Post by Ghostrider on Feb 5, 2016 11:34:12 GMT
It took me a little while to pluck up the effort to write about this because I didn't have the energy to think, after that showing.
To have even started it, I would have probably went off the deep end and went far too irrational in my assessment. Now that I'm calmer and still have a memory, I'll sum up my thoughts.
As usual we went to Everton and came back with nothing. However, I was a bit more buoyed by the fact that we had new signings in the camp and a confidence to take the game to Everton.
That was scuppered as soon as I saw the team sheet placing Perez on his own.
There was a few things wrong with this game and team, but hindsight is a wonderful thing, isn't it?
They say that rushing a player back can be as good as injuring him yourself. Well actually that isn't a saying, I just made that up, so it is a sayin g now. My saying.
I'm talking about Paul Dummett. Obviously the left back position was and certainly is now, a position we should have filled but didn't - and we got bitten for not doing it.
Anyway Dummett had a torrid time as we all know, but that was more down to him not being match fit and not fully recovered in my opinion, rather than being inept. He's not the most gifted of players but he does receive some unwarranted stick as far as I'm concerned.
Anyway, what was the solution for his replacement? Rolando Aarons. Our very own young sick note and inexperienced kid, gets thrust into left back position to be tortured and coaxed into giving away a penalty, as well as Aaron Lennon making his life a misery at both ends.
A bad move by McClaren, but what were the choices?
I was actually impressed with Henri Saivet as well, before he was subbed through no fault of his own.
When Mbemba went off injured, I sort of knew that it was more or less game over unless some miracle happened. Lascelles coming in as his replacement was not an ideal situation given the circumstances, but again, what choices did we have?
Ross Barkley was a pain in the arse against us once Saivet went off and especially worse when Mbemba was replaced..
All in all, Everton won the game because they all played as a unit and fought for everything. To say Everton were exceptional would be a lie. They were average. I think that more or less sums up how bad we were for most of that game.
The talent we have in our team should not be making Everton look like Barcelona at times, but somehow we decided to not turn up as a unit and had to rely on individuals to actually frustrate themselves trying to make us tick; amid ineptness of many other's.
We whimpered to defeat and deserved everything we got and I feel like crying. I EXPECT a top class performance on Saturday or I'll be way less than irrational.
Player rating's.
ELLIOT: Most people were cynical of him. Many didn't trust him. Overweight and nervy, etc. I think that can be put to bed, right? This keeper has at least given me a more relaxed feeling whilst Krul is out. One less player to worry about. It's a shame he had to fish that ball out of the net 3 times because his play did not deserve it. He should be giving digs to the players that hung him out to dry.
Some top saves and kept the score down. Could do nothing about the goals. 8/10 Man of the match.
COLOCCINI: He actually played well. It just didn't look like it at times because he was basically among some very shaky players whilst trying to keep a faltering back line ticking. 7/10
MBEMBA: Did ok at first but did struggle on occasions before injury took him out of the game. 6/10
JANMAAT: He tried to get us moving and was a live wire in attacking and getting back, as well as on occasions he lost the ball, he went hell for leather to get it back. 7.5/10
DUMMETT: Had a nightmare to be fair but injury/fitness and the surface played a massive factor. 4/10
SAIVET: I thought he battled well and closed down Everton very well, breaking up play and passing it around. A few errors but not too shabby for only playing a few games. Shame he got injured. 7/10
SHELVEY: I thought he had a hit and miss game. He looked a mixture of lost/disinterested/inept and sublime at times. His game was all over the place to be fair. Some great through balls for Mitro but a lot of misplaced passes and some dodgy tackling, as well as giving up at times. 6/10
Wijnaldum: I don't think he likes playing away, does he? If the team ticks, he ticks. He just seems to struggle to get into his stride in some games. This being one. He wasn't alone but the fact is, we need his quality. 5/10
SISSOKO: A game to forget with him. Another player that failed to impress. He looks the part when he receives the ball but then just goes freight train running and can't seem to change tracks. If only he had a bit of skill to go past players, he would be the ultimate monster. Running into trouble far too many times. 5/10
TOWNSEND: Didn't quite get the opportunity to deliver as much as he would have liked but still worked hard for his debut. A decent if unspectacular debut and more to come from this lad. 7/10
PEREZ: Left to forage on his own and was basically left frustrated. Tried his best to conjure up something but to no real avail. Much better when Mitro came on but overall, a damp squib. 6/10
Subs:
LASCELLES: Came on for Mbemba and looked out of his depth. Booked for a tackle from behind and gave away a penalty for a tackle from behind on Barkley for a straight red. That was on top of his mindless running down the centre with the ball and losing it. 3/10
AARONS: Came on for Dummett at left back or wing back, whichever way you want to look at it. Basically too naive to be thrust into left back/wing back mode after being a sick note and his first game back for a while. Lennon made his life a misery and he naively gave a way a penalty. Having said that, he did show some signs of being a huge asset as an impact player for the rest of the seasons games if he doesn't break down to injury; which I bet he does, because he just seems like a Kierna Dyer to me. I hope I'm wrong. 5/10
MITROVIC: Came on for Saivet and could have changed the game for us had he scored what was a fairly easy chance but he put it wide from about 5 yards. He was also unlucky not to latch onto 2 exceptional balls from Shelvey but they just didn't quite fall for him. His strength and presence certainly changed the game for us and gave us some hope, even if it turned out to be false. He needs some luck and confidence and he will be deadly. 7/10
A game to forget really. We didn't turn up as a unit and coupled with misfortune with injuries, we were always on to a loser. Dust down and start again. No more excuses from now. We must perform from now or we will be performing in the championship.
To have even started it, I would have probably went off the deep end and went far too irrational in my assessment. Now that I'm calmer and still have a memory, I'll sum up my thoughts.
As usual we went to Everton and came back with nothing. However, I was a bit more buoyed by the fact that we had new signings in the camp and a confidence to take the game to Everton.
That was scuppered as soon as I saw the team sheet placing Perez on his own.
There was a few things wrong with this game and team, but hindsight is a wonderful thing, isn't it?
They say that rushing a player back can be as good as injuring him yourself. Well actually that isn't a saying, I just made that up, so it is a sayin g now. My saying.
I'm talking about Paul Dummett. Obviously the left back position was and certainly is now, a position we should have filled but didn't - and we got bitten for not doing it.
Anyway Dummett had a torrid time as we all know, but that was more down to him not being match fit and not fully recovered in my opinion, rather than being inept. He's not the most gifted of players but he does receive some unwarranted stick as far as I'm concerned.
Anyway, what was the solution for his replacement? Rolando Aarons. Our very own young sick note and inexperienced kid, gets thrust into left back position to be tortured and coaxed into giving away a penalty, as well as Aaron Lennon making his life a misery at both ends.
A bad move by McClaren, but what were the choices?
I was actually impressed with Henri Saivet as well, before he was subbed through no fault of his own.
When Mbemba went off injured, I sort of knew that it was more or less game over unless some miracle happened. Lascelles coming in as his replacement was not an ideal situation given the circumstances, but again, what choices did we have?
Ross Barkley was a pain in the arse against us once Saivet went off and especially worse when Mbemba was replaced..
All in all, Everton won the game because they all played as a unit and fought for everything. To say Everton were exceptional would be a lie. They were average. I think that more or less sums up how bad we were for most of that game.
The talent we have in our team should not be making Everton look like Barcelona at times, but somehow we decided to not turn up as a unit and had to rely on individuals to actually frustrate themselves trying to make us tick; amid ineptness of many other's.
We whimpered to defeat and deserved everything we got and I feel like crying. I EXPECT a top class performance on Saturday or I'll be way less than irrational.
Player rating's.
ELLIOT: Most people were cynical of him. Many didn't trust him. Overweight and nervy, etc. I think that can be put to bed, right? This keeper has at least given me a more relaxed feeling whilst Krul is out. One less player to worry about. It's a shame he had to fish that ball out of the net 3 times because his play did not deserve it. He should be giving digs to the players that hung him out to dry.
Some top saves and kept the score down. Could do nothing about the goals. 8/10 Man of the match.
COLOCCINI: He actually played well. It just didn't look like it at times because he was basically among some very shaky players whilst trying to keep a faltering back line ticking. 7/10
MBEMBA: Did ok at first but did struggle on occasions before injury took him out of the game. 6/10
JANMAAT: He tried to get us moving and was a live wire in attacking and getting back, as well as on occasions he lost the ball, he went hell for leather to get it back. 7.5/10
DUMMETT: Had a nightmare to be fair but injury/fitness and the surface played a massive factor. 4/10
SAIVET: I thought he battled well and closed down Everton very well, breaking up play and passing it around. A few errors but not too shabby for only playing a few games. Shame he got injured. 7/10
SHELVEY: I thought he had a hit and miss game. He looked a mixture of lost/disinterested/inept and sublime at times. His game was all over the place to be fair. Some great through balls for Mitro but a lot of misplaced passes and some dodgy tackling, as well as giving up at times. 6/10
Wijnaldum: I don't think he likes playing away, does he? If the team ticks, he ticks. He just seems to struggle to get into his stride in some games. This being one. He wasn't alone but the fact is, we need his quality. 5/10
SISSOKO: A game to forget with him. Another player that failed to impress. He looks the part when he receives the ball but then just goes freight train running and can't seem to change tracks. If only he had a bit of skill to go past players, he would be the ultimate monster. Running into trouble far too many times. 5/10
TOWNSEND: Didn't quite get the opportunity to deliver as much as he would have liked but still worked hard for his debut. A decent if unspectacular debut and more to come from this lad. 7/10
PEREZ: Left to forage on his own and was basically left frustrated. Tried his best to conjure up something but to no real avail. Much better when Mitro came on but overall, a damp squib. 6/10
Subs:
LASCELLES: Came on for Mbemba and looked out of his depth. Booked for a tackle from behind and gave away a penalty for a tackle from behind on Barkley for a straight red. That was on top of his mindless running down the centre with the ball and losing it. 3/10
AARONS: Came on for Dummett at left back or wing back, whichever way you want to look at it. Basically too naive to be thrust into left back/wing back mode after being a sick note and his first game back for a while. Lennon made his life a misery and he naively gave a way a penalty. Having said that, he did show some signs of being a huge asset as an impact player for the rest of the seasons games if he doesn't break down to injury; which I bet he does, because he just seems like a Kierna Dyer to me. I hope I'm wrong. 5/10
MITROVIC: Came on for Saivet and could have changed the game for us had he scored what was a fairly easy chance but he put it wide from about 5 yards. He was also unlucky not to latch onto 2 exceptional balls from Shelvey but they just didn't quite fall for him. His strength and presence certainly changed the game for us and gave us some hope, even if it turned out to be false. He needs some luck and confidence and he will be deadly. 7/10
A game to forget really. We didn't turn up as a unit and coupled with misfortune with injuries, we were always on to a loser. Dust down and start again. No more excuses from now. We must perform from now or we will be performing in the championship.