The rest of the season

[evertonarntwe]

there are a few positives but unless we sack the dinosaur in charge they will be outweighed massively by the thought of starting a season with that ogre in charge of this great club

 

[COYBL25]

Get to 38-40 points and start reintroducing certain players in the last 8 or so games.

At this point a circus cannon should be brought in, Allardyce and Walsh placed into it and then fired into the Mersey.

 

[Brisan123]

11 games to go - only 2 against top 6 teams, the other 9 are 3 at home and 6 away, so....
3 home wins
6 away draws
nothing against the top 6
Total 15 points - 49 for the season
8th place (Leicester will win more of their home games)

Wishful thinking?

No - just standard Allardyce formula for the last 20 years.

And, astonishingly, he is actually ahead of that formula since he arrived.
The good run came against the poor teams, and the bad run included 4 of the top 6.

And if he stays that’s all we can expect next season
Possibly 13 home wins and a few away points for mid table mediocrity
Bin him after the West Ham game

 

[Lanolin]

I understand the frustrations but anything better than 7th this season was always going to be a challenge given the quality of those above us and the financial muscle they have. I'm not trying to say we should just accept 7th and not expect to push on but sometimes things don't work out how you want.

We've had a very poor season, but despite that, there is still a bit of hope left in that we can still get 7th, equal our position from last season (achieving our best of the rest status once again), and potentially qualify for Europe. Of course 'best of the rest' is not a tag that Evertonians should accept or be proud of when considering our overall status throughout the years but times have changed. We're now firmly behind the likes of Man City so a top 6 finish will always be a challenge for where we currently are. I'm not excusing our poor performance in relation to our hopes at the start of the season but I think it's a positive that we still have something to aim for rather than the season being completely over.

I disagree, Arsenal are lagging behind this year and should have been ripe for the taking. I said at the start of the season that 7th wouldn't be a bad return but I wanted to see us pushing 6th rather than being adrift like we were last year. As it is, we're saying we might manage to finish 7th, but actually we're currently 9th. We've gone backwards quite badly at the exact moment we were supposed to be pushing on, so it's really difficult to see the season in a remotely positive light.

Personally I can't see us finishing 7th simply because our away form is so bad. Unless there's a sudden upturn in that, it's difficult to see us getting any more than say 15 points, which would mean Leicester only need 13 to keep us at bay. Unlikely in my opinion.

 

[Brisan123]

I disagree, Arsenal are lagging behind this year and should have been ripe for the taking. I said at the start of the season that 7th wouldn't be a bad return but I wanted to see us pushing 6th rather than being adrift like we were last year. As it is, we're saying we might manage to finish 7th, but actually we're currently 9th. We've gone backwards quite badly at the exact moment we were supposed to be pushing on, so it's really difficult to see the season in a remotely positive light.

Personally I can't see us finishing 7th simply because our away form is so bad. Unless there's a sudden upturn in that, it's difficult to see us getting any more than say 15 points, which would mean Leicester only need 13 to keep us at bay. Unlikely in my opinion.

After 27 games last season we had 44 points
Arsenal after 27 games this season have 45
As you said they were ripe to be picked off
I said at the start of the season that Arsenal and Spurs would struggle ( Arsenal because of lack of signings and Spurs because of Wembley )
I’ve been proved right about Arsenal and Spurs have only hit form recently.
If we had if filled the gaps that Koeman identified another 14/16 points would have been possible and we would have overtaken Arsenal and be on Spurs tails.
Money badly spent by Koeman /Walsh

 

[Goat]

Get rid of the dead wood (I've listed 7 players) and add four players. We still have a squad of 28.

Sigurddson is not seriously underperforming. The lad will probably get closed to double figures in goals scored, never mind the assists.
Keane also just needs to settle down.
Niasse and DCL are both having decent seasons and are useful options.
Rooney is only 32 and can do the business in midfield.
Baines is also only 32 and at worst is excellent backup.

Lose:

Williams
Garbutt
Schneiderlin
Klaasen
Besic
Mirallas
Sandro

Squad:

Pickford
Joel

Baines
New player

Keane
Jagielka
Mori
Holgate
New player

Coleman
Kenny
Martina


Gana
Baningime
McCarthy

Rooney
Davies
Dowell
New Player

Sigurdsson
Walcott
Bolasie
Vlasic
Lookman

Tosun
Niasse
DCL
New player

Probably the worst midfield in world football right there.

Thats our biggest fault atm.

And the comedy Striker upfront.

 

[ExpatinBangkok]

I'm getting moderately excited over a fight for a europa spot - that would be great getting European football again to make up for this year's utter fiasco.

Also look fwd to soon getting rid of big sam, walsh and I wouldn't mind the club sending a letter to koeman firing him again ( for ruining this season) .

 

[EFC78]

I disagree, Arsenal are lagging behind this year and should have been ripe for the taking. I said at the start of the season that 7th wouldn't be a bad return but I wanted to see us pushing 6th rather than being adrift like we were last year. As it is, we're saying we might manage to finish 7th, but actually we're currently 9th. We've gone backwards quite badly at the exact moment we were supposed to be pushing on, so it's really difficult to see the season in a remotely positive light.

Personally I can't see us finishing 7th simply because our away form is so bad. Unless there's a sudden upturn in that, it's difficult to see us getting any more than say 15 points, which would mean Leicester only need 13 to keep us at bay. Unlikely in my opinion.

Mostly fair points there but Arsenal are way ahead of us in terms of the quality of their players. They had Sanchez, Lacazette and Ozil at the start of the season, and after losing Sanchez have replaced him with Aubemeyang whose played in the CL for Dortmund and scored 98 in 144 games for them. We can't compete with that. Even if you put Lukaku up against Aubameyang, they still have Ozil and Lacazette who are head and shoulders above any of our players. The rest of their lesser players are far better than our lesser ones too.

They were 14 points better than us last season and beat us in the last game of the season with 10 men for 75+ minutes. So even holding on to Lukaku, it still would have been a tough ask to get closer to them. With money better spent I agree we could have had a good go at it, but we were always unlikely to finish above a side which has contained the likes of Sanchez and Aubemeyang in it at various points of the season.

 

[windymiller]

Get to 40 points and play Klaasen, Vlasic and a few fringe players. have a proper look at them and decide, with real evidence, whether they are up to the task.

 

[blulouie]

7th, derby win, away wins, consistency of selection, Davies back to his best form, Tosun integrated into the team and in form, Schneiderlin transfer lined up. That’s the best we can get from this season now.

This ^

And Cuco agreed move away.

 

[Brisan123]

Mostly fair points there but Arsenal are way ahead of us in terms of the quality of their players. They had Sanchez, Lacazette and Ozil at the start of the season, and after losing Sanchez have replaced him with Aubemeyang whose played in the CL for Dortmund and scored 98 in 144 games for them. We can't compete with that. Even if you put Lukaku up against Aubameyang, they still have Ozil and Lacazette who are head and shoulders above any of our players. The rest of their lesser players are far better than our lesser ones too.

They were 14 points better than us last season and beat us in the last game of the season with 10 men for 75+ minutes. So even holding on to Lukaku, it still would have been a tough ask to get closer to them. With money better spent I agree we could have had a good go at it, but we were always unlikely to finish above a side which has contained the likes of Sanchez and Aubemeyang in it at various points of the season.

As I said previously Arsenal have 45 points after 27 games we had 44 after 27 games last season
We could easily have picked up 14/16 extra points this season if the gaps that were identified at the start of the season were filled

 

[Saint Domingo]

This ^

And Cuco agreed move away.

I have a soft spot for Cuco. I love a trier, even if he is rubbish. A team of Martinas beats a team of Schneidercowards any day.

 

[windymiller]

I have a soft spot for Cuco. I love a trier, even if he is rubbish. A team of Martinas beats a team of Schneidercowards any day.

That's a tallest dwarf competition though, isn't it?

 

[Lanolin]

Mostly fair points there but Arsenal are way ahead of us in terms of the quality of their players. They had Sanchez, Lacazette and Ozil at the start of the season, and after losing Sanchez have replaced him with Aubemeyang whose played in the CL for Dortmund and scored 98 in 144 games for them. We can't compete with that. Even if you put Lukaku up against Aubameyang, they still have Ozil and Lacazette who are head and shoulders above any of our players. The rest of their lesser players are far better than our lesser ones too.

They were 14 points better than us last season and beat us in the last game of the season with 10 men for 75+ minutes. So even holding on to Lukaku, it still would have been a tough ask to get closer to them. With money better spent I agree we could have had a good go at it, but we were always unlikely to finish above a side which has contained the likes of Sanchez and Aubemeyang in it at various points of the season.

You're not wrong in theory, but you kind of are in practice.

Yes Arsenal are theoretically a better side than us, but that's completely irrelevant when looking at whether we could have competed with them this season. You could say that they should have more points on the board, but they haven't, and so there should have been an opportunity for us to challenge them. United had better players than us in Martinez's first season, as did Liverpool when we finished 4th, but on both occasions we took advantage of those sides wobbling and finished above them. Arsenal have had that wobble this year, but we've not even got within swinging distance. That is a major disappointment.

Secondly, you're hugely downplaying the idea of the money being better spent. Even leaving aside the question marks over the likes of Keane, since the end of last season we have somehow managed to spend about £60m on players who have contributed absolutely nothing of any value whatsoever to our league campaign (I'm including Tosun here which may seem harsh, but you've used the example of Aubameyang who came at the same time so it works). That is scandalous. Even if we just look at the circa £40m from the summer, just think of the difference a couple of reasonably decent players contributing to the squad could have made, rather than having Klaassen and Sandro not even getting on the bench.

The season's been a write off from the get go. It's not necessarily a complete disaster, particularly if we do somehow get 7th, but it has been incredibly disappointing on so many levels and I don't know how anyone can be surprised that fans are down in the dumps about it.

 

[PeregrineT]

Theres plenty to do the rest of the season. Take 7th. See if players like Tosun can cut it. Try out the youngsters. And as a fan its not "get this season over with", because nothing beats watching Everton play good football, so if they start doing that it will make each week enjoyable. Now of course if they dont we would all prefer it to just end.

But theres a lot to do still if you really want to set up next season to be great.