Everton Banter Archive December 31 2014

31 Dec 2014 19:33:29
Love RMs pre match interview. problems with referees and individual errors and confidence but tactics are sound and all will be well. No problems then

Ridiculous statement, either the man is arrogant or just plain ignorant. How can it not be a question mark on tactics if we are letting to many goals in. to do so must mean Teams are getting through our defence.

31 Dec 2014 17:33:55
Just before I go out, I'd like to wish you all a happy new year.

{Ed025's Note - same to you dentie mate..

31 Dec 2014 16:40:43
It, s obvious that we need to sort the defence out. We need to sign 2 centerback Virgil van dijk from Celtic and kjaer from Lille, or at least one of them. Would also like to see Deulofeu back and play 4-3-3. My team would be 1----?
2--Coleman
3--Baines
4--Stones or Van Dijk
5--Jags or Kjaer
6--Besic
7--Deulofeu
8--McCarthy
9--Lukaku
10--Mirallas
11--Kone

Would play Lukaku and Kone up front and Deulofeu out on the right.

Kjaer is red and need someone better then him ried and ruffier st ettine or mandanda marseille

Would that not make 4-4-2?

Kone Lukaku
Mirallas McCarthy Besic Deulofeu
Baines Stones Jags Coleman
?

31 Dec 2014 13:37:24
Item Date Team A F Goal Diff Points Won Drew Lost
1 1/1/2014 Stoke City 1 1 0 1 Drew
2 1/11/2014 Norwich 0 2 2 3 Won
3 1/20/2104 WBA 1 1 0 1 Drew
4 1/28/2014 Liverpool 4 0 -4 0 Lost
5 2/1/2014 Aston Villa 1 2 1 3 Won
6 2/9/2014 TH 1 0 -1 0 Lost
7 2/22/2014 Chelsea 1 0 -1 0 Lost
8 3/1/2014 West Ham Utd 0 1 1 3 Won
9 3/15/2014 Cardiff City 1 2 1 3 Won
10 3/25/2014 Newcastle 0 3 3 3 Won
11 3/30/2014 Fulham 1 3 2 3 Won
12 4/6/2014 Arsenal 0 3 3 3 Won
13 4/12/2014 Sunderland 0 1 1 3 Won
14 4/16/2014 Crystal Palace 3 2 -1 0 Lost
15 4/20/2014 Man Utd 0 2 2 3 Won
16 4/26/2014 Southampton 2 0 -2 0 Lost
17 5/3/2014 Man City 3 2 -1 0 Lost
18 5/11/2014 Hull City 0 2 2 3 Won
19 8/16/2014 Leicester 2 2 0 1 Drew
20 8/23/2014 Aresenal 2 2 0 1 Drew
21 8/30/2014 Chelsea 6 3 -3 0 Lost
22 9/13/2014 WBA 0 2 2 3 Won
23 9/21/2014 Crystal Palace 3 2 -1 0 Lost
24 9/27/2014 Liverpool 1 1 0 1 Drew
25 10/5/2014 Man Utd 2 1 -1 0 Lost
26 10/18/2014 Aston Villa 0 3 3 3 Won
27 10/28/2014 Burnley 1 3 2 3 Won
28 11/1/2014 Swansea 0 0 0 1 Drew
29 11/9/2014 Sunderland 1 1 0 1 Drew
30 11/22/2014 West Ham Utd 1 2 1 3
31 11/30/2014 TH 2 1 -1 0 Lost
32 12/3/2014 Hull City 1 1 0 1 Drew
33 12/8/2014 Man City 1 0 -1 0 Lost
34 12/15/2014 QPR 1 3 2 3 Won
35 12/20/2014 Southampton 3 0 -3 0 Lost
36 12/26/2014 Stoke City 1 0 -1 0 Lost
37 12/28/2014 Newcastle 3 2 -1 0 Lost
50 56 6 53 14 8 14


So this why I am concerned. The above reflects EPL games for calendar year 2014. Lost and won are 50/50. Certianly not champions league and more mid table. The league does not lie. I think perhaps the terrific start in 2013 distorted expectations. Views?

31 Dec 2014 02:34:35
I think we should put the past two seasons into context. When Martinez was appointed he said that we would make the champions league but that it would not be in the immediate future rather after three seasons, two at a stretch. I beleive that Martinez was as pleasantly surprised by last season as we were. He said from the start that we were a work in progress and that it would take time. Granted we are playing like crap right now and that is no excuse but this is a part of the development of the squad.
When we end this run of poor form, we will emerge a tougher and more resilient squad. Let's keep in mind that while we do have some veterans in the team, nearly all of our money has been invested in young players ie McCarthy and lukaku with Barkley and stones clearly brilliant players in the future. These lads are not yet done developing so we can hardly expect to see the best from them yet.
Coleman and mirallas aren't yet old, and garbutt and besic are coming along nicely. It is obvious that this while process, our entire franchise, is being prepared for real success in maybe two years.
Money is finally starting to come in, so while it's not comparable to the moneybags ahead of us we can at least keep and pay out players, and bring better ones in.
Logistically the future looks bright. We are still in europa, and we are playing west ham, a team we recently beat, in the Fa cup.
To those people calling rom "a donkey" you have to look at what we invested in and what goes on around him to judge him. We invested in arguably the best u21 striker in the world at the time. He is a youth striker starting full time in the premier leagu. That's impressive by itself. Every pundit who has watched Everton has said that we are not playing to his strengths so how is he supposed to succeed. No crosses coming in, and we take ages to get him the ball. That is down to the formation/tactics and our rotten form, not his ability. Wherever he is when he is 25 I would bet my head he will be bagging 20 a season.
All in all i'd say our future looks bright and despite these troubling times the big picture remains intact

Now COYB let's take care of hull on Thursday!

Best post I have read on here in a very long time. Well said
I'm sick to death of all the doom and gloom on this site. Let's get rid of Martinez. Yeah right and who could we bring in? Pulis!

Right boy's don't think you realise how serious this could get! WE are one of the odds on faves to go down which is worked out on stats, Unless something drastic is done we will find ourselves in a rut we cannot get out of, If we do not pick up any points in the next couple of games Martinez's job needs to be looked at.

31 Dec 2014 14:05:52
What you are forgetting is that this poor form didn't start this season. It's been going on since the end of last season, and we haven't strengthened in key areas to change this. We are not suddenly going to change into a top six team unless we strengthen.

Good post toffee

Yep a good post with one major flaw. Martinez could not do it with Wigan over 5 seasons in which 4 were fighting relegation and the last was relegation. Bill in his own words hired Roberto on the strength of the FA Cup win and his promise of Champions League football, totally ignoring Martinez Premiership form. Finally I look forward to your post after Hull.

I would agree that our poor form is not limited to recent fixtures rather we have not been at our best since last season but look at it this way. We are playing terribly and have been the past three/five games like the worst I've ever seen us. This entire season our performances haven't been great, but they haven't been as bad as they have been in the last five. So while our general performances this year weren't as good as the ones from last November when we were at our best, performances like the one against arsenal before we shipped two late goals and the ones in Europe gainst Wolfsburg were still good. If it hadn't been for the seriously bad form of the past five games than we would still be ninth or eighth and this conversation would not have happened. So yes while generally our form has not been able to replicate from the height of last season our general form hasn't been awful.
And to those who would like to compare Martinez at Everton to when he got relegated with Wigan just let me remind you of something. He got relegated with Wigan, Wigan. The premier league bottom feeders with little To no money and a poor squad. We do not have a poor squad. We have an out of form squad. Wigan played well and still lost all of their games so even when they played well, relegation could not be helped. We are playing badly and losing, but when we play well we do not lose. That is the difference between us and Wigan. So no we are not going to get relegated.

I wouldn't compare us to Wigan either Toffee lad which is the worrying thing we are better, The stats don't lie and the long and short of it is if we continue with those stats We will be relegated! RM has already stated he will not change style of play (DEEP JOY) and if what I read the other day is true about not practising corners or free kicks ever on the training pitch what hope have we got.

31 Dec 2014 17:59:46
"Our general form hasn't been awful" really? We're a thirty minute team, who lack energy, and when you lack energy you lose focus, and when you lose focus you lose games. That my friend is why we can't hold on to a lead, and often end up losing.