Everton v Chelsea. 30th August at 17.30.

[Loz]

I don't think we need to panic yet...jut bone of those games here two solid but ageing centre backs both had bad games and the opposition happened to have a world class striker on the pitch. The fact is we still scored three excellent goals against a side that could win the PL this season and Mirallas almost added a fourth great goal save for the woodwork.
Maybe taking off McGeady for Eto'o wasn't good...narrowed the side and left the flanks even more exposed than before which just puts more pressure on an already vulnerable defence, but we were chasing the game by then.
Stones needs to come in and give Distin a rest...he doesn't look sharp yet....and maybe a bit more game time for Besic to get used to things and learn not to piss around. However, we looked good going forward and it's great that Eto'o is off the mark already with a fabulous header.
We can score goals now, no question of that, but just need to tighten up a little at the back. We were not outplayed today though, just defensive mistakes and a couple of offside or deflected goals for Chelsea were the difference between the sides.

 

[JDL]

Can only assume that anyone who thinks Lukaku is a good centre forward has only been watching Everton since Cottee played

Are you jose mourinho? If so welcome to GOT and then go dry your eyes princess.

 

[Mashtray]

Some of the attacking football I saw today really makes me proud, ive never seen such flair and good football from Everton, I think RMs policy always has been to score more than you concede, bt saying that the defence has been bad for 3 games now.

But our football WILL pay dividends in the long run.

We totally going in the right direction

We were 2-0 down nd I always felt we could get back in to it. There is a good atmosphere about. Just a shame we not were we deseve to be after 3 games. Bt we have always been bad starters

 

[LinekersLegs]

In my opinion the fingers should be pointing at Gareth Barry, awful game not getting tackles in,looks to me now he has a contract he didn't seem interested, truly awful.

The same guy who last weekend picked out Coleman for his goal with a fantastic pass and played superbly all game?

Thought he did well today, at least for the first 60 odd minutes before tiring - not many players are going to be able to cope with Chelsea's midfield.

 

[Bluerover]

Thats ridiculous, So you would've picked Duffy today over Jags, Distin and Stones?

He's gone to a championship club, theres a reason not one prem team has begged to take him, he isn't good enough. He's not good enough for our first team (that conceded the 2nd/3rd least last season) and he's not good enough for any prem team.

Oh cop on FFS

Read the post. Duffy should have been in the squad ages ago thus having sufficient game time to be a very realistic option at CB.

Instead he has been loaned and excluded so of course he was never going to start today nor did I suggest that he should.

EFC has wasted this lad as a potential CB - that is the point.

 

[DonOne]

all of this will be alright if rs get a good battering tomorrow. as it stands i won't watch motd tonight but motd 2 is still an option if spurs do them. i can wash some dishes and maybe dry them as wellwhile everton are on

 

[GwladysBlue]

IMO this terrible season start is down to Martinez. He did not prepare a good enough pre-season for us to get some fitness and gave Lukaku far too long a break than his contribution in the WC needed.

 

[Seamus Colemole]

Quick point about the first goal : when Distin is running back after Costa gets it why doesn't he sprint over to Costa to try and block the shot or even get a tackle in?

Surely he wasn't that far away he thought covering the goal line was the better option, he was further away from that than he was Costa.

 

[EverBlue86]

The fact we invite pressure onto us surely points towards the team being knackered after a poor pre season?

 

[Jayhow15]

Just watching that stupid step up from Jagz for the first goal on MotD ! Gets worse.

 

[Loz]

The break now will do us good...Bobby can work on fitness and tidy up the defence (which will be sharper anyway once the players are fitter and less tired from preseason). When all is said and done we are only one point worse off than we were this time last season. We must address the defence sooner than later though.

 

[Sideliner]

Our slow start to the season could have been so much better if we were fitter overall and sharper on defense -
we cannot go flying head over heels into a big match like today's disregarding basic defensive strategy and expect not to be punished by a top side-
surely we can beat Chelsea - but certainly not by disrespecting their ability to hit you very hard, like they did today

 

[Azza]

I look forward to all the injuries we'll pick up during the international friendlies.

 

[Scotty1983]

Disagree entirely Naismith is playing the CAM role which is to link up and supply the lone forward, he doesn't do that in fact if you have watched the past 2 games it has been lukaku who has set up/opened space for both Naismiths goals.

Problem Is we didn't need to spend 28 million on a striker to bring one in to do that. If we want to maximise lukakus ability we need a coutinho type player.

Lukaku needs games to sharpen up. Had he been match sharp he would have been played clean through from a Naisy flick on in the second half, a bit like Mirallas last week against Arsenal when Naisy put him clean through.

 

[rochdaleblue]

IMO this terrible season start is down to Martinez. He did not prepare a good enough pre-season for us to get some fitness and gave Lukaku far too long a break than his contribution in the WC needed.

Fitness reared it's ugly head in the last 15 minutes with more goals conceded. However today's fatigue, was more to do with the fact with chasing the game for the majority of the game, then our lack of fitness. I felt we moved the ball quicker and offensively we looked good. You just can't legislate for the way we defended.