What's Changed?

[Blue Truth]

We cant defend.

 

[Simo]

If we spend so much time with the ball in our defence, expect to be punished by making a mistake or just letting teams play so high. Don't need to say much more.

 

[Encoder]

Inigo Martinez.........DO IT

 

[Moomin]

Martinez has got rid of his sexy brogues and wears multi coloured extra large shoes. He paints his face white wears a red nose and a big fuzzy red wig

 

[streeky]

After letting another lead slip and witnessing what was, to put it kindly, an insipid second half performance, Evertonians were again left rightly frustrated. Stepping back and distancing myself from the usual go-to fume phrases, I've been trying to look objectively at why it just isn't quite working this year. Certain mistake patterns are emerging, and you could probably make a word document of the 5 biggest gripes with our performances of late, and just copy and paste them to describe whatever our latest match happens to be. So what's changed since last year?

Victims of our own success

Ourselves, and to a lesser extent Spurs and Liverpool, are in Premier League no mans land at the minute. We're better than the likes of Newcastle, Southampton (just watch them slide) and Swansea, but we're not quite as good as the big spending teams above us.

This has led to teams parking the bus, or more accurately placing two banks of four against us (see any home game this year and most aways too) and saying come on, play through us then lads. Last year, teams were more inclined to have a go at us, thus leaving more space for the likes of Lukaku, Mirallas and Barkley to exploit. Playing through two banks of four, regardless of who is included in those two banks of four, is a very difficult task, and one which only the top players can really do on a regular basis. Do people honestly think Southampton/West Ham would be sat where there are in the league now if teams had been parking the bus against them? Not a chance. If they keep it up till next year, you'll see the exact same thing happen to them. You need a Silva, or a Hazard, or a Mata to be able to beat the teams who set out to frustrate you, not the raw talents of a youngster like Barkley or the tired, much too slow legs of an Osman.

Tempo, passing, and players

If Martinez persists with the same formation, the same tempo, and the same possession based game, which history (and Wigan fans in particular) tells us he will, you simply need a better standard of midfielder. The game we currently play hinges almost totally on there being a door unlocker in the team - there isn't one. The tempo of passing needs to be much quicker, and the standard of player needs to be higher (more creative, intelligent, whatever) for the system to work. Languid, predictable passing gets you nowhere. A possession based game only works if the other team is frustrated by not having possession, who have we played this season who have looked frustrated by us having the ball? Nobody. Last year teams were afraid of what Deulofeu would do to them, we've lost some of the fear factor we had, and teams are starting to look very confident setting up against us.

You need a quick tempo and a sharpness of mind to make it work - it creates indecision in the opposition defenders minds, to the point where they're making silly mistakes. Taking the Barcelona of a few seasons back as the example, the defender knows that if he doesn't close down Messi/Xavi/Iniesta then
he'll either pick out a quality pass, or simply skip round him. There's no danger of any of Everton's midfielders doing this on a regular basis, and the opposition knows it.

The less technically gifted of our blue contingent keep making mistake after mistake this year, and of course when you have 70% possession in a game which attackers and midfielders constantly closing you down, they're absolutely bound to make mistakes. These players need to see the ball less, not more. They need to quickly turn play over to the players who are technically gifted. How often have you seen us tap it about 20 times only for it end up at Distin's feet? Punt.

Roberto

He's persisting with his beliefs on how football matches should be won to the point of arrogance, he's set his teams out the same way his whole managerial career, but what he seems to be missing is that you need a certain calibre of player to play it. He needs to be ruthless in the transfer market. He needs to tell the likes of Howard, Distin, Hibbert, Osman, McGeady, Kone and Alcaraz that their days are numbered, they simply aren't good enough to play the style of footy he insists on playing. It's worrying then that he's showing absolutely no signs of getting rid of any of them, quite the opposite infact, with many of them getting new deals.

Whatsmore, there's no plan B. Sometimes you need to get ugly to get points in the premier league, everybody knows that. Which leads to another flaw of Martinez, his ignorance of set plays and their importance. A point earned by a last minute header from a corner in a game that is a total scrap is every bit as precious as a point earned from having 70% possession.

Now Roberto does do an awful lot right, and his positivity is infectious. But occasionally you do need to call a spade a spade, and last nights second half performance was definitely a big, ugly spade that needed calling one.

Overall

It's obvious we don't have the money to go out and buy a couple of classy attackers like Silva etc, but there are cheaper options out there which are definitely within our range. Spurs bought Eriksen for £11m. Saints bought Tadic for roughly the same amount, and Sigurdsson for even less than that. There will be plenty more options out there in a similar range, and if Roberto insits on playing the way we're playing, he simply has to find one or two of them. If not, teams will continue to frustrate us and absolutely nothing will change - unless Roberto does.

I 100% agree with your reading of the midfield. if we are going to play against sides like this we need a fantastic centre mid playmaker, not 2 workhorses and someone with frightening pace with rom to stretch their bk4

 

[diggerdestroyer]

Probably the best post I've read since joining this nutjob site couple years back. A summary of the most common fumes in a logical order

 

[Shipped]

Tempo, passing, and players

People bemoan the patient, possession based play saying they'd prefer a fast, counter attacking style without realising that the decision is not ours to make and is based on how opponents set up against us. How are you supposed to counter attack against Hull yesterday? Forcing passes that aren't on just gives the ball away and relieves pressure.

Playing through two banks of four, regardless of who is included in those two banks of four, is a very difficult task

Towards the end of the 1st half we made good adjustments against Hull. At the times they had 11 men in their own half we were sending holding midfielders or centre backs forward in attacks, along with both full backs. There was absolutely nothing wrong with that 1st half performance and we comfortably made 4 or 5 decent chances to score against the sort of defence you think we have systematic failures against.

Sometimes in a season you just have a horrendously uninspiring, lacklustre 2nd half (WBA 1-1 last season?)

I don't think there's anything fundamentally wrong with our squad, tactics or approach. I reckon individual errors and injuries have a lot more to do with why we've struggled this year. Players coming back from injuries are gonna take a while to hit top form and yesterday we had Coleman, Baines and Barry who looked a bit under par still, compared to their high standards. Barkley and Lukaku are only now starting to show consistent good form after shaking off their injuries.

Whatsmore, there's no plan B.....
Which leads to another flaw of Martinez, his ignorance of set plays and their importance.

I think there might be something in the no plan B criticism, although I don't think it has anything to do with set pieces - that Barkley cross to Distin was well worked and we've even started to score a couple from corners this year.
I'm more thinking, facing such a sluggish second half where we can't get anything started that I'd like to see a change of shape around 65 or 70 minutes. Bring a 2nd striker on, play 3-4-3 or 3-5-2, just try something different to make something happen.
This is something Martinez hasn't really had to resort to at Everton yet. Last season when we were looking for winners he had match winners to bring off the bench in more or less like-for-like subs and it was uncanny how many good sub decisions he made that led to us winning games. This is a weapon he's been denied this year, with injuries leading to benches full of players at various states of injury recovery (Pienaar yesterday).

While I disagree with most of your post it's good to see genuine attempt at analysis of our woes, rather than bleach-reaching or impotent, empty fume so nice one.

 

[SerenityNigh]

After letting another lead slip and witnessing what was, to put it kindly, an insipid second half performance, Evertonians were again left rightly frustrated. Stepping back and distancing myself from the usual go-to fume phrases, I've been trying to look objectively at why it just isn't quite working this year. Certain mistake patterns are emerging, and you could probably make a word document of the 5 biggest gripes with our performances of late, and just copy and paste them to describe whatever our latest match happens to be. So what's changed since last year?

Victims of our own success

Ourselves, and to a lesser extent Spurs and Liverpool, are in Premier League no mans land at the minute. We're better than the likes of Newcastle, Southampton (just watch them slide) and Swansea, but we're not quite as good as the big spending teams above us.

This has led to teams parking the bus, or more accurately placing two banks of four against us (see any home game this year and most aways too) and saying come on, play through us then lads. Last year, teams were more inclined to have a go at us, thus leaving more space for the likes of Lukaku, Mirallas and Barkley to exploit. Playing through two banks of four, regardless of who is included in those two banks of four, is a very difficult task, and one which only the top players can really do on a regular basis. Do people honestly think Southampton/West Ham would be sat where there are in the league now if teams had been parking the bus against them? Not a chance. If they keep it up till next year, you'll see the exact same thing happen to them. You need a Silva, or a Hazard, or a Mata to be able to beat the teams who set out to frustrate you, not the raw talents of a youngster like Barkley or the tired, much too slow legs of an Osman.

Tempo, passing, and players

If Martinez persists with the same formation, the same tempo, and the same possession based game, which history (and Wigan fans in particular) tells us he will, you simply need a better standard of midfielder. The game we currently play hinges almost totally on there being a door unlocker in the team - there isn't one. The tempo of passing needs to be much quicker, and the standard of player needs to be higher (more creative, intelligent, whatever) for the system to work. Languid, predictable passing gets you nowhere. A possession based game only works if the other team is frustrated by not having possession, who have we played this season who have looked frustrated by us having the ball? Nobody. Last year teams were afraid of what Deulofeu would do to them, we've lost some of the fear factor we had, and teams are starting to look very confident setting up against us.

You need a quick tempo and a sharpness of mind to make it work - it creates indecision in the opposition defenders minds, to the point where they're making silly mistakes. Taking the Barcelona of a few seasons back as the example, the defender knows that if he doesn't close down Messi/Xavi/Iniesta then
he'll either pick out a quality pass, or simply skip round him. There's no danger of any of Everton's midfielders doing this on a regular basis, and the opposition knows it.

The less technically gifted of our blue contingent keep making mistake after mistake this year, and of course when you have 70% possession in a game which attackers and midfielders constantly closing you down, they're absolutely bound to make mistakes. These players need to see the ball less, not more. They need to quickly turn play over to the players who are technically gifted. How often have you seen us tap it about 20 times only for it end up at Distin's feet? Punt.

Roberto

He's persisting with his beliefs on how football matches should be won to the point of arrogance, he's set his teams out the same way his whole managerial career, but what he seems to be missing is that you need a certain calibre of player to play it. He needs to be ruthless in the transfer market. He needs to tell the likes of Howard, Distin, Hibbert, Osman, McGeady, Kone and Alcaraz that their days are numbered, they simply aren't good enough to play the style of footy he insists on playing. It's worrying then that he's showing absolutely no signs of getting rid of any of them, quite the opposite infact, with many of them getting new deals.

Whatsmore, there's no plan B. Sometimes you need to get ugly to get points in the premier league, everybody knows that. Which leads to another flaw of Martinez, his ignorance of set plays and their importance. A point earned by a last minute header from a corner in a game that is a total scrap is every bit as precious as a point earned from having 70% possession.

Now Roberto does do an awful lot right, and his positivity is infectious. But occasionally you do need to call a spade a spade, and last nights second half performance was definitely a big, ugly spade that needed calling one.

Overall

It's obvious we don't have the money to go out and buy a couple of classy attackers like Silva etc, but there are cheaper options out there which are definitely within our range. Spurs bought Eriksen for £11m. Saints bought Tadic for roughly the same amount, and Sigurdsson for even less than that. There will be plenty more options out there in a similar range, and if Roberto insits on playing the way we're playing, he simply has to find one or two of them. If not, teams will continue to frustrate us and absolutely nothing will change - unless Roberto does.

Good comments. I reckon we miss Stones and McCarthy quite a lot. Teams have figured out that Roberto's side will push the ball on the outside through fullbacks and wide players and press the outside. Roberto's side has no alternative, no obvious other way to link up play. The wide men are mostly too direct for this style of play, and the fullbacks are drawn forward to create attacks, alternately leaving the back exposed to counterattack or having no interior options because the holding midfielders are too deep. That's not to mention Jagielka or Distin bringing the ball forward, McGeady's defensive work rate, or wherever Barkley is running to when he does not have the ball.

 

[bainesontoast]

- Select individuals just aren't good enough. Distin, who now demonstrates a lack of composure and/or a lack of mobility in every game, being a prime example. Meanwhile, other individuals look like they are playing under 100% - some of Barry's recent performances spring to mind.

- Any fear factor we had at Goodison is as good as gone. Its always been a welcoming place off the pitch, something we should pride ourselves in, but now its spread to on the pitch itself. I believe the term "happy hunting ground" is the cliche to use here.

- Martinez has either an inadequate plan B or none whatsoever. Either way, when things aren't going right, we're in trouble. For example, it was evident around the 50 minute mark last night that Hull were getting into the game but Martinez simply didn't react. Instead, Bruce jumped at the chance and brought Aluko on...we all know what happened next. There's been too many examples of other managers catching onto how a game is developing before Martinez does now for it to be just a case of him being out thought on the day.

- We're a very weak team. Statistically, we've made the joint-lowest amount of tackles in the league AND have committed the least number of fouls YET we've been fouled the most. In other words, we're bully victims. When the robust, physical approaches of managers like Neil Warnock and Steve Bruce can dismantle us, it points to us being too continental for our own good. That's all well and good when actually playing in Europe, as finishing 1st in our Europa League group demonstrates, but Martinez must remember when we're playing in the league that its a completely different mentality.

 

[SerenityNigh]

People bemoan the patient, possession based play saying they'd prefer a fast, counter attacking style without realising that the decision is not ours to make and is based on how opponents set up against us. How are you supposed to counter attack against Hull yesterday? Forcing passes that aren't on just gives the ball away and relieves pressure.



Towards the end of the 1st half we made good adjustments against Hull. At the times they had 11 men in their own half we were sending holding midfielders or centre backs forward in attacks, along with both full backs. There was absolutely nothing wrong with that 1st half performance and we comfortably made 4 or 5 decent chances to score against the sort of defence you think we have systematic failures against.

Sometimes in a season you just have a horrendously uninspiring, lacklustre 2nd half (WBA 1-1 last season?)

I don't think there's anything fundamentally wrong with our squad, tactics or approach. I reckon individual errors and injuries have a lot more to do with why we've struggled this year. Players coming back from injuries are gonna take a while to hit top form and yesterday we had Coleman, Baines and Barry who looked a bit under par still, compared to their high standards. Barkley and Lukaku are only now starting to show consistent good form after shaking off their injuries.



I think there might be something in the no plan B criticism, although I don't think it has anything to do with set pieces - that Barkley cross to Distin was well worked and we've even started to score a couple from corners this year.
I'm more thinking, facing such a sluggish second half where we can't get anything started that I'd like to see a change of shape around 65 or 70 minutes. Bring a 2nd striker on, play 3-4-3 or 3-5-2, just try something different to make something happen.
This is something Martinez hasn't really had to resort to at Everton yet. Last season when we were looking for winners he had match winners to bring off the bench in more or less like-for-like subs and it was uncanny how many good sub decisions he made that led to us winning games. This is a weapon he's been denied this year, with injuries leading to benches full of players at various states of injury recovery (Pienaar yesterday).

While I disagree with most of your post it's good to see genuine attempt at analysis of our woes, rather than bleach-reaching or impotent, empty fume so nice one.

Good comments here; on the no plan B/subs issue, seems there aren't any subs on the bench that inspire when they come on. Subbing in Deulofeu last season was exciting--who on this squad gets you excited when they enter the pitch? (I like Eto'o, but he doesn't bring that youthful energy).

 

[Shipped]

Last season, when we lost the ball we pressed all over the pitch to get it back. This season we tend to stand off more often.

This is a good point that I hadn't thought of. The tempo of our pressing is very different from this time last year.

 

[Khalekan]

If we spend so much time with the ball in our defence, expect to be punished by making a mistake or just letting teams play so high. Don't need to say much more.

This is an excellent point.

Possession football works well if the passing is crisp and the movement quick.

What us happening a lot now is that our passing is poor and the intended recipient is either having to change direction to receive the ball or wait so long for it to arrive a man is almost on top of him when he gets the ball.

Possession is supposed to be about making the ball do the work but right now the waywardness of the ball is making our men do the work......with grave consequences to both our goals against column and the energy of the players.

 

[Del]

- Select individuals just aren't good enough. Distin, who now demonstrates a lack of composure and/or a lack of mobility in every game, being a prime example. Meanwhile, other individuals look like they are playing under 100% - some of Barry's recent performances spring to mind.

- Any fear factor we had at Goodison is as good as gone. Its always been a welcoming place off the pitch, something we should pride ourselves in, but now its spread to on the pitch itself. I believe the term "happy hunting ground" is the cliche to use here.

- Martinez has either an inadequate plan B or none whatsoever. Either way, when things aren't going right, we're in trouble. For example, it was evident around the 50 minute mark last night that Hull were getting into the game but Martinez simply didn't react. Instead, Bruce jumped at the chance and brought Aluko on...we all know what happened next. There's been too many examples of other managers catching onto how a game is developing before Martinez does now for it to be just a case of him being out thought on the day.

- We're a very weak team. Statistically, we've made the joint-lowest amount of tackles in the league AND have committed the least number of fouls YET we've been fouled the most. In other words, we're bully victims. When the robust, physical approaches of managers like Neil Warnock and Steve Bruce can dismantle us, it points to us being too continental for our own good. That's all well and good when actually playing in Europe, as finishing 1st in our Europa League group demonstrates, but Martinez must remember when we're playing in the league that its a completely different mentality.

We very rarely get beaten at home, In the last 16 home games we have been beaten 4 times (Palace twice, City and Chelsea), Drew 3 and won 9, This season we have seen two defeats, One was to the league leaders, We are doing what Everton always do, Drawing against teams we should be beating

The main problem we have is not having game changers in midfield, We lack real quality in the middle of the park in regards to going forward, I posted yesterday that Liverpool spend 25m on one AM and our three options cost £0, We need players who can pick a killer pass without chewing the ball and slowing the play down, Lukaku's lack of service is down to the poor options behind him, Barkley may be that player but at the moment he is a light years away, His form has been that bad he should be dropped

 

[streeky]

Last season, when we lost the ball we pressed all over the pitch to get it back. This season we tend to stand off more often. The only game I've seen us play to last seasons standard is the first 60 minutes against Arsenal, then we ran out of steam. The whole squad needs to collectively pull its finger out of their backside and start playing as a team again.

decent shout about the pressing, but unfortunately the dirty side of the game seems to be shunned by most on this board. how many times have you read , we need rom, kev, Eto'o and ross playing. The mere mention of naisy meets with the same stuff , he can't play with rom no quality etc.

We very rarely get beaten at home, In the last 16 home games we have been beaten 4 times (Palace twice, City and Chelsea), Drew 3 and won 9, This season we have seen two defeats, One was to the league leaders, We are doing what Everton always do, Drawing against teams we should be beating

The main problem we have is not having game changers in midfield, We lack real quality in the middle of the park in regards to going forward, I posted yesterday that Liverpool spend 25m on one AM and our three options cost £0, We need players who can pick a killer pass without chewing the ball and slowing the play down, Lukaku's lack of service is down to the poor options behind him, Barkley may be that player but at the moment he is a light years away, His form has been that bad he should be dropped

I agree about Barkley, I just don't think he deserves his place when everyone's fit on current form. Problem is he has god like status amongst evertonians and on here. It would be good to have a balanced thread about ross where people could view there thoughts about him without being stoned as blasphemers.

 

[blarger]

The defending has dropped two levels and the pressing and zip in the passing is slower.