….you shouldn’t be Nymz. Lallana has real quality, that ball he took out of the sky and controlled it in an instance reminded me of me.
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….you shouldn’t be Nymz. Lallana has real quality, that ball he took out of the sky and controlled it in an instance reminded me of me.
I'm sure you can sense the sarcasm in my post.
Cameron Manning
Player Valuation: £35m
Yes Mangala seemed confused from the start as to what his job was, difficult for him with a novice as a partner and Doucoure ahead of him playing like he always does, haphazard and reckless yet the Echo reporter made him Everton’s best player! Armstrong will prove himself in due course, one way or the other last night was a makeshift team that didn’t have a clue.
Yeah, same, really baffling.
Similarly how this was only done when forced and when we have no other options at all (or Keane is back to stinking the game out).
Or how we started last season with Ashley Young at left back when Mykolenko was fit. Or how both Young and Coleman are still in the team and Seamus is considered first choice whenever even moderately available (when he's not injured from his Ireland games).
This was a cup game with no relevance (as Dyche doesn't rate cups obviously) and not a first team at all - "Premiership experience" will be in full force the rest of the time now that we're out of there.
On the topic of Armstrong - no central midfielder ever looks good for us as we don't play through midfield, and he was partnered with another "unfit" player and seemingly no instructions given, with Doucoure ghosting ahead of them. No chance for him and we won't see him again unless literally everyone is injured.
There’s no press from Everton though is there so opposition midfield will always look like they’ve got loads of time. Everton players just get told to get back in shape in their own half and let the opposition come onto them.
BigDuncTributeBand
Player Valuation: £25m
True, manager’s setup lends itself to making opposition midfielders look like prime Pirlo. Fair point but even when they were in out half it was very easy for them, couldn’t get close.
Harrison Armstrong appeared to cope okay all things considered.
I thought he did ok, moved into the right positions , covered space when needed . It seems years since we started a 17 year old in a competitive match , unlike Armstrong they often looked lost , running and chasing hard but getting nowhere in an effort to please. He kept his discipline well .
To put him into perspective , we also had 19 year old Owen Barker on the bench , not a bad player but nowhere near Armstrong. Similarly , our u21s kicked off 45 minutes before the first teams, two talented 18 year olds , Jack Patterson and Callum Bates were in midfield playing against the men of Stockport and were given a hard time. Both a year older than Armstrong , but the initial step up to playing against League 1 men is a big one , let alone men who play in the PL. His mistakes were easy to spot , those can be ironed out with time and experience, the important bit was he was comfortable out there, and Dyche obviously believed so as he left him on for 60 minutes, although it may be quite a while before he gets another 60 minutes.
To put him into perspective , we also had 19 year old Owen Barker on the bench , not a bad player but nowhere near Armstrong. Similarly , our u21s kicked off 45 minutes before the first teams, two talented 18 year olds , Jack Patterson and Callum Bates were in midfield playing against the men of Stockport and were given a hard time. Both a year older than Armstrong , but the initial step up to playing against League 1 men is a big one , let alone men who play in the PL. His mistakes were easy to spot , those can be ironed out with time and experience, the important bit was he was comfortable out there, and Dyche obviously believed so as he left him on for 60 minutes, although it may be quite a while before he gets another 60 minutes.