Andy Dunn
Player Valuation: £25k
Hi everyone, Im new on this forum and wanted to meet and check out my fellow blue boys (and girls) views on our immensely amazing football club.
I want to preface the below with the understanding that I am not a season ticket holder, but get to Goodison as often as I can, have friends who have worked for Everton, been a fan since I was 7 etc etc. I have been to all the Goodison Europa League games this season as you just can't beat Goodison at night under the lights... thats just a fact!
So I went last night with my old man, hoping to see Everton play like we all know they can and get a welcome break from the Premier League. The atmosphere before the game was awesome and the rain just helped things. It was very clear from early on that the team were not setting themselves up to be on the front foot. In the opening 10 mins the crowd around me started to become agitated. The fact that by that time we only had 2-3 ventures into "enemy" territory did not help things, but it was the "way" that we were trying to contain the opposition that was concerning.
I played at a decent level and understand that there are periods during a game that you have to take the sting out of the game or suss out the opposition but it seemed that we were doing none of that. With attacking threats like Mirallas, Lukaku and Barkley on the field we looked slow and laboured. The only energy was a couple of Jimmy Mac tackles to break up play to get the ball back. This continued for nearly 28 mins (By this time we were 1-0 down). I looked around and could feel a mist of discontent coming over us all. The boos were now very audible, you could see Kiev, feeling more at home and they looked a steady side, but again nothing that at our best we couldn't dispatch. I try to step back and understand how the players play and set up when I watch a game. I try to see both teams when I watch and not just biased to my team and I'll applaud the opposition if they do something good or skilfully and so I was struggling to understand why our team (who were blowing teams like Kiev away last year) were struggling to find any foothold whatsoever.
There were a number of guys behind me calling the team for everything and after 5 mins I thought I might have to say something like "Have I got to listen to your Sh**e for the whole game", but I stopped myself because I thought, perhaps this guy has a Season Ticket and has seen this level of performance one too many times and is now at the end of his tether and now knows no other way to get his point across than to boo and chastise the team. So I kept my mouth shut... for a while. But at around 30 mins (About the height of the discontent), even I'd had enough of the boring "lets play across the back line with no end product"... The team looked scared, frightened. We stood off, gave Kiev too much time to get the ball down and impress their game on us, we moved with NO, and I mean ZERO tempo, there was no movement, passes were going astray, there was no pressing, no urgency, no effort or energy. This is where my normal calm, rational behaviour was lost and I found myself stood up giving my 2 pence... I now understood what the fuss was about. All we wanted to see was an injection of energy and passion for that beautiful blue shirt. Kiev were able to sit back into a rigid formation and you could almost see them goad us into having a go at them. Sadly, we declined that invitation until....
Rom decided to shrug a couple of challenges off and set Naismith clean through and we were back on level terms. You physically felt the rain subside. We just had to get to half time and thankfully we did.
The start of the second half saw a change of mood, lifted instantly with a couple of waves of attacks and all of a sudden the feeling in the stadium was transformed. The team from the outset (UNaided by the crowd) lifted their game. It was like a switch had gone on in their heads. The tempo was raised, the passing quick, slick across the turf, EVERY man was prepared to get close and make a tackle and if they missed it another man was there to follow up (Usually McCarthy) and the stadium came to life. Was this the same team that we saw in the first 30-something minutes?? It certainly wasn't, there was verve, confidence and most of all passion. As you'll all know, we are a very simple bunch us Everton fans... We just want players on the field to show the love, passion and desire that we do off the field, in the stands, at home watching on TV etc etc.
Our team was now showing this. Jags was everywhere, directing players, making tackles, winning headers. Coleman was up the right side, Garbutt down the left with a number of great runs and slide rule passes. Lukaku was looking hungry and Kiev were rattled. With the crowd now fully onside, I'd ask one thing to those players if I was in the changing rooms after the game... Do you want the first half crowd or the second half. There was a marked difference in the players from one half to the other and that can also be said of the crowd, and contrary to what any fan on here says, WE want to be the second half crowd... we want to be that crowd EVERY game so make us be that crowd and those fans Everton. We want to sing from the rooftops about how good you are, we want to be able to be proud of our team, our style of play and our manager (We will always love the club, but like the wife, you just might not like her all the time).
Our game has and hopefully will always be based on passion, power, pace, tempo and desire. We have the players to hurt ANY defence in European football. Barkley will only be at his best when we allow him to stretch teams. If the game is compact and predictable then teams will stifle Ross. His wonder goal at Newcastle last season was down to us stretching the game and making the pitch as big as possible, how many times have we don't that this season??? The slow build up does not play to our strengths, high tempo, breaking the lines, quick ball recovery, closing down is where we are best, on the front foot, playing higher up the park. When we do that, we batter teams, like we camped in the Kiev half last night in the second half. Thats our team, thats how we play and then thats how we bring that Goodison roar back. The one that makes our stadium a fortress, the one that other teams fear coming to.
Whatever happens in Kiev next week will happen, but I'm just hoping that the stark contrast in on and off field attitudes changes for the remainder of the season because Everton Football Club deserves to have the best. NSNO.
Thanks for reading my take on this.
- Andy
I want to preface the below with the understanding that I am not a season ticket holder, but get to Goodison as often as I can, have friends who have worked for Everton, been a fan since I was 7 etc etc. I have been to all the Goodison Europa League games this season as you just can't beat Goodison at night under the lights... thats just a fact!
So I went last night with my old man, hoping to see Everton play like we all know they can and get a welcome break from the Premier League. The atmosphere before the game was awesome and the rain just helped things. It was very clear from early on that the team were not setting themselves up to be on the front foot. In the opening 10 mins the crowd around me started to become agitated. The fact that by that time we only had 2-3 ventures into "enemy" territory did not help things, but it was the "way" that we were trying to contain the opposition that was concerning.
I played at a decent level and understand that there are periods during a game that you have to take the sting out of the game or suss out the opposition but it seemed that we were doing none of that. With attacking threats like Mirallas, Lukaku and Barkley on the field we looked slow and laboured. The only energy was a couple of Jimmy Mac tackles to break up play to get the ball back. This continued for nearly 28 mins (By this time we were 1-0 down). I looked around and could feel a mist of discontent coming over us all. The boos were now very audible, you could see Kiev, feeling more at home and they looked a steady side, but again nothing that at our best we couldn't dispatch. I try to step back and understand how the players play and set up when I watch a game. I try to see both teams when I watch and not just biased to my team and I'll applaud the opposition if they do something good or skilfully and so I was struggling to understand why our team (who were blowing teams like Kiev away last year) were struggling to find any foothold whatsoever.
There were a number of guys behind me calling the team for everything and after 5 mins I thought I might have to say something like "Have I got to listen to your Sh**e for the whole game", but I stopped myself because I thought, perhaps this guy has a Season Ticket and has seen this level of performance one too many times and is now at the end of his tether and now knows no other way to get his point across than to boo and chastise the team. So I kept my mouth shut... for a while. But at around 30 mins (About the height of the discontent), even I'd had enough of the boring "lets play across the back line with no end product"... The team looked scared, frightened. We stood off, gave Kiev too much time to get the ball down and impress their game on us, we moved with NO, and I mean ZERO tempo, there was no movement, passes were going astray, there was no pressing, no urgency, no effort or energy. This is where my normal calm, rational behaviour was lost and I found myself stood up giving my 2 pence... I now understood what the fuss was about. All we wanted to see was an injection of energy and passion for that beautiful blue shirt. Kiev were able to sit back into a rigid formation and you could almost see them goad us into having a go at them. Sadly, we declined that invitation until....
Rom decided to shrug a couple of challenges off and set Naismith clean through and we were back on level terms. You physically felt the rain subside. We just had to get to half time and thankfully we did.
The start of the second half saw a change of mood, lifted instantly with a couple of waves of attacks and all of a sudden the feeling in the stadium was transformed. The team from the outset (UNaided by the crowd) lifted their game. It was like a switch had gone on in their heads. The tempo was raised, the passing quick, slick across the turf, EVERY man was prepared to get close and make a tackle and if they missed it another man was there to follow up (Usually McCarthy) and the stadium came to life. Was this the same team that we saw in the first 30-something minutes?? It certainly wasn't, there was verve, confidence and most of all passion. As you'll all know, we are a very simple bunch us Everton fans... We just want players on the field to show the love, passion and desire that we do off the field, in the stands, at home watching on TV etc etc.
Our team was now showing this. Jags was everywhere, directing players, making tackles, winning headers. Coleman was up the right side, Garbutt down the left with a number of great runs and slide rule passes. Lukaku was looking hungry and Kiev were rattled. With the crowd now fully onside, I'd ask one thing to those players if I was in the changing rooms after the game... Do you want the first half crowd or the second half. There was a marked difference in the players from one half to the other and that can also be said of the crowd, and contrary to what any fan on here says, WE want to be the second half crowd... we want to be that crowd EVERY game so make us be that crowd and those fans Everton. We want to sing from the rooftops about how good you are, we want to be able to be proud of our team, our style of play and our manager (We will always love the club, but like the wife, you just might not like her all the time).
Our game has and hopefully will always be based on passion, power, pace, tempo and desire. We have the players to hurt ANY defence in European football. Barkley will only be at his best when we allow him to stretch teams. If the game is compact and predictable then teams will stifle Ross. His wonder goal at Newcastle last season was down to us stretching the game and making the pitch as big as possible, how many times have we don't that this season??? The slow build up does not play to our strengths, high tempo, breaking the lines, quick ball recovery, closing down is where we are best, on the front foot, playing higher up the park. When we do that, we batter teams, like we camped in the Kiev half last night in the second half. Thats our team, thats how we play and then thats how we bring that Goodison roar back. The one that makes our stadium a fortress, the one that other teams fear coming to.
Whatever happens in Kiev next week will happen, but I'm just hoping that the stark contrast in on and off field attitudes changes for the remainder of the season because Everton Football Club deserves to have the best. NSNO.
Thanks for reading my take on this.
- Andy
