Everton 0-1 Valencia Weds 7th August 2am

[slimspek]

Don't think we're going to be playing with a back 4 very often based on that performance. It was great to see Oveido, Barkley, and Deulofeu and I think we're going to see a lot more of them. Shame we couldn't see Duffy or Vellios.

 

[Deco]

To be fair, I thought Valencia played fantastic. Played the ball around brilliantly, we really do lack the players who can do this.

Fellaini had a good game again in all fairness.

Naismith our best player without a doubt.

 

[Goat]

Don't think we're going to be playing with a back 4 very often based on that performance. It was great to see Oveido, Barkley, and Deulofeu and I think we're going to see a lot more of them. Shame we couldn't see Duffy or Vellios.

Im not sure how work that out mate, we conceded 1 goal, with isnt ideal, but I dont think defence is the problem.

We look utter dogpoopoo going forward.

 

[barkleys splinter]

To be fair, I thought Valencia played fantastic. Played the ball around brilliantly, we really do lack the players who can do this.

Fellaini had a good game again in all fairness.

Naismith our best player without a doubt.

Valencia were very average. We were toothless and devoid of any spark.

 

[quasi modo]

A big problem seems to be the two holding midfielders for me, they are very static and offer nothing really going forward. We also need more support in the and around the box, many a time the ball has been played into the box and no one is rushing in to meet the ball.

I am happy with the new approach and I think with time it will work. I also think the weather and heat played a big part in the game this morning, a few players looked dead on there feet.

I think we will see a big improvement come Sunday.

 

[Royal Blue Jersey]

Naismith and Oviedo made a surprisingly well-balanced and effective left side. Really looking hungry and confident this pre-season, the two of them

 

[Royal Blue Jersey]

Also who the f@ck is gonna pay £20 million+ for Fellaini. What an average player, the crab is back. Him and Gibson holding midfield does not work. Hope we ditch that system

 

[Titus Bramble]

Funny how much the mood changes between beating Juve on pens and losing 1-0 to Valencia.

The last week has seen us play a lot of football and cover a lot of miles. We were never going to be fully fit for this match, especially in the humidity.

I'm not going to work myself up until I see our competitive performances, a lot of our pre-season I think has been experimental. Martinez will be getting an idea of how he wants to set us up.

 

[slimspek]

Im not sure how work that out mate, we conceded 1 goal, with isnt ideal, but I dont think defence is the problem.

We look utter dogpoopoo going forward.

The defensive aspect of the team wasn't bad, it was the movement and fluidity of the whole team. You can give some credit to the heat but that shouldn't stop players from finding space to receive passes from Jags or Distin. With 3 cbs and 2 wing backs, we played a higher tempo and more forward passing game.

 

[dannyboy]

Also who the f@ck is gonna pay £20 million+ for Fellaini. What an average player, the crab is back. Him and Gibson holding midfield does not work. Hope we ditch that system

I've got my doubts about it as well. They're both playing far too deep at the moment, early days but it bares a startling similarity to the Arteta and Fellaini combination. On paper it looks brilliant but in the flesh they're not complimenting each other.

 

[andy4efc]

Cant believe I just read someone said not only that Fellaini had a good game, that it was a good game "again".

Fellani was a passenger last night, not even arsed when he gives the ball away. Gibson was just as poor but at least he put some effort in and tried to win the ball back

 

[quasi modo]

Cant believe I just read someone said not only that Fellaini had a good game, that it was a good game "again".

Fellani was a passenger last night, not even arsed when he gives the ball away. Gibson was just as poor but at least he put some effort in and tried to win the ball back

I thought he was very poor if not the worst of a bad bunch last night.

 

[Sideliner]

Gibson and Fellaini were both slow in defence and in helping the backs to get the ball forward -
Fellaini was totally out of position with their goal -
most of the players looked disinterested -
but they have been travelling far and playing top class opposition - taking its toll - and they have not disgraced us -
we played better sides in pre-season than most other PL clubs -
lets hope Roberto can gell them into a strong side when the season starts
Delafue was playing against a top draw left back who outsmarted him tonight - he will face some weaker leftbacks in some PL matches

 

[chicoazul]

EVERTON VS VALENCIA WEDS 7TH AUGUST 2AM

Valencia's badge has a bat on it, as do many sporting clubs in this region. Whilst the origin of this tradition is unsure, it seems to date back to King Peter IV of Aragon, ruler of much of Eastern Spain in the 14th century, who wore armour featuring a dragon as a play on Peter D'Aragon. The red and yellow stripes are also remnants of the Aragon coat of arms.


Who are we playing then. Valencia? Alright.


After promising performances against Juve and Real Madrid, we're now matched up against the other Spanish champions, the champions of Valencia, Valencia.

In actuality Valencia haven't been champions of anything since 2008 when Silva, Mata, Villa and co. won them the Copa del Rey. Since then they've still been quite good but done a bit of an Everton in that they sell their best players every year and still manage to have no money. This year they've sacrificed Soldado, who's been their main man for the last few years and will be a big miss for them up front. Like us though, they're still a big club, pay good wages for Spain and generally sign cool players as replacements for their big guns. A few of the players they bring in are terrible despite having hairbands, ankle tape and wearing their socks over their knees, but the emphasis is always on technical quality, so you get a lot of people like me that enjoy them from afar.



They haven't really made any major additions yet this summer, having signed Javi Fuego from Vallecano as a joke, Oriol Romeu on loan from Chelsea and Haedo 'Haedo' Valdez on a permanent deal having scored a few great goals for them whilst on loan last season. Of those three Fuego played against Inter, presumably allowing Banega to play the more attacking role he started to thrive in last season. Ever scored twice against the Italians and is possibly the best player in the world, certainly the pick of the current crop of an always strong Argentinian influence at the club. Sergio Canales unfortunately is still injured so he'll be stuck home doing rehab tuning into the game on Canales+. Most of their squad is quite good and as a rule they're usually tactically sound, though they do have a new manager (again) so expect lots of shuffling around and strange players getting a few minutes.

As for Everton, Roberto seems to be convinced that everything we've done so far has been the perfect preparation for us as we look towards increasing the phenomenal volume, so it's no surprise that he sees this game as a great opportunity. I think most fans would agree that the style of football we've played in pre-season has been good, if not somewhat lacking in end product. This unfortunately is the consequence of playing one striker, with the choices for that position being what they are, and a severe shortage of players that know how to score goals from elsewhere on the pitch. Nothing new for us there. Jelavic has scored a header from a corner, a nice little hit the goalkeeper and put in the rebound, and an excellent twisting finish against Real Madrid. Kone's hit the bar and has a strong face, Victor is still massive and Vellios is having a nice time taking pictures of himself with other people. Unless one of them suddenly becomes amazing we could still do with a top class centre forward.


Midfield and defence have looked ok without being spectacular, everyone has had a turn and no one's really looked out of place or uncomfortable with the new systems, which is quite impressive given the small amount of time they've had to work on them. Special mentions to Stones and Naismith who have both clearly worked hard to try to get up to the level required.

This game I'd expect us to match up Valencia's 4231 as Martinez seems to like testing the players against good opposition by playing a similar system. This may mean we'll see Ross Barkley vs Ever Banega in la battala de los 10s, which would be a great test for Ross and one I'd expect him to win with a ripped shot into the top corner from twenty yards. Realistically we'll probably play 352 and individual errors will cause us to lose the game, but it's nice to actually enjoy the pre-season football just for the football, no?


GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOL

Meant to say. Thought this was boss b-waps. Genuinely shoulder shook at a few points. Is right.

 

[billycopper]

Just watched the highlights and thought Valencia shaded it. Our defence didn't look too bad, although Stones has some learning to do as a rightback. Gibson and Fellaini aren't the most mobile of holding midfielders and they don't anticipate danger especially well. Barkley was pretty neat again and Deulofeu showed one or two flashes. Naismith looks to be a different player out on the left and Pienaar will have to raise his game to keep the shirt. We're still not quite reading each other or being selfish enough in front of goal, but I suppose that understandings and confidence will develop, especially as we have new players and systems at the moment. A draw would have probably been a fair result.