Match Thread Everton 2-4 Brentford. Sun Jan 4th. 3pm

[Eggs]

Moyes inviting a load of justified scrutiny today for changing the back four after a great performance last time out. It also impacted Dibling who was completely isolated whenever he got the ball - O’Brien didn’t even seem to want to pass to him. Completely nullified our right hand side. Poor from Moyes today

….except there’s been plenty of fine performances this season with that back. Key to moving O’Brien back was not having the risk of Patterson at RB but I agree the CBs did look exposed.

In that first 10mins they were poor, gifting us a few chances by overplaying at the back but they gradually took control and we struggled with their system. I actually wondered if we might match their system in the 2nd half but Moyes opted for a hybrid and we conceded those two quick goals after half-time.

Very poor performance, they were brighter, smarter and more professional than us.

It’s not an option, but if it was I’d go for the lamb scouse a MoM, as it’s not Grealish is my selection.

 

[NSNO1878EFC]

With the players that aren’t available at the moment, I don’t think the inconsistency we’re seeing at the moment is a surprise with the games coming thick and fast. We need to try and stay in the mix until we are near full strength again and maybe get a couple of reinforcements in.

 

[Oddson]

one of them games where we were crap from start to finish, Brentford had a game plan and executed it perfectly.

But let’s take a moment to applaud Thiago’s performance, he’s a proper number 9, his hold up play, his running in behind & his sh*t housery was gold, pure snide player, reminds me of Diego Costa, type of character we need leading the line.

 

[ValBlue]

Easy to say after the game but why Change the defence.
O’Brien did really well at centre back in the Forest game.
We never looked comfortable in defence today.

We play 3 center backs for defensive stability (or cowardice, depending on your outlook) and we’ve conceded 3+ goals in numerous games. Having 3 lumps at the back doesn’t mean you’re going to be solid, it means you’re going to be unbalanced.

 

[BackRow PE6]

….except there’s been plenty of fine performances this season with that back. Key to moving O’Brien back was not having the risk of Patterson at RB but I agree the CBs did look exposed.

In that first 10mins they were poor, gifting us a few chances by overplaying at the back but they gradually took control and we struggled with their system. I actually wondered if we might match their system in the 2nd half but Moyes opted for a hybrid and we conceded those two quick goals after half-time.

Very poor performance, they were brighter, smarter and more professional than us.

It’s not an option, but if it was I’d go for the lamb scouse a MoM, as it’s not Grealish is my selection.

Big fan of players earning their place in the team after they’ve been out or being rewarded with it when they’ve come in and contributed to a good performance. Mixing it up seldom pays off

 

[GrandOldTeam]

Tell you what. That Thiago was good today.

 

[Sadken]

Maybe we looked good v forest because they are crap.

 

[JobForTheMoyes]

At least it was entertaining!

 

[PhilM]

I thought we started okay, but that first goal sucked all belief out of us. The last five times we've gone behind, we've lost, and you could see it today.

I ain't sure what Tarkowski was thinking with that ball, and then Thiago just wandered away from Keane for the easiest of finishes.

After that, I think the final score of 4-2 flatters us, because they bossed the game. Our passing was awful, movement non-existent, and the defending...

 

[Pootsy]

What a wonderful walk back home that was. Look, without going ballistic at the easy targets, our full backs were atrocious this game. Single handedly lost us any chance of consistently creating chances. Dibling (who was poor, not defending him), was consistently marked by about 3 Brentford players on the byline and O’Brien was on the half way line. No wonder he couldn’t do anything going forward. On the left, Mykolenko’s refusal to do any run beyond Grealish just means the other team can throw 3 players on him without worry of an overlap. Not saying we win that game with Aznou and Patterson, but the balance of the team with a center back and a bad footballer at RB and LB currently means 15th is our cap.

Passing through the middle was poor but it’s easy to crowd the middle when the other teams know we offer nothing on the width. Beto the only one who showed some intent when he come on.

They put 4 past us without being amazing, that tells the story in itself. Moyes couldn’t wait to change a winning team AGAIN to parachute back in a defensive player. Guarantee the same team starts against Wolves and struggles in rhe exact same areas.

100% correct but I’ll add that our over reliance on passing backwards allowed them to press us further.

Having more confident FBs would have allowed us the ability to keep the ball higher up the pitch.

Diblings workrate was shocking today. Much more learning from him is required.

 

[Eggs]

Maybe we looked good v forest because they are crap.

…we’ve convincingly lost 3 home games, I think we just struggle to take the game to teams at home. KDH in particular is a huge loss.

 

[ForeverEverton]

Conceded 12 goals in our last 5 home games.... unfortunately a very poor trend starting to take shape here.

No idea why Moyes brought Keane straight back.

 

[gonetomorrow]

I'm consoling myself with the thought that we've got a lot of key men out. It's early days etc.

 

[PhilM]

100% correct but I’ll add that our over reliance on passing backwards allowed them to press us further.

Having more confident FBs would have allowed us the ability to keep the ball higher up the pitch.

Diblings workrate was shocking today. Much more learning from him is required.

You can potentially get away with having one full back who is limited going forward, yet two is criminal, and it's limiting us significantly.

As others have said, Grealish is being limited because he knows it's either that he got to go backward or some magic to get the ball between the lines.

Mykolenko, while okay defensively, gets a nosebleed past the half-way line, cannot cross a ball and will overlap. O'Brien is similar in ways, too.

The gab between him and Dibling today was awful, and he slows the right hand side down. It's forcing us to play through the middle or lump balls in.

 

[Eggs]

Conceded 12 goals in our last 5 home games.... unfortunately a very poor trend starting to take shape here.

No idea why Moyes brought Keane straight back.

…..big concern is another conceded from a corner.