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Everton v West Brom. Sat 24th Aug. @ 15.00.

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Anyone wonder why Howard kept booting the ball up to the head of Naismith when he can't win a header? That was annoying.

He watched us go side to side then front to back for most of the match....like the rest of us he thought fook it and hoofed it up the pitch.
 
DM would have had heitinga instead of Barkley in midfield and it would have been a more dour 0-0! or even a defeat!

...suspect we would have had a bit more momentum and won the game if Moyes had been in charge. Didn't have any urgency and all too slow particularly around the edge of the box. Regardless, we are in a period of transition and although I am concerned I'm also prepared to give the manager a chance.
 
Its not hard to notice we do not have enough quality up front

But what can Martinez without a shed load of cash do about it?

Moyes had the same problem and so will Rob, It doesn't help when Kev is playing like a utter spanner

Kone scored about as many last season as Aguero and Rooney for a side that created a lot less chances and Jelavic tends to get his goals in gluts. I think Martinez is going to need to figure out who leads the line from the start for different types of opposition, when to use two or even three strikers and when to push Fellaini up top or pull Mirallas inside.

West Brom came with very little ambition today. Roberto probably thought that the side played well at Norwich and the formation would match up to give us 5 v 5 in the middle. Maybe it was the chance to try out the wingbacks though? Three centrebacks could have taken care of Long and any runners from midfield. Baines and Coleman could have pushed on to even up the numbers in the centre of the park with Osman, Fellaini and Barkley. Which would have given Mirallas the freedom to run off Jelavic. It's difficult to break down a well-organised defence with one striker unless you've got a midfielder ghosting into the box.

It seemed to be a Moyse-esque substitution too, replacing like for like, rather than shuffling his pack and giving them a different type of problem to solve. I'm not quite sure why Deulofeu is on the bench if he's not ready. We might as well have Oviedo or Vellios in the squad to give us different options.
 
Kone scored about as many last season as Aguero and Rooney for a side that created a lot less chances and Jelavic tends to get his goals in gluts. I think Martinez is going to need to figure out who leads the line from the start for different types of opposition, when to use two or even three strikers and when to push Fellaini up top or pull Mirallas inside.

West Brom came with very little ambition today. Roberto probably thought that the side played well at Norwich and the formation would match up to give us 5 v 5 in the middle. Maybe it was the chance to try out the wingbacks though? Three centrebacks could have taken care of Long and any runners from midfield. Baines and Coleman could have pushed on to even up the numbers in the centre of the park with Osman, Fellaini and Barkley. Which would have given Mirallas the freedom to run off Jelavic. It's difficult to break down a well-organised defence with one striker unless you've got a midfielder ghosting into the box.

It seemed to be a Moyse-esque substitution too, replacing like for like, rather than shuffling his pack and giving them a different type of problem to solve. I'm not quite sure why Deulofeu is on the bench if he's not ready. We might as well have Oviedo or Vellios in the squad to give us different options.

Yep and as easy as it is to change it up its just as easy to leave gaps and get caught on the break and get beaten

Maybe Martinez thought we had enough to score the goal we needed to win without changing his formation, Tbf he was nearly right, We had enough chances to see that game of easily, One thing he cn not be blamed for is the players not putting the goal in the net or there keeper having a blinder
 
The only real issue I have with today's performance is the lack of urgency. Now that's not to say I wanted us to hoof it but at times we just took two long to move the ball around.

Mostly I think that's down to Osman. His passing simply isn't good enough to play the role of the deep lying play maker but we all know that and that he's only doing it because Gibson is injured.

Also towards the end of the game we were really slow getting the ball back into play. There was a goal kick where Howard seemed to think we were goal up trying to waste as much time as we could.

When we did move the ball fast we looked good we just need to do it a lot more.
 

Jelavic and Mirallas were pretty wank, admittedly, but do the subs really have to be "like-for-like" every time? He could've brought Kone on and pushed him upfront with either Jelavic or Mirallas and tried two up-top for the final 20/25. Couldn't hurt surely? It certainly wouldn't have today..
 
Yep and as easy as it is to change it up its just as easy to leave gaps and get caught on the break and get beaten

Maybe Martinez thought we had enough to score the goal we needed to win without changing his formation, Tbf he was nearly right, We had enough chances to see that game of easily, One thing he cn not be blamed for is the players not putting the goal in the net or there keeper having a blinder

With Sinclair on the bench I don't think they had any pace to counter-attack us with.

I suppose it's Roberto's first game at Goodison and he didn't want to risk starting with a defeat. Plus he needs to work through his options and the players are still adjusting. I thought he might have been a bit more adventurous though.
 
Its the same old problem , putting the ball in the onion bag .

Lets hope Kone can do the business looks like he is going to get his chance .
 
Some serious knee-jerking going on here.

This was Martinez's second competitive game in charge and it was always going to take time for our players to settle into the manager's new style of play. Those who were expecting it to happen overnight are kidding themselves and there clearly are people on here who thought that. We're in a transition season.

Very frustrating nonetheless. Passed it well for periods and managed 8 shots on target with Foster making several good saves but we did look edgy defending and Howard bailed us out a couple of times. Coleman, Barkley and Mulumbu stood out for me today.
 
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Lack of urgency was a bit worrying.

Barkley was good, as were Distin and Jagielka. Thought Coleman and Mirallas were poor today.
 

I expect at least 5 changes for the Stevenage game - and Im certain itll be much more entertaining. Time for the rest to show theyre better than some of the first team!
 
We won't play pass and move very successfully with the players we have in that side, namely Felliani and Osman

It'll take Martinez time to get his own players in so I'm prepared for a long season with the odd highlight thrown in. I don't expect many Evertonians to have that patience.
 
Well back from game and tbh I thought the majority of the side was under par today and not at there best!.

We tried to keep the ball and things, be patient etc but same old story, a lack of cutting edge in the final third.

With the way Martinez wants us to play, we have to have willing players who are prepared to work really hard off the ball to find space for us to be able to move the ball well, and in midfield it was seriously lacking for me, especially from Osman and Barkley imparticular for me!.

Osman's an odd one for me cos although he didn't play that badly, he didn't do anything great today either?!. And Barkley, for all his great touches and drive, he doesn't do enough to find space in the attacking third so we can give a progressive, forward pass enough, if he worked on that then he would be **** hot cos he's a powerfull kid and as got brilliant feet at times!.

I think as the season goes on we will start to play better and hopefully a lot faster when we move the ball as it was all a bit too slow for me today, we didn't penetrate West Brom with pace enough, too many side ways passes and nothing going forward quick enough due to a lack of movement, but as the season goes on, I think that will come.

If, and it's a big IF, we have some cash left, we need to make maybe 2 signings, wether they be loans or what, but we probably need more pace out wide and some creativity in midfield. We definitely need something a bit more in CM. I thought Felli did his job pretty well today, he had a few dodgy moments but all in all, he did well for me but Ossie was neither here or there, he didn't play really bad but he didn't really give a lot either and I feel we need more than what he can give us in there. Tbh, we really need Gibbo back asap!.

Lets go get a nice good result midweek and kick on at Cardiff and get are season up and running!.
 

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