Match Thread Everton v Nottingham Forest : 3pm KO : Saturday 20th August 2022

[Joey66]

Frank abandon five at the back please - if Fat Sam played that team today there would have been uproar .....

 

[dylsexicbleu]

Not great but at this point I'm just looking to keep within touching distance of the rest league by transfer deadline day.

 

[Bohemian Toffee]

How utterly crap does McNeil look?

Convinced we only signed him to stop Burnley squeaking about FFP

 

[Eggs]

How utterly crap does McNeil look?

….I reserve the right to withdraw my forecast that he’ll play for England.

 

[BigDunc'sFod]

It's just bad overall.

Lampard has to stop playing 5 at the back, don't care how crap we're, we continually go in to every game on the back foot. You simply cannot play this formation if your wing backs are incapable of staying high and creating chances, don't remember Mykolenko or Patterson doing anything in the final 3rd today.

Sign a midfielder who can dictate the game, crying out for someone who can just put a foot on the ball and relax everyone around him.

Buy some attackers capable of either picking a final pass or being able to actually put the ball in the back of the net.

Great post. We basically played Myko and Patterson as full backs today

 

[DanB90]

Pickford 7? One save to make and he got it wrong. 4 from me.

He set our goal up with the best ball we seen all day tbf.

Jordan Pirloford

 

[nonstripdzebra]

There are real concerns and almost all of them are towards the manager IMO. Patterson made a gaffe and didnt recover to see Johnson. Thats an error but one that comes with the territory starting a young player. Broadly speaking I still feel more assured by the defense still. Coady especially.

To me the issues are primarily on the other end. Our goalscoring threat extends far past not having a viable striker. To the extent we have patterns of play or planned reactionary responses be it overloading a side or planning overlaps are a mystery. Maybe its in part needing the wingers 1v1 for a lack of a central threat but I have major fears of Lampard's preparation. Our offense seems hyperly reliant on mercurial breakdowns of play. The efforts and even finished chances seem like one offs every game. If thats a byproduct from a lack of striker, then the corners just have to be better. Cant take that much from Grays goal today its just brilliance mainly from Pickford.

I think all our wingers are questionmarks. Gray and Gordon are so selfish, with almost no payoff. McNeil was incredibly poor today. Again that primary goal intention might be in part from the lack of a striker, but I do think it extends beyond that. AG and DG just dont play with their head up and it's an issue considering the inconsistency of their final product. Iwobi ill highlight as a bit of an exception to this. He is more convincing if an offense that seems spur the moment. But the fact that all their decisions seem to always be made on the fly goes to Frank.

 

[jamieni]

For me today showed we are no better than Forest. Which means a long season at the bottom.

If we don’t bring in 2 or 3 more quality players I do think it’s going to be a struggle. And emphasis on quality as opposed to gash.

 

[chicoazul]

Judge us at the end of the transfer window. Oh I will when we’re in the relegation places already.

 

[Cool_Blue]

Pickford 7/10 - Had little to do, unlucky with the goal.
Tarkowski 4/10 - A very bad day at the office, almost Michael Keane-like in possession. Must improve.
Coady 6/10 - Solid defending but poor distribution.
Holgate 7/10 - Easily our most solid centre half today and all other games so far.
Patterson 6/10 - Neither good nor bad. Should stay in the side in any case.
Mykolenko 6/10 - Same as Patterson although I wouldn't argue if Vinagre replaced him.
Iwobi 8/10 - Especially first half was very good, but of course you can only look so good when you've a League One set of players in front of you.
Davies 5/10 - He's just a crap player out of his depth.
Gray - 8/10 - Would have been a 6 but he took the goal well. Some poor passing as usual otherwise.
Gordon 5/10 - He's not really very good, is he? That last chance summed it all up. Off you go to Chelsea.
Rondon 6/10 - One or two pieces of decent hold up play but you've got to make the goalkeeper work, and he didn't.

Subs:
McNeil 2/10 - Lost possession before jogging back when he had an easy chance to win back possession had he only bothered to sprint, ball is in our net 15 seconds later. Poor passing, lack of effort there for all to see. We've signed an absolutely dud and I'm sure Lampard will be coming at what he saw from him there.
Onana 4/10 - Not the best home debut, bit excitable and rash, but he'll need patience. Heck, Davies is still playing games and his last good games was in 2019.

Hope to god Chelsea had nobody there watching today.

 

[matty1878]

Judge us at the end of the transfer window. Oh I will when we’re in the relegation places already.

shurrup

 

[Ring master]

Performances may be decent in spells, but without a proper forward it means nothing if we dont get the win, the mid part of the league are going to slowly move away soon, the next 4/5 league games could be very awkward, plus more

 

[steven]

McNeill as a false nine…three games into a season. No attacking options off the bench - I mean where is the harm in just keeping Simms and broadhead so you at least have options with ten to go.

Baffling from top to bottom but not surprising with this club.

 

[Jebus_lives]

Well, at least we scored

 

[coollino]

My in depth analysis when taking into account various xg and book value :need a striker