Everton Vs Wigan - Sat 11th 15:00 Home.

[FCConnecticut]

Bit of a snoozer really as once again we played to the level of our oppenent to some degree. Admittedly Howard barely got his kit dirty (and boy did I like his black kit) an yet we didn't really create very much. Up the left side first half, up the right in the 2nd. No width in the final 3rd. Very dissapointed we gave up a goal.

On the whole I thought the ref did a very good job and largely stayed out of the game.

I was dissapointed with the starting lineup but I'm also guessing it will change a bit come tuesday. A bit of a sticking point may be Neville's captaincy but we'll just have to see how that plays out. Can't wait for Baines at left back, Lescot back in the middle.

 

[Maverick]

something I noticed and maybe/hopefully it was just today... but besides Arteta we have no "playmakers", atleast in the starting 11

yes, Andy is tremendous on a dead sprint but he is more of a one touch and fire type guy...

same goes for Vic... I have no idea what Osman is (lol)

when Arteta has the ball, the amount of things he can do with it is unbelievable... maybe we miss Cahill/Manny more than I think? I know Manny was a bit flashy for some of your tastes but he made things happen

from what I saw of Pienaar today, I think he can be a playmaker out there... he can make a few dribbles and a cross, or take a pass and fire it on net

(for those of you who know basketball, Arteta is like our point guard (Steve Nash, Jason Kidd)...

maybe I'm just frustrated by how we looked today... I dunno... any comments would help though

 

[Tennessee Blue Mike]

We really looked uneventful today. Perhaps are minds are all on the mid week clash and tended to overlook lowly Wigan. I'm hoping it was a one off.

 

[Namdrater]

I'm glad we won and that there were moments where we made chances out of nothing, but there wasnt anything really good about our game.
Arteta always incredible.
From what I gathered from that game, Yobo doesnt seem so comfortable on the ball and always just lobs it forward into nowhere, Neville is too slow on the ball in midfield and I think should play in the right back slot and push up. Hibbert was ball watching when their goal came, it was horrible to watch him move away from Sibierski into nowhere.
The game made me realize how much I want to have Cahill back!

Anyway, mediocre performance I felt, but glad we bagged all 3.

 

[foreverblue]

The best thing about the match yesterday was Clattenberg, just thank God Poll has gone. He got nearly every decision correct, and he had some hard calls, especially against us as the home team, 9/10 imo

 

[Blue Wiz]

I think we all can agree that we didn't play well yesterday... with a few noticable exceptions. But we were hardly the only team playing bad, and in the end it's the scoreline that's important. Noone will remember how we got these points when the season end... (unless they go back and read this thread of course). But we got the points and it's a good thing when we can play bad and get the points. That wasn't the case 6-7 years ago.

Most noteworthy yesterday was the awful way that Tottenham played, and in contrast to us... they got nothing to consolidate their awful play either... loosing out to a goal in the 94:th minute.

We playes bad and won, they played bad and lost. And that is a comforting difference. Hope they play as awful on tuesday as they did yesterday... and that we step up our play a notch or two... to really show them which of us will finish highest when the season ends.

 

[daz4matty]

We really looked uneventful today. Perhaps are minds are all on the mid week clash and tended to overlook lowly Wigan. I'm hoping it was a one off.

I think the first game of the season is one just to get out of the way and it was job done,i watched it last night and wigan looked [Poor language removed] they have to be certs to go down.
Micky was outstanding as usual i just hope he does not get injured because we will suffer if he does.
I thought neville and hibbert were poor but that sorts itself out neville to right back i just hope manny or someone of his ilk sign up and its not all lies again.

 

[Maverick]

you thought Wigan looked like [Poor language removed]?

I thought they looked pretty good yesterday... that trio of Heskey, Sibierski and Paul Scharner (who was everywhere by the way) is pretty cool if you're a Wigan fan

 

[Namdrater]

Neville MUST go right back. He does really well when he comes up from the back and sticks balls in the box.

 

[daz4matty]

you thought Wigan looked like [Poor language removed]?

I thought they looked pretty good yesterday... that trio of Heskey, Sibierski and Paul Scharner (who was everywhere by the way) is pretty cool if you're a Wigan fan

I agree about scharner but heskey i think is crap and sibierski wasn,t on all that long i think they will deffo get relegated.

 

[jagler]

with a day to sleep on it and having seen some other matches from yesterday and today, i think i feel like wiz and daz do...team didnt play particularly well, but a win is a win--and it was the first game of the year. watching arsenal need a miracle to get past ffc and then manu play to a scoreless draw, we are not the only ones to get off to a slow start. and three points, to boot.

 

[Sim]

We playes bad and won, they played bad and lost. And that is a comforting difference. Hope they play as awful on tuesday as they did yesterday... and that we step up our play a notch or two... to really show them which of us will finish highest when the season ends.

Cant agree with you there blue wiz, totenham were very much the same as last season I thought, they attacked and looked like they could score any minute, and sunderland did well, but got lucky to get that late goal, so I think we're in for a tough match.

I'm surprised by most peoples comments on here, admittedly we didnt play great, but we were never in trouble, should have scored more and were unlucky not to have and we conceded a silly goal when Hibbert let us down with awful defending.

It was the opening day of the season, and we're notorious at starting poorly, wasnt it just 2/10 opening day wins? We've got a good win under our belts, no injuries, and 2 attacking players scored open play goals. Come on lads, what more can you ask?

 

[Maverick]

it's just the general feeling that if this was against a top 10 team, we might have lost

on another note, I like Heskey alot

 

[Blue Wiz]

Cant agree with you there blue wiz, totenham were very much the same as last season I thought, they attacked and looked like they could score any minute, and sunderland did well, but got lucky to get that late goal, so I think we're in for a tough match.

I'm surprised by most peoples comments on here, admittedly we didnt play great, but we were never in trouble, should have scored more and were unlucky not to have and we conceded a silly goal when Hibbert let us down with awful defending.

It was the opening day of the season, and we're notorious at starting poorly, wasnt it just 2/10 opening day wins? We've got a good win under our belts, no injuries, and 2 attacking players scored open play goals. Come on lads, what more can you ask?

Oh, I agree that we're in for a hell of a match against Tottenham... if you look at the prediction I've already put us down for a loss there. But I don't think they played well in this game.

Slightly disagree with you. Our defence didn't give away clear chances true, but there were some shots that was dangerous and with a bit of luck (on their side) one or two of them could have gotten in. And I still can't blame Hibbert for the goal. We can't leave the whole of the penaltybox open..

But we've not done that. Last season we started with 7/9 points in the first 3 games. True, the season before that we started awfully due to our european adventure.. but the season before started ok as well.

We've been given a good start since we got the 3 points, and as I wrote earlier that's the most important fact with this game.

Now I look forward to our match against Tottenham. COYB!!

 

[teppic]

opening games are tough whoever you play as everyone starts with a clean slate. you want to play wigan in march when they are rock bottom and morale is low. 3 points, as sim said, is a great start to the season. just ask man united!