Marco Silva mid season poll

[Neiler]

We just came of the back of a very difficult fixture run. The disappointment of results comes of the back of damage of expectations of a perceptional positive transfer window, excitement over those players and before this run of fixtures an upward curve in results and performances.

I like how we tried to go toe to toe with all the CL clubs we faced. We deserved results at Utd, Chelsea Mordor, they are the positives and we had quality to match and a manager who is as good tactically as Sarri, Mourinho and Klopp. Realistically at the moment those squads have more quality then our, we however matched them, going toe to toe.

Against CIty and Spurs we were well beaten in my opinion, no shame in that these teams are three years into their cycles and arguably those clubs best club sides ever. Spurs are at the top of their apex, they will be only around this season as i m pretty certain Poch is the next Man U manager.

So where does that leave us, year 1, we can be competitive with the CL teams and match them in the majority, we have manager who has mentality to win these games. The limits are our youth in the cycle of this team, its a work in progress and we lack quality in some areas of the squad to execute a game plan to win. Up front and in center midfield in my eyes.

Its clear though we have developed a foundation to compete and more importantly a mentality imprinted by the manager instead of the aim being a glorious draw in these games, we can look forward to games at home against most of those CL teams, im particularly looking forward to the Mordor game.

It was always going to take a year to run the anti virus at the club and their needs to be concurrent process of and on the field to progress, that looks like its finally happening, thats big picture and until we can mitigate our limits we are looking at boom and bust football and results. For the rest of the season, we are fighting for the Europa that should be our aim and would be great for the club and this group and focus on developing again in the summer.

 

[catcherintherye]

Zouma? Can’t even make the Chelsea squad, walks into our team.

Gomes looked what he was on Sunday. A talented player, who Silva is drawing the absolute best out of. However the idea Tottenham are going to be breaking their back to sign him up for figures upwards of £50 million is laughable.

To an extent we let ourselves get carried away with players. We do put them on pedestals and when they slip get really down. I think a more realistic appraisal would be helpful. It's probably not been the worst thing in thew world Gomes losing form and having an injury as it will mean it's more likely we sign him now. He will be signed for a realistic fee as well and I have little doubt he will be a very good player for us if he has more time with Silva.

I remember saying similar with Pickford in the summer. I suggested Foster and Cech as a replacement to much bemusement. Cech may well have been a poor shout but Foster looks very capable at Watford. That's not to say I don't think Pickford is a better goalkeeper, or will become a top draw goalkeeper, but to swap the two of them at this stage and have £50 million in the bank would be quite favourable for me.

I like Pickford too, but I think the starting point of realism makes his cockups seem a bit more reasonable. He is a young goalkeeper, one of the youngest in the league and he will make the occasional mistakes. He does lots of things confidently as well. Even on Sunday (which was a poor game from him) he made some excellent saves.

We've had 1 window. We re buying as you rightly say a mixture of untested players, cast offs from other teams or lads who've lost their confidence and gelling it with a young squad and a new young manager. Patience is important here.

 

[catcherintherye]

Silva does have the right intentions and enthusiasm which puts him above Koeman and Allardyce.

He has at least tried to date to send us out to win games.

Both that, and he circumstances in which the club were in when he arrived, buy him time.

I think Moshiri will be as resolute as anything in sticking by him. He has to be for his own sake.

My issue at the moment is that we are still confined to winning games within a very limited category, and he has to break us out of that this season.

For that reason, Sunday was particularly deflating, at home as well. The sort of result that emphatically reminds us of the gap that exists and the task ahead.

It would help massively if we got a half decent striker next month.

And I agree with the view that the Pickford incident at the pit has had massive ripple effects. Both for us and them. And the bugger carries on like nothing happened.

I am not sure where we go as a club if we bin Silva. To fit with Brands you would likely need a young coach looking to play a certain brand of attacking football. They may look at Everton and say, they have players and spend still comfortably behind 5 teams in the league, are miles behind Spurs (the 6th team) in terms of cohesion and quality, yet I'm expected to be challenging to win trophies immediately by the fans or I get sacked. It's a poisoned chalice and I will avoid that. We need to avoid that option if we can. You can also throw in with Silva that he actually reduced the wage bill in the summer as well, so while transfer fees were spent, he has got the wage bill down.

I always anticipated we would start well and have a dip before we ended the season strongly. We didn't fully capitalise in some games at the start (as much down to some appalling refereeing calls) at Wolves and to an extent at Bournemouth. That could easily have given us 4 points more. It give the season a very different context had that been the case.

We have a young manager trying to do the right things. We are going to learn a lot about him over the next week. It's probably the first b@llocking he'll have to give after Sunday and he will want a response. To me they all look to be wallowing post the derby and need snapping out of it. Sometimes you get a game that is so bad, in most areas you have some harsh words and move forward. We also have 2 challenging away games, that over the past 3-5 years we have stopped winning with any frequency. Burnley and Brighton will fancy us as a win. Get a win from those 2 games and the Christmas period looks much rosier. You could even say, across the 3 games 6 points is a very good return. Even throw in City and it's a decent return from 4.

That needs to be the focus now. If the rot continues there will be lots of pressure. He does need a reaction and I think we will see one. Pickford needs to calm down a little. I'd like to see Zouma and Mina getting a go. I'd possibly even consider Kenny at Right back as Coleman looks gone to me. We look much better with Calvert Lewin up front, that was a brilliant header on Sunday and I think he has goals in him. Hopefully Walcott runs into some form and Richarlinson can get back on it again.

 

[Neiler]

Gomes looked what he was on Sunday. A talented player, who Silva is drawing the absolute best out of. However the idea Tottenham are going to be breaking their back to sign him up for figures upwards of £50 million is laughable.

To an extent we let ourselves get carried away with players. We do put them on pedestals and when they slip get really down. I think a more realistic appraisal would be helpful. It's probably not been the worst thing in thew world Gomes losing form and having an injury as it will mean it's more likely we sign him now. He will be signed for a realistic fee as well and I have little doubt he will be a very good player for us if he has more time with Silva.

I remember saying similar with Pickford in the summer. I suggested Foster and Cech as a replacement to much bemusement. Cech may well have been a poor shout but Foster looks very capable at Watford. That's not to say I don't think Pickford is a better goalkeeper, or will become a top draw goalkeeper, but to swap the two of them at this stage and have £50 million in the bank would be quite favourable for me.

I like Pickford too, but I think the starting point of realism makes his cockups seem a bit more reasonable. He is a young goalkeeper, one of the youngest in the league and he will make the occasional mistakes. He does lots of things confidently as well. Even on Sunday (which was a poor game from him) he made some excellent saves.

We've had 1 window. We re buying as you rightly say a mixture of untested players, cast offs from other teams or lads who've lost their confidence and gelling it with a young squad and a new young manager. Patience is important here.

Its an excellent point on our perception of some of our players and how we put them on a pedestal, especially the newer ones, or the ones that were signed by a popular DOF.

The likes of Bernard, has had some terrific game but also some very anonymous or questionable ones, Mina has been up and down, both have quality dont get me wrong, but they also need to be critiqued realistically as to their effectiveness in order to develop and progress. Zouma, im not a fan of and dont think we should sign him.

 

[catcherintherye]

Its an excellent point on our perception of some of our players and how we put them on a pedestal, especially the newer ones, or the ones that were signed by a popular DOF.

The likes of Bernard, has had some terrific game but also some very anonymous or questionable ones, Mina has been up and down, both have quality dont get me wrong, but they also need to be critiqued realistically as to their effectiveness in order to develop and progress. Zouma, im not a fan of and dont think we should sign him.

And I don't see that as an enormous problem. Mina is a lad who flopped in Europe, is a couple of years older than Holgate and has had two brilliant performances away at Chelsea and Liverpool in particular. Bernard is another lad, at 25 who's best years are likely ahead of him, adjusting to a vastly superior league. They are not doing badly at all. Silva deserves a lot of credit for that.

Broadly speaking, the more stable we keep the club, the better/more consistent the players will become, especially younger lads/lads from abroad.

We also see many of the younger players have improved for me. A lot of fans don't want to acknowledge it. Davies for example is playing much better than last season (particularly from a defensive viewpoint). He breaks play up much more often, and is now much better in possession (both in terms of how often he keeps the ball and how many passes a game he makes). He's not doing anything special but he is slowly crafting a role for himself in the side.

DCL is another one, he has kicked on and looks to be increasingly getting himself into the right positions to utilise his aerial prowess, I think his finishing has improved at this as well. He needs to do the same for through balls next. However he looks good.

I think Lookman looks more consistent and hard working too. His performance at Anfield, where he beat several of their players on a couple of occasions has been lost on the horrorshow narrative that followed.

None of these players are the finished article, but they've all got better. They may never be good enough, but at least we can have the debate now as to how far they will improve as opposed to how they are flatlining.

For all the good we haven't put enough points on the board. As I've said above, I do put a lot of that down to the 2 away games early in the season, awful officiating in one, and poor officiating allied to stupidity from Richarlinson cost us. Had we won those 2 games and we have 28 from 18 it's a good start to the season. Or at least a more accurate start of what we've done well.

There's no point feeling sorry for ourselves though, we need to kick on after this start. Yes we have less points than last season, but we went on a run of 2 draws and 4 defeats from 6 games at this stage last season. We have to do much better than that this season.

 

[Bob Latchford]

Madting is. People have been asking for a manager who will ‘have a go at the big clubs’

We done that and got ripped a new arsehole.

The only time this season we got ripped one, up until and including the derby we’d been getting better and better (including the back 4)

We went in to the last game with no Gana and Gomes clearly wasn’t fit. We’ve seemed to struggle since the derby but we’ll be back on it before too long.

The same people who thought we were 1/2 players away from top 4/6 a few weeks back are probably the same ones wanting him out now.

Leicester wanted puel out then they go and beat Chelsea, palace were circling the drain then they go and beat City, Cardiff were dead and hurried and then they will 2/3 on the bounce same with Newcastle. It’s a very tough league and we just need to hang in there.

Merry Christmas lids

 

[LouReedwalkonthewildside]

We just came of the back of a very difficult fixture run. The disappointment of results comes of the back of damage of expectations of a perceptional positive transfer window, excitement over those players and before this run of fixtures an upward curve in results and performances.

I like how we tried to go toe to toe with all the CL clubs we faced. We deserved results at Utd, Chelsea Mordor, they are the positives and we had quality to match and a manager who is as good tactically as Sarri, Mourinho and Klopp. Realistically at the moment those squads have more quality then our, we however matched them, going toe to toe.

Against CIty and Spurs we were well beaten in my opinion, no shame in that these teams are three years into their cycles and arguably those clubs best club sides ever. Spurs are at the top of their apex, they will be only around this season as i m pretty certain Poch is the next Man U manager.

So where does that leave us, year 1, we can be competitive with the CL teams and match them in the majority, we have manager who has mentality to win these games. The limits are our youth in the cycle of this team, its a work in progress and we lack quality in some areas of the squad to execute a game plan to win. Up front and in center midfield in my eyes.

Its clear though we have developed a foundation to compete and more importantly a mentality imprinted by the manager instead of the aim being a glorious draw in these games, we can look forward to games at home against most of those CL teams, im particularly looking forward to the Mordor game.

It was always going to take a year to run the anti virus at the club and their needs to be concurrent process of and on the field to progress, that looks like its finally happening, thats big picture and until we can mitigate our limits we are looking at boom and bust football and results. For the rest of the season, we are fighting for the Europa that should be our aim and would be great for the club and this group and focus on developing again in the summer.

But it means nothing competing against those teams mate if we then struggle against Watford and Newcastle, and saying that, struggle against the other lesser teams as well.

 

[fandjango]

The Spurs game under Silva and the Chelsea game under Martinez were similar in that we were prepared to take the opposition on in both games.

Against Chelsea, we were two down after three minutes following individual mistakes - the chance of a win had gone. But we attacked Chelsea relentlessly in an attempt to pull a goal back, which inevitably left gaping holes in our defence. We pretty well matched Chelsea for the rest of the game, which I think reflected very well on Martinez and the team. Chelsea went on to win the Premier League by eight points.

The Spurs game was very different. We were a goal up when the individual mistake let us down. After that, we never recovered our poise, and looked a beaten team. Silva faces a big job in rebuilding the team spirit for the game against Burnley. It will be a difficult afternoon, especially if Gana and Lopes are absent.

The spurs game dId NOT turn on anni individual error it turned on a perfectly good goal being disallowed
2-0 Big big difference in mindset to 1_0 and a disappointment

 

[Frang]

I am not sure where we go as a club if we bin Silva. To fit with Brands you would likely need a young coach looking to play a certain brand of attacking football. They may look at Everton and say, they have players and spend still comfortably behind 5 teams in the league, are miles behind Spurs (the 6th team) in terms of cohesion and quality, yet I'm expected to be challenging to win trophies immediately by the fans or I get sacked. It's a poisoned chalice and I will avoid that. We need to avoid that option if we can. You can also throw in with Silva that he actually reduced the wage bill in the summer as well, so while transfer fees were spent, he has got the wage bill down.

I always anticipated we would start well and have a dip before we ended the season strongly. We didn't fully capitalise in some games at the start (as much down to some appalling refereeing calls) at Wolves and to an extent at Bournemouth. That could easily have given us 4 points more. It give the season a very different context had that been the case.

We have a young manager trying to do the right things. We are going to learn a lot about him over the next week. It's probably the first b@llocking he'll have to give after Sunday and he will want a response. To me they all look to be wallowing post the derby and need snapping out of it. Sometimes you get a game that is so bad, in most areas you have some harsh words and move forward. We also have 2 challenging away games, that over the past 3-5 years we have stopped winning with any frequency. Burnley and Brighton will fancy us as a win. Get a win from those 2 games and the Christmas period looks much rosier. You could even say, across the 3 games 6 points is a very good return. Even throw in City and it's a decent return from 4.

That needs to be the focus now. If the rot continues there will be lots of pressure. He does need a reaction and I think we will see one. Pickford needs to calm down a little. I'd like to see Zouma and Mina getting a go. I'd possibly even consider Kenny at Right back as Coleman looks gone to me. We look much better with Calvert Lewin up front, that was a brilliant header on Sunday and I think he has goals in him. Hopefully Walcott runs into some form and Richarlinson can get back on it again.

well id suggest a bright forward thinking coach who has a pedigree of winning trophies, at a much higher level than the greek league, that's what we plumped for this time round.

there are plenty of Spanish, French, german or Italian coaches that have won things at a much higher level...

Biesla is proving his worth, allbit in the champship which I would rate at a much higher level than the greek league

 

[McBain]

Work In Progress. Bad patch and all that. Up Everton.

 

[BigDuncis Blue]

Judged on what he has achieved so far...disappointed. Those who say we have to give him loads of time are living in the past....he acually hasnt got much time to prove himself....tho am still hoping he is the one....

 

[Goat]

Judged on what he has achieved so far...disappointed. Those who say we have to give him loads of time are living in the past....he acually hasnt got much time to prove himself....tho am still hoping he is the one....

Hes got as much time as the fanbase allow him.

Which judging by the general theme currently, is a 4th round exit to a League One side at home.

Either way, when we exit the FA cup, he better have some "money in da bank" from most of the fanbase, otherwise hes utterly toast unless he can beat the vermin at Goodison.

I mean im still giving him a walkover for this season.

 

[Frang]

Hes got as much time as the fanbase allow him.

Which judging by the general theme currently, is a 4th round exit to a League One side at home.

Either way, when we exit the FA cup, he better have some "money in da bank" from most of the fanbase, otherwise hes utterly toast unless he can beat the vermin at Goodison.

I mean im still giving him a walkover for this season.

happy going down running miles on the pitch but doing nothing results wise...?? gotta love a 'free season'

up Everton

 

[Goat]

happy going down running miles on the pitch but doing nothing results wise...?? gotta love a 'free season'

up Everton

Not happy Frank, just willing to believe in a bigger picture.

 

[Frang]

Not happy Frank, just willing to believe in a bigger picture.

will get back to you after weve played today..