THT's Half Time Report !!

[The Holy Trinity]

Well here it is , the halfway point in the season for us and what have we witnessed so far from our beloved Blues ???

Well we started the season with such high hopes. A decent pre-season with some goals scored and playing some exciting attacking football, then came Wolfsburg and for me some alarm bells started ringing... One up front , Saha ?!? and totally isolated from any attacking midfielder! Now I know it was only a friendly but we seemed way off the pace and devoid of any attacking options, in fact Edin Dzecko showed us a proper Centre Forward's display that afternoon. But the worry was that even in a friendly we didn't really create anything for Saha or anybody..

7 Days later my fears were real at Blackburn, an average display devoid of any real attacking threat until Jags almost saved our blushes at the death. Wolves at home a week later was surely the perfect game to kick start our season? In fact all week we were told, that this would be the game that would get us up and running, by the players !! 1up at half time and cruising then we started passing up chances and generally wasting great opportunities until we gifted Wolves a simple goal and blew 2 points !! This is a pattern that's continued throughout the first half of the season.

We battered Villa away and lost, should have put United to bed in the opening 40 mins then salvaged an unlikely point in the end. Lost at home to Newcastle in our worst performance of the season. Draws at home to Bolton and Wigan and poor defeats against Arsenal and West Brom have damaged us big time.

Our away form has been quite good and our last defeat on the road was that game at Villa in which we ended the match having had 23 attempts at goal to Villa's 11 and 19 corners ! Also 61% possession !! Fulham away was for me the best performance I have witnessed by us down there (I was in the USA when we beat them 2nil) and we passed up lots of chances and blew another 2 points. Sunderland, Blackpool, Chelsea and West Ham we could have won any if not all of those games by taking our chances !!

The fact of the matter is we have played 19 , won 4 drew 10 and lost 5 (as many as champs Chelsea) and if we could have turned a few of those draws into wins (at the risk of sounding like the FSW) we'd be right in there for the Champs league places. So what is going wrong ?

The glaring problem is our strikers aren't not only scoring but generally not doing anything. Davie doesn't seem to know how to solve this issue.

Yakubu ; for me still our best hope but has not performed well enough (especially tonight). 1 Goal.

Saha : Just doesn't work hard enough despite having all the tools. 0 goals

Beckford : Hasn't been given enough chances. Came on at Chelsea and ran them ragged and always looks like he's got a goal in him. Can't play the offside trap very well though !!!! 2 Goals.

The problem is everyone is accountable for our under achieving first half of the season in my opinion. Davie has picked the wrong side on too many occasions this season, the players have under performed and too many have passed the buck too often. The board have been useless again and not worked out a way to back Davie. Finally, we the fans have not been vociferous enough at home. Referees have been allowed to get away with shocking decisions on too many occasions this season, as well as that we haven't backed the team right from the off. There really is NO better place to be when Goodison is rocking but apart from Liverpool (look what happened that day, the most ONE sided Derby for years) it simply hasn't happened.

When I asses the season so far one word pops out .... FRUSTRATION !! My arl' fella said to me when we watched the West Ham game that I moan about everything and so I examined it and I do !! But its because I want us to be the BEST and I expect my team to attack and give everything and it frustrates me when we under perform ! I've blamed everyone for this season Moyes, Hibbert, Lumsden, LCAB, Gareth Farrelly, Myself !!

The reason why is that I am looking for answers as to why the best squad we've had for years is under achieving so much when for so many games we play teams off the park ?!! A striker in January would be great but EVERYONE needs to chip in with the goals and Davie needs to be more adventurous ! Blackpool are attacking everyone and are above us with more points and inferior players ! Come on Davie let the leash off the players and lets try get after some teams !! Maybe Timmy going to this Asia bollocks will force him to play TWO strikers but I doubt it.

Rant over ....

To sum up, played some good football, dominated lots of games, couldn't score in a Brothel , still skint, generally do well away from home !

Marks out of ten for season so far ....; 5/10...

Here's too a GREAT 2011 .... COYB x

 

[little curly alan ball]

Well here it is , the halfway point in the season for us and what have we witnessed so far from our beloved Blues ???

Well we started the season with such high hopes. A decent pre-season with some goals scored and playing some exciting attacking football, then came Wolfsburg and for me some alarm bells started ringing... One up front , Saha ?!? and totally isolated from any attacking midfielder! Now I know it was only a friendly but we seemed way off the pace and devoid of any attacking options, in fact Edin Dzecko showed us a proper Centre Forward's display that afternoon. But the worry was that even in a friendly we didn't really create anything for Saha or anybody..

7 Days later my fears were real at Blackburn, an average display devoid of any real attacking threat until Jags almost saved our blushes at the death. Wolves at home a week later was surely the perfect game to kick start our season? In fact all week we were told, that this would be the game that would get us up and running, by the players !! 1up at half time and cruising then we started passing up chances and generally wasting great opportunities until we gifted Wolves a simple goal and blew 2 points !! This is a pattern that's continued throughout the first half of the season.

We battered Villa away and lost, should have put United to bed in the opening 40 mins then salvaged an unlikely point in the end. Lost at home to Newcastle in our worst performance of the season. Draws at home to Bolton and Wigan and poor defeats against Arsenal and West Brom have damaged us big time.

Our away form has been quite good and our last defeat on the road was that game at Villa in which we ended the match having had 23 attempts at goal to Villa's 11 and 19 corners ! Also 61% possession !! Fulham away was for me the best performance I have witnessed by us down there (I was in the USA when we beat them 2nil) and we passed up lots of chances and blew another 2 points. Sunderland, Blackpool, Chelsea and West Ham we could have won any if not all of those games by taking our chances !!

The fact of the matter is we have played 19 , won 4 drew 10 and lost 5 (as many as champs Chelsea) and if we could have turned a few of those draws into wins (at the risk of sounding like the FSW) we'd be right in there for the Champs league places. So what is going wrong ?

The glaring problem is our strikers aren't not only scoring but generally not doing anything. Davie doesn't seem to know how to solve this issue.

Yakubu ; for me still our best hope but has not performed well enough (especially tonight). 1 Goal.

Saha : Just doesn't work hard enough despite having all the tools. 0 goals

Beckford : Hasn't been given enough chances. Came on at Chelsea and ran them ragged and always looks like he's got a goal in him. Can't play the offside trap very well though !!!! 2 Goals.

The problem is everyone is accountable for our under achieving first half of the season in my opinion. Davie has picked the wrong side on too many occasions this season, the players have under performed and too many have passed the buck too often. The board have been useless again and not worked out a way to back Davie. Finally, we the fans have not been vociferous enough at home. Referees have been allowed to get away with shocking decisions on too many occasions this season, as well as that we haven't backed the team right from the off. There really is NO better place to be when Goodison is rocking but apart from Liverpool (look what happened that day, the most ONE sided Derby for years) it simply hasn't happened.

When I asses the season so far one word pops out .... FRUSTRATION !! My arl' fella said to me when we watched the West Ham game that I moan about everything and so I examined it and I do !! But its because I want us to be the BEST and I expect my team to attack and give everything and it frustrates me when we under perform ! I've blamed everyone for this season Moyes, Hibbert, Lumsden, LCAB, Gareth Farrelly, Myself !!

The reason why is that I am looking for answers as to why the best squad we've had for years is under achieving so much when for so many games we play teams off the park ?!! A striker in January would be great but EVERYONE needs to chip in with the goals and Davie needs to be more adventurous ! Blackpool are attacking everyone and are above us with more points and inferior players ! Come on Davie let the leash off the players and lets try get after some teams !! Maybe Timmy going to this Asia bollocks will force him to play TWO strikers but I doubt it.

Rant over ....

To sum up, played some good football, dominated lots of games, couldn't score in a Brothel , still skint, generally do well away from home !

Marks out of ten for season so far ....; 5/10...

Here's too a GREAT 2011 .... COYB x

Now , THAT is what I'm talkin' 'bout, Bruv' .

Excellent .

 

[Nordecke]

Sums it up really..

We are much better than our current place in the table.. We dominate most games, just can't find the back of the net..

Here's too 2011!! COYB!!

 

[The Holy Trinity]

Now , THAT is what I'm talkin' 'bout, Bruv' .

Excellent .

Trying to stay positive mate , but frustrated as ....

Nice one tho Bruv x

 

[The Holy Trinity]

Sums it up really..

We are much better than our current place in the table.. We dominate most games, just can't find the back of the net..

Here's too 2011!! COYB!!

Yeah lets hope we can solve it mate !!

 

[best little spaniard]

Frustration indeed. Same group of players as last season, but seem to have forgotten how to play.

What they seem to lack, is drive. They pick up the ball, and instead of heading for the opposition goal, they're happy to pass it sideways or backwards. This would be alright, if they had a go every once in a while. Instead, the ball invariably ends up on the right, where Neville will always, always, always pass back. Coleman tries, but ultimately would be more effective from right back I think.

Pienaar doesn't seem to have the same drive either. He's happy to just pass it around, when it's his energy and commitment is what we need right now.

The less said about Arteta, the better.


The team is a bit stagnant. They need a new influence, just to get them going. I'm possibly clutching at the straws of desperation here, but maybe Gueye or someone is what we need?


Such is my take on things anyway.

 

[The Holy Trinity]

Frustration indeed. Same group of players as last season, but seem to have forgotten how to play.

What they seem to lack, is drive. They pick up the ball, and instead of heading for the opposition goal, they're happy to pass it sideways or backwards. This would be alright, if they had a go every once in a while. Instead, the ball invariably ends up on the right, where Neville will always, always, always pass back. Coleman tries, but ultimately would be more effective from right back I think.

Pienaar doesn't seem to have the same drive either. He's happy to just pass it around, when it's his energy and commitment is what we need right now.

The less said about Arteta, the better.


The team is a bit stagnant. They need a new influence, just to get them going. I'm possibly clutching at the straws of desperation here, but maybe Gueye or someone is what we need?


Such is my take on things anyway.

Can't disagree mate..

 

[chicoazul]

Very well put mate, agreed. We've all been livid too many times post match this season, and loads of blame has been thrown around. Everyone on the payroll has to take some responsibility for me but mostly the board and Moyes as they have more influence than most. Thing is with Moyes, he knows that I trust him to put it right but maybe it's likely to happen too late to save this season.

Some of the players need to have a good look at themselves and pick things up too. Baines, Distin, Cahill and Coleman have played their part this season, four out of a squad of how many?

The sobering thing is that were sat half way through what was meant to be our best season for years with 22 points. If we continue like we are then the likely outcome is 44 points. If we finished on that then we have some serious thinking to do as we have a good squad and no bad injury list.

One massive black cloud hanging over us is the lack of money for the manager to work with. It's never acceptable to go into a transfer window and once again have absolutely no funds for bring in new players to improve the team. That can only lead to us becoming stagnant. If were to move forward and improve then this is a primary issue to resolve.

While it's hard to think of positives at the moment, our football is better than it's been for a long time even if our penetration in the final third isn't. We have no money so we can moan like [Poor language removed] about it or accept it and get on and work the forwards we do have to find a solution. One of them, at least one of them, needs to step up second half of the season, it's just hoping Moyes gives them as much of a chance as Saha got in the first half of the season. The only other positive is that we've got the second half of the season to put something together in a league that is still very, very tight.

I'm just dying to see Everton throw the shackles off for once and get at a team's throats, we have the players to do it. It's been too long since we have enjoyed a comfortable three nil win and with some of the teams weve played, weve just [Poor language removed] it on the day too much.

Sort it out Everton, did you see City's stadium buzzing off being top at the end of the day? We were that once, and were twice as ace as them.

 

[The Holy Trinity]

Very well put mate, agreed. We've all been livid too many times post match this season, and loads of blame has been thrown around. Everyone on the payroll has to take some responsibility for me but mostly the board and Moyes as they have more influence than most. Thing is with Moyes, he knows that I trust him to put it right but maybe it's likely to happen too late to save this season.

Some of the players need to have a good look at themselves and pick things up too. Baines, Distin, Cahill and Coleman have played their part this season, four out of a squad of how many?

The sobering thing is that were sat half way through what was meant to be our best season for years with 22 points. If we continue like we are then the likely outcome is 44 points. If we finished on that then we have some serious thinking to do as we have a good squad and no bad injury list.

One massive black cloud hanging over us is the lack of money for the manager to work with. It's never acceptable to go into a transfer window and once again have absolutely no funds for bring in new players to improve the team. That can only lead to us becoming stagnant. If were to move forward and improve then this is a primary issue to resolve.

While it's hard to think of positives at the moment, our football is better than it's been for a long time even if our penetration in the final third isn't. We have no money so we can moan like [Poor language removed] about it or accept it and get on and work the forwards we do have to find a solution. One of them, at least one of them, needs to step up second half of the season, it's just hoping Moyes gives them as much of a chance as Saha got in the first half of the season. The only other positive is that we've got the second half of the season to put something together in a league that is still very, very tight.

I'm just dying to see Everton throw the shackles off for once and get at a team's throats, we have the players to do it. It's been too long since we have enjoyed a comfortable three nil win and with some of the teams weve played, weve just [Poor language removed] it on the day too much.

Sort it out Everton, did you see City's stadium buzzing off being top at the end of the day? We were that once, and were twice as ace as them.

Nice one leader , your reply is better than my thread !! Ha ha class mate and agree with it all x

 

[BlueOz]

Cannot disagree with any points on this thread, nice work lads.

I think for us to take the next step (meaning pushing for euro places), we need some pace injected into the team. For all the good triangle work at west ham (and this year), I just did not see any threat from us going forward. And when the move did eventually breakdown, with us trying to walk in a goal, we were badly exposed on the counter by our inability to get back to defend.

I always worry about us being scored against on a quick counterattack. Pienaar and arteta don't have the acceleration nor pace to get back quickly and invariably baines (as he is our most attacking threat) is well forward. We saw this a couple of times last night and we were lucky it was west ham!

Arteta has looked off the pace all season, sideways pass here, backwards pass there, minimal attacking thrust. Now it could be that he does not have anyone to pass the ball to ahead, given our "striker" is usually up against 4 defenders. And this comes back to moyes and tactics.

Oh to have wingers with pace and ability to beat a man, ala spurs with bale and lennon. Have to commend young coleman though, he has come along and performed well again last night. Well taken goal

I think Moysie has gone safety first and has just about written off this season. With Cahill off shortly, I don't think he knows where the goals will come from. I feel, as evidenced by his conservative tactics, that he is looking for prem league security, with a big shakeup of the squad in the summer.

For me, requirement number one...PACE - Wingers AND a right full back please. Sorry Nev, had enough of you crossing into opposition players standing still.

Best of luck to david in the transfer window, positives can come out of this, but big decisions on fringe players need to be made, otherwise I think we can copy and paste this thread as the "THT FULL Time Report" and carry on being frustrated and treading water....

 

[TX Bill]

In two words:

Well said.

 

[little curly alan ball]

Yeah lets hope we can solve it mate !!

The goalie lost us BBurn , Villa and a win at Spurs. Put that with Sahas no show , Yak non-proliferation treaty ,the injuries , Heitinga , Peanut , Arteta ,...It is hardly a surprise . However , we beat Stoke and Bham , its on again . That is this league .

Its go'n be fine .

 

[little curly alan ball]

Nice one leader , your reply is better than my thread !! Ha ha class mate and agree with it all x

Ahem ... THAT sounds distinctly like the argument Ive put to you since your hand went in in November !!!!

But , it IS Duce , so I get it , Cock' .

Note for future ref' , though , Bruv' - ORA-CULA ,.....

 

[Kay20]

Let me add my "great post!" vote to the mix.

What happens if nothing happens in the transfer window? Shudder. I worry that Moyes and management go to make moves and things don't work out. But then, I'm a worry wart.

 

[RFUS]

Agree completely with THT and Chico.


But I'd be surprised to see Moyes change his ways. He'll probably just play someone else in the Cahill role throughout January, and resume service as normal.


Personally, I think a lot of the hopes of this season will hang on what happens in the window. If we can get some of the dead weight out -- of which there is a lot -- then maybe we can afford to bring in some fresh blood.