Next Up: Bournemouth vs Everton

Inconsistent this term, good on their day, plenty of goals, but different team the following week, not unlike ourselves.

We have a poor record down on the south coast, time to turn it round.

Moyes must adopt the tactics and selection to match the opposition although with Gueye and Rohl out if it does reduce his options'

Drop KDH into dm with Garner and play with Dibling and Alcaraz in front of them.

I absolutely endorse Charly for #10 with KDH moving back, but starts and even sub minutes are for players who earn them, and apparently Dibling hasn't -- certainly not ahead of our two most potent attacking threats.

Bench Barry and play Alcaraz as a false 9. The line-up would be:-

Pickford
O'Brien Tarkowski Keane Mykolenko
Garner Grealish Dewsbury-Hall
Dibling Alcaraz Ndiaye

Before anyone goes running down the street with the screaming abdabs, there is a lunatic on the loose on ToffeeWeb (one of many I might add), our current pair of centre-forwards don't score goals so we won't miss them.

Two things to consider:-

Dibling showed in the 8 minutes he was on that he could beat a man one one-on-one and cut back a cross by actually doing it.

Alcaraz has a goal in him have a look at his headed goal against Newcastle last season:Link

And his goal against Mansfield in the cup: Link

Not to mention he nearly broke the crossbar during the "slaughter".

"Hope killls you" is: Spes Te Necat

Just watch our good players leave the club as we slide down the table. An Evertonian's highlight of the season is winning 2 games on the bounce.

We cannot even enjoy a decent cup run, as Moyes has higher priorities -- like the League! (eg, the League Cup this season). What a joke!!!

Hopefully the Freidken group will get rid of him as soon as they can!

Link

We may well win tonight but we're never going to win anything with Moyes in charge. I'm sure our owners are expecting a lot more. A 1-4 defeat at home is unacceptable.

You share my hopes there, pal!

Does anyone think the current Man Utd manager is doing well?

What about Slot? He won the Premier League... now many Reds want him gone. Fickle fans or just dreamers.

The recruitment, by and large, has been poor over the last few seasons; we have to go back to Lukaku since we had a proper goalscoring striker.

And as we all know, good strikers cost a lot of money, so seeing we are not one of the big spenders, unfortunately we are having to gamble on untried younger players who may or may not come good.

The only alternative is buy an ageing striker who knows where the net is. But, unless we resolve the lack of goals problem, I fear it will stop us getting anywhere near a European spot.

One bad result and it's "Get Moyes gone" according to a couple of posts already. Have a word with yourselves. We've got two centre-forwards who can't score, no recognised right-back, a left-back who defends well but can't cross, we're light in midfield and we've got two centre-backs who turn more slowly than an articulated lorry. The team has no pace, but that's all down to a manager who's had one window to right every wrong of the Moshiri era and have us in the Champions League spots.

I'll be happy with a draw on Tuesday night after that mauling on Saturday. Low-block, stifle the game, Dyche tactics.

Good managers come good with time. Bad managers don't.
Moyes had 11 years and being generous apart from the first 3 years did nothing apart from cement our standing as a mid-table outfit.

Many of us knew that things would pan out this way with Moyes. He's a mid-table manager. He may get us to 6th or 7th eventually but he will never win anything.

He did his bit last season, now let's get a decent manager with a good track record.

We played Aston Villa who had their midfield out and hadn't scored a goal.
We played West Ham Utd when they couldn't win a point for toffee.
We played Man Utd with two-thirds of their strike force missing.

We have so far played 4 of the 6 European teams directly after them playing in Europe with three-quarters of those being tough away fixtures. Even the other 2 European teams were played after international breaks which should have been beneficial also.

Only agaiinst Man Utd and Crystal Palace did we capitalise on our good fortune, so tomorrow's game is another decent opportunity as they have been conceding a lot of goals and, with us not scoring many, we can nick this if we keep it tight at the back.

Moyes we are stuck with, for now… along with Irvine and his other Scottish coach. Baines doesn't seem to have a say in anything, at the game anyway. Maybe the players can come up with some plan of defending, especially in the 6-yard box, like man fucking marking their opponents instead of holding their positions like bleedin' dummies.

Watching them, you know what most of them will do next… Grealish, one of our most potent attacking threats(?!?) Jesus, he gets the ball, threatens to go past his marker, then stops because he knows he hasn't got the pace to do so. Then he goes inside instead, which I know he's going to do, never mind his marker, and passes the ball to a defender or a man inside him. For such a brilliant player, to some, when is he going to take over the game and bleedin' prove it???

Enough of that: let's just get some points any way we can to stay up again and let these owners prove they are not just here to make money but to make us a very good buy and hopefully make us worth three or four billion in the next few years.

We can't predict a result but I will be very happy with a draw, delighted if Dithering Dreary Dave gets us a win. I've got to add though, he isn't helped by the injuries, suspension and a small very average squad at the moment. Although Bournemouth's record at the moment is not much better than ours.

Or you could always use your new friend AI (and I don't mean Al — Ooo... they both the same... as I'm just listening to Paul Simon's You Can Call Me Al) Maybe I should just post lyrics instead (aka Cosmic Vibes):

A man walks down the street, he says, "Why am I soft in the middle now?
Why am I soft in the middle? The rest of my life is so hard
I need a photo-opportunity, I want a shot at redemption
Don't wanna end up a cartoon in a cartoon graveyard"

[Pre-Chorus]
Bone digger, bone digger
Dogs in the moonlight
Far away in my well-lit door
Mr. Beer Belly, Beer Belly
Get these mutts away from me, you know
I don't find this stuff amusing anymore

[Chorus]
Uh, if you would be my bodyguard, I can be your long-lost pal
I can call you Betty
And Betty, when you call me, you can call me Al

Bournemouth have got a few out on suspension but they will just replace them with others just as good from their secret footballer production line! Wish we had one of them.

They will press us all over the pitch and run all night. If we think Jake had a tough gig on Saturday, it pales in comparison with what he will be up against in this game.

I would snatch your hand off for a draw right now.

You only have to look at the top clubs and look at the amount they spend every window. What we spend pales into insignificance compared to what they spend.

I know some will say "But look at Brighton and Bournemouth" and yes, they are out-performing what they spend, but they can't compete over a season.

If they perform really well, they will not be able to keep hold of their players. Just look at the amount of players these clubs have sold over the last 4 or 5 seasons.

So, if you can't keep your best players, how do you build a squad to compete for a Champions League spot -- because winning the league is now in the hands of very few clubs.

Many will claim that, with a new manager, we will move up the table, and they may be right, but I don't see us challenging for a league title or a Champions league place.

The cartel have made sure that, because of the financial rules they have voted in, they have made sure no club can do what has happened at Man City or PSG.

Leicester City winning the Premier League was as rare as hen's teeth and they may well be the last of the non-monied clubs to win the Premier League.

Hhw dare you like the same song as me! ”You can call me Al” -- what a cracking song that is and always will be -- with the added bonus of his African friends joining in the chorus.

Ah fuck football, Michael, why don't you use ToffeeWeb as a musical website? That will keep you on your toes and Mike Gaynes will be one of your star posters because he sings in a choir!

Ray Charles sang “Is There Anyone Out There?" That could be the Anthem for the footballing ToffeeWeb at the moment. We need those ToffeeWebbers who have left the site now... like we needed all Evertonians who answered the call when the club was slowly dying not so long ago!

That looks about right I think, they look a good attacking team whenever I see them. As for us it depends which version turns up, Newcastle hit us very early and we were under pressure from the off. Maybe we had a hangover from the Man Utd game.

The headed goals they scored showed up again as a weakness we have which is proving costly.

I'd love to say I fancy us strongly to win, but we don't threaten or score often enough to have confidence that we can beat anyone!

As a club, our biggest weakness has not been managers' performances, it's been the purchase of players. It's like this season, who the hell actually has the last say on who is bought? I don't think any of us supporters know, do we?

Other teams seem to be able to pluck lesser-known players from somewhere that turn out to be very good, while we do the opposite.

Owners want to invest in potential that could deliver future profits. The latter is fine... but only works if your recruitment is good; ours isn't.

I would not have Barry anywhere near the first team. Running around and getting to head the ball with no direction does not make an effective Number 9.

His link-up play has improved in recent games but he is still light years behind Calvert-Lewin who was not that good.

Alcaraz has looked more likely to score when he is on the pitch so I would give him a run, especially with Afcon coming up.

We've never won away at Bournemouth in a league match.

We've lost 8 of our last 10 meetings in all competitions vs Bournemouth.

It comes to something when McNeil is looking the best option in centre-midfield.

They have pacy players,we sadly don't...a comfy 2-0 win for Bournemouth I'm afraid.

When asked about the injuries and suspensions to the likes of Senesi, Brooks, Doak, Smith and Cook, he said it gives others the opportunity to step up.

When asked about Senesi in particular who was 3rd choice last season but is the first this and having to play an 18-year-old, he said he has played in a few games and if selected he has no worries.

Then he was asked about Everton and he spoke about our quality with great respect without the drivel we heard from Moyes about Newcastle.

Moyes will be able to field his first choice eleven barring Jarrad and Gana yet he went into one about Seamus being out and Röhl and how he was limited at centre half. It's almost embarrassing.

I want to keep him until the summer unless an ideal candidate becomes available but, when he said we are doing brilliantly this season, I almost wanted him sacked on the spot.

Judging by many of the posts on here I think many are drinking from Moyes Kool-Aid...

I agree with Ian @27 when he says Moyes would have preferred to sign some senior professionals to start the first part of his rebuild, and I agree with Billy @33 when he says pace kills teams.

A dose of realism is also a fair point, Brian, although sometimes I don't believe we are playing to our strengths, especially when we play against teams with pace.

Laurie makes it sound like the 11/10 on offer for Bournemouth, quoted by Raymond, is buying money -- just trying to help you by giving you a break from “ those mutts” who are making you talk about the betting, Michael!

Sunderland came from two goals down to beat them on Saturday, and if we would have matched Sunderland for effort, then it's a game I believe we would have won easily.

A lot of people gave Moyes a lot of praise for playing and getting a tune out of O'Brien after Dyche refused... but then it doesn't appear (to me) that he is really trying to integrate Alcaraz and McNeil into the squad, and when he doesn't play Dibling this doesn't get questioned much either.

It doesn't matter if you have got a big squad or a threadbare squad (a bigger squad obviously helps) because the nature of the game in England means you have at times got to have enough trust in your players because there are times they are going to be needed.

Mid-table teams get some good results and some bad results, so I'll take that 9/4 on offer for the draw!

You are spot on when you say you have to trust the squad players as the game has become much more than 11 v 11.

I think playing O'Brien worked well last season but teams work out weaknesses very quickly and many are playing pacy wingers or full-backs, exposing Jake's lack of pace. I do feel sorry for him; he is not a full-back but, as you will know better than any of us, a professional player would rather play out of position than sit on the bench.

You are correct about the press asking more questions about why our record summer signing isn't getting game time.

I have said for weeks and weeks much to Michael's annoyance that I don't believe for one minute that Moyes bought Barry, Dibling or Aznou. He wouldn't spend over £70M on 3 untried youngsters.

Moyes would have wanted signings that hit the ground running, like Dewsbury-Hall and Grealish -- and what a great decision to extend Keanes contract.

I think that a decision was made to reduce the age of our squad, which was no bad thing, but if you don't recruit the right youngster,s you end up in the position we are in. As for McNeil and Alcaraz, well they have both had chances this season to impress and they haven't.

Try different permutations as well as personnel. I'm not talking about wholesale changes, by the way. The other bonus is keeping players aware that a poor performance means their place is on the line, so competition should increase.

Tony (36) makes good points about Grealish passing inside often and this pattern of his play would be enhanced if he was feeding it to Ndiaye who has the ability to hold the ball, play it wide right, make passes or take it on and shoot.

Alcaraz helped change the game against Palace, and his reward was a game playing out of position at Man City, followed by a return to the bench once Dewsbury-Hall returned.

Dibling didn't look ready against Palace but, with defenders that rarely get forward, then maybe if we could change the pivot and play with two inside forwards to take the pressure off our fullbacks, and in particular O'Brien, then I believe this would just give us a lot more fluency in the attacking areas.

If you don't keep players interested, then it doesn't take long for them to start thinking that you don't really like them or trust them. But when I look at Moyes, as a manager, I have always thought he prefers to have a very small squad.

Dibling is described by the Southampton coaches as the best talent to come out of their set-up -- and they had the likes of Bale, Lallana and quite a few others through the years.

Aznou played in the Club World Cup and Bayern wanted him to stay. Perhaps they don't know the value of a player also?

Barry is a French U21 international who our opposing manager was interested in. Yes, the club apparently who all their signings seem to magically turn to gold and who defy the logic that Moyes and Dyche preach about.

You seem to have made your mind up about all three, Brian, but unless you are down at Finch Farm on a daily basis, I don't think you have any real idea on two of the three you mention.

Then you suggested Dibling wasn't tried and tested in the Premier League whereas Dewsbury-Hall was. That's just inaccurate as Dibling was more proven in the Premier League than the latter was on signing.

Finally, you suggest Alcaraz hasn't taken his chance? He turned the game against Palace and was head and shoulders our best player against Newcastle, passing the ball forward continuously, the only midfielder with any defensive awareness and a shot against the bar.

Contrast this to how Guimares, Miley and Joelinton ran all over our three in the first half and their incessant backward and sideward passes.

I suppose we should just sell Armstrong also because he is another not good enough for Moyes?

This season, we will finish meh mid-table but that was the aim after years of relegation fears. We won't hold on to Grealish and Ndiaye for long and we need to build patiently.

Branthwaite, O'Brien, Garner, Dewsbury-Hall, Dibling, Barry, Aznou, Alcaraz and Armstrong are positive, young prospects for when we get this season behind us.

What I would strongly urge Moyes to do is go all out for that FA Cup with us in his final season before Iraola takes us forwards with a fresh young squad!

I have the translation:- "David Moyes is manager for 12th season"

I am glad I did. He talks common sense, the sound quality was great, but most of all because he mentioned their problem at set pieces. That is something we have the potential to exploit and gives me hope that we can get a result.

I'm not drinking Moyes's Kool-Aid but I'm wary about a constant churn of managers, we had that under Moshiri and look where that took us to.

I'd rather Moyes did enough to see out his contract and that we continued to re-build with some stability and decent transfer business. No guarantee of that of course and the next 2 months will be pivotal for our season and Moyes's tenure.

The list [of those who've scored 5 or more] contains 34 names. Simms is the only one of the 34, whose goals come at better than 1 every 100 minutes; and he's the only one [by some distance] whose goals come at more than 1 per 90 minutes.

I'm not quite sure what this tells us, but it certainly makes for interesting reading!

The season before, he had a goal every 209 minutes, which is more creditable but hardly scorching form.

He may be blooming into a top striker, or may just be having a momentary purple patch.

(For the record, I was disappointed we sold him and would like to have seen him given more of a chance.)

LOL! I would kill for a striker who could score six goals in the league this season.

Simms 'failed to either score or assist in the last 13 games of the season'.

LOL! Could you please substitute Barry for Simms in that sentence, because he has exactly that same record, no goal or assist in 13 games.

It strikes me as odd that someone would use past experience to judge what has been for Ellis a productive present season so far. On this score, I prefer the present to the past, even though I'm a professional historian.

Using Mr Gaynes's formula, Barry and Beto have both been a 'disaster' in this season up to now.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZHhGi3hj8ws

I was probably clumsy in my post regarding Barry, Dibling and Aznou. I love to see youngsters coming into the team, whether they be homegrown, which I prefer, or bought in.

I did say in an earlier post that we did need to lower the average age of the squad. I expect that coming here from a European league has proved difficult for many players over the years... probably Henry at Arsenal was a player who really struggled when he first joined Arsenal but we all know what a terrific player he turned out to be.

So all 3 of our young players may well go on to prove that my initial judgement was wrong. Also, I wouldn't have sent Harrison Armstrong on loan -- he looks a real prospect and we may recall him in January, I really hope we do.

I can't come up with anything but Dewsbury-Hall and Garner in midfield with Alcaraz as the Number 10. We are now down to the bare bones in midfield as Tim Iroegbunam has shown he is too much of a liability in a defensive role and we seem to have signed another injury-prone player in Röhl.

The main tactic for the midfield against Bournemouth is work hard, close them down quickly, give them no space. And don't give the ball away cheaply. I'm hoping Dewsbury-Hall becomes our big player in his new position.

Brian, spot on, I think we all hope they do.

Solid but with greater attacking threat.