Southampton 0-0 Everton. 21st Jan @ 20.00.

[edge]

we looked tired and lackluster from the kick off,in an ideal world it would be nice to see someone new in midfield to give us a bit of a lift, dont know what big vic has to do to start but when he came on he bucked us up, in saying that with the new manager southampton were always going to be up for it with the new manager and we got away without a defeat that after the first half display we were lucky not to get, squad is to small , and its starting to tell

 

[bflefc]

This 100%. Moyes has killed yet another striker, hasn't he?

Agreed. It's absolutely doing my head in, and I'm sure i wasn't alone in fretting all summer about him doing exactly this.

Why on earth he didn't allow Jelavic to stay on and play off some fast, direct and positive support from Mirallas is totally lost on me. He gives him an unenviable task, with little support other than the one-dimensional hoof from the back, and then when he does decide to change it and inject some creativity he hauls Jelavic off.

Superb man-management.

And as for those who are saying it wasn't all doom and gloom, and that at least we came away with a point and we're still in with a shout for Europe - even 4th place - give your heads a wobble. The nature of our performances are woeful. Watch Spurs etc - pacy, attacking and exciting. They're light years ahead of us in real terms. If we get into Europe, we'll get walloped by the first decent team we come up against. Pure and simple.

 

[Elong]

What can Moyes do, when Jelavic isn't even able get a shot on goal?

He's the coach like. It's his job to get him shooting on target.

 

[ford_uk]

Oviedo should have started on the left with Pienaar switching to the right.

100% this

 

[Big Fat Sam]

Anichebe was superb when he came on.

Jelavic stunk the place out, like he has done for literally three months.

So disappointing watching him this season.

Time for Victor to start a few games.

 

[Mikey_Fitzgerald]

Tim Howard and Big Vic were the only two players to come out of that match in a positive light. Awful game and an absolutely dross performance from Everton. Glad I couldn't get the day off work to go down to Southampton because I would have been probably chucked out of the ground for rude language. Insipid, awful, terrible, embarrassing, I could go on.

 

[Steve Wigan]

Evening Steve.....I like your posts, but you must of watched a different game tonight. Phil was really poor tonight. He reminded me of the kid in the playground with no coordination, no physicality and totally lost in a game where everyone else knows what they're doing. It's a real concern that a 36 year old is the fulcrum of our midfield.
He wasnt alone tonight - Pienaar was so off the pace it was unbelievable. Jelavic worked his gonads off and was our best defender...but that miss was symptomatic of his low confidence. No one played well.

Hi Evertony, its all about opinions! I agree that Neville is not always up to speed at 36...and we need another central midfielder, but most of the time Neville does the job that he's supposed to do...by that I mean the job that Moyes must ask him to do. He sits and tidies up...a bit like Carsley used to do, and mostly passes short to Baines, Osman, or Felli if Felli is deep enough. Moyes has not really moved forward much tactically since the Carsley days, and when Neville finishes it wouldn't surprise me if another 'veteran' got the same job to do.(Hitzelberger?) Yes, we need to replace Phil in midfield, but while Moyes has limited tactical ambitions, you are always going to have that type of player in there. Our other serious concerns on the field should be that Moyes is close to ruining yet another out and out striker by giving Jelavic far to much to do in areas were Jelavic should not even be(like wide right!) Jelavic should operate in and around the penalty box most of the time, and shoot on sight.

 

[harry]

Tim Howard and Big Vic were the only two players to come out of that match in a positive light. Awful game and an absolutely dross performance from Everton. Glad I couldn't get the day off work to go down to Southampton because I would have been probably chucked out of the ground for rude language. Insipid, awful, terrible, embarrassing, I could go on.

I thought howard put us under a lot of pressure with his awful distribution. made a couple of decent saves but nothing special.

 

[Mikey_Fitzgerald]

I thought howard put us under a lot of pressure with his awful distribution. made a couple of decent saves but nothing special.

His saves kept us in it. Would have been 2 or 3 nil at the end if not for him.

I'm sick of Everton kicking it long all the time when here and against Swansea it didn't work! The team needs to be able to mix it up. We CAN play it on the ground. I remember our 2nd goal against Southampton came from about 20 passes. It can be done. When route 1 isn't working, the team need to be able to mix it up. It wasn't just Howard giving the ball away, it was the entire squad. Howard redeemed himself with some exellent goal keeping

 

[Brento]

Absolutely agree 100%. Apart from first xi squad isnt good enough. yes I know about the youngsters coming through but moyes to scared to play them.

Agreed. It's absolutely doing my head in, and I'm sure i wasn't alone in fretting all summer about him doing exactly this.

Why on earth he didn't allow Jelavic to stay on and play off some fast, direct and positive support from Mirallas is totally lost on me. He gives him an unenviable task, with little support other than the one-dimensional hoof from the back, and then when he does decide to change it and inject some creativity he hauls Jelavic off.

Superb man-management.

And as for those who are saying it wasn't all doom and gloom, and that at least we came away with a point and we're still in with a shout for Europe - even 4th place - give your heads a wobble. The nature of our performances are woeful. Watch Spurs etc - pacy, attacking and exciting. They're light years ahead of us in real terms. If we get into Europe, we'll get walloped by the first decent team we come up against. Pure and simple.

 

[Bob Latchford]

His saves kept us in it. Would have been 2 or 3 nil at the end if not for him.

I'm sick of Everton kicking it long all the time when here and against Swansea it didn't work! The team needs to be able to mix it up. We CAN play it on the ground. I remember our 2nd goal against Southampton came from about 20 passes. It can be done. When route 1 isn't working, the team need to be able to mix it up. It wasn't just Howard giving the ball away, it was the entire squad. Howard redeemed himself with some exellent goal keeping

Agreed. We came out in the second half and knocked it about causing them no end of problems. Then it was back to long/direct passing/hoofing.

For all of Jags and Distins defensive qualities their want to 'launch it' aimlessly and on a regular basis is very frustrating.

Get well soon Gibbo!!!!

 

[harry]

Agreed. We came out in the second half and knocked it about causing them no end of problems. Then it was back to long/direct passing/hoofing.

For all of Jags and Distins defensive qualities their want to 'launch it' aimlessly and on a regular basis is very frustrating.

Get well soon Gibbo!!!!

The problem we have is, if howard isnt hoofing it he rolls it out to either jags or distan then the whole of the midfield runs away from them, on the odd occaision when neville drops back all he does is give them the ball back. so we have possession in an important part of the pith and we have one of our 3 worst ditributers of a football in possession (not including howard). this is why we lose the ball so much. I agree this doesnt happen when gibbo is fit.

 

[Big Fat Sam]

Jagielka's hoofing was ridiculous last night. Back to the olden days.

Baines was good, Pienaar was ****.

Naismith was an embarrassment, same with Jelavic.

Fellaini did ok but nothing special, Osman was poor.

Coleman looked good, but then picked up an injury. Would have liked to have seen Hitzlsperger come on for Naismith, at least he's got a shot on him. Surely Mirallas, Victor and Hitzl for Naismith, Osman and Jelavic would have made sense.

Poor tactics, I think the ****e will probably take us by mid-February. Appalling.

PS: Will Gibson ever come back? How he is missed. Having Phil Neville on the field makes me want to cry.

 

[ArtetaMagic]

Watching Neville and Osman chase back makes me cry! Made Southampton look like the Jamaican sprint relay team.

 

[lightingman]

One of the worst games i've seen Osman play in a while. Victor made a big difference when he comes on. He did everything Jelavic should have been doing. Holding the ball up, dragging defenders out of position, making good runs etc. Victor is becoming a very good premier league striker. He's never going to be prolific but had we started with Victor and Jelavic last night i think we'd have been more productive. Naismith works hard and is an honest player, but i don't think he's good enough at this level. Fellani was absolutely superb when those around him weren't - without him last night we would have lost heavily IMO.
Howard superb, Baines did well, Piennar was average.

Shocked to see that we couldn't match or cope with Southamptons energy, pace, movement and desire in the first half. We should have been 2-0 at half time and it seemed Saints simply put too much into the first half and tired quickly in the second allowing us more time on the ball. If Southampton had done the same in the 2nd half as they did in the first, we'd have taken a bit of a hammering last night.

I thought Ramirez was excellent last night for them. In fact they are clearly a decent young team but have tire too quickly and need to be better at the back.

Moyes clearly thought they were a big threat from corners. Everytime they had one we had every man back in the box. At no stage did we have anyone near half way line ready for quick break and counter attack.