Feels inevitable regardless of Alfie’s comment, lol. He’s been dogshit for them in his few appearances so far, nailed on we face 2017 Dele tonight should he start/ come on.
Prime Dele doesn’t exist anymore though, many of us think he’s finished as a footballer and that’s why we were keen to see him moved on
1. A chance to make ground on teams above us. 2. Playing a team with only one away win all season. Over 4/1 on an Everton win looks pretty good!
It’s crazy to think that top 4 still isn’t technically out of reach, given the gloom I think we’ve all been feeling the last few weeks around Spurs. We have 3 games in hand on the 2 teams immediately above us. Arsenal, perhaps unexpectedly, are the real danger (aside from us being our own worst enemy when it comes to inconsistency) but they’re only 6 points above us and if we beat them, whenever that game gets played, then we’ll be in a position to apply pressure. They have also been really inconsistent after all. All of which is to say that the pressure is on now. We have to iron out the inconsistencies in our game and Conte has to show a little flexibility in terms of how he sets us up, if the counter isn’t working. I know comparisons are drawn to the adaptation to Poch in his early days, but Poch was explicitly a long term project manager, whereas Conte is a short term winner who may not even be here next season. I’ll accept more short-term pragmatism from him, because I expect it, frankly. Just win at all costs and the issues with his preferred system can be ironed out in pre-season, if indeed he stays. Every game is going to be a big test now.
I think in terms of style we don't really have one, we're just primarily going to need to rely on the brilliance of Kane and Son (plus possibly Kulusevski based on his impressive start) whilst hoping Lloris keeps the opposition at bay, as we have done for about two or so years now. We have little creativity in the team and don't have enough suitable personnel to either play counter attacking or possession based football, nor any particular formation either. Hopefully Bentancur and Reguilon come in for Winks and Sessegnon though, whereas I wouldn't be opposed to trying one of Lucas or Bergwijn at RWB as Doherty's dreadful and Emerson's a defensive RB not a marauding RWB, essentially a right-sided Ben Davies. Oh for the days of watching a cohesive, well drilled side who are suited to the system.
Dele with a repeat of the Palace goal in the 26th minute...then a repeat of that goal against the goons in the Caribou Cup in the 47th minute and a repeat of the Chelsea goal at Stamford Bridge from Diers pass to complete his hat trick in the 91st minutes... Get a fiver on it...you know it's gonna happen
Conte has never lost 3 home league games in a row. Also he’s never conceded a PL goal against Everton as a manager in 5 games (W3D2) Guaranteed defeat then
Looks like Bentancur for Winks is the only change. Shame Reguilon still isn't fit enough to start. He's had his fair share of injury problems since joining. Calvert-Lewin returns for Everton. MOTM performance incoming no doubt.
Lucas returning is a welcome sight but we are still so short of goals from the bench. Imagine seeing Defoe circa 2011 there. Puts every game into a totally different perspective and context.
Imagine having a midfielder who takes on their man on the bench Or in the starting lineup Or anywhere outside of our U23s
The biggest issue is that, at the moment, Skipp is the only midfielder we have who takes on opponents, which is why we get Hojbjerg and Winks passing it sideways so much as they don't take on opponents and also don't have anyone creating space - and that's been our issue for the best part of four years, ever since Dembele got knackered On paper it can be said that Devine does, as there's plenty of examples in the academy sides of him taking the game to the opponents (even though, some of the time, this does seem to be him thinking "**** it..." and doing his teammates' job himself as the rest of the midfield aren't penetrating) although the fact that Harvey White is on the bench tonight instead indicates what Conte's thoughts on this might be
Can't see a win for us tonight. West Ham and United drop points do we can really close the gap...obviously we'll blow that. Everton have the second worst away record in all 4 English leagues. They only have 6 away points and only 1 of them came in their last 8 away games...obviously that changes tonight. In their 2 away games under Lampard they've conceded 5 and scored 1...that'll change tonight. Calvert Lewin plays tonight and will dominate our defence along with Richarlison. We have only beaten Everton once since 2018. Everton are 4-1 against to win tonight. Think I'm going for a long walk !
