Everton v Cardiff City. 15th March at 15.00.

[heatmeiser]

Some of Marshall's saves. No idea how we managed to get 2 past this guy today.

Deflections and mis-hits I guess.

 

[Del]

Totally reasonable. You can't argue that a last second Coleman mishit was part of the plan.

It was clear that there was a lot wrong yesterday and some of Martinez's subs -- or the timing of them -- were poor. McGeady aside. First half I thought we were well on top and would genuinely attribute the scoreline at that point to their keeper alone.

But when they changed it up we never really got to grips, until after they equalised and we got a stranglehold on them a bit at the end.

The issue is breaking down stubborn teams. As good as their keeper was, time and time again we've been very poor at unlocking well-drilled backlines this year. You can't bank on deflections and mishits every game.

This year?

Its been going on for beards RFUS

Hes been here less than 12 months and is essentially using someone else's side

He needs to bring in his own players that can open up these stubborn beauts

 

[RFUS]

Deflections and mis-hits I guess.

Also making sure the ball was travelling towards the goal.

 

[RFUS]

This year?

Its been going on for beards RFUS

Hes been here less than 12 months and is essentially using someone else's side

He needs to bring in his own players that can open up these stubborn beauts

True, mate, but then he has brought in a lot of players. And Moyes has managed to turn United's team of creative players into braindead drones, so I'm sure the reverse is possible.

I'm just saying what I see. This is our biggest problem -- I'm not saying it's one that he can't address nor one that he hasn't noticed. Hopefully with time it'll be fixed, but then it seems that we're allergic to making permanent signings, so maybe that's optimistic.

 

[Del]

True, mate, but then he has brought in a lot of players. And Moyes has managed to turn United's team of creative players into braindead drones, so I'm sure the reverse is possible.

I'm just saying what I see. This is our biggest problem -- I'm not saying it's one that he can't address nor one that he hasn't noticed. Hopefully with time it'll be fixed, but then it seems that we're allergic to making permanent signings, so maybe that's optimistic.

Just look how many assists Barkley/Osman has between them in the league this season (3 for Osman, 0 Barkley)

There our two central attacking midfielders so that stat is very very poor imo

 

[toffeeben15]

Watching the highlights it seems we had more chances than recent games . We seem to play quicker without pienaar

 

[Steve0]

Small point that I've noticed throughout the last few years is that we don't celebrate winners down at the Street End like we used to. At first I put it down to the camera angle but there definitely isn't that wild celebration which we used to see.

I thought Gwladys Street celebrations looked as magnificent as ever. In fact I was going to make the point that nobody celebrates last minute winners like us, the Street End just looks better than any other stand n England when it comes to celebrations.

 

[RFUS]

Just look how many assists Barkley/Osman has between them in the league this season (3 for Osman, 0 Barkley)

There our two central attacking midfielders so that stat is very very poor imo

It's woeful, but how much of that is down to them and how much of it is tactical?

For example at United, Moyes has got them swinging in crosses for 90 minutes, even though the likes of Mata can do a nice little through ball with his eyes shut.

I'm not saying Martinez hates through balls, I'm just saying that differentiating between tactical instructions and a genuine lack of ability is difficult.

 

[dannyboy]

I thought Gwladys Street celebrations looked as magnificent as ever. In fact I was going to make the point that nobody celebrates last minute winners like us, the Street End just looks better than any other stand n England when it comes to celebrations.

Just looked a bit tame lately. Maybe it's the camera angles, but compare yesterday's celebrations with Osman's last minute against Portsmouth and Ferguson against United where it looked like carnage behind the goal.

 

[bluemangroup]

It's woeful, but how much of that is down to them and how much of it is tactical?

For example at United, Moyes has got them swinging in crosses for 90 minutes, even though the likes of Mata can do a nice little through ball with his eyes shut.

I'm not saying Martinez hates through balls, I'm just saying that differentiating between tactical instructions and a genuine lack of ability is difficult.

The difficulty is that teams, certainly like Cardiff, set up with very tight lines pretty much on the edge of the box as they try and battle for a point or so. That's incredibly difficult to break down and near impossible to play through. We then maybe over commit in attack which leaves us open to counter-attacks.

 

[RFUS]

The difficulty is that teams, certainly like Cardiff, set up with very tight lines pretty much on the edge of the box as they try and battle for a point or so. That's incredibly difficult to break down and near impossible to play through. We then maybe over commit in attack which leaves us open to counter-attacks.

I know mate. It's just like last season.

I just hoped that Martinez's raft of attacking signings and his more positive outlook might see an improvement in that department, but we've actually scored 4 fewer goals than after 28 games last season.

 

[bluemangroup]

I know mate. It's just like last season.

I just hoped that Martinez's raft of attacking signings and his more positive outlook might see an improvement in that department, but we've actually scored 4 fewer goals than after 28 games last season.

I think genuinely, the defenders have adjusted to Martinez's style better than our attackers. There's a worrying lack of movement from those up the pitch unless our fullbacks are bombing on. The most annoying thing is when we just pop it round the edge of the box and don't move the defence around at all. Those without the ball need to offer different angles and better positions to pass through teams and its just not stuck yet.

 

[RFUS]

I think genuinely, the defenders have adjusted to Martinez's style better than our attackers. There's a worrying lack of movement from those up the pitch unless our fullbacks are bombing on. The most annoying thing is when we just pop it round the edge of the box and don't move the defence around at all. Those without the ball need to offer different angles and better positions to pass through teams and its just not stuck yet.

You might just be right. Despite everyone thinking Martinez would bring more goals at both ends, it's actually the opposite. We've disappointingly scored four fewer goals but actually conceded 7 fewer as well.

Movement has always been a problem though. If you watch the tops teams, their attacking players never stop moving. Ours have cemented boots.

 

[Del]

It's woeful, but how much of that is down to them and how much of it is tactical?

For example at United, Moyes has got them swinging in crosses for 90 minutes, even though the likes of Mata can do a nice little through ball with his eyes shut.

I'm not saying Martinez hates through balls, I'm just saying that differentiating between tactical instructions and a genuine lack of ability is difficult.

Yes I can see that to an extent, But you can't think Martinez would tell them not to play a through ball to a forward player if the chance was there surely

Interesting that McCarthy and Barry have 7 assists between them and there the deeper players

 

[bluemangroup]

You might just be right. Despite everyone thinking Martinez would bring more goals at both ends, it's actually the opposite. We've disappointingly scored four fewer goals but actually conceded 7 fewer as well.

Movement has always been a problem though. If you watch the tops teams, their attacking players never stop moving. Ours have cemented boots.

I think Martinez was conscious of his reputation and our reputation and has been quite cautious possibly overly so, whilst trying to develop the footballing side.
We aren't giving ourselves enough space to attack in to really I reckon. Liverpool, Chelsea, Man City all break pretty fast into wide open space and get numbers running at a disorganised back line. We seem quite content to meander untill we get to the edge of the box and then wonder why we struggle to break teams down.