Match Thread Everton v Salford City, Preview, Match Report and MotM Poll

[Gaffa]

Enjoyed watching, wasnt my idea of team selection but we are through. We will need to go stronger next week as Barton will have them fired up.
thought the left back and Gordon were superb.
Without being negative I looked at each individual last night and to me Walcott and Kean are the only two who imo didn’t step up against a league 2 side and didn’t look like they should remain here
Thought the rest did a combination of excellent good and ok

 

[MrGrumpy]

How can that be painful to watch grumps?

Yes it was a bit of a comedown after Saturday, but that was the best we've played probably since Arsenal at home in Martinez first season

We had 30 odd attempts on goal, scored 3, hit the woodwork umpteen times and witnessed 2 teenagers run them ragged down the left hand side.

The last 10-15 minutes we blitz them but before that it was Slow and backwards passing, no penetration, the right side was non existent. Gordon and Nkounkou where the best players on the pitch. Bernard had a good 10 minutes then disappeared all together.
Yeah we won 3-0 in the end but had they scored and made it 1-1 you know that team would of collapsed.
Just look at the passing in the centre of the park, was all backwards, they didn’t seem to look ahead at all. Very very much like last season and had that been a championship side or a perm side, we would of lost. Davies and Gylfi are not good enough

 

[MrGrumpy]

when does our second string ever secure a comfortable win ? We don’t ,a couple of youngsters doing well and job done . How people aren’t happy I’m not really sure .

It’s more the fact that 1 or 2 injuries or suspension and we are back to Davies/Walcott/Sigi/Bernard in the team.

 

[Harryflashman]

It’s more the fact that 1 or 2 injuries or suspension and we are back to Davies/Walcott/Sigi/Bernard in the team.

thats fair but you cant transform that car crash of a squad in one window . Those players will all look better with the additional quality around them , Sunday showed that but the three big signings and the left back are all significant squad improvements, it takes time .

 

[Stuartisitc1878]

Kenny did just fine. Solid defensively, put some crosses in, was unlucky with a shot.

He is perfectly acceptable.

is acceptable good enough in all honesty? I'd love for him to be our long term RB back i really would but he's not pushing Coleman out of the team and that's what he should be doing. He was acceptable against a league 2 opposition nothing more and in fact the 2 or 3 half chances they had came from their left hand side. RB is a problem and sadly he's not the solution.

 

[Brisan123]

is acceptable good enough in all honesty? I'd love for him to be our long term RB back i really would but he's not pushing Coleman out of the team and that's what he should be doing. He was acceptable against a league 2 opposition nothing more and in fact the 2 or 3 half chances they had came from their left hand side. RB is a problem and sadly he's not the solution.

Agreed we need a RB of similar quality to Digne to replace Coleman and have Coleman as backup
As was stated Nkounkou looked the more established FB last night

 

[Papa Shango]

is acceptable good enough in all honesty? I'd love for him to be our long term RB back i really would but he's not pushing Coleman out of the team and that's what he should be doing. He was acceptable against a league 2 opposition nothing more and in fact the 2 or 3 half chances they had came from their left hand side. RB is a problem and sadly he's not the solution.

Don't get me wrong I wouldn't object to us getting a boss right back but Kenny is a perfectly fine top flight player to the point I don't think it's an urgent thing to do. We are going to need squad players too.

 

[catcherintherye]

Branthwaite is a bit ‘under the radar’ I reckon.....very, very solid for his age, strong, calm and seemingly very intelligent read",er of the game based on his positioning etc. A bit early to make comparisons for sure, but he has got a feel of De Ligt about him to me.
Fingers crossed the injury isn’t too bad.

I've not seen much of De Ligt but Brainthwaite looks very impressive for me, as an 18 year old.

 

[Toffeelover]

That was painful to watch, real throw back to last season where the ball went backwards constantly.

What was with the complete lack of celebration when the 2nd went in. All looks like we scored a consolation goal

That is what concerns me when you have the likes of Siggy and Davies in the midfield.

 

[catcherintherye]

How can that be painful to watch grumps?

Yes it was a bit of a comedown after Saturday, but that was the best we've played probably since Arsenal at home in Martinez first season

We had 30 odd attempts on goal, scored 3, hit the woodwork umpteen times and witnessed 2 teenagers run them ragged down the left hand side.

In fairness I do think the lasy 20 minutes put a bit of sheen on the performance. Up until that point we were labouring a bit. There's a lot that goes on to cause that. I suspectthe 2nd goal helps open the floodgates as their heads drop. They also tired as the game went on, I do think, withthe way we keep the ball that a bit like Martinez's first couple of seasons I could see us exploiting teams later on as the game gets stretched and opponents tire.

I also think for a lot of our players, they relaxed bit on 2-0. People won't want to hear it, but there's a lot of pressure on those players. Essentially relegated to the 2nd team, in a game they have nothing to gain and everything to lose. A group who have been slaughtered really, over a prolonged period, by a fanbase that for the most part want them to leave. It's understandable that some caution comes in, as they don't want a League 2 knockout out their records.

A sinilar game to Preston too, we laboured for spells but at the back end when we seemed to relax and our opponents tired we really profited.

 

[Barnfred 55]

The last 10-15 minutes we blitz them but before that it was Slow and backwards passing, no penetration, the right side was non existent. Gordon and Nkounkou where the best players on the pitch. Bernard had a good 10 minutes then disappeared all together.
Yeah we won 3-0 in the end but had they scored and made it 1-1 you know that team would of collapsed.
Just look at the passing in the centre of the park, was all backwards, they didn’t seem to look ahead at all. Very very much like last season and had that been a championship side or a perm side, we would of lost. Davies and Gylfi are not good enough

The last 15 minutes were better I agree. We had the safety net of the extra goal cushion. And some of those players do need to get the negativity coached out of them.

But we still controlled the first half and created chances. In fact there was a tweet linked in this thread that said we had 16 attempts on goal in the first half, the most in any half since the Baggies in 2016.

Not saying it was a 8/9 out of 10 performance. Just that it wasn't as negative as you make out.

 

[Barnfred 55]

In fairness I do think the lasy 20 minutes put a bit of sheen on the performance. Up until that point we were labouring a bit. There's a lot that goes on to cause that. I suspectthe 2nd goal helps open the floodgates as their heads drop. They also tired as the game went on, I do think, withthe way we keep the ball that a bit like Martinez's first couple of seasons I could see us exploiting teams later on as the game gets stretched and opponents tire.

I also think for a lot of our players, they relaxed bit on 2-0. People won't want to hear it, but there's a lot of pressure on those players. Essentially relegated to the 2nd team, in a game they have nothing to gain and everything to lose. A group who have been slaughtered really, over a prolonged period, by a fanbase that for the most part want them to leave. It's understandable that some caution comes in, as they don't want a League 2 knockout out their records.

A sinilar game to Preston too, we laboured for spells but at the back end when we seemed to relax and our opponents tired we really profited.

I don't disagree. Just pointing out that it wasn't painful to watch.

We created chances in the first half too. Had we scored a second a lot earlier, which we should have done in fairness, we would have relaxed a lot more

 

[blueblue]

This was a routine game for the Everton second string but it was a cup final for Salford. The are professional footballers and to dismiss them out of hand shows a lack of respect.

I think we saw last night the Everton players who have a future at the club and those who don't . Apart from getting through to the next round I don't think there is much else to be taken from the game.

In particular, I think Kean and Walcott did not show up well.

 

[catcherintherye]

I don't disagree. Just pointing out that it wasn't painful to watch.

We created chances in the first half too. Had we scored a second a lot earlier, which we should have done in fairness, we would have relaxed a lot more

I must admit, I did find the middle period of the game quite painful to watch!

 

[Eggs]

Kenny did just fine. Solid defensively, put some crosses in, was unlucky with a shot.

He is perfectly acceptable.

...it is a fair, though, to compare Kenny to Nkounkou and see the dimension the young left back adds to this squad. It’s the aspiration we should pursue on the right.