I'm surprised you are not confused, Boss, who would have though that the Everton squad, still mostly those used by Moyes, could pull off a passing game...surely the players are not suitable for that
It's funny the difference in reaction, isn't it? Everton spend the first half knocking the ball around and creating nothing and people can't rave enough about them, when Spurs do it it's terrible football. Don't get me wrong, Everton have really impressed over the last week but I thought Arsenal contained them comfortably for the majority of the game and created much the better chances, which is why I said I felt they should've won. Arsenal are far more savvy than they've been in the past, they might not have wanted to have seen so little of the ball in the first half but they're comfortable and well suited to sitting back and hitting on the counter which is what they did several times. Lets not forget this is the same Arsenal side who had 50/50 possession at home to Stoke, it's not tippy tappy Arsenal anymore they're more flexible now.
"Lets not forget this is the same Arsenal side who had 50/50 possession at home to Stoke, it's not tippy tappy Arsenal anymore they're more flexible now." As we know only too well, tis WHERE you allow the opposition possession, and HOW FAST you allow them to advance to your box, that is more critical.
Ah, thank you... I was about to raise this point. Did Everton have a meaningful chance in the 1st half? Not that I can remember. Mind you, neither did we until about the 40th minute, but I'd say with the new style of football that Wenger has inadvertently stumbled on, that's not really the point. Our midfield can create a chance or two out of nothing. We might only create two or three of those in 90 minutes, but it's almost a given that we will in every match. Which means we always have hope even when being contained quite well even up to 80 minutes. However, I'm mightily annoyed we didn't close that game out. Exactly the sort of game the champions wouldn't drop points in once taking the lead with only 10 minutes to go. Our next two games against City and Chelsea are massive now. 2 points minimum needed or we'll start sliding I fear... especially with tough away games at Napoli, Newcastle and Wet Spam in December too :S Mind you Liverpool have a fiendish December too and United have three away games. Could Spurs suddenly find a bit of a run...?
Who knows, we have Liverpool next so that match could be an indicator to which, if either, of those 2 will be the more serious contender come the end of december with the other big matches that will happen this month. My money is on Spurs getting something against Liverpool, having a great chance of getting back in the race and then losing 3 home games to West Ham, West Brom and Stoke. This is Spurs after all.
I think Wet Spam is in the League Milk Littlewoods Rumbelows CocaCola Worthington Carling Mickey Mouse Cup.
Funny. Everton have Barry, Barkley, McCarthy. Two attacking full backs. Classic wingers and a manager who plays attacking football. Martinez changed the squad to suit his passing, counter attacking setup. His way Is simple and that's why he so far has a great response from the players. Although it's early days and until we see Everton in the second half, we can't make a full judgement.
I know, but they still have him. We'll never get him, Chelsea won't sell/loan to us and he'll prob be with them next season unless Jose has pissed him off
Jose was making sly digs about Lukaku not being honest about the real reason he asked to go on loan. Mind games? Possibly but maybe there isn't a future back at Chelsea. Unfortunately for us Lukaku hates Avb.
We're unpredictable at the moment. If we set up with Lennon on the right and playing fast passes forward then we're much more of a threat but AVB likes his inverted wingers and possession football. The fact that he reverted back to the old style against Fulham and again in the second half worries me. I actually don't mind how AVB wants us to play, just as I thought Everton were good to watch yesterday but the trouble is that it's not effective in the Premier League, it's better suited to Spain or even Germany where they can do it every game and perfect it to the point where they can take apart nearly any side. Maybe we'll go on a run now but I think it might be a slower progress with performances improving but not necassarily results. I wouldn't be surprised if we're not 4th again for any period of time until perhaps even April even if we do get top 4.
I'm pretty sure at Chelsea Avb done some stupid things like banishing players from using the car park and excluding young players, but he admitted his mistakes on that. Lakaku strikes me as someone if you treat him well is your best mate, but piss him off and you will know about it!
We tend to create a lot of chances too. For me, the difference is, you don't waste anywhere near as many of those chances....we need at least ten to have a chance that one of those might get converted into a goal!....
Don't we actually create more chances than anyone, but convert less than anyone, too? Then we score from virtual non-chances, instead.
It'll be interesting to see how some of the other sides around us deal with the January window. I can see Everton and Southampton being troubled by a few bids for their better players. Mourinho and Moyes will almost certainly splash the cash and will shift a few on.
