by Ian Royal »
17 Nov 2012 21:28
Tale of two halves.
First half, well we were a shambles from the start and yet still managed to work opportunities to show a hint of ability to trouble Everton's defence despite only 36% of possession. Everton looked dominate but incapable of being clinical and the ref paid back the Torres and Ba goals by not giving what looked like two reasonably clear penalties against us.
Second half, Everton were clearly expecting to come out and walk to victory, but we shot out the blocks and put them under pressure. Suddenly they struggled to get the ball to Fallaini effectively and stopped being a force to be reckoned with. We got lucky a couple of times, but we piled on the pressure and finally got something to go our way. Probably not a game we really deserved to win and one Everton have every right to be fuming not to have won. But as we've learnt this season, if you don't lock down that result, its your own fault if someone steals it from you.
Federici - 6.5 good game, didn't do a lot wrong, don't think I saw him deal with a lot where he was hugely tested. But my stream did break up a little now and then.
Gunter - 5.5 some poor moments, but I don't think he was awful... I don't see a lot of what his haterz have against him
Shorey - 8 he's a cut above everyone in our team.
Gorkss - 4 could barely put a foot right and seemed to want to get himself sent off. Shame he'll play again next time now. I'd like to see whether Gunter could come good with a decent centreback pairing.
Morrison - 8 MOTM Absolute rock. I think this guy may have it all.
HRK - 7 caused problems most of the game. I'd have prefered to see him on the right rather than moving McAnuff from where he's been effective.
McAnuff - 6 unusually poor game from the captain
Ledge - 6 terrible first half, really did look like Legsofwood and HeartofIdon'tgiveacrap. So much better second half.
Tabb - 7 bypassed first half and not particularly in the game. Another great showing afterwards.
Roberts - 7 terrible first touch sometimes, but he's so aware of his surroundings and options its untrue. Caused problems all game.
ALF - 8 patchy finishing, but he's getting in the positions and he's having a crack. I think he'll soon find that sweet connection that'll result in a better conversion rate, providing he gets a run of games with Roberts.
Hunt - 7 worked hard to kill the game
McDermott - safe, for a while at least - that is the improvement we've needed to show since Arsenal and we got it, now lets keep it going. He's got the rub of the green today and he needs to build something with that. His management so far has been, at best, disappointing this season. I don't for one second think that a win over Everton solves our problems and he is involved in those, but it's very definitely a step in the right direction. We all know he has a magic wand when it comes to a bit of belief and a tricky situation.
