- Status
Pickford (again)
Dunc's elbow
Player Valuation: £15m
Jimmy Mc for outfield, but Jordan again for me. Bolasie ok and getting fitter.
Yarrgh
Player Valuation: £70m
I binned the match off and had pizza and wine.
I'll get involved for the fa cup, but we're safe and it's just was (and sounds like it is still) woeful to watch. Well done to Sam for keeping us up with only a multi-million team full of internationals, but I have lost interest this season now. I await to be called back by the spark of something but it looks like I will have to wait until Diego or Paulo rock up in the summer.
I'll get involved for the fa cup, but we're safe and it's just was (and sounds like it is still) woeful to watch. Well done to Sam for keeping us up with only a multi-million team full of internationals, but I have lost interest this season now. I await to be called back by the spark of something but it looks like I will have to wait until Diego or Paulo rock up in the summer.
Kantareller
Player Valuation: £35m
2 losses and Pickford is the best in both.
Depressing. No disrespect to Pickford in that, it's just a shame we don't have any outfield players that can make his saves worth anything.
Depressing. No disrespect to Pickford in that, it's just a shame we don't have any outfield players that can make his saves worth anything.
Bluecranks
Player Valuation: £950k
Wierd start to the second half after a decent first half display. We didn't create a lot and looked like conceding every time Utd broke, but at least we gave them a game of sorts.
Compared to the last two games that was an improvement, whatever the result.
Crowd was strangely subdued for a bank hol game against Utd. Hardly made a peep until that McCarthy tackle woke them up. People seem to turn up with low expectations, which is understandable.
Compared to the last two games that was an improvement, whatever the result.
Crowd was strangely subdued for a bank hol game against Utd. Hardly made a peep until that McCarthy tackle woke them up. People seem to turn up with low expectations, which is understandable.
Jimmy Mac for me.
I was on the verge of walking out the stadium in disgust when that tackle came in and woke the crowd up.
But overall, yet another awful day at Goodison.
Albeit the first half was a bit livelier than anyone had a right to expect after the last three performances.
Honestly, I am in despair with this club, this team.
And I have never been as disinterested in EFC.
I was on the verge of walking out the stadium in disgust when that tackle came in and woke the crowd up.
But overall, yet another awful day at Goodison.
Albeit the first half was a bit livelier than anyone had a right to expect after the last three performances.
Honestly, I am in despair with this club, this team.
And I have never been as disinterested in EFC.
Midnitemike
Player Valuation: £1m
Pickford kept us in the game again
Whoever put the sedatives in the half time tea needs sacked in the morning
Whoever put the sedatives in the half time tea needs sacked in the morning
PeregrineT
Player Valuation: £35m
I have to say the start of the second half must be attributed to the manager, something that was said, or even just a lack of being able to motivate the team who at least had played decent in the first half.
Jr. Yanik
Player Valuation: £225k
Starting off, the lineup looked VERY attacking or a Big Sam side.
Pickford
Holgate-Keane-Williams-Martina
Schneiderlin-Davies
Vlasic-Rooney-Bolasie
Niasse
And... that's what we did! we attacked, and we kept a fair bit of possession, and even managed to quell united on the counter. Holgate and Martina both had a hard task to keep the wide players contained, but it was fairly level. Pickford scrambled a few times, but they didn't trouble us too much. Meanwhile, Bolasie showed a few surges forward, and Vlasic also showed the technical ability on the ball that other wingers like Lennon are lacking. He and Davies especially got stuck in, and it was especially fun to see our little frenchman Schneiderlin fling himself over 6'3" Pogba and win a header. For him, it wasn't his best game, but his passing was less negative, but he's still lacking an energy and composure that we've seen from him before.
Rooney looked alright, he wasn't completely solid in possession, but he was distributing the ball well, and playing in that low-lying regista roll, with some movement upfield. Davies also looked bright, and was chasing down everything in sight. He isn't afraid to put a challenge in, and he's looking a bit more like his old self. Meanwhile, Niasse had a very polarizing game. Many expected MUCH more from him, but others see his running as a good improvement. He nearly got through on goal if not for a last effort to stop him by Rojo who just cleared the ball away. Later, he would have a header fizz just wide.
Halftime rolled around... and everything went stale.
Our attacking impetus seemed gone, and United were all over us. We weren't hassling Pogba enough... listen to the commentators and they talk about his "genius" in the 2nd half, but kindly ignore the great work to shut him down in the 1st half by our team.
And that's really what happened on the macro-scale too, our team let them look amazing. Vlasic didn't track a Pogba run, and a Martina clearance just saved us an embarrassing goal. But moving down the right again, Pogba finds space, passes a ball into Martial, and he cooly places it into the top corner, with Pickford scrambling. Williams came out to make a last ditch challenge, but frankly a central midfielder should have picked up his run given his positioning.
I'll go ahead and talk about the second goal, which is just annoying. Nobody has the guts to bring him down, nobody has the legs to catch him, and Keane didn't have the heart to stand him up. Lingard for the first time in his United career has found some consistent goal scoring threat this season, and we played like amateurs. a brilliant top corner strike, and Pickford is beaten again.
But looking back at the tone of the match, three things failed us:
1. Fitness
our players ran out of gas, Vlasic looks good for the first 45-60 for me, but never seems to go beyond that. Rooney is still recovering from some form of flu, and Bolasie is only just back in the squad. Kenny didn't start because Sam doesn't want to overwork the team, and Gana is keeping that Hamstring safe and rested I suppose.
2. Halftime
it killed our momentum. the crowd was pretty excited, and our defense was no worse than there's. but at halftime, Mourinho got a team talk going, and he got them organized. I don't know what the hell Big Sam did, because we lost both attacking and defensive prowess in the 2nd half, and even our pressing was abysmal.
3. Substitutions
two key substitutions, at 1-0 we took off Rooney for McCarthy, and Bolasie for Lennon. On the face of things, it seemed as if it was trading creativity for industry. The problem? Bolasie didn't look near as tired as Vlasic, who failed to get a touch on the ball for most of the 2nd half. Meanwhile Rooney wasn't great, but offered an outlet to move forward off of. And how about our substitutes? Lennon was almost non existent, he had one good play where he beat a man, but he stayed very defensive. McCarthy on the other hand was great. Some crunching tackles, and the crowd roared back to life with his presence. I didn't see that coming, but sadly our midfield was too weak.
United slip through and score another, with DCL coming on for Niasse. Now, at 2-0, Sam might want to change that, and get Schneiderlin off, who was beginning to tire a bit also. Besides, If we get Tosun before Friday, we have another Striker against Liverpool, so running these boys into the ground isn't a great concern.
But no.
Off comes Niasse, and DCL proceeded to do his usual game: run around, take a few too many touches to control the ball, and offer very little threat without Rooney on the pitch to supply him.
meanwhile, Sigurdsson was able to catch up on whatever the news in Iceland is, (I know only one girl from there, and from what I've heard it's mostly a bunch of volcanoes) because Sam couldn't be asked to throw on a creative hard working player. of course not.
The starting lineup wasn't actually that bad, but what I would have done at half time is look at that team, and see that they're tiring. Get McCarthy on for Schneiderlin at halftime to quell United's attacking force, and get Sigurdsson on in a bit for a tiring Vlasic. Then have Bolasie and Sigurdsson swich wings: this does two things, it lets Sigurdsson cut in onto his more favored right foot and operate better, and then Bolasie meanwhile gets to run at a bit out of form Shaw, and cross more with his favored right foot.
Then you have options: if Rooney is fatigued, put Sigurdsson centrally and swap Rooney and Lennon. If we need more attacking options, get DCL on, if we need to sure up at the back then you can make a defensive formation change... but Sam made lackluster changes and we lost.
But some positives:
- Pickford made some outstanding saves, in a difficult game with the wind as terrible as it was. he still looks quality, and it took two amazing strikes to beat him.
- Vlasic and Holgate showed some good link up, for a pair not started too often recently together. hopefully against mid table opposition, the team IS learning to play positive and attacking, but United made us look average
- The Yannick Bolasie we all remember is still in there. a few times he lost possession, but he went past 2 defenders in a great surge of pace and skill. the boy has speed yet, and we'll be needing that this season.
- Schneiderlin wasn't pure garbage, and Davies looks to be energetic and attacking again. This is mostly a first half observation, but it's good to see them back in form.
- Kenny, Gana, and Sigurdsson should be 100% fit and rested for Liverpool (if Gana truly is moving past this hamstring knock). but hey, this is still a plus
- McCarthy looks like his old self from 3-4 years back. Even when the ENTIRE team was down and sluggish, he brought the crowd back to life with some great challenges, and a lot of running. his passing didn't seem terrible either, and if he could get some form going, that'd be a miracle.
Pickford
Holgate-Keane-Williams-Martina
Schneiderlin-Davies
Vlasic-Rooney-Bolasie
Niasse
And... that's what we did! we attacked, and we kept a fair bit of possession, and even managed to quell united on the counter. Holgate and Martina both had a hard task to keep the wide players contained, but it was fairly level. Pickford scrambled a few times, but they didn't trouble us too much. Meanwhile, Bolasie showed a few surges forward, and Vlasic also showed the technical ability on the ball that other wingers like Lennon are lacking. He and Davies especially got stuck in, and it was especially fun to see our little frenchman Schneiderlin fling himself over 6'3" Pogba and win a header. For him, it wasn't his best game, but his passing was less negative, but he's still lacking an energy and composure that we've seen from him before.
Rooney looked alright, he wasn't completely solid in possession, but he was distributing the ball well, and playing in that low-lying regista roll, with some movement upfield. Davies also looked bright, and was chasing down everything in sight. He isn't afraid to put a challenge in, and he's looking a bit more like his old self. Meanwhile, Niasse had a very polarizing game. Many expected MUCH more from him, but others see his running as a good improvement. He nearly got through on goal if not for a last effort to stop him by Rojo who just cleared the ball away. Later, he would have a header fizz just wide.
Halftime rolled around... and everything went stale.
Our attacking impetus seemed gone, and United were all over us. We weren't hassling Pogba enough... listen to the commentators and they talk about his "genius" in the 2nd half, but kindly ignore the great work to shut him down in the 1st half by our team.
And that's really what happened on the macro-scale too, our team let them look amazing. Vlasic didn't track a Pogba run, and a Martina clearance just saved us an embarrassing goal. But moving down the right again, Pogba finds space, passes a ball into Martial, and he cooly places it into the top corner, with Pickford scrambling. Williams came out to make a last ditch challenge, but frankly a central midfielder should have picked up his run given his positioning.
I'll go ahead and talk about the second goal, which is just annoying. Nobody has the guts to bring him down, nobody has the legs to catch him, and Keane didn't have the heart to stand him up. Lingard for the first time in his United career has found some consistent goal scoring threat this season, and we played like amateurs. a brilliant top corner strike, and Pickford is beaten again.
But looking back at the tone of the match, three things failed us:
1. Fitness
our players ran out of gas, Vlasic looks good for the first 45-60 for me, but never seems to go beyond that. Rooney is still recovering from some form of flu, and Bolasie is only just back in the squad. Kenny didn't start because Sam doesn't want to overwork the team, and Gana is keeping that Hamstring safe and rested I suppose.
2. Halftime
it killed our momentum. the crowd was pretty excited, and our defense was no worse than there's. but at halftime, Mourinho got a team talk going, and he got them organized. I don't know what the hell Big Sam did, because we lost both attacking and defensive prowess in the 2nd half, and even our pressing was abysmal.
3. Substitutions
two key substitutions, at 1-0 we took off Rooney for McCarthy, and Bolasie for Lennon. On the face of things, it seemed as if it was trading creativity for industry. The problem? Bolasie didn't look near as tired as Vlasic, who failed to get a touch on the ball for most of the 2nd half. Meanwhile Rooney wasn't great, but offered an outlet to move forward off of. And how about our substitutes? Lennon was almost non existent, he had one good play where he beat a man, but he stayed very defensive. McCarthy on the other hand was great. Some crunching tackles, and the crowd roared back to life with his presence. I didn't see that coming, but sadly our midfield was too weak.
United slip through and score another, with DCL coming on for Niasse. Now, at 2-0, Sam might want to change that, and get Schneiderlin off, who was beginning to tire a bit also. Besides, If we get Tosun before Friday, we have another Striker against Liverpool, so running these boys into the ground isn't a great concern.
But no.
Off comes Niasse, and DCL proceeded to do his usual game: run around, take a few too many touches to control the ball, and offer very little threat without Rooney on the pitch to supply him.
meanwhile, Sigurdsson was able to catch up on whatever the news in Iceland is, (I know only one girl from there, and from what I've heard it's mostly a bunch of volcanoes) because Sam couldn't be asked to throw on a creative hard working player. of course not.
The starting lineup wasn't actually that bad, but what I would have done at half time is look at that team, and see that they're tiring. Get McCarthy on for Schneiderlin at halftime to quell United's attacking force, and get Sigurdsson on in a bit for a tiring Vlasic. Then have Bolasie and Sigurdsson swich wings: this does two things, it lets Sigurdsson cut in onto his more favored right foot and operate better, and then Bolasie meanwhile gets to run at a bit out of form Shaw, and cross more with his favored right foot.
Then you have options: if Rooney is fatigued, put Sigurdsson centrally and swap Rooney and Lennon. If we need more attacking options, get DCL on, if we need to sure up at the back then you can make a defensive formation change... but Sam made lackluster changes and we lost.
But some positives:
- Pickford made some outstanding saves, in a difficult game with the wind as terrible as it was. he still looks quality, and it took two amazing strikes to beat him.
- Vlasic and Holgate showed some good link up, for a pair not started too often recently together. hopefully against mid table opposition, the team IS learning to play positive and attacking, but United made us look average
- The Yannick Bolasie we all remember is still in there. a few times he lost possession, but he went past 2 defenders in a great surge of pace and skill. the boy has speed yet, and we'll be needing that this season.
- Schneiderlin wasn't pure garbage, and Davies looks to be energetic and attacking again. This is mostly a first half observation, but it's good to see them back in form.
- Kenny, Gana, and Sigurdsson should be 100% fit and rested for Liverpool (if Gana truly is moving past this hamstring knock). but hey, this is still a plus
- McCarthy looks like his old self from 3-4 years back. Even when the ENTIRE team was down and sluggish, he brought the crowd back to life with some great challenges, and a lot of running. his passing didn't seem terrible either, and if he could get some form going, that'd be a miracle.
Runcornblue52
Player Valuation: £8m
Pickford....again
goodisonopheliac
Player Valuation: £30m
Pickford, and honourable mention to Macca.
ultimateblue
Player Valuation: £750k
Pickford again, worst player by a country mile Rooney
Pickford. The only one on that field i'd be arsed if he left.
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