Taking off the blue tinted glasses

[COYB]

to the Bournmouth game as you said i watched that and even
arsenal 2-1 up i thought to myself were playing out there skin.
as they should be. Its beyond a joke now. We can't even be bothered after being down
in the first minute with alot of fans whos traveled a long journey.

 

[Ashtonian]

lol @ it having to do with Rom...it has much more to do with the fact we have no other threat so teams can just focus all their attention on him as there is no one else to worry about

I think many people here choose not to notice this point.

If a team has only one goal threat and only one way to create for that goal threat then it makes them very easy to defend against.

Just like moyes and martinez before him, koeman is throwing the same tactics at every game and expecting a different result. I believe 100% it's the players not the manager here but it doesn't take away from the fact koeman has no options in that squad. said it before we literally have one team. Not a single player off the bench can make any sort of difference when coming on, none can play different tactics , offer anything different or provide any impetus in changing a game. We literally have one team , and because of that we have become so utterly predictable that we are losing points by default any time a team bothers to do their research before hand.

 

[Stephenlloyd]

I'm sorry but lukaku is not a problem.

Perhaps if we had anybody as an attacking option or competent creative players then it wouldn't be so glaringly so one dimensional?

I mean seriously, we have a top striker for the first time since linker and people want to lay blame on the striker yet moan no one creates anything for him all because he doesn't run round enough?

We deserve to lose llukaku, only for all these fans on his back to see what we actually end up with replacing him with and then we really will be a crap team

We won the title either side of lineker's season. Spurs won nothing when Allen scored 47.

I personally would sell if we got top money. On the basis that I don't thinks he's arsed. And is already, with his agent probably plotting his next move.

But if we can get him to commit to the club with a new contract, then RK should build the team around him and go 442 with wide midfielders that work hard, but can put quality into the box.

Or 433 with the two either side of him. Being more forwards than wingers, and getting double figure goals.

In both systems, there would be no place for Barkley or geri, Mirallas or even bolasie
Over to RK

 

[Ashtonian]

We won the title either side of lineker's season. Spurs won nothing when Allen scored 47.

I personally would sell if we got top money. On the basis that I don't thinks he's arsed. And is already, with his agent probably plotting his next move.

But if we can get him to commit to the club with a new contract, then RK should build the team around him and go 442 with wide midfielders that work hard, but can put quality into the box.

Or 433 with the two either side of him. Being more forwards than wingers, and getting double figure goals.

In both systems, there would be no place for Barkley or geri, Mirallas or even bolasie
Over to RK

Did we win nothing because of Lineker though or despite of him? Because I have read accounts through here saying we lost that title because we dropped a lot of points in the run in and liverpool didn't put a foot wrong and over took us.

But either way, the question still stands. Is the issue here that we are a one man team? we have a striker who can score 25 goals plus if we play for him, yet is the issue here we have no one else? We have very little goal scoring threats from anywhere in the team now, barely any of our team can shoot. So comparing to that 86 season, back then it had great players like Ratcliffe, ssheedy, sharp, Southall to name a few , what has this team got? Who can you look out of the 25 man squad and say they are a threat? We have one striker, 3 back ups who have scored 0 league goals between them, wingers who offer very little, one creative midfielder who tends to look for goal over setting the striker up, 2 holding midfielders one of which is 36! A captain who offers nothing both as a defender and a captain, a goalkeeper who is a back up anywhere else including the club we signed him from, players being picked on past glories rather than form and now a fan Base who want to blame so many factors that it's getting confusing keeping up now days.

And I would sell Rom as well, not because I don't rate him and certainly not because he has limitations. I wouod sell Rom because he is literally peeing his career away here and if you think he is not arsed then maybe because every year he thinks it will get better it doesn't. He scores goals and yet plays for a team who still struggle to beat mid table sides despite changing manager. Why would he want to stay? he is statistically on the level at 23 as any other striker playing in any other top team. He matched Messi at a young age, he clearly matches anyone else, yet here he is getting booed off every week and seeing players far below his level do nothing to support him.

So yeah, I'd sell him in a heart beat because the minute we do, you will see how bad we are. I don't want us to do badly but there needs to be a wake up call here and whilst rom is carrying the entire team on his shoulders then it won't happen.

 

[roy vernon]

Koeman is an enigma, I saw him play, he was probably the best central defender I ever saw and yet central defence in this team is an absolute shambles, both Jagielka and Williams are too short, neither are dominant in the air and both constantly get caught under the ball when trying to defend crosses.

We lack height and pace right across the back 4 and have no creativity in midfield. I had hoped that Williams would be the leader we have been crying out for on the pitch, however, it seems not.

I don't think we have a problem as regards relegation but I think we will wait a long time before we see a team capable of challenging for Europe unless Koeman is given significant funds to invest in the January window and spends them wisely.

A tall commanding centre half, a creative midfielder and an alternative to or support striker for Lukaku are the absolute minimum required.

 

[Alanbileysfeathercut]

We are a very very average side.
We have one player who would be close to a regular in the top 6. Lukaku when he wants to be. Coleman maybe be a starter every now and then for a couple of the sides. Other than that no.
But that does not excuse a lack of effort or intensity. Compare our performance with that of bournmouth just before it. They lost but they had a go and tried hard.
Watching us play now gives very little entertainment at all.
Managers change but performance and attitude dont.
I would not be one bit upset if we sold anyone of our squad. And that's not a nice thing to say. Usually there are players you love who get everton. Of this bunch hard to see who these are.. Maybe Coleman, barry and baines but 2 of these are gone past it.
It's hard to be optimistic. The reality is we are not very good at all

In a nutshell we're 5hite with a capital S
Nothing new there then
That's the thing about being a blue we know we aren't that good
But we still love them
Always will
Roll on the next game

 

[Jonte]

Until we get rid of Lukaku, stop buying luxury players and aim for a consistent gameplan with consistent players, we'll get performances like this time and time again.

There's no cohesion whatsoever, because we never have a reliable outball to build from.

Badly need to cash in on Lukaku, and it can't come soon enough because the longer he plays for us, the more glaring his flaws will become and his value could plummet.

That 'cohesion' you mention, Tubey, should come from the manager, but obviously isn't. In fact, the opposite appears to be the case: he seems to have alienated his squad; no matter how poor they're performing. Perhaps this is part of the reason for these poor performances? I seem to have it in for Koeman already, but frankly I'm not at all impressed by his managerial skills since he arrived. Although it irks me to do so, I can't help comparing him to Herman the German across the park whose enthusiasm and zest is infectious. I have to admit, I admire him. So then, why can't we have a manager like that?

 

[Alanbileysfeathercut]

That 'cohesion' you mention, Tubey, should come from the manager, but obviously isn't. In fact, the opposite appears to be the case: he seems to have alienated his squad; no matter how poor they're performing. Perhaps this is part of the reason for these poor performances? I seem to have it in for Koeman already, but frankly I'm not at all impressed by his managerial skills since he arrived. Although it irks me to do so, I can't help comparing him to Herman the German across the park whose enthusiasm and zest is infectious. I have to admit, I admire him. So then, why can't we have a manager like that?

Agree
Don't think the players like the manager
Like in all walks of life if you like your boss you normally try a bit ,show interest ,go that bit extra
It's up to our manager to get the players on his side

 

[bluejohn66]

Calm down lads .........

"Nothing will be the same"

 

[ToffeeDan]

In a nutshell we're 5hite with a capital S
Nothing new there then
That's the thing about being a blue we know we aren't that good
But we still love them
Always will
Roll on the next game

I don't know about you but I'm not loving the lack of effort, the total apathy even, the lack of connection with the fans (see the pre-match rituals - no more meet the fans before (or after) that have eroded this relationship - the predictable line-ups, the predictable substitutions, the lack of youth involvement.. the moribund signs in the course of a game that the players aren't making things happen.. if it wasn't for a handful of half decent performances - mostly against pretty ordinary teams it must be said - we'd be deep in the cack..

Last season: We beat the bottom 5 teams at home - that means we were 1-5-8 against the other top 15 sides.. we only had 2 half decent wins all season when measured against how good the opposition were - Southampton away (3-0) and perhaps Chelsea home (3-1) but they were dreadful at the time.. and, you might add Stoke (3-0 away).

Look at it another way: We were 7-4-1 against the bottom six (losing to a desperate to win Sunderland when we were totally demotivated). The three teams above the relegation zone (Palace, Bournemouth, Sunderland) could all have been relegated by losing one game where they beat relegated Newcastle..)

And hey, it's no better this time round. Wins against a (then) hapless Stoke, Boro and West Ham as well as lucky wins against West Brom and another hopeless (at the time) Sunderland.. The draw at City was good but lucky as was the draw with Spurs but the failure to beat an out of form Swansea and Palace were early warning signs. When are we going to turn up and give a decent team a proper game?

 

[artetas_biggest_fan]

No one underestimated Moyes. He was a genius and a motivated man in his first five or so years here.

The problem was the last five or so years. He was not a winner, afraid to take risks and he could have been here another 20 years and won nothing. He fell into the trap of preserving his own reputation instead of trying to continually enhance it.

What we have now is a situation where we simply hired the wrong man after him. Martinez didn't push on from the base Moyes left - instead, he dismantled it.

Why just the last five? Moyes has never been a winner mate. He's the ultimate glass half empty safety first manager. Openly talks about parking not just the bus but a double decker...the fella has no shame in having such a negative mentality that others (winners) would be highly insulted if it was thrown at them. Add in the fact the football his teams play is atrocious and you got just about the worst kind of manager possible. Three LMA awards is hilarious.

 

[Tubey]

Why just the last five? Moyes has never been a winner mate. He's the ultimate glass half empty safety first manager. Openly talks about parking not just the bus but a double decker...the fella has no shame in having such a negative mentality that others (winners) would be highly insulted if it was thrown at them. Add in the fact the football his teams play is atrocious and you got just about the worst kind of manager possible. Three LMA awards is hilarious.

It's churlish in my view to understate just how much of an amazing job Moyes did in his early years here, when he was up for the job and micro-managed everything, leaving his ego at the door. To inherit what he had from Smith, receive next to no money for players in terms of a net spend, and take us into European football is an incredible achievement.

But that was his problem; he thrived in the role of the underdog, and was never a natural winner who thought he was good enough to get his team to dominate any given game.

 

[Badge1878]

It's the morning after and it still hurts. Got home late after watching another poor performance. What do I think?

We are slow, predictable and poor at both ends of the pitch. We have a mistake in us at any given time - first time passes rarely happen, we lack movement off the ball and no one takes responsibility.

I watched the warm up and we went through the motions but there was no intensity to our play at any time. The goal was shocking to concede as we never pressed properly before the kid scuffed it across the box.

Every time I looked at Koeman he was looking at the floor - I felt the same - but I'm not paid £6m a year to mange us. Barkley gets slaughtered on here at times - rightly on occasion - but he has become lost and expected to pull a miracle pass every time as he's our only outlet. Out wide we don't create - yes Lennon is hard working but lacks ability to produce anything - he looked a poor Moses yesterday as some wannabe wingback while Bolaisse flatters to deceive. And who ever told Rom he should take free kicks needs to take a look at themselves - he nearly hit me and not for the first time.

I'm sorry to say it but there is no quick win here, we are bang average and until there is a change of attitude - starting with the Manager and his communication about the club and then individual players - we will see many more similar performances.

Moshiri needs to tell us what is happening with the stadium and finally that first X11 need to show our fans that they are better than what I saw yesterday. At the moment we are failing in every aspect. NSNO? Not at the moment.

 

[paulbefc]

lol @ it having to do with Rom...it has much more to do with the fact we have no other threat so teams can just focus all their attention on him as there is no one else to worry about

Just laugh at the posts and look forward to the next brutal piping down he gives them when they start to pipe up.

 

[cjuk87]

I don't buy into this whole "our squad is actually crap" view. EVERY footballer can press, EVERY footballer can make runs, EVERY footballer can pass 5 yards.

The difference is, ours CBA to do it. I don't think we have a title winning squad, far from it...but the displays we've put in, haven't been from having a crap squad, it's having a lazy squad.