Man Utd v Everton. 5th October at 12.00.

[Khalekan]

Every game since the Chelsea one (which I fumed over) I've tried to be optimistic and take the positives out of rather than negatives, but Palace was inexcusable and disgraceful and a game we should have never lost. The derby left us all feeling slightly more optimistic and some of the more naive fans may have believed it would kick-start the season but obviously not after yesterday and another frustrating performance. Tim Howard who can sometimes be great and other times quite woeful has again cost us in my opinion 3 points because after Naisy scored I could only see one team winning. We had the momentum. Baines missing a pen at Old Trafford when it mattered was absolutely guttering and I was in complete dismay. I said to the person next to me at the match 'anyone but Stones' when I noticed someone go down and just our luck...a vital player injured for probably at least 2 months, absolutely guttering. I'm starting to get annoyed with Martinez now, he was positive after the Swansea, Palace and now Man U result. When is it time to criticise the players and 'rip into them'? A missed opportunity is the best phrase the describe the last week and a half as an Evertonian. Onwards and upwards.

Now, now Red.....don't be so crestfallen, old boy.

You would hardly expect Roberto to go on TV and publicly berate the players, would you?

But I bet in the privacy of his own office he is giving certain players a right old telling off and no mistake.

 

[njligernj]

So a bunch of our best players injured, one player allegedly missing training, and a horrible start to the season. I think at this point I am going to downgrade my "winning the league" prediction to finishing 7th or 8th but we win the Europa league. Seems only fair under the circumstances. Still though lids ... Naismith am I right?

As for this game I don't want to forget the few minutes we had there after we scored and all you could hear was blues and the mancs were just silent ... like you could tell they know they aren't who they used to be and it hurts them so much ... then they bloody scored again and ugh. Oh well. Cup team this year.

 

[cjohno]

the game was there for the taking and considering there attacking players i dont think they caused us to much trouble, i was worried having liverpool and man utd away but we got a point at liverpool and should of got something from the game yesterday, osman made an impact when he came on, still dissapointed with lukakus contribution, the second goal was very poor, howard should of put it in row z , but stones cant avoid some criticism, he needs to be switched on more for that goal , he just needs to learn when he needs to step up with the rest of the defence, altho 9 times out of ten the linesman gives offside there(even tho it was on) he looked a mile off and normally the flag would go up, not a bad performance but still needs more urgency , shame we got at them to late. penalty misses happen nowt we can do. still worrying all the injuries, probably lost 5 of our main players now. hopefully we will kick on second half of season and do well in europa and fa cup, can still be a good season.

 

[LAToffee]

Now, now Red.....don't be so crestfallen, old boy.

You would hardly expect Roberto to go on TV and publicly berate the players, would you?

But I bet in the privacy of his own office he is giving certain players a right old telling off and no mistake.

Thing is that I'm not that confident he is though. I'm not sure Roberto does "negative," which is great when you are winning or if you have a slip up or a major setback (knocked out of a cup), but we are dealing with--what must be now "officially"--a poor start to the season. We've had some very tough fixtures, but we've let leads slip, conceded loads of goals, lost games we should win, and been absolutely battered at home. I think the team has to become a little meaner and cannier. I thought Liverpool might have been a turning point, but it wasn't. (moan over)

 

[DanEFC92]

Thing is that I'm not that confident he is though. I'm not sure Roberto does "negative," which is great when you are winning or if you have a slip up or a major setback (knocked out of a cup), but we are dealing with--what must be now "officially"--a poor start to the season. We've had some very tough fixtures, but we've let leads slip, conceded loads of goals, lost games we should win, and been absolutely battered at home. I think the team has to become a little meaner and cannier. I thought Liverpool might have been a turning point, but it wasn't. (moan over)

He puts his media face on and remains positive for the media. I doubt he's doing that in training.

 

[mrb85]

He puts his media face on and remains positive for the media. I doubt he's doing that in training.

i wouldn't be so sure. His whole approach is to build up the confidence of his players and in turn to get them to sign up to his footballing 'philosophy'. Change the positivity and he'll lose the players' belief and unquestioning support.

 

[R.Reddington]

Why am I still infuriated by this? Uh.

 

[Khalekan]

Why am I still infuriated by this? Uh.

That us a very good question, Red.

Why indeed would you be infuriated by it

 

[hetion]

i wouldn't be so sure. His whole approach is to build up the confidence of his players and in turn to get them to sign up to his footballing 'philosophy'. Change the positivity and he'll lose the players' belief and unquestioning support.

He can be positive and passionate/angry too. He was hoarse as hell in the post-match interview - he'd been screaming at *someone*, that's for sure. Whether that's the ref or a player or just the mirror, he's certainly got it in him to get firey.

 

[Kiwi]

He can be positive and passionate/angry too. He was hoarse as hell in the post-match interview - he'd been screaming at *someone*, that's for sure. Whether that's the ref or a player or just the mirror, he's certainly got it in him to get firey.

Sky had video of him doing a nut at the referee in the tunnel

 

[cjuk87]

One season we've had where we've had a good start. Why can't everyone see this is the normal Everton way. Remember all those years with Moyes, might aswell relax and wait for Jan...Everton 5th.

 

[cjohno]

One season we've had where we've had a good start. Why can't everyone see this is the normal Everton way. Remember all those years with Moyes, might aswell relax and wait for Jan...Everton 5th.

and were missing mcarthy , coleman, barkley, mirallas and now stones no team could lose 4 or 5 of there better players, we didnt play that well sunday but we deserved at least a draw hopefully get coleman barkley and mcarthy back after international break, good to have oviedo back as well, he will make an impact defensively and offensively, im dissapointed in our start, but its not a massive shock having played chelsea , arsenal , liverpool and man utd in our first 7 games, get 3/4 players back soon and we will be fine.

 

[cjohno]

and were missing mcarthy , coleman, barkley, mirallas and now stones no team could lose 4 or 5 of there better players, we didnt play that well sunday but we deserved at least a draw hopefully get coleman barkley and mcarthy back after international break, good to have oviedo back as well, he will make an impact defensively and offensively, im dissapointed in our start, but its not a massive shock having played chelsea , arsenal , liverpool and man utd in our first 7 games, get 3/4 players back soon and we will be fine.

oh yeh and lukaku will find his form again im sure.

 

[streeky]

Mirallas isn't a crosser in the traditional sense but even if he was, Lukaku has yet to show he is much good in the air.

He looked all at sea both yesterday and at The Pit last week when he did manage to get on the end of some high crosses.

opta stats for lukaku say's he won 1 header and had 1 shot off target in 94 minutes

 

[streeky]

It wasn't on match of the day and I'm afraid my stream wasn't that clear

However if that's the case then ok fair enough. It's just frustrating he's like 6 foot 3 and 200 pounds with a brilliant leap (the goal against Liverpool).

He should be absolutely battering defenders but he doesn't seem to have that Street Fighter attitude like a Costa which is sort of reflects his personality too.

He needs to make Big Dunc his best friend and mentor. I have a lot of hope for Lukaku but there's a lot of work that needs done.

What doesn't help is he is not trying a bean. Belgium in the world cup springs to mind ,at least they had the sense to sub his ass.