Match Thread Everton v Aston Villa (Thursday 16 July 18:00) - MotM Poll

[Bob Latchford]

"We are a weak team who can be beaten with enough intensity and enthusiasm.

"We have lost a lot of points which we shouldn't have done. We have been very inconsistent.

"We need to be self-critical, starting with the players, but also across the entire club."

Who's this then - Coleman, Tommy D, Pickford, cos it fits us to a tea, and I would love one of our senior pros to say something like this!

Nope - it's actually Leo Messi talking about Barca..

Seamus said much the same after the Wolves game.


He told Sky Sports: "Shocking. Really, really bad.

"There's no hiding places, they were better all over the pitch and we need to ask some serious questions of ourselves.

"We can all play badly, we can all misplace passes and crosses, but when the attitude's not there and the desire's not there...we weren't there today and we got beat by the better team.

"We need to have a good, hard look at ourselves and maybe we're not where we think we are. We're 12th in the table for a reason.

"As individuals in the dressing room, as a club, we need to be expecting better. Lads really need to dig in, myself included, and get our heads down - or that won't be good enough for this manager. It's most certainly not good enough for this football club."

"You can lose a game of football but all around the place I think we need more commitment on a daily basis and really come together."

 

[Bob Latchford]

first post on here, so here we go
Very disappointed from a Villa perspective, feels like we just threw away 2 points & our chance of survival.

It was also clear to see (and what many have suggested on here) that your midfield is clearly the weak part of your team (and then maybe Pickford, but that's a different conversation). Branthwaite was very solid I thought, and could have a bright future ahead of him. Not sure if y'all want or will be interested in Grealish either but could help solve part of the midfield problem y'all are facing right now.

yeah, your boys just seemed to lose their nerve towards the end which was totally understandable.
Douglas Luiz looks a decent player. What’s he been like week in week out this season?

 

[TyphooToffee]

It has to be JB for me. His composure reminded me of John Stones but without the tendency to overplay

 

[TyphooToffee]

I agree with all that but I m holding my judgement till I see one of the best managers in world football get a chance to unpick the mess he’s been left.

It's the only way to look at it

 

[TyphooToffee]

yeah, your boys just seemed to lose their nerve towards the end which was totally understandable.
Douglas Luiz looks a decent player. What’s he been like week in week out this season?

Not so sure it was losing their nerve. I think the introduction of Gordon and Walcott definitely made a difference.

 

[BigDuncis Blue]

How many times over the past few years have we had to say " oh it will get better". It never does. I'm sick to death of nothing games and excuses. It is bad.
we have spent 350 million and were struggling in mid table.
The minimum every season should be fighting for the top 4

This every day of the week....if we accept anything less then we get what we get.....total revamp in the playing dept...only safe players Rich and Digne...

 

[deipnosophist]

...herein this thread, the wailing and gnashing of angstful teeth surprises me somewhat. The team we support is Everton. If we all wanted less ground dentistry, we (like 99% of football fandom), wouldn't support the bunch of losers we do.
What has distorted the {club...supporter} equilibria is the obscene money the losers we support earn.

But don't hate the player...hate the mercenary system.

 

[Bob Latchford]

Not so sure it was losing their nerve. I think the introduction of Gordon and Walcott definitely made a difference.

Gordon and Walcott certainly helped but Villa scored and missed from a few yards out to make it 2-0 and this was after they had already come on. It was only after this that DCL shot wide and Theo scored. To me it seemed that they folded a bit in the last 10.

 

[edge]

first post on here, so here we go
Very disappointed from a Villa perspective, feels like we just threw away 2 points & our chance of survival.

It was also clear to see (and what many have suggested on here) that your midfield is clearly the weak part of your team (and then maybe Pickford, but that's a different conversation). Branthwaite was very solid I thought, and could have a bright future ahead of him. Not sure if y'all want or will be interested in Grealish either but could help solve part of the midfield problem y'all are facing right now.

You should have won that we were there for the taking.
At 1-0 and it being near the end your team went into its shell , understandable really with what was riding on the result and a lack of confidence throughout the team.
Thought your manager should have been a bit more proactive as you could see villa starting to pull back a bit and losing the momentum.
Be a big ask to stay up now hopefully you can beat Arsenal and West ham and results go your way elsewhere, sooner have villa stay up than Watford , Bournemouth or West ham who I wanted down, can't stand there owners, other two are just boring clubs.
Next season you will have to rebuild, like we will, cant see the likes of Grealish, luiz , Ming's or McMinn staying around if you go down.
Rate McMinn although he was quite yesterday that luiz outshone him a bit.

 

[blueblue]

From the players that were used yesterday I picked the youngest team I could( with a little licence for positions).
The average age of that team was under 23.

We also used 8 English players during the game. I would guess that is more than most teams.

 

[Sharpattack]

MOTM? That's an insult. This team just drew with a side that is almost certainly relegated and we only got the result because one of theirs missed more of a sitter when 1-0 up, than our No.9 when we were 1-0 down. A fortuitous goal from Walcott, which I'm not sure he meant, saved a lot of red faces. They are a disgrace.

 

[Mickey]

On the positive our defense looks pretty solid and that's without a midfielder with legs. Sort a couple good CMs and we'll not seem as bad as people think.

 

[Voodoo Billy]

Big, big clearout coming, just a shame we'll only get pennies for a good few of them.
Just glad we don't have to be there at the last match to applaud them for (their lack) of efforts.

 

[mrb85]

I've never seen a football team who fail continously to pick up loose ball, particularly in midfield.

True. There's no intensity anywhere on the pitch. And you can add to that the fact that our MF simply doesn't even look to get up in support of the strikers, so that when we've pumped the ball to the front two our MF is never within 30 yards of the action.

 

[visitingholte]

yeah, your boys just seemed to lose their nerve towards the end which was totally understandable.
Douglas Luiz looks a decent player. What’s he been like week in week out this season?

Not surprising, we've given up 17 goals in the last 15 mins of games throughout the season. as soon as El Ghazi missed the chance (and likely would've been flagged for offside throughout the play) I knew we weren't winning.

I wish you hadn't mentioned him . He is an interesting case, and one that shows not to write players off after a few games. He was average for most of the season but could tell there was a lot of potential there, just had lacked consistency. With the lockdown, he apparently was super focused on learning English and passing his tests, and has been superb since the restart. Has been our MOTM in every game since project restart except Palace where Trezeguet had a brace.

And TBH this might shock some on here, but if it came to an either or choice I would have a hard time keeping Grealish over him. I think he has immense potential and wouldn't look out of place in a top 6 side in a few years. Very similar to Gueye, in that I wouldn't be surprised to see y'all go after him.