure our players and fans would have been so energized that we would most probably have got a good result.
As it turned out, the header hit "only" the post and Liverpool scored straight away from the counter attack. A real double blow. But I understand that you can´t dwell on "what could have happened". You could do that in most matches. Sometimes the luck favours you, sometimes not.
What was disappointing was that after Liverpool´s second goal in the early stages of the second half seemed to drain the confidence of our players and the game petered out quite uneventfully (or maybe not if only Davies had planted his header in Liverpool´s net and not high in the stands; but that was another if).
We must hope that against Leeds at Goodison our energy and confidence levels are the same as they were in our home game against Arsenal. And we need hard work and plenty of running as our opponents are maybe the chief exponents of those qualities in the PL.
Hope that Goodison will be a cauldron tomorrow, and the rest of the season, just as it was towards the end of last season, and just as it was in the Arsenal game. That can save us once again.
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1 Posted 14/02/2023 at 07:02:53
I fully expect Leeds to beat them on Saturday.