Everton v Crystal Palace. 7th Dec at 20:00.

[meagher94]

Have a feeling we'll tear Norwich apart.

 

[AndyC]

We played some good stuff last night but it's possibly the most frustrated I've ever left Goodison in a long time.

Wow, you must have some very high expectations.
For me last night was an excellent game of footie, two well-matched sides of contrasting styles, good pace, not a bad tackle in the game, and at worst slightly disappointing that we didn't get the winner.
If you wanna talk frustration, we were 3-0 up against QPR at home last season and switched off, allowing them back into the game even if only the one goal... when we could and should have buried them outta sight - I was way more frustrated by that Monday evening at GP than last night.

 

[LydiateLee]

No need for analysis. We were amazing, that was just pure bad luck that cost us 3 points.

Red shirt and at least one of those that hit the woodwork goes in.

Hope we take out our frustrations on Norwich, because they are seriously poor. Another draw and we wont get top six.

 

[degsy]

Not at all

Baines is 100 times better with the ball than Galloway - given we had more or less vacated our left hand side because we were playing with two strikers, I would guess Martinez wanted a little bit more quality at left back - Baines, with no support at all, played 3 or 4 lovely forward passes to Rom which Galloway wouldn't have been capable of

I understand the argument for Mirallas, but Martinez thought that two strikers was the way to chase the game and get another. You can argue both ways, but I see his logic.

Maybe yes, but more likely a no. I know Baines has to get a start sometime, but when he came on he was away with the fairies defensively and although Galloway seems to have gone backwards in attack, when Baines pushed forward it was like he was playing for England...hardly anyone passed to him and even less were there for the return ball.

despite sticking 10 on the 2 worst sides in the league and beating a below par Chelsea and Southampton (WBA meh ) the reality is the 7 draws tell the true picture.

 

[faddy the blue]

I too would like to see how Deulofeu and Mirallas on the same pitch would work out. Two skillful playmakers, one on each flank, it's got to be worth a try.....

Re. Kone, i think his first touch let's him down far too often, and sometimes his decision making. He has a long way to go to match Lukaku, and i think he's best atm coming on from the bench as an impact player rather than playing the full 90. He's improved a lot from last season though, so who knows what the future might hold.

Also I think there can be a way to fit in Kone, Mirallas, Barkley and Del in the same team when playing the teams that will frustrate you at home.

Barry/McCarthy as the sole DM, Barkley AM, Del and Mirallas either wing and Kone and Lukaku up front. A diamond formation. That is worth a try.

 

[Whistlin' Dixie]

Pah!

Once again, lack of concentration - defensively - does for us. Oh, we could've had three or four; but so could they. Thought Martinez was gonna keep them guessing when he brought Baines on after an hour; and make a couple more changes with time remaining, but nowt else happened?

And Baines was largely ignored when he came on? We're boss when we attack with tempo, but when it slows down it's all too congested. We got most of our chances through rebounds & second balls last night - very untidy.

Just means we'll have to take the points at palace now...

 

[Deleted member 24970]

I thought Ross Barkley was man of the match last night. He had a great game

Every time Barkley has a chance to burst forward he stops at the nearest sign of a challenge, the amount of times he slowed the ball right down was stupid. He has this thing were he rolls the ball under his foot or drops the shoulder as though he is about to turn his man and break away - he does neither. Only a young man but I want to see more driving forward from the lad.

Don't even get me started on his lack of shooting from outside the box - something everyone but Cleverley was guilty of.

 

[Billy Dean]

Had a quick look at a Palace forum. Some of them saying we're the best team they've played this season.

 

[banno]

Every time Barkley has a chance to burst forward he stops at the nearest sign of a challenge, the amount of times he slowed the ball right down was stupid. He has this thing were he rolls the ball under his foot or drops the shoulder as though he is about to turn his man and break away - he does neither. Only a young man but I want to see more driving forward from the lad.

Don't even get me started on his lack of shooting from outside the box - something everyone but Cleverley was guilty of.

Maybe the audible groans from our crowd has made him be more mature and think more about what he is going to do rather than head down beating 9 players only to be stopped by the tenth player with the crowd screaming that he should have passed it. Now you want him to revert back to it. He is becoming a better player and more of a thinking player which can only benefit him and us

 

[Deleted member 24970]

Maybe the audible groans from our crowd has made him be more mature and think more about what he is going to do rather than head down beating 9 players only to be stopped by the tenth player with the crowd screaming that he should have passed it. Now you want him to revert back to it. He is becoming a better player and more of a thinking player which can only benefit him and us

If he can beat 9 men then im in full support of the kid. Personally i think the groans were because he would do the hard part then mess up the easy part. Sometimes you just have to keep things simple to move forward, once ross beats a man I would like to see ross passing the ball and bursting into the box or attacking position, or beating his man and having a shot on goal, we were crying out for a few shots from distance last night, just a way of mixing it up a little, as the attacking midfielder that's why im picking ross out on this one.

 

[Bilko]

good game of football ,credit to Palace,they defended well ,if we'd conceded a penalty then we couldn't have complained.We were good lids,on another night one of the shots that hit the woodwork goes in,Cleverley's shot fly's in and we go home happy.
good game by both teams.draw was fair.

 

[Darkhorse]

Pah!

Once again, lack of concentration - defensively - does for us. Oh, we could've had three or four; but so could they. Thought Martinez was gonna keep them guessing when he brought Baines on after an hour; and make a couple more changes with time remaining, but nowt else happened?

And Baines was largely ignored when he came on? We're boss when we attack with tempo, but when it slows down it's all too congested. We got most of our chances through rebounds & second balls last night - very untidy.

Just means we'll have to take the points at palace now...

Because it is now instinctive for us to go down the right. Will be interesting to see the balance when Baines starts... less action for Geri? or will Baines adopt a lesser role compared to seasons past? I think the latter. Can't really have both (dominating the ball) when they play on different sides of the pitch

 

[Dymak]

The old 'just 3 players away from'...jeez not that perpetual excuse.

45M yeah right...like that's going to happen.

we are NOT so close, we're 9th ahead of the mighty Watford...on GD...but then again we drew with them so maybe that's about right.

Until Martinez addresses the defensive problems, but as he's gone on record THREE times that I know off that 'he won't change'
He has also stated that 'set pieces are not Important'...and was it him who said something along the lines of...he's more about the 'performance' than the result.

And for all those blatting on for a 'Defensive Coach
a) It'll never happen ( see above )
b)Nor should it - you can't have 2 conflicting schools of thought on the shape of the team.

That was sarcasm mate. I can remember laughing at the RS for about ten years with their 'missing piece of the jigsaw' BS, and how they were only one player away from winning the league. Being three players away from being capable of beating a top half team shows that you are miles away from the clubs competing for CL, three players is over a quarter of our team FFS! And we will do minimal investment in January whilst other clubs strengthen.

I think there is a massive level of kopite delusion going on about Martinez. We sit in midtable having been unable to beat a team in the top half by December, we are operating at the same level as Stoke and Watford and yet people are waxing lyrical and saying we play the best football in the league. I think we are currently a long way off competing for the top four, and that we will be battling it out with Stoke for a ninth placed finish come the end of the season.

 

[Little Ralphy]

Wow, you must have some very high expectations.
For me last night was an excellent game of footie, two well-matched sides of contrasting styles, good pace, not a bad tackle in the game, and at worst slightly disappointing that we didn't get the winner.
If you wanna talk frustration, we were 3-0 up against QPR at home last season and switched off, allowing them back into the game even if only the one goal... when we could and should have buried them outta sight - I was way more frustrated by that Monday evening at GP than last night.

We won that game though, but I know what you mean. The league is levelling itself out now as the fixtures come to the halfway point and mid-table is not where I'd expect this squad to be. When West Ham, Palace and Leicester are above you then there is a problem.

4 points lost in two games we've dominated add to the others this season, is the very reason we're currently mid-table and not looking like challenging for a top four place, in a season when at least 2 of those places are up for grabs. It's a big season for Everton this one.

 

[meagher94]

So darn good??, well sometimes and it is good to watch, but Title push?? Dream on...we'll do well to get the 7th-ish Trophy.

We were also so darn bad as well, Howard won't come off his line, we all seem to mark space and nobody attacks the ball... and then there's our corners...when we get it past the first man.
Oh and Subs or rather the lack of.

So if Martinez is responsible for the 'So darn good' bit
whose fault is all the poor stuff
when will whoever it is put his hand upI
when will anything be done to change these bad bits

Or are we forever going to be...just 3 good players away from being a good side...and other excuses.

Think you missed my point. If we'd have won it I'd have been getting carried away and having premature dreams of a title push. Last night and Bournemouth proves we're just not there yet, but clearly we're becoming a great attacking side. A bit of luck last night and we would've been talking about an absolutely ruthless display.

Clearly we have lapses in concentration at the back and we really need to be more dominant in our own box, but for the most part we defended alright. We were always going to leave ourselves open to the counter as we pushed forward, and they're one of the best teams at it.

I said to my dad before the game, win or draw tonight will be the difference between a very good season for us or a very average one. That might still be right but after seeing the performance I'm not sure, I left the ground feeling that we were so unlucky. Pretty soon I can see us turning these draws into wins and if we string a few together we'll be right on the heels of the top 4 - who will hopefully keep slipping up along the way.