Standard Liege vs Everton 2nd Oct 18:40

[turner]

How the hell was there captain (dunno his name) given that much time and room to shoot from that distance before there first goal?????? Of course he was gonna have a pop.

that's exactly the situation defensive midfielders are supposed to prevent. we bought two in the summer, we shouldn't have a defender doing that job.

 

[Neiler]

Though im gutted about last night the harsh truth is we didnt deserve it. Like the Derby we were beaten by the best team. I think Leige are a really good team, playing with confidence, they understand each others game, and tacticly arte very disiplined, what lost the tie was our defence over the two legs simple as really.

I think many of the Leige players will go on to bigger and better things that lad defour looks a really good player, dalmat similary, you would have to pose the question did we pay 15 mill for the right player.

In many ways Leige played similary to what we have become used to form Everton in recent seasons, what they lack in overall quality is made up for by hunger and desire to make things happen for them, they play to their strengths and with a good tacticial behind them has seen our games take place at a time where they are high is confidence. The exact opposite could be siad of Everton.

Im going to be honest and say i thought there were encourageing signs yesterday, we tried to play neat triangles instead of hoofing but our players were harried to quickly and frankly some didnt have the ability to be composed in that situation for it to effective. Although im am not as big a critc as some Hibbert was woefull last night, clearly not match fit and most of their joy came down his flank. I thought Baines played really well, despite the penalty and that which i felt was questionable to be honest, but i understand why it was given. I thought Dalmat would walk all over him he didnt. I like the fact he offers an alternative to deleivary instead of relying on Arteta.

Again our midfiled tracking back is woefull Im not a Neville critic as i like him at full back but he plays excatly the same way in DM just standing of players. That position dictates that you close down space as much as a player and Nev just doesnt have the nous, more to the point he doesnt have the passing ability. Ossie and Arteta did ok but you always knew they would be battered for 90 mins. Cahill tried hard, but again doesnt look match fit and when plan A doesnt come of he struggles for plan b i was disapointed with some of his passing last night. The two lads up front, well it was difficult there defence sat back deeply not giving them any real space to run into. Both looked frustratd, Saha looked as if he was afraid he was going to pick up a knock, while the Yak just looked frustrated. To be honest the onle way we were going to score was by a cross, as per the first game i was a little disapointed there wasnt a more physical challenge by both as they are a big team but the Yak and Saha are two big lads as well. There goal keeper at best was shaky as we saw last night and in the first game with Castillos goal but we didnt challenge him enough. Lescott and Jags looked solid praticualrly Jags, but where caught out on a couple of occasions basicly because at times there was a man over for Leige which takes me back to the poor tracking back from midfiled and Hibbert having a mare didnt help.

The balance of the team seemed to change when Pienaar came on for the better and hopefully it will be the shot in the arm the team needs.

Overall i think we have no leadership in the team, someone to get stuck in put there foot on the ball, lift the tempo of the game, lead by example and give those around them a bollocking like Cars and Stubbs used to i thnk we miss Cars in particular.

What does the future hold, its hard to know, my hope is this dissapointing effort may help us in terms of rest and respite for the PL it bloody better or even a realist and optimist like me may be in revolt. That said we now have a big squad to compeate in two compitions, id like a good run in the FA Cup its been a while since thats happened and lets face it that our trophy. The midfield needs some serious additions not only creatively centraly but also in terms of a DM and the defence and the midfiled must work as a defensive unit. Two many times our defence is left with midfiled runners and there own men to contend with. I dont know if we have the finace to compete with signings in Jan, i think we may get a loan signing seeing as we are out of the of 50% of compitions and that there are only potentialy 36 games left this season.

The bigger question is Moyes, i think he will sign, but i do beleive that in this contract there is a get out clause i dont beleive this result will have a bearing on his future as i beleive he will share in the responsibility for the exit. That said though he is rightly culpable too, at the moment the team are looking like strangers the best thing that could happen is that all our players pick up little knocks cry of international duty and we have a week in finch to work with them. Three points against the Geordies is vital with games against Utd and Arsenal coming up.

 

[zero]

Standard can [Poor language removed] off, it's about time they changed they're teams name to Good Liege or Great Liege too. It's obviously the reason why teams underestimate them.

 

[Neiler]

Standard can [Poor language removed] off, it's about time they changed they're teams name to Good Liege or Great Liege too. It's obviously the reason why teams underestimate them.

Ha ha that deserves some rep!

 

[kinta1]

if moyes knew his contract uncertainty was affecting the players performances ,why has he still not signed?? he says hes waiting on it to come back from our dithering board. what a total fuk up. were hardly going to look attractive to prospective buyers now. out of two cups and prob in the bottom 3 after the next 3 fixtures.

talk about an opportunity missed in the summer to make a good squad great!!

its become obvious also that when arteta is below par we have noone to step up to the role of chief playmaker.been said 100 times b4 also,but when we play 4-4-2 cahill offers very little .

the service to the front in recent games has been very poor with the back 4 being the main providers of classic hoof ball. my god this is all very depressing. watching the other english teams progress is double hard to take. this is why i hate being a blue. its also why ill be glued to the box on sunday at 4pm

 

[Toffe3m4n]

Something tells me that, during the summer, Moyes threw all his chips down in hoping that he could land Moutinho... and was ultimately shown up.

We really, really could've used someone with his kind of ability in central midfield this season. Even Manny would've been welcomed with open arms but we again managed to [Poor language removed] up there!

Instead, we splashed on Fellaini at the eleventh hour and now he (Moyes) has had to rethink his game plan. Didn't help either that Fellaini himself was cuptied for the UEFA tie. I really hope for both our sake and his that he finds his feet in the side and in the Prem.

Still, it confuses me that Castillo didn't play last night. I honestly though with him in Pip's place and Pip back at right back would've given us a better chance... but hey, what do I know?

 

[toffeebhoy]

another glummy nite of well ( you cant call it football)......good things frmo last nite for me personally yobo got benched ...i said here 2 wks ago him and lescott should have been warmin it b4 now

the confusin bits....lescott loss of form / baines crap start to this season( defending duties) why hasnt valente / rodwell been brought in at the back to shake things up ....

valenete though not spectacular is experienced / solid defender
rodwell good enough to play at CH in 2006 yet hasnt been tried at the back in our obvisous crumbling defence ???????

i guess i cant have it every way

 

[The Esk]

I've enjoyed our European away nights, had some great times, saw some great performances but it will be a while before we do it all again.

Nothing new to add, but here's my views from last night

Tim Howard
- Slightly more confident performance than late, might have been luckier with penalty and one woeful punch in the second half landing right on the edge of the area

Tony Hibbert
-Tried his best, but frankly not good enough at this level, positioning just appalling

Leighton Baines,
- What has happened to this guy? Severely lacking in confidence - unlucky with penalty

Phil Jagielka,
- Returning to the form of the last half of last season, committed and brave, he looked totally devastated at the end. Others need to look at his commitment and ask themselves serious questions.

Joleon Lescott,
- Marginally better performance than of late, but nothing like the player of last year. Worryingly looks like he no longer cares…….

Phil Neville
- Handicapped by playing in a position he has no right to be in. Not the leader I thought he might be, and Moyes still thinks he is. Noisy last night but not encouraging his fellow players, moaned his way through the match IMO

Leon Osman,
- The worst performance I have ever seen from Leon last night, completely ineffective, in fact worse, a total liability – how many times did he pass to a Liege player?

Tim Cahill,
Not utilised to his best obviously, but a un-typical Cahill performance, not committed enough.

Louis Saha
- Started brightly, pity he slipped after a good turn early in the first half, faded and then looked better when Vic came on. Pity he went off (injured????). With 3 up front we looked much better

Ayegbeni Yakubu,
- Did he miss the plane out there? Never noticed him – in his defence, no service.

Mikel Arteta
- How many Spaniards do we know? On current form if he’s the best, not many…..

Victor Anichebe
- For the 8 minutes he and Saha were on the pitch together it all looked possible, but after Saha went off nothing much happened

Steven Pienaar,
- Good to see him back, perhaps he can re-introduce the midfield to their attacking colleagues in coming weeks…..

Joseph Yobo
- My minds gone blank !

David Moyes
- As much as I “love” this guy, his limitations are clear for all to see. Regardless of all the close-season nonsense, when it comes to the big games he hasn’t got the bottle to go for it. A glorious defeat with all guns blazing would have been disappointing but acceptable, but last night’s half-hearted, tactically naïve effort is simply not good enough.

We’ve peaked, David you’ve taken us a long way from where we were, but it’s time to move on. I’ve no idea who would replace you (or even who would want to) but the time to part has arrived.

 

[modfather]

Why Castillo never played with Cahill is beyond me. Osman has looked out of touch this season.

Castillo dragged us back to a draw in the first leg and is repaid by being dumped on the bench for the next couple of games.

Have they had a row ? Who knows, i just know i would play him before i played Osman in recent form.

 

[Jez]

Just Got back

Good night, [Poor language removed] result

Didnt get in but the atmosphere was still good

 

[evertonianstu]

just out of nothing more than sheer morbid curiosity, how many did we take there?