Back from the Everton (H) game

[melonhead]

Tabb/Leigs a joint score - why? Do thay come BOGOF?

No, I just had the same things to say for both of them.

McAnuff 5- poor, his worst game for a long time. I thought he'd been put on the right to deal with Baines, but he didn't. He just pointed at him. Going forward he did very little. Switch him back to the left and make Kebe the first choice for dealing with attacking full backs from now on.

Overly harsh assessment of his performance IMO (as mentioned elsewhere, his long sprint back and great sliding challenge in stoppage time was critical and worthy of a mark alone!). Also, there is a flaw with your solution. Kebe is beginning to make Anderton look resilient!

It was a good tackle on Baines, but he let him go too many times, and stayed too central rather than staying wide to deal with Baines. Normally I'm a fan, but defensively he wasn't good enough and he wasn't his usual self going forwards.

We need Kebe to get some fitness, just as he has started to become a reliable and consistent performer, he's started to get injured.

have to say in defence of jobi- he was on his less favoured side to accomodate HRK, and looked as though hed been tasked to tuck in alot to help out emidfield aginst the opposition 5, which meant he was often out of position when they played down the win

[Jano]

Their goal, I have no idea what our defence was doing. I still have no idea how they only went in 1-0 up at half time as they really should have been out of sight.

Second half, much better, I would love to know what was said in the dressing room. Couple of points I've noticed. Shorey for me is still head and shoulders above every other player in the team. Legs should not be allowed to pass the ball more than 2 yards to Tabb (or whoever is closest to him), although he did cope with Fellaini rather well (not sure how much of that was Fellaini having a stinker though). Someone needs to explain to Federici and whoever happens to be playing on the wings that Tabb is 2ft 4inches tall and he will not win a high ball against anyone in the league, ever. Le Fondre needs to start every game.

[Norfolk Royal]

Was a bit concerned about this quote from Morrison post match.

"We tried to keep our shape and they had a lot of the ball - there was a point in the first half where I couldn't actually breathe because we were under so much pressure.'

[Simon's Church]

Was a bit concerned about this quote from Morrison post match.

"We tried to keep our shape and they had a lot of the ball - there was a point in the first half where I couldn't actually breathe because we were under so much pressure.'

THat was probably when Gorkss rugby tackled him for their goal.

[LoyalRoyalFan]

Their goal, I have no idea what our defence was doing.

Who knows what Federici was doing for the first goal, just shows why he shouldn't be in the team.

[LoyalRoyalFan]

Hate having to sit for a penalty, people behind go flipping mental if I stand...

This annoys me as well. It's a football match for goodness sake. Just stand and block their view.

[RoyalBlue]

Their goal, I have no idea what our defence was doing.

Who knows what Federici was doing for the first goal, just shows why he shouldn't be in the team.

You surely are a WUM? Otherwise just insane? At this rate Federici is gong to be blamed for world poverty and the Middle East conflict!

[REMTARDROYAL]

The first goal was a shambles from Gorkss first headed 'clearance' onwards

[andrew1957]

I think standing during a penalty being taken is absolutely justified – unless perhaps there is a child sitting behind you. Unless this was the case I might have got quite annoyed if I was told to sit down and would probably ignore the complainers.

[LoyalRoyalFan]

Their goal, I have no idea what our defence was doing.

Who knows what Federici was doing for the first goal, just shows why he shouldn't be in the team.

You surely are a WUM? Otherwise just insane? At this rate Federici is gong to be blamed for world poverty and the Middle East conflict!

Serious question, surely a good keeper commands his area and defence and doesn't rush out at the last minute?

[Jano]

The first goal was a shambles from Gorkss first headed 'clearance' onwards

Agreed. Not sure how Feds could be blamed for that one, just seemed to be one of the worst defensive headers I've ever seen, followed by a collective inability to get rid of the ball.

[wingnut]

I thought that Feds was sticking to his line far too much & generally being a bit hesitant in coming out and claiming the ball, particularly in the first half. But, tbf to him, his indecision was not helped by Gorkss.

[RoyalBlue]

I thought that Feds was sticking to his line far too much & generally being a bit hesitant in coming out and claiming the ball, particularly in the first half. But, tbf to him, his indecision was not helped by Gorkss.

Not sure I agree about the hesitance to come out and claim the ball because I can remember him diving out and straight through Gorkss on another occasion. I think it was after the goal so he had probably decided that he wasn't going to rely on Gorkss any more! Probably a wise choice, given the tendency of some to pin the blame on him regardless of what actually happens!

[Royal With Cheese]

Their goal, I have no idea what our defence was doing.

Who knows what Federici was doing for the first goal, just shows why he shouldn't be in the team.

He was probably thinking
"The defence will clear this,
the defence is going to clear this,
the defence is going to clear this,
the defence is going to clear this,
WHAT THE FCUK ARE THEY DOING?



Buggar"

[RoyalBlue]

Their goal, I have no idea what our defence was doing.

Who knows what Federici was doing for the first goal, just shows why he shouldn't be in the team.

He was probably thinking
"The defence will clear this,
the defence is going to clear this,
the defence is going to clear this,
the defence is going to clear this,
WHAT THE FCUK ARE THEY DOING?



Buggar"

He'd probably screamed 'Away' at least four times too! Poor bloke looked as though he didn't know who to pick on first after he'd picked the ball out of his net!

[windermere_royal]

Just to be clear...I didn't leave early. And like the rest of you I was muttering obscenities under my breath at those who were leaving with 2 minutes to go...

Not sure why I'm explaining myself to you though, I'll go whenever I damn well please you fruit headed mong

De facto, you Downs Syndrome hating wazzock. Just that I've been going to football matches for a few years now and I've never seen other sets of supporters leave early when their team's match is on a knife-edge. Can you imagine that at, say, Anfield? Oh, I forgot, our traffic problems are worse than anybody else's.

No actually, I think we've got the most middle-classey, fickle, want-success-today, set of fans in the league. 'twas not always this way of course.

I never leave early but i do sometimes go down to the concourse on watch the last few minutes on the TV, can get a quick getaway then, it bit me on the arse during the Arsenal game though, I had to go back to my seat for extra time.

[RoyalBlue]

Just to be clear...I didn't leave early. And like the rest of you I was muttering obscenities under my breath at those who were leaving with 2 minutes to go...

Not sure why I'm explaining myself to you though, I'll go whenever I damn well please you fruit headed mong

De facto, you Downs Syndrome hating wazzock. Just that I've been going to football matches for a few years now and I've never seen other sets of supporters leave early when their team's match is on a knife-edge. Can you imagine that at, say, Anfield? Oh, I forgot, our traffic problems are worse than anybody else's.

No actually, I think we've got the most middle-classey, fickle, want-success-today, set of fans in the league. 'twas not always this way of course.

I never leave early but i do sometimes go down to the concourse on watch the last few minutes on the TV, can get a quick getaway then, it bit me on the arse during the Arsenal game though, I had to go back to my seat for extra time.

I was part of the way down the stairs to do the same thing and had to turn back - strangely I was still working against the outward flow - clearly similar levels of intelligence to the Arsenal players who had thrown their shirts to their supporters (technically shouldn't they have been booked for that? - They could have been down to 10 men for extra time then!).

[REMTARDROYAL]

An Everton view

Well at least this result made a change from drawing with really average teams.

David Moyes said that he was as pissed off as he has ever been after a game, but it couldn’t have come as that much of a surprise to him as an all too familiar pattern of play saw the Blues dominate the early stages, fail to open up a decent lead and then allow very limited opponents back into the game courtesy of hopeless defending.

Thomas Hitzlsperger, Der Spirit-Level, was a surprise starter in place of the injured Phil Neville while Steven Naismith continued on the right while we await the return of Kevin Mirallas.

In the first half Reading were shocking – the worst side Everton have faced this season. Indeed, the Toffees should have been ahead within the first couple of minutes when first Adam Federici blocked a Phil Jagielka effort from close range and then watched as the unmarked Nikica Jelavic volleyed Hitzlsperger’s cross into the turf and harmlessly wide. It was a passage of play that summed up much of the rest of the half.

A goal did arrive on nine minutes though as a Reading defence that looked like chickens with a fox in the coop every time the ball came into their box failed to deal with a straightforward bouncing ball, allowing Naismith to score from six yards.

After that it was the usual procession of Leon Osman pea-rollers, some decent saves and plenty of shrug-inducing misjudged final balls from Everton as they walked the ball to the edge of the home side’s penalty area with impunity. Jelavic and Marouane Fellaini should have run riot against such a disorganised back four, but the pair of them looked too casual and failed to get hold of the ball and do the basics consistently.

Jelavic’s only notable contribution should have seen a penalty awarded when his fierce shot was blatantly handled by Sean Morrison. It was the second Stonewall spot kick – so blatant it caused a riot in a gay bar – that referee Martin Atkinson failed to award. The first was when early-90s Dennis Leary-looking tripe-hound Kasper Gorkss clearly clattered Naismith.

1-0 at half-time then and you just knew that Brian McDermott’s team talk would be along the lines of: ‘We should be dead and buried here, so see this second half as an opportunity – be a bit more aggressive and we will get chances’. With some of those sort of crouching fist pumps he does thrown in for good measure.

Lo and behold, after only five minutes Martin Atkinson gave a bollocks free kick against Hitzlsperger, it got lofted into the near post area and Adam Le Fondre, hardly the most fearsome target-man, found himself free to head past Tim Howard.

Only Sonny and Cher playing over the public address system would have made the whole mood feel more like Groundhog Day.

Fellaini hit a post with a header and Hitzlsperger volleyed narrowly wide, but there was no real conviction from a generally sloppy and off-colour Everton team.

To top it all off, on 78 minutes winless Reading took the lead from the penalty spot courtesy of a ridiculous challenge by Seamus Coleman. The young Irishman’s enthusiasm is always commendable but in all honesty, the Southampton game aside, he has looked something of a liability during this spell covering for Tony Hibbert. He makes too many bad decisions when he’s under pressure – none more so than his leap into the back of Le Fondre. It looked like someone trying to break down a door but realising while in mid-air that it’s a lot harder to do in real life than it is on television. Even Atkinson couldn’t miss it, and similarly Le Fondre was always going to do the business from the spot.

It’s hard to know what Moyes is meant to change about his team given that most of what they have been doing this season has been exemplary. Even at the Madejski, where the second half was really disappointing, they should have scored at least two or three before the break, and that’s besides the two denied penalties.

The return of Mirallas will obviously be a welcome one, and dare we say it Hibbert’s too, whenever he’s fit. The forwards could do with being a bit more aggressive – they look as if they give balls up a little bit too easily at times and hardly won a free-kick all game – and the defenders might consider not conceding at least one soft goal every single game.

Other than that, we are still in fifth place, but it’s not lost on anybody that a mass of points have been dropped unnecessarily over the last month or so. And the upshot of that is we are now going to have to beat some pretty good teams if we want to maintain any genuine ambition of a fourth place finish.

[Hoop Blah]

I've not read any of the thread yet, but my thoughts after the game were that we'd really got away with that one.

We were so poor in the first half that there shouldn't have been anyway back for us in the game but thankfully Everton let us off the hook and then our excellent second half performance got us an unexpected 3 points.

Morrison had a cracking game. When he was caught out he recovered well and he dealt well with the significant threat of Fellani (who interestingly seemed to push himself wider as the game went on, presumably to get away from Morrisons attentions).

Shorey again looked so comfortable at this level that he stands out amongst the rest of our side who just seem to be getting by for a lot of the game/season.

[Jano]

This penalty they are talking about when Gorkss fouled Naismith (who looked like a diving, cheating scumbag), is that for the foul where they got a freekick just outside the area?