Well this will be th 11th time we've played at Goodison in the Premiership and you all know what happened in the previous ten. But as Cap reminds us past results mean nothing. On current form though, Everton at home are quite formidable; five clean sheets and only 1 goal conceded in the last six games. Nonetheless, we have the 6 by 6 potential to upset that; the Pog 6 goals from 8 attempts on target, Demps 6 goals in his last 8 games. I can't see us approaching the game with a gung ho spirit though. I suspect Jol will start with a 'cautious' line up with only the one change from the team that started against Wigan - Kelly (who is okay to play albeit with his wrist in plaster) coming in for Senderos. ------------Schwarzer--------- Kelly------Hughes--Hangeland---Riise ---------Diarra--Murphy----- -Dempsey----Dembele------Duff ---------------Pog-----------------
If Kelly is fit, then I suspect you've got the line up about right, Cottager. I agree as well that this isn't a great time to play them, what with their current form, but you never know. Come on you Whites!
Bandit -Senderos had a poor, poor game except when that ball hit him in the head and went in the goal for us. He should be dropped.
Well we beat a form team last time out, maybe we can do it again. I'm not massively confident, so... I'll be happy with a draw and a good performance (I should make that my signature).
Haha yeh defo bidley. Saying that I would be happy with a good performance aswell aslong as we play some young players like kaka frei and trotta. Maybe even give burns and Briggs a shout also anyone wanna see more of gecov?
Would love to see Burns have a run out against higher competition,but for at least 15min. watched him in training matches ,and he does not seem to rush about like a blue arsed fly. His positioning and reading of the game reminds me of Bobby Moore,lets hope that in the not to distant future,he can live up to those expectations.
I don't see us blooding the youngsters in the last few games as Jol has repeatedly said he wants us to finish as high as we possibly can, we have a good chance of doing this. The Everton game in my opinion is our hardest game, Tottenham, Sunderland and Liverpool are all in awful form and can certainly be beaten home or away.
Does that philosophy spill over into other areas of your life, Bidley? Perhaps I'd be better not to ask...
Funny stuff, boys. On a more serious note, the Everton game will actually be a good test of the team's new style of play under Jol. If the boys can hold their nerve and pass the ball around like we usually do against Everton's pressure, rather than falling back on our old safe ways (punting it forward), I think that would be a big milestone for us. I don't think any team pressures the ball like Everton (maybe ManC). We should put out our strongest team and go for a win. We've got nothing to lose here, and Everton a playing very very well. The first substitute I'd bring out (probably for Duff) would be Frei to hit them on the counter attack. He's much quicker than Phil Neville.
I've always admired Everton, despite not being too fond of Moyes as a person, terrific manager though. What he has done there has been astounding to be honest, and picking up Pienaar and Jelavic in January were steals of the season, apart from Pog of course. Did anyone hear that Villa were interested in Pog? With McRelegation himself saying that he'd spoken to the player? Can't see him wanting to join a team that could well be in the Championship next season, although he'd get plenty of service with their 'hoofball' football.
How come? I ony ask because I've never heard anything outrageous from him. The only thing offensive I can think of about him is the fact he looks a bit like Gollum. That could well be a special in the Birmingham branches of McDonalds next year!
This thread got me thinking back to the reverse fixture at the Cottage when we let in 2 late goals to give them the win. We were losing many late goals back then which has largely been resolved. We seem to struggle always at Goodison but I am cautiously optimistic as always.
I think there was one interview a while back where the way he conducted himself in a post match interview was ridiculous. It was all referee was crap this and we've had injuries that, failing to recognise that they lost the game purely because his team had underperformed. If I can find the interview I'll throw a link up. I know it's petty to not like someone for this reason as at some time or other every manager reflects the blame from their own teams performance, but as I said, he is a wonderful manager and deserves all the plaudits for the job he's done at Everton. They remind me of Charlton under Curbishley, a manager working wonders with very little money, content with mid table finishes, and we all know what happened when he left...
