Are you that bothered?

[Lanolin]

I think there’s an important distinction between ‘direct’ football and ‘long ball’ football. I loved watching a lot of our stuff under moyes, where home games would often see us win just by making the opposition crack under the pressure of constant bombardment. Whatever some revisionists like to say, 95% of the crowd loved it too, because the atmosphere was often crackling in those days.

I don’t like the football we’ve played at times this year though, even on Wednesday, with aimless long hoofs in the direction of a lad who wins about 10% of headers.

If allardyce plays direct, winning football, i’ll Be happy enough.

 

[Khalekan]

It’s an opinion rammed down football fans throats by the media: ‘the football is dour’ ‘dinosaur football’ ‘% football’. As though anything played in the air is awful whilst only tiki takes in slippers on a carpet is entertainment.

We played quite a few long balls against West Ham. At no point did I find it boring though, is it wrong to say I actually enjoyed it? Mainly because Calvert Lewin was battling for all of them. We also played some great stuff on the deck for the second goal. The Goodison crowd loves effort, a big tackle, a whipped cross onto a towering header, god forbid a striker clattering a centreback and winning a flick on to a midfielder making the run.

Under Martinez even when we played well in that first season we always seemed to lack a little bit of that fighting spirit that seems to get the Goodison crowd off their seat. Sure there were some great moves and entertaining games but were there really loads of those ‘come on Everton’ moments when the whole ground is surging behind the team battling in Royal Blue?

If you watch back clips of the 80s teams they would mix up the long ball with short intricate stuff and crosses. The complete team who could play any way they wanted.

So my question is. If we are winning, if the atmosphere is crackling again, if the players are responding to it, are you that bothered if Sam introduces a little more of the ‘long ball’? Personally i’ll take all the patronising kopite media put downs in the world if going the match starts feeling more like Wednesday night than the last 4 and a half seasons.

I positively welcome it.

Mix up the styles and pose different questions to teams during a match.

 

[Khalekan]

The attitude seems to be....

 

[Daveysgingerlovechild]

Allardyce doesn't necessarily play bad stuff. He just plays pragmatically.

The problem is that I believe he's defensive-minded by nature and will never win anything; but merely survive. So his teams may play good stuff to go 2-0 up, but he'll shut up shop no matter how long is gone in the game.

Which is fine as it'll keep you up. But you won't win things because you don't convey confidence in your squad with that attitude.

Also, he's an actual crook who will take millions out of our club. Which is the actual problem with him.

I'd have utterly loved Martinez to do the same at times.

 

[Toffeelover]

Rooney's wonder goal resulted from a hoof ball to DCL

 

[Runcornblue52]

Yes, I'm bothered by what style we play in.

Carragher muttered some muck today basically saying that our 80s team were hoofball a lot of the time but could play a bit on occasion; the exact opposite was the case. And our best team of all time was apparently the Catterick team in terms of pure footballing ability. That squeaky voiced Kopite was having a dig, understandably. No need for us to aid him though.

Let's not dumb down our standards just because we've got a dinosaur for 6-12 months again.

It's all myth....The best football is the stuff that gets the fans bouncing .....The fight back against Watford did that . Can i just say that I find Man City boring

 

[Armaghtoffee]

It’s all about the result. If we can achieve with style then all the better but it still doesn’t bring you extra points.

 

[goodisonopheliac]

Couldn’t give a rats arse at the moment as along as we win

Same, and I'm used to ye olde hoofing the ball up the park anyway, we did it enough in the 90s.

 

[Gareth Gibson]

I don't understand the obsession with Martinez-esque tippy tappy football.

The Dogs of War of '95 certainly didn't play like that.

 

[Tennessee Blue Mike]

The key is scoring and not allowing the opponent to score as much as we do per game. How we do it is irrelevant to me. 3 pointers all day long with 40% possession if warranted.

 

[dandydan]

Listening to the presser today, Our Sam said that Rooney will play deep in front of the back four, pick the ball from them and spread the play.

Hollywood passing or hoofball?

If the pass is long and splits the defence its a hollywood pass, if its calmly dealt with by the opposing defence its hoofball.

No win situation.

Good luck Sam, not my first choice but he's our Sam now and i'll support him if he gets us going in the right direction,

Didn't Stevie me do the same thing in the season he blew their best shot at the title in a generation?

 

[davek]

It's all myth....The best football is the stuff that gets the fans bouncing .....The fight back against Watford did that . Can i just say that I find Man City boring

I do too. But only because they're a rich mans toy put together in relatively no time with no organic link to their fans or history. It's a fake club. That's besides the football, which I suppose is very good at times.

 

[Black Belt Jones]

NEA about Allardyce or his supposed long ball methods - I doubt that is his philosophy, suspect he is someone who just cuts his cloth accordingly, a bit like Moyes in that respect. If he gets us winning Goodison will be bouncing, it's that simple. Pulis strikes me more as someone who genuinely would struggle to play any other way just based on that Stoke team he ran which was proper agricultural football. If TP was walking through the doors then a degree of bed-wetting would be in order, but with SA you have to wait and see.

I'm more down about the Failure to Progress 2.0 after the second manager on the bounce completely loses their way and tanks the team. I think we can see with hindsight that the 'opportunity' to take the next step in the summer was never a real opportunity, because Koeman wasn't up to it. But it doesn't change the fact that it's 18 months of stagnation to go with the 18 months before that, and a lot has been squandered going backwards - squad is as bare as it's been for a long time.

 

[Runcornblue52]

I do too. But only because they're a rich mans toy put together in relatively no time with no organic link to their fans or history. It's a fake club. That's besides the football, which I suppose is very good at times.

Exactly ....The fake flag wavers flock to it whereas real football fans see it as an abomination ....despite their quality players

 

[PeregrineT]

Its more exciting to win that to watch a team complete 4 intricate passing combinations to beat us 4-0.

Nothing is as exciting as winning.