Erm....Hibbert

[lordyefc]

One thing about Hibbert is that he uses the booking as a fallback - i.e. he throws himself into tackles, making sure that he gets either the ball or the man (usually both) knowing that he can afford to miss one. Once he gets a booking, he has to stand off, at which point he's a MUCH more ineffective defender.

On Satuday, he has booked within 10 minutes, and after that he's half the player (and I do generally like Hibbert as a defensive full back).

I know managers are loathe to embarrass a player by taking him off in the first half of a cup final, but I really think he should have been taken off after 30 minutes. Malouda has been world class for the last 6 months, and giving him free run in the first half was a bad decision.

One of 3 or 4 really, really strange decisions by Moyes on Saturday (and I'm one of his biggest fans).

 

[Yard Dog]

He was booked after 8 minutes, so he couldnt afford to get near to Malouda.

Osman didnt cover for him once, and often let Cole and Malouda double team Hibbert.

He was f*cked, but i think we should have brought on Rodwell and thrown Neville in at RB

 

[ToffeeDan]

Moyes should probably have moved Neville over to the right to support Hibbert and put Osman in the middle... or something like that

 

[Tennessee Blue Mike]

The whole right side was lacking imo. Hibbert was wounded when he received his yellow so early around the seven minute mark. Ossie just made things worse. Malouda hadn't looked that good all year and when Cashly Cole missed a sitter on that side Moyes had no choice in his half time change. I had hoped Rodewell would have come in for Ossie but it didn't happen. I usually sing the praises of both but It was all there to see this game. Both couldn't survive the heat factor.

 

[McBain]

Using the fact he got a yellow card doesn't wash. He was caught out time again by terrible positioning and a distinct lack of pace on the day.

I dont think he was 100%. I hope Jacobsen sticks around, he looks class.

 

[Tennessee Blue Mike]

Agreed. Once he bloods in with the players like Bainsey had to do I think he will be our regular next term.

 

[heatmeiser]

He got booked early on & seemed petrified to throw in a challenge from then on in case he got sent off. Leave him to play to his strengths & he can do a good job but if you take solid tackling away from him he's an awful player because he has very little else to his game.

He's had a really good season though & I'm not ready to jib him off after a poor 45 minutes, even if it was in the biggest game of the season. We haven't got massive amounts of cash to throw around & it'd be better spent elsewhere so he just needs to put the game behind him & get back to being a brilliant tackler

Obviously this.

 

[lordyefc]

Osman didnt cover for him once, and often let Cole and Malouda double team Hibbert.

He was f*cked, but i think we should have brought on Rodwell and thrown Neville in at RB

To be fair on Osman, he was very clearly told to mark inside as much as possible to cover the threat throught the middle. When they had the ball, Saha was staying on our right wing, though obviously not tracking back ( I don't know if that came accross on the telly, as it was probably 30 yards out of shot for most of the half). I assume the idea was to stop Cole going forward by using Saha as an implied threat, but in practice it just meant that when we had the ball and hit it long to Fellaini, Saha was 50 yards away.

 

[Philw]

Hibbert wasn't just suffering from the effects of the yellow card and lack of support from osman imo. His positioning was very poor at times, drifting far inside and leaving malouda with too much room, and he looked very slow at times, especially on the ball that deflected back off Felliani's tackle in the first half. He had to come off, but to me it looked like more than just a bad game, that there must be something wrong. Otherwise he was seriously dire

 

[Philw]

To be fair on Osman, he was very clearly told to mark inside as much as possible to cover the threat throught the middle. When they had the ball, Saha was staying on our right wing, though obviously not tracking back ( I don't know if that came accross on the telly, as it was probably 30 yards out of shot for most of the half). I assume the idea was to stop Cole going forward by using Saha as an implied threat, but in practice it just meant that when we had the ball and hit it long to Fellaini, Saha was 50 yards away.

It did seem strange to me that Saha was often so far away from the action. Even if those were his instructions defensively tho, as soon as he sees Fell going for the ball he should be making an effort to get close to him.

 

[trebilcock66]

Leave the lad alone. He's probably gutted about the whole thing...

Hiddink spotted him as a weak link - along with Osman. So they went left wing everytime they got the ball. Hence, Tony was bound to be under more pressure than anyone else.

Good spot by Guus.

 

[Philw]

Leave the lad alone. He's probably gutted about the whole thing...

Hiddink spotted him as a weak link - along with Osman. So they went left wing everytime they got the ball. Hence, Tony was bound to be under more pressure than anyone else.

Good spot by Guus.

A lurker on here now doubt .

 

[kenada_blue]

Hibbert wasn't just suffering from the effects of the yellow card and lack of support from osman imo. His positioning was very poor at times, drifting far inside and leaving malouda with too much room, and he looked very slow at times, especially on the ball that deflected back off Felliani's tackle in the first half. He had to come off, but to me it looked like more than just a bad game, that there must be something wrong. Otherwise he was seriously dire

Ossie is rubbish at supporting the right back going forward or back. He's not a winger, so never offers anything to the right back.

I was at the West Ham game a few weeks ago and you could see Jacobsen trying to hit the wing but flat out couldnt because ossie was tucked inside leaving Jacobsen wide open if he moved. Not once did Ossie go wide and offer a pass.

 

[BadWool76]

My old man who buys the Daily Mail has just shown a diagram printed in there showing the flank chelsea attacked on saturday . Do you know which flank had so many marks on it you couldnt see the pitch ? Yes you guessed it a certian Mr Hibberts patch . Tony Hibbert is a targeted weak link . He is the one player oppossing teams KNOW they can ruthlessly exploit . If your comfortable with that because in your eyes its " Once a hero always a hero " then good for you . Meanwhile in the REAL world we can see Hibbert for what he was , is and always will be ie NOT GOOD ENOUGH . If there is one thing I hate its Evertonians who defend the undefendable .

 

[Neiler]

Hes a good steady player, he will never reach international standard but over the course of a 50 game season he will always be valuable. If you had 50 mill to spend it would be an area to improve, i doubht we have so lets not hammer him, i suspect he has the blind loaylty and strong sense of Everton identity that Moyes likes in and around his squad, so hes going nowhere.

Nev for me is still the best right full at the club and id like to him their come Aug.