Swansea Match Report; MOTM

[stamullenblue]

Barkley played well today. Gana was my MOM . McCarthy was nondescript, added nothing whatsoever to the team. We're still a team in transition and we've a long way to go yet.

My thoughts exactly. Gana carried us yesterday ...

 

[Barnfred 55]

My thoughts exactly. Gana carried us yesterday ...

Went for Coleman purely because he spared our blushes. Agree that the 3 with decent votes were the only ones who were vaguely acceptable yesterday. The rest were either below par or poor. You can't expect to win matches when only 3 players turn up, even against the bottom club.

Imagine the difference a player like Sigurdssan, who isn't by any means exceptional, would make to our team.

 

[AndyC]

Everton 1 Swansea 1.

Everton are magic. Sometimes perhaps, but not today. Instead, today again we saw the slow start that has been endemic of this season, followed by the gradual coming to life when Everton inevitably concede a sloppy goal.
It was a terrible first half really, we lacked penetration and consistency in the final third, and gifted them a penalty. Jag’s form looks to have fallen off a cliff recently, he had no business whatsoever making that challenge in the box. We did create one good chance come the end of the half, but unfortunately it fell to Bolasie who predictably blasted it straight at the keeper.

Enter halftime, Koeman gets the hackles up and it’s a new Everton team that starts the second half.
Perhaps Koeman needs to move that ‘bloody wake up’ speech to pregame. Everton looked far bettter, attacking with intent and purpose but lacking the incisiveness to cut through the Swansea rearguard. The game plan seemed to be to pepper the opposition box with crosses, which was fruitless.
Bolasie in particular got in to good positions on many occasions, only to be incredibly wasteful with a poor quality ball into the box. Mirallas, Deulofeu and Valencia come on to try and change the game, but it is Swansea that almost grab a second against the play, as Sigurdsson forces a good save from Stekelenburg. Thankfully Seamus was in the right place at the right time to grab a late equaliser, but we are left with more questions than answers on a frustrating day of footballing inconsistencies.

MOTM: Coleman with the late goal.

Player Ratings:

Maarten Stekelenburg 6
Phil Jagielka 3
Leighton Baines 5
Ashley Williams 5
Seamus Coleman 7
Aaron Lennon 5
James McCarthy 4
Yannick Bolasie 5
Idrissa Gueye 5
Ross Barkley 7
Romelu Lukaku 5

Substitutes:
Enner Valencia
Kevin Mirallas
Gerard Deulofeu

Thanks Kiwi, short and sweet due to rather too little to get excited about than any lack of effort on your part

 

[Khalekan]

Seamus MOTM for me.

 

[Tubey]

Gana a 5? Weird.

 

[AndyC]

Seamus MOTM for me.

And me too
Worked hard and bagged the goal that saved us blushes.

 

[Kiwi]

And me too
Worked hard and bagged the goal that saved us blushes.

He seems to have that knack of being in the right place. In contrast Baines has never had it, despite his other offensive contributions.

 

[PhilM]

I probably should give Coleman it for his goal, although for the majority of the game he was once again below par, so it's gone to the usual Gana.

Seamus probably put more effort, enthusiasm and passion into his celebration than he had for the previous eighty-odd minutes of the game.

Ross looked livelier than as of late as well and did shine against some of his other team mates, yet it was no way a glorified performance.

Those who've somehow picked Jagielka must be either well up for some humour or seriously need to lay off the plonk.

 

[AndyC]

Amongst all the doom and gloom resulting from what most saw as a sub-par and sub-acceptable performance from Everton yesterday, I think that we should accept that Swansea deserve a modicum of credit for their part in the game.

Bob Bradley has only been there a couple of weeks, and if the newspapers were to be believed inherited a club in an almighty mess.

However, in the two week break for the internationals, he appeared to have used the time well.
He had them organised at the back, they were combative in midfield and when they looked to get forward, they looked to do it quickly and incisively.

In Fabianski and Sigurdsson, they have a decent goalie and a goalscorer - if they manage to retain them, those two will be pivotal for Swansea the rest of the season.

Yes, they're bottom of the table and they might be fortunate to stay up come the end of May, but on the day yesterday - they deserved the point.
We had three decent chances first half and failed to score and despite a greater effort second half, where we ended up with five forwards on the pitch, it took a header from Seamus to rescue us a point... and Fabianski wasn't exactly overworked.

 

[Tony stanley]

What the hell has happened to Everton?

 

[Rook]

Coleman, for scoring the goal and his running created a bunch of space for Lennon (Lennon was pants, but that's not Coleman's fault).