A draw is a good result considering we were outplayed for so much of the game. Certainly much room for improvement although this was nowhere near our strongest team against an Everton side who were very, very good on the day. Just caught them at a bad time I feel, and in the end we were lucky to get a point. Ruddy made one superb save and couldn't do much about Everton's second. Garrido was average whilst I felt Turner really struggled today. Rusty I thought was superb, for most of the game. Whittaker was very greedy (Goo running though) and a bit wanting defensively but without him we wouldn't of had even one goal. After a lively opening spell, Redmond was pretty poor, no idea how he got Man of the Match. Elliott Bennett looked good on the ball, and worked hard without it but faded as we did as a team. Would certainly have been better where we not being so outplayed. Johnson, regrettably was rather off the pace as Everton's impressive midfield completely overrun us. Hoolahan was very poor too, contributed very little and lost the ball very often in an isolated role. Howson wasn't great but excelled when he was pushed forward. van Wolfswinkel was impressive with very little service. I should stress Everton were very good today, but it is a little bit worrying that out possession play was so poor at home. When Tettey was brought on for Hoolahan we looked much, much better and bossed the closing stages. We need Bassong, Fer, Snodrass, Pilkington and Hooper fit and hopefully a better performance at Hull next.
We will play worse and we will play better in the next 9 months but more importantly I do not want to ignore the fact that Everton actually posses a very good team. Both on paper and on grass, they are good, very, very good, they will be top 6 or 7 once again in May.
Yup - very impressed with Everton today. Wasn't sure how they would do with Martinez coming in, but very very well organised. Probably missing a top AM who would help them push for above a top 6-7 place.
thai good to see you back around, youve been quiet for a bit. I thought the difference once tettey was on was massive, much more composure in midfield. I worry that even though Hoolahan can be inspired, too often he leaks possession, and we don't have the standard of players to carry him when he does. RVW looked good and keen, and should find many games more easy going than that one was. And redmond looks class, true he keeps the ball a little too long at times, and often responds to successfully getting past two players by trying to pass another three rather than pass it, but thats all brain stuff, and can be taught with time and experience.
I would have taken a draw before kick off to be honest, with the notable absences we had! I hope the play will improve over the next couple if games as we start to get the likes of bassong, pilks, hooper, fer and snoddy back in the squad. Also think things will change if we play Olson instead of garrido. Has anyone heard anything about snodgrass's absence, I read somewhere that his wife had gone into labour? Has that been confirmed?
BC - there is sod all to talk about for 3 months mate. Little point talking about our new players as I have never seen any of them play before, leaves me with an open mind so I can judge them on performances for us, and us alone I do not have any 'real' concerns yet but today's performance has highlighted one or two things to watch out for over the coming months, in the hope there are signs of progression.
If you look at the valuation of players on transfermarkt, we were missing 5 of our 6 most valuable players today, or £24.7m worth of talent. Comparatively, that's like Everton not having Baines, Mirallas, Jagielka, Jelavic or Coleman out there today. I don't think that can be brushed under the carpet when trying to analyse this performance. And despite those absentees, we scored twice, and defended pretty well for the most part, against a full-strength side who will regard finishing 8th as a failed season. The lack of possession (I saw a stat of 32% at one point) is a concern, particularly as it's at home. However, Fer will be a massive presence in the midfield, and Hoolahan had a poor game and gave the ball away a lot. Everton are also very good in possession, something we won't see from many of the teams we're realistically competing with in the league table. It wasn't a vintage display, but it's a hard-earned point, Ricky's off the mark, and we've got some very strong players to come in. As Thai said, that's highly, highly unlikely to be our best performance this season, and equally I agree it probably won't be our worst. A lot of teams in the league already appear to have much greater problems than we do!
I acknowledged we were missing some key players and faced an Everton side in great nick. We didn't do much hoofing but we got dominated in possession. This is partly because Everton made us look worse than we were such was their composure on the ball, rarely a missed pass and their breaks didn't break down often. But if anything that is even more reason not to lose the ball cheaply which Redmond and Hoolahan did far too often.
Haha cheers gandy, I shouldn't comment when I'm away from my keyboard (on my phone at the moment), also distracted by the Swansea game! I think I've got my excuses in order there!
Hope fully we will see Fer next week vs hull and howson in the am role Fer should be able to pass better and break forward Hopefully well have seb back too and Hooper
I thought it was a decent outcome considering we were 3/4 players down against a good Everton side. Good for Wolf to get off the mark. Disagree about Redmond. I thought first half he was excellent and positive. Yes he needs to work on the right choice on occasion but will do well. Whitaker was also very good and Garrido solid. Thought Turner and Johnson looked not quite match fit but did Ok. Elliot Bennet was also not bad. Hoolahan was poor today and will be dropped when Fer is back. Howson was also a mixed bag for me today. Overall, a fair result For me out starting 11 should be Ruddy Whitaker, Martin, Bassong, Olsen Johnson Snodgrass, Fer Redmond Hooper, Wolfswinkel So today we were missing 4 players who would start making today's result against a top ten side look a good outcome.
Agree that Fer and Howson in the hole would make a big difference, as will Snods, Hooper and Bassong hopefully returning as well. Apparently Pilks will be back in training next week, which is also good. Full credit to CH for assembling a squad which can cope with 5 key players missing.
One of the key choices will be whether to play Martin with Bassong in central defence next week at Hull. I thought Martin and Whitaker were vastly superior to Garrido and Turner - would love to see Seb and Olsson come in. I don't think Hoolahan will start next week - Fer will certainly come in - and Tettey was notably strong when he came on. Question mark for me also against Johnson - so could easily imagine Fer, Tettey and Howson next weekend. RvW impressed and I can't see him being dropped. Like others have said - with the players we had missing today and Everton asking lots of questions (not usually the most challenging, but questions nonetheless) that's a point won for me today, rather than two lost.
