Everton V West Ham FA Cup 6/01/15

[mrb85]

The big disappointment for me tonight was Kevin Mirallas who looked disinterested and lacklustre the whole time he was on the pitch....how some can say they were surprised he was hooked is beyond me.....he was really poor tonight.

I agree. I've said before that Mirallas isn't the sort of guy you'd want in the trenches with you. He's a self-interested egotist. He was pathetic tonight. Aside from missing a good chance when one on one in the first half, he didn't make one whole-hearted challenge all game. Taking him off was one of RM's better substitutions in recent months; putting Eto'o on was not.

 

[Coach]

Oviedo was okay going forward but defended poorly, it needs to be LM or nothing for him.

Disagree. Oviedo was left exposed and WH exploited that. Barkley is chronic in the LW role and neither he nor Mirallas provided any cover for Oviedo. Also Oviedo's first / second game at LB in how long?

Nearly all of the WH attacks came down their RHS in the first half and it was because of unfamiliar partnerships on both sides of Oviedo.

 

[KevMirallas]

Disagree. Oviedo was left exposed and WH exploited that. Barkley is chronic in the LW role and neither he nor Mirallas provided any cover for Oviedo. Also Oviedo's first / second game at LB in how long?

Nearly all of the WH attacks came down their RHS in the first half and it was because of unfamiliar partnerships on both sides of Oviedo.

That's probably fair tbh. Still think he was beaten a little too easily at times, but you're right that having Barkley and Mirallas ahead of him hardly helps.

 

[marty mcfly]

? Doing what mate? You should have taken a touch? Sorry mate don't follow

Typo I meant he

 

[marty mcfly]

Downing had our midfield in his back pocket.

That's because Naismith is off running around somewhere.

 

[LinekersLegs]

West Ham had far to much time on the ball in the middles of the park, a better team would have crucified us tonight. The corner count was unreal all because we allowed them to turn and run at us.

The goal saved a lot of blushes tonight and papered over a very average performance.

Besic and Luakus performace, coupled with fighting to the end, was the only positive from tonight

But at least there were positives, and from two of our young recent signings as well.

Very rarely does any team come back from a bad run of form by suddenly playing good football as that requires confidence which is usally shot. It is little things - good crunching tackle, a last minute goal that helps bring that confidence back.

This draw might not mean anything but at least there were signs of improvement, lets hope we build on that versus City.

 

[thirdmantackle]

I thought Oviedo was solid enough. One or two good tackles. Got forward well. He wasn't given the ball quick enough on lots of occasions, along with Coleman.
It must be frustrating at the moment playing out wide. Everything through the middle

 

[Bilbo]

For 10 minutes tonight at the end, I actually saw some passion and determination going forward. Those final few minutes had me on the edge of my seat.

Add to that, for the first time in quite a while, I HEARD the fans being positive and the Goodison Roar re-emerged.

 

[maccavennie]

Typo I meant he

Sorry mate. Yeah of course we would say it but what i meant in that situation - Martinez was very calm and very focused in trying to give a positive message to Oviedo as if to say "so what if there's only 5 minutes left, don't panic, you know what you should have done so next time trust yourself more". Just my little take on that moment mate as I seen it when it happened then as soon as Oviedo got in space to put the cross in it would have been easy to just slash at goal again with time running out.

 

[nsno-chris]

But at least there were positives, and from two of our young recent signings as well.

Very rarely does any team come back from a bad run of form by suddenly playing good football as that requires confidence which is usally shot. It is little things - good crunching tackle, a last minute goal that helps bring that confidence back.

This draw might not mean anything but at least there were signs of improvement, lets hope we build on that versus City.

City is going to be the key gam to see if this is the 'Kevin Brock' moment of the season. If he goes for the counter attacking, like he did today, that midfield unit needs to be tight and compressed, pressing as soon as they enter our half. Back off like tonight, their quality will destroy us.

Lukaku could bully there CB's with pace and power if he plays like tonight, Besic can be the engine constantly applying pressure. Bring the back line tighter to midfielder unit and don't allow any space, to big a hole for qualty players to exploit

 

[Khalekan]

Lot better tonight......even if we had lost.

I thought the first indications of a light bulb moment for Bobby flashed tonight as the attacks, especially in the first half, were pacier, more direct and there was more long passing.....hoof as it were .....which led to the opposition being put under pressure.

In other words, he mixed it up a bit......which is all any of us really ask for.

Lukaku had his best game in an Everton shirt, IMO and I hope this is the result of a rethink by Bob.

He looks so much better when he is facing the goal, bearing down on defenders.

That is the first time in months I have left Goodison with a spring in my step.

Injury time equalises make a draw feel like a victory

 

[Woolly Blue]

Having watched us at Hull and Southampton where we were abject, and against Stoke, where we weren't much better, at least tonight we looked a bit more arsed and actually pressed West Ham occassionally.Admittedly, not enough, but I'll take any positive at the moment. Besic and Lukaku were excellent and Oveido did pretty well too.

Apart from that, we were average at best, but average is a step up from bloody awful. Put a shift in against City and turn up for West Brom and we might even turn the corner. Obviously we won't beat the first man when we turn the corner but, heh hoh.

 

[Buckers]

Momo is silk......

Hard silk

 

[polish]

Overall a better performance than we've seen in more than a month.

Robles not at fault for the goal, which is an improvement for him. Coleman looked better, but still not at last season's level. Oviedo looked lively and capable. Jags was awful and nearly gift-wrapped WHU a couple of goals in the first half. Distin was better and I don't agree with those who say he was at fault for the goal - there were three players around the WHU player when he connected with the header and none of them got close.

Besic was excellent, Barry was not so good but at least not as bad as he has been recently. Barkley flitted in and out of the game - needs to be played centrally to thrive. Mirallas looked good out on the left, Naismith was industrious as ever and wins everything in the air but lacks creativity and causes positional problems for others. Lukaku was immense.

Stones looked far better than Jags when he came on, Eto'o was clearly putting in the effort but suffers from being played out of position. McGeady didn't really have much time to impress, but credit to him for his involvement in the buildup to the equaliser.

It's between Lukaku and Besic for MOM. Honourable mention for Oviedo. We need some new faces in sharpish though, specifically a winger if Martinez wants to persist with a 4231.

Very spot on. Totally agree with your points.

 

[Verbal Kint]

Definitely played more direct tonight, At first I thought it was just Jagielka doing his usual lumping forward but on one occasion 4 players came short to take the ball from Robles and he just waved them away and went long with it. Speaking of Robles he definitely looked more comfortable tonight. Hopefully the late goal can be a serious confidence booster, let's be honest we looked awful for the majority of the game and had we lost the atmosphere at Goodison Saturday would be poisonous toward's the team and Roberto.