Match Thread EVERTON V SOUTHAMPTON Match thread, Report and MotM Poll

[adi dassler]

I don't think we should play 'weakened' teams. I think that our squad players need to be good enough to slot in and perform.

Bernard and Lookman needed minutes. What's the point in having them if not?

Tosun is our first choice striker. Doesn't matter if you rate him or not. Silva would have got pelters from a lot on here had he started DCL. Baines and Schneiderlin should be good enough to fill in when needed.

The two weird changes were Dowell and Stek, for me.

So get off your high horse. I was three months old when Everton last won a trophy. I want to see it as much as anyone. But that team that started last night should have had enough to beat a second string Southampton side.

Give them minutes at Leicester on Saturday then, rather than changing everything in a competition we can actually win.

 

[Igrok]

Give them minutes at Leicester on Saturday then, rather than changing everything in a competition we can actually win.

Now we can’t win any competition, not even close...

 

[marcus]

Yet when DCL has started the last few games there's been plenty on here slating him and the manager...

The bloke can't win either way!

Also, I am a fan of DCL but he was pretty atrocious on Saturday and Tosun played well when he came on. On merit, Tosun probably deserved to start.

Away at Leicester in a few days, though, I'd definitely be looking to start DCL again. Or, Richarlison down the middle if Silva thinks he's up to it, with Bernard down the left.

He still won a penalty for us & closed down well & was always a threat with his pace & heading ability....

Tosun although I want to do well is so ineffective & just does not score enough goals for a striker, the goal he scored was absolutely on a plate for him with some great work by Walcott....

 

[ToffeeTim]

I categorically do not support rotation where it's not for injuries or loss of form.

But I'd rather see us make 7 changes for a league game. We can't win the league. You have to ask the question why it is prioritised in a season where we can't compete with the top 6, but will be safely lodged in midtable?

If we don't pick up the three points on Saturday then we've been mugged off, and the manager looks like a mug. He has created a rod for his own back.

I completely want to support what he's doing but yesterday was totally unacceptable.

 

[bol-uk]

So why on earth not play the same players who played second half on Saturday? Truly mind-boggling for me this obsession with giving fringe players game time in one of the 2 competitions we have a chance of winning.

Yeh it is weird but EVERY prem team did it this round. Have a look at Watfords team home to Spurs or the RS v CHelsea. They all do it for some reason.

 

[Bluerover]

What is it with Everton and this blinking cup??

 

[davek]

Woah, wait, is that the reason you hate him? all those years of toil and you hate him cos he said " he didn't know what the team were trying to achieve out there "?

No, I dislike him because he was briefing the press against the team and its manager throughout the last season Martinez was here, and I dislike him because he and two or three other barrack room lawyers who think they need consulting by every single manager that comes in.

I tell you this right now: Silva needs that Judas out the door ASAP or he'll go the way of Martinez, Koeman and Allardyce.

He's just a wronun. The fools who think he's ONE OF US = laughable. He's tanked games in an Everton shirt when those fans would open a vein just to play once for the club.

 

[everton1953]

Yeh it is weird but EVERY prem team did it this round. Have a look at Watfords team home to Spurs or the RS v CHelsea. They all do it for some reason.

That is correct, we should have been good enough to win. However this is an early transitional period not a continuation of the previous regimes. Patience and time is needed. A good finish in the league 7th or 8th will do fine and we move on from there. The shambles of previous years cannot be corrected so easily. Not very many people are that bothered a lot about the league cup these days, hence the massive changes made all over the competition. It is a shame that the FA Cup has gone the same way.

 

[toffeejack]

Exactly mate.

People have been crying out for three of those changes that were made last night.

I think Baines coming in was always likely, and he clearly had faith in Dowell - who did what Dowell does which is float through a game. It's why I'm not sure he'll cut it, because he doesn't do enough, it's all about moments with him, but you don't know unless you try.

I don't see the point in Stek and, really, Gana could have played. But, imagine if he had and he'd have done his hamstring. I'm sure Silva would be getting pelters then as well.

I don't see the point myself in changing keepers. But Gana is our best midfielder who plays at full throttle, so he is important. We had players like Walcott and Richarlison on the bench to come and save us as well anyway, ironically they're partly the reason we're out.

There we go, that's football, everyone treats this competition as the bore it is and there's no guarantees our first choice team wouldn't have conceded the only shot on target and drew as well.

 

[everton1953]

The goalkeeper change is nothing new, but I agree that it is hard to justify, unless it is to give the number 2 a few games instead of possibly none at all in a season?

 

[StateSideToffee]

Don’t care about this competition at all. Winning this cup would not provide me as a fan any satisfaction. It would be akin to winning a preseason competition; nice but ultimately irrelevant. We should be concentrating on competitions that are relevant, and prioritize them as such:
1. Premier League top 6 finish
2. FA cup
3. Europa/Champions League when applicable.

Finishing as high as possible in the premier league year in and year out must always come first; with everything else secondary.

 

[Gaffa]

Don’t care about this competition at all. Winning this cup would not provide me as a fan any satisfaction. It would be akin to winning a preseason competition; nice but ultimately irrelevant. We should be concentrating on competitions that are relevant, and prioritize them as such:
1. Premier League top 6 finish
2. FA cup
3. Europa/Champions League when applicable.

Finishing as high as possible in the premier league year in and year out must always come first; with everything else secondary.

Unless its top 4 it really doesn't matter does it

 

[BlueToff]

The team were far from good enough. Why take the risk, and then compound it by bringing on Niasse while our two best forwards were on the bench?
I just don't get all this "we must give players a game". Play your best team if you want to win. It's simple..
We are just following a pattern set by Arsene Wenger where "top" clubs like to show that they don't need to play in the League Cup by playing kids. For my sake - but especially yours - I would like to win a trophy. At least I've seen us win 4 league titles, 3 FA cups and a European trophy.
Unfortunately, while we play along with the attitude that trophies don't matter, I despair of seeing us win another one.

We did play to win. The team we put out should have been good enough to beat that Southampton side.

It's not arrogance to think that. And if our squad really are this bad then we're totally screwed.

 

[BlueToff]

Don’t care about this competition at all. Winning this cup would not provide me as a fan any satisfaction. It would be akin to winning a preseason competition; nice but ultimately irrelevant. We should be concentrating on competitions that are relevant, and prioritize them as such:
1. Premier League top 6 finish
2. FA cup
3. Europa/Champions League when applicable.

Finishing as high as possible in the premier league year in and year out must always come first; with everything else secondary.

Winning any trophy is relevant. The League Cup is a trophy with just as much value as anything else.

But, I don't think the changes were what led to us not winning yesterday. Maybe they didn't help, but they weren't the root cause.

 

[BlueToff]

Give them minutes at Leicester on Saturday then, rather than changing everything in a competition we can actually win.

He didn't 'change everything'.

The system was the same as we've played. Players should have enough quality to slot in and out. That's what we're trying to build.

The worrying thing is none of them proved they were up to it.