Blessings in disguise

[AdamTheGreatOneB]

Nev coming back had made a load of diffrance. He leadership skills have really helped.
Cahill was the best player against Sunderland. An now Artetas back, he'll get back in the goals. As 90% of all Cahills goals for Everton have come while Arteta was on the pitch.

I'm with you. I'm very happy to have Nev back in the side. He certainly makes a difference. And I'm not going to moan about super Tim Cahill either, the goals will come. He's bound to get one at Analfield.

 

[Rugby Toffee]

We certainly missed his leadership.Just need him and Donovan to communicate better and I wil be happy. Also Heitinga at CB has made us look more solid at the back.

 

[billycopper]

Presuming that we start next season with everyone fit, our line up will be something like this:

__________Howard
Neville Jagielka Heitinga Baines
__________Fellaini
_Osman Arteta Cahill Pienaar
___________Saha

Subs: Mucha, Yobo, Bily, Yakubu, Rodwell, Vaughan, Gosling
Reserves: Nash, Hibbert, Coleman, Senderos, Distin, Duffy, Baxter, Wallace, Anichebe, Agard

We may release Senderos and Nash at the end of the season. There's not an awful lot of strength below the matchday squad of 18. Given that we have to be mindful of our wage bill and the fact that Moyes is reticent to rotate players, 18-20 senior professionals and a handful of youth team products is probably about right. It does look a little thin though.

I still think that we need more variety in midfield and upfront too. We tend to have small, busy midfielders and penalty box poachers. I'd like to see us have the option of bringing on a target man (eg. Carew, Crouch, Heskey), a link up player (eg. Beardsley, Arshavin, Berbatov) or a speed demon (eg. Agbonlahor, Walcott, Bellamy) to trouble opposing defences. Saha, Yakubu, Vaughan and Anichebe are all a bit samey. It's like playing Fowler and Owen or Keane and Defoe together. Sure they'll still score goals because they're good players, but neither will be fully effective because they'll want to both occupy the same areas on the pitch.

 

[faddy the blue]

Very good post but blessing in disguise was in the defense mainly for me. Billy was gona come in anyway so bad luck in the midfield more than anything. That's where the goals are created.

CL next season.

 

[Neiler]

The more i think of this the more its an excellent origanal post, two things have been our problem this year defending or more conceading and not being able to break teams down who play spoiling tactics against us, if we are to be a CL team we will have to learn to do this - both the manager and the team.

 

[ijjysmith]

Whilst nobody would wish injuries on to our key players, I feel that there could be some benefits to the situation.

If we hadn't lost Jags then maybe Heitinga would still be labouring in midfield or at full back. Hibbert wouldn't have been called up at centreback, for which he may finally have won over a large proportion of the fans. And Coleman probably wouldn't have got the game time that he's had in the league to show what he can do.

If Neville hadn't picked up an injury then Fellaini would most likely still be playing in a more advanced role rather than his preferred midfield anchor position, where he has arguably become our player of the season.

If Arteta hadn't suffered such a long spell on the sidelines then perhaps Pienaar wouldn't have taken on the onus of being our main creative outlet- a responsibility that has caused him to have far more of an impact on games and to up his goalscoring ratio. We may well have not brought Donovan in if Arteta, Gosling and Osman had remained fit.

If all of our strikers hadn't suffered some form of injury or another, and if we had two fit forwards available at any one time, we possibly would have switched to a 4-4-2 formation. In which case we might not have discovered the fluid midfield balance that we're currently enjoying, with Bily, Donovan and Pienaar interchanging.

If we hadn't suffered such adversity, some players may have coasted through this season rather than pushing themselves, especially on the back of reaching Wembley last year.

In seasons past we've tended to fall away in the league come March time, as fatigue takes it's toll on a small squad. This season could be quite the opposite. We're currently about 10 points away from the European places and pushing the top teams all the way even without all our best players. Having Arteta, Jagielka, Yakubu, Anichebe, Vaughan, Rodwell, Gosling, Neville and Yobo back and, more importantly fresh, at this stage of the season, could see us charge up the table to claim a European place.

In another month's time, the concern for Moyes will be how he keeps everyone happy. Seeing a bench last weekend of Nash, Senderos, Coleman, Arteta, Bily, Vaughan and Anichebe was very pleasing. Add Jags, Yakubu, Rodwell, Gosling and Yobo in to that we start to look very strong.

Swear to god i read that as anus first time. But good post.

 

[billycopper]

I agree. Last year we had a clean sheet record. That wasn't all down to Tim Howard or Phil Jagielka. As a side we were throwing our bodies on the line and closing down quickly. We're possibly sitting off people a little bit too much at the moment and giving them too much space. Having Jags and Pip in defence will help to sharpen up the players around them.

Going forward, we know that we have the personnel to match most teams. Against City we looked like a threat from all areas of the pitch. Just take a look at the number of players who have found the back of the net this season. With the likes of Arteta, Osman, Fellaini, Pienaar, Bily, Cahill, Saha, Yakubu, Vaughan and Donovan at our disposal I think it's only a matter of time before we give someone a real spanking.

I can't explain what happened against Birmingham in the cup. We lost sight of the progressive, expansive football that had marked the games leading up to it and reverted back to percentage football with long, diagonal punts upfield from the back. We're better than that. Maybe we need to learn a little patience and the art of teasing a packed defence out of position?

Our next goal must be to overtake Birmingham. We have a winnable game away at Wigan, whilst they play host to Spurs- a game that I see ending in a draw. That would be enough to see us edging ahead of them on goal difference. After that we begin the persuit of Villa, who are having problems finding the back of the net at the moment.

 

[GoGoSox]

If nobody had been hurt, Everton would be fighting for a CL spot right now rather than sitting 9th in the table and wondering whether Europe is even attainable?

Everton can just win the Europa League to get automatic qualification for next season. Then the gap between 9th and the last qualification spot will be meaningless.

See how easy it is. Just tell the boys to go win Europa League.

 

[Neiler]

I agree. Last year we had a clean sheet record. That wasn't all down to Tim Howard or Phil Jagielka. As a side we were throwing our bodies on the line and closing down quickly. We're possibly sitting off people a little bit too much at the moment and giving them too much space. Having Jags and Pip in defence will help to sharpen up the players around them.

Going forward, we know that we have the personnel to match most teams. Against City we looked like a threat from all areas of the pitch. Just take a look at the number of players who have found the back of the net this season. With the likes of Arteta, Osman, Fellaini, Pienaar, Bily, Cahill, Saha, Yakubu, Vaughan and Donovan at our disposal I think it's only a matter of time before we give someone a real spanking.

I can't explain what happened against Birmingham in the cup. We lost sight of the progressive, expansive football that had marked the games leading up to it and reverted back to percentage football with long, diagonal punts upfield from the back. We're better than that. Maybe we need to learn a little patience and the art of teasing a packed defence out of position?

Our next goal must be to overtake Birmingham. We have a winnable game away at Wigan, whilst they play host to Spurs- a game that I see ending in a draw. That would be enough to see us edging ahead of them on goal difference. After that we begin the persuit of Villa, who are having problems finding the back of the net at the moment.

The back line this year and probably as a team we havent been good defensively. I put it down to injuries lack of consistencey in partnerships and the loss of Jags, Neville and Lescott (we have missed him and the balance he brought). Hopefully from now untill the end of the season we can see the forming of a consistent partnership, signs are good put the jury is still out on the evidence of keeping clean sheets for me.

I beleive as good as we have and can be fully fit, we still havent learned how to break teams down who play spoiling tactics and becasue of our defensive frailties we have been vulnerable on the counter, im talking Fulham, Brum, Stoke, Wolves, Hull etc here.

Perhaps we have lacked the options with players being out and not having the talent options or varience in our play. Hpwever what dissapointed me most last week with good squad options and depth was when we couldnt break Brum down we resorted to the long diagnols and cross after cross in the hope of getting a lucky break on the second ball. The squad is good enough not to do that and beat teams with quality, to be a really top team we have to develop that. If you look at probably our best performences this season they have come against teams who have let us play and went at games - quality vs quality - Chelsea, Arsenal, City, Villa etc. Its the teams who play two deep banks of four we cant play against hence all the draws and occasional losses. Which is why i am not as pessimistic as some about our chances in Feb andnot as hopefull as others with our apperent "easy run in". Mind you other teams have struggled as well at times with a lot of freak results this season.

Excellent posts by the way mate!

 

[ToxtethBlue]

Presuming that we start next season with everyone fit, our line up will be something like this:

__________Howard
Neville Jagielka Heitinga Baines
__________Fellaini
_Osman Arteta Cahill Pienaar
___________Saha

Subs: Mucha, Yobo, Bily, Yakubu, Rodwell, Vaughan, Gosling
Reserves: Nash, Hibbert, Coleman, Senderos, Distin, Duffy, Baxter, Wallace, Anichebe, Agard

We may release Senderos and Nash at the end of the season. There's not an awful lot of strength below the matchday squad of 18. Given that we have to be mindful of our wage bill and the fact that Moyes is reticent to rotate players, 18-20 senior professionals and a handful of youth team products is probably about right. It does look a little thin though.

I still think that we need more variety in midfield and upfront too. We tend to have small, busy midfielders and penalty box poachers. I'd like to see us have the option of bringing on a target man (eg. Carew, Crouch, Heskey), a link up player (eg. Beardsley, Arshavin, Berbatov) or a speed demon (eg. Agbonlahor, Walcott, Bellamy) to trouble opposing defences. Saha, Yakubu, Vaughan and Anichebe are all a bit samey. It's like playing Fowler and Owen or Keane and Defoe together. Sure they'll still score goals because they're good players, but neither will be fully effective because they'll want to both occupy the same areas on the pitch.

I disagree with that.

The likes of Keane, Fowler, Owen and Defoe can't play together because they are all small, lightweight strikers with limited all round games. They all (usually) have one or two attributes that they are excellent at, usually pace and finishing ability.

Anichebe isn't a poacher, he's big and powerful, plays with his back to goal and tries to hold the ball up. Vaughan is pacy and looks to run in behind, a speed demon so to speak, he's also good in the air and combative.

Yakubu and Saha are both all rounders. Good finishers, technically gifted and both have the physiques and height in Saha's case to go with it. Yakubu's ability to link up play is vastly underrated, Saha can hold onto the ball a bit too long at times but he's still very capable of holding up the ball, he also have excellent aerial ability, as he's proved during his years in England.

We certainly need more variety in midfield, but our attacking options look good when they are all fighting fit. Pace, power, technical ability, movement and finishing ability. We just have to keep them fit really.

 

[everton72]

just a thought on owen being small he seems more interested in horses is he not small enough to become a jocky or is it to much hard work lmao

 

[Upper Sturry Sherbets]

Everton can just win the Europa League to get automatic qualification for next season. Then the gap between 9th and the last qualification spot will be meaningless.

See how easy it is. Just tell the boys to go win Europa League.

Do you realize how hard it is to win the UEFA cup, or whatever damn name they call it these days, look at the caliber of teams participating this season, hand on heart, can anyone see an Everton win in the final, because i'm having a hard time envisaging such a scene. Nobody can say for sure what will happen from now until the last game, but common sense, for me at least, dictates the trophy will not be heading to Goodison Park this season.

If they do win it however, I will apologize unreservedly, but I think I'm in a safe position here.

Maybe I'm still a little hacked off over last weekend and what might have been.

 

[billycopper]

It's difficult to pick a partnership from Saha, Yakubu, Vaughan and Anichebe that would work satisfactorily and be as complimentary as Beardsley and Lineker, Dalglish and Rush or Heskey and Owen for example. You'd think, with his stature, that Jo would have provided a different dimension, but he didn't use his height to his advantage. Moses could be an idea, as he's quick and tricky.

It's correct that we do find it diffcult to break down stubborn defenses. The way that I would suggest that we remedy that, and the way that works for the 'big 4' sides, is to stretch the play. Rather than pumping long, predictable balls forward, give it simply to our wide players. If Bily and Pienaar are playing on their preferred flanks they should be encouraged to beat the full back and get a cross in from the byeline more often instead of coming inside.

Our fullbacks haven't been offering enough width either. When Coleman and Baines have got forward it generally results in a goal scoring chance. In the games when those players have been more adventurous, namely against Spurs and City respectively, we haven't been caught on the counter-attack because of it, thus negating that argument. If you look at Gary Neville, Evra, Ashley Cole, Ivanovic and Sagna, they cover more ground than any other player, bursting a gut to overlap their midfielder, and they provide innumerable assists because of it. I'd like to see Baines and Coleman doing the same for us.

 

[ToxtethBlue]

I disagree, none of the players have had a chance to build a partnership because of the formation we play and the lack of balance in midfield. With Arteta returning and Fellaini improving all the time in his new role, that might change.

I'd like to ask why Saha and Yakubu couldn't play together? Both excellent finishers, both physically strong, both players are technically gifted and in Saha's case, he's very capable in the air.

I don't agree that Yakubu is just a 'finisher', it's one of the worst myths in football. He's very good at holding the ball up and linking up with his midfield, his relationship with Steven Pienaar especially. Alot of the time you'll see him drifting out to the left handside and coming deep to get the ball. Just look at his pass to Gosling in the 4-0 at Hull or his bit of play leading up to Pienaar's goal against Burnley. He posseses alot of vision and awareness, a very underrated footballer really.

 

[billycopper]

I disagree, none of the players have had a chance to build a partnership because of the formation we play and the lack of balance in midfield. With Arteta returning and Fellaini improving all the time in his new role, that might change.

I'd like to ask why Saha and Yakubu couldn't play together? Both excellent finishers, both physically strong, both players are technically gifted and in Saha's case, he's very capable in the air.

I don't agree that Yakubu is just a 'finisher', it's one of the worst myths in football. He's very good at holding the ball up and linking up with his midfield, his relationship with Steven Pienaar especially. Alot of the time you'll see him drifting out to the left handside and coming deep to get the ball. Just look at his pass to Gosling in the 4-0 at Hull or his bit of play leading up to Pienaar's goal against Burnley. He posseses alot of vision and awareness, a very underrated footballer really.

I guess we'll have to agree to disagree. Moyes has tried bringing Yakubu on to compliment Saha when we've been chasing games and it just hasn't worked. They're both players who thrive on finding a yard of space in the penalty area. With two of them doing the same job, they end up closing down each others' space. Ultimately it means that one of them ends up pulling wide or dropping deep, which is not where you want them to be.