Match Thread Everton v Southampton - Preview, Match Report and MotM Poll

[blueblue]

I have not commented on the game before this which has given me time to reflect rather than give a knee jerk reaction immediately after the game.

However, I find that my thoughts really have not changed much after the nights sleep.

The referee was very poor and really he did seem to give an awful lot against us but just maybe that was because we were second to the ball for most of the game anyway.... but, I thought the penalty was harsh and he certainly gave them the benefit of the doubt more than us.
I have no doubt that if the Richarlison/Bednarek incident was instead Keane/Ings then Keane would have seen red.
I think that highlights for me the way he controlled the game.

However, we were awful and that was not the fault of the ref.
Mina was an accident waiting to happen,
Gomes looked as if would happily have been anywhere else and was pleased to leave the field early.
Iwobi seem to be trying out for right back with very little interest in attacking.
DCL looks like a player that needs a rest, he doesn't seem to have the same energy he had before the break, but then there isn't much being created for him.
Kean just doesn't seem to understand the concept of hard work.

I have no love of Sigurdsson but I have to admit he was far better than the player he replaced... by some considerable distance.
Gordon did well but was visibly tiring when he was replaced, but that is not a surprise.
I thought Digne did well,
I thought Michael Keane was solid considering he had a partner who looked out of his depth.
I thought Seamus also did well.
I thought Tom Davies did alright without doing anything wonderful or particularly imposing himself on the game, but there were far worse than him.
The new policy seems to be foul Richarlison early and often.. don't worry you won't get booked.
I thought Pickford was good.

A dull performance, with very few redeeming aspects which makes me appreciate even more and also appreciate the pace Walcott offers.

We hopefully will have better days, it won't be hard to be better than this.

 

[Daz1878]

These games are soul-sucking experiences on a variety of levels, yet I still find myself watching them. I thought that game was dire in so many ways, but as they were all over us at 0-0 I'd have taken a draw at that point. Rich's goal the only positive, really, but the standard of officiating was rock-bottom. If Gomes' challenge was worth a pen, how come the one on Gordon wasn't even looked at? Never mind the last man yellow which should have either been a red or nothing at all. Unsurprisingly, the challenge on Gordon didn't even make MotD's highlights. I'm not bothered about missing out on Europe this time, as the main job Carlo has is to sort us out on the domestic front. Perhaps the worst thing about the game was that I couldn't turn off those two bells doing the commentary on Amazon... I'm sure I managed to change the audio when the derby was on in Dec. The only time they stopped their Ings-Soton love-in yesterday was when Rich lashed that one in.

 

[kenada_blue]

Clumsy from Gomes IMO, it's a challenge he's never winning. What's he doing with that foot vs the direction of the ball?

They make the most of it/throws himself against it but a better player get a certain penalty on that 'challenge' from Gomes.

Disagree. It's not even a "challenge" as he's not engaging with the ball or player. He's gone to block a shot then planted his foot. Ward Prowse is already falling and falls into him rather than Gomes going into Ward Prowse.

Additionally, Ward Prowse is falling unnaturally to any "tackle" near him.

Clumsy to me is when someone bundles or isn't in control of what they're doing and impedes a player from advancing. Gomes does neither.

The fact the VAR have come out and admitted it was an incorrect decision proves that. Which in turn means it's a dive to con the referee.

And it wasn't the only incident Mason got wrong in the whole game either. Slips as fouls. Clean tackles as fouls etc.

 

[GrandOldTeam]

Disagree. It's not even a "challenge" as he's not engaging with the ball or player. He's gone to block a shot then planted his foot. Ward Prowse is already falling and falls into him rather than Gomes going into Ward Prowse.

Clumsy to me is when someone bundles or isn't in control of what they're doing and impedes a player from advancing. Gomes does neither.

The fact the VAR have come out and admitted it was an incorrect decision proves that. Which in turn means it's a dive to con the referee.

And it wasn't the only incident Mason got wrong in the whole game either. Slips as fouls. Clean tackles as fouls etc.

Makes no odds and doesn't prove or disprove anything in my opinion - just like the ref and VAR at the time said it was a penalty.

All a game of opinions, and a reason why VAR needs binning.

 

[Sarnia Kevin]

True. But rules are rules. He duped the ref. He dived. Ban.

There won't be a ban, his name isn't Oumar Niasse and he doesn't play for Everton.

 

[Sarnia Kevin]

Clumsy from Gomes IMO, it's a challenge he's never winning. What's he doing with that foot vs the direction of the ball?

They make the most of it/throws himself against it but a better player get a certain penalty on that 'challenge' from Gomes.

If Ward-Prowse hadn't thrown himself to the ground then Gomes would have made contact with his foot and a penalty would have been the correct decision. But he dived and the only contact was AGAINST Gomes, not BY him so it was a dive and a bad decision by the ref.

 

[GrandOldTeam]

If Ward-Prowse hadn't thrown himself to the ground then Gomes would have made contact with his foot and a penalty would have been the correct decision. But he dived and the only contact was AGAINST Gomes, not BY him so it was a dive and a bad decision by the ref.

Agree, that's what I mean by "a better player get a certain penalty on that 'challenge' from Gomes"

I think it was clumsy and I think Ward-Prowse "won" it, he anticipated Gomes put a challenge in for a ball he was never winning and just threw himself at him.

 

[gonetomorrow]

We should actually be satisfied with a draw against such a well-balanced team as Saints. They really were pretty good last night.

 

[Sarnia Kevin]

These games are soul-sucking experiences on a variety of levels, yet I still find myself watching them. I thought that game was dire in so many ways, but as they were all over us at 0-0 I'd have taken a draw at that point. Rich's goal the only positive, really, but the standard of officiating was rock-bottom. If Gomes' challenge was worth a pen, how come the one on Gordon wasn't even looked at? Never mind the last man yellow which should have either been a red or nothing at all. Unsurprisingly, the challenge on Gordon didn't even make MotD's highlights. I'm not bothered about missing out on Europe this time, as the main job Carlo has is to sort us out on the domestic front. Perhaps the worst thing about the game was that I couldn't turn off those two bells doing the commentary on Amazon... I'm sure I managed to change the audio when the derby was on in Dec. The only time they stopped their Ings-Soton love-in yesterday was when Rich lashed that one in.

The crowd noise option wasn't working, probably because there wasn't a crowd to make a noise. The crowd noise is dubbed onto the video at the moment, not audible in the ground.

 

[Sarnia Kevin]

We should actually be satisfied with a draw against such a well-balanced team as Saints. They really were pretty good last night.

We did better than City did the other day in that, although we went behind, Southampton couldn't prevent the equaliser. City couldn't find a way through that defense.

 

[Whittle1878]

True. But rules are rules. He duped the ref. He dived. Ban.

I completely agree. How many players would play about 5 games a season if they actually did something drastic about diving like introducing bans?

 

[GrandOldTeam]

I completely agree. How many players would play about 5 games a season if they actually did something drastic about diving like introducing bans?

They did. Poor Oumar!

 

[Daz1878]

The crowd noise option wasn't working, probably because there wasn't a crowd to make a noise. The crowd noise is dubbed onto the video at the moment, not audible in the ground.

I know, but (I think) they said you could switch the fake crowd noise on or off? But I would rather have had the option to switch off the commentary track as they offered before, regardless of what/any crowd noise was heard.

 

[Sarnia Kevin]

I know, but (I think) they said you could switch the fake crowd noise on or off? But I would rather have had the option to switch off the commentary track as they offered before, regardless of what/any crowd noise was heard.

You and me both! I've taken to turning the sound off and putting some music on, quietly, in the background. Otherwise objects get thrown at the TV .

 

[Stanley Parker]

What did Gary Neville say? Five years since Everton won a game when they were losing at half time?

It is twenty years since we won at Anfield, and ten years since we beat Liverpool.

Since February 2011, Everton have a single away win against Manchester City, Manchester United, Liverpool, Chelsea, Tottenham Hotspur and Arsenal. And that single victory was the 1-0 win over Manchester United in December 2013 when Moyes was in charge.

We looked anaemic against a poor Spurs and never threatened to beat Southampton. It really is time for a change!