Danny

13 minutes ago, The Palace Fan said:

Chris Richards out injured for a few weeks now.

The one thing we've been consistent with is injuries. Back up to ten.

Stop appropriating our culture

On 02/04/2024 at 12:20, The Palace Fan said:

 

 

Love a bit of Neal. Luke Litter slagged him off and then Neal responded by saying talk about a big fish 

28 minutes ago, Devil said:

Agree on Josh Kelly, he thinks he's far better than he actually is. Had all attributes to be a decent fighter but lacked a bit of power and left himself far too open with his style.

Don't like Whittaker though, unlikable for me. 

Yeah I never really bought into Kelly, like you say he could be really decent but the style just seemed all wrong.

Yeah Whittaker is a bit like marmite, people either tune in to see him showboat or see someone KO him lol.

2 hours ago, Devil said:

What's your opinion on this Whittaker showboating stuff?

I know there have been others that have done stuff similar in the past but I personally find he's more belittling than say Naz was. I don't like it actually and it's turned me off him completely.

I don't really like it that much either. Don't really dislike Whittaker or have an issue with it being disrespectful, but I think when he does it he takes unneeded hits and against better opposition he will be made to pay. Reminds me of Josh Kelly a bit.

Gotta say Spurs are very predictable. When it works for them they look great, but once you get numbers back and fill up the middle they struggle to open teams up. They need space to run into, but actually need someone who can cut a defence open with a pass because Maddison isn’t enough in that regard

59 minutes ago, RandoEFC said:

That's not what I said though is it? They were on 35 points before we played them and we'd have 31 without deductions, we beat them 3-0 in the reverse fixture. The only other league games they've won in 2024 were Burnley and Luton. They're one of the poorest teams in the league and in almost as bad of a run as us, which is what I actually said. They have very little to play for and we were desperate for a win. It was a winnable fixture for all of these reasons and by all accounts, we were not just beaten but comprehensively outplayed. It isn't a good enough response to an 11 game winless run when you've just had a three week break to hit the reset button.

None of what I've said there is even remotely controversial and I never said we were "better than Bournemouth" in the first place.

No but you’ve definitely alluded to them being a bad side which just isn’t the case. I don’t think losing to them, and of course you can talk about your own performance here and that is separate, but I dont think losing to them is cause for concern when they have a lot of talent in their squad and a talented manager who is playing an impressive brand of football this season. They may not have won much in 2024 but they havent lost much either, which suggests theyre a difficult team to beat.

Feels like the least Liverpool signing ever in terms if transfer fee, Chelsea however...

8 minutes ago, RandoEFC said:

The problem is, there's nobody in charge to make that decision, we (literally) can't afford to sack another manager and his coaching team, and above all else, there's nobody else who considers taking over Everton who can do any better.

I'm not impressed by him at the moment though. Just had a three week break between games and come back to put out the same team with the same tactics and deservedly lost to one of the poorest and out of form teams in the league. It hasn't gone down well. If the ownership situation wasn't what it is you'd have widespread calls for a change in my opinion and he couldn't make any excuses either after 12 without a win.

Crazy if you think you’re better than Bournemouth

Hopefully Luton can beat Forest to staying up, it'd be great to see how they do next season under Edwards with a bit more investment.

Honestly if United lose the Europa League spot that would be pretty spectacular considering how bad West Ham and Newcastle have been. Brighton have to be the team to worry about now seeing as they're out of Europe

Just seen the Emma Hayes nonsense, how you can push a manager and then call him aggressive is beyond me lol. Also quite rude to associate Eidevall’s actions as “male aggression” when there was next to no aggression whatsoever, unfairly tarnishes him as some degree of a woman beater all because she is a sore loser and Eidevall was in the right to complain about Chelsea trying to cheat and use the multi-ball system.

32 minutes ago, Dr. Gonzo said:

Brighton are dangerous on the counter though. They really weren't up to much in the second half when we played them just now, but in that first half they were a constant threat due to their counters. You're a good side, but I do think your biggest weakness is fragility at the back - so in that regard Brighton are a pretty dangerous side for you because they're good enough to create chaos in the back without having too much of the ball.

Still winnable for you though, for sure. They've got their own fragility at the back as well.

We are more likely to give them possession though than the other way round, is my thinking

Okay, so we still have 6 of our starting eleven out injured, but we now have a fit Ivan Toney, Yoane Wissa and Bryan Mbeumo. Kevin Schade is due to return likely by the weekend on the bench too. The team is looking a lot stronger now and our pace is finally back.

Yehor Yarmoliuk put in his best performance for us yet and hopefully we can get him doing more of the same on Wednesday night. He adds a dynamism in midfield that we don't really get from Norgaard, Janelt and Onyeka who are all quite defensive minded plays. Yarm can seemingly do it both forward and in defence, but clearly wants to be on the attack, in possession trying to attack space. He also seems to have more pace about him than Jensen which is much needed too.

I've not been too confident with us recently, the performances have definitely been there against City, Tottenham, Arsenal, Chelsea...but we haven't got the results we could have got or deserved. But the United game showcased that we now have some pace back in the team, which is vital to how we play and enough to really break teams on the counter so that we can mix it up and both attack teams and sit back on them. If we can keep these performances up now, I think we'll swerve the relegation fight with ease pretty soon. We have the bones of a really good squad, just need to work out what caused the injury crisis and try to carry on improving the squad in the Summer to get back to trying to push for a Europa Conference spot next season.

If we play the same way against Brighton as we did against United, at home, under the lights, then I think we can get the win. I think Brighton have shown this season that they are not quite as strong as last season and are susceptible to being hit on the counter.

Still they are a good team and I could be proved wrong, but I think this is a great opportunity to put some distance between ourselves and the relegation battle now.

1 hour ago, Stan said:

Much better today. Got forward quicker a lot more and didn't slow the game down as much as we have in previous games. 

There seemed to be a lot more fight in us today, especially straight after half time pinning Norwich back. Important we got the goal back before half time as well otherwise it would have been a bad reception and plenty of booing no doubt. 

Having Ricardo back is such a boost, too. 

Back to the top and over to Ipswich and Leeds to get 3 points. But hopefully not. Could do with Southampton drawing with Ipswich. 

Honestly I think it's so normal having a slump in the season when you did, final run of games now after the International break, more days between matches so more training to do, don't see why you can't pick your form back up.

After finishing 3 Body Problem on Netflix I've started listening to the audiobook on Audible. I've heard that it can be a challenging read to get into so wanted to test it out with a free trial before spending. It's funny how much detail exists in books compared to the series, the book is so much better and I'm barely past what would be the first episode in the series.

Anyway, bought the actual book today and looking forward to putting a dent in it. I think once I've finished reading the trilogy I'll give the Chinese tv series a go. I do like the Netflix series and I think they've done well, but I think they've released a greatest hits type show and would have been a lot more interested if it followed the book a lot more closely and went the Game of Thrones route of detailed dialogue and a lot of series.

55 minutes ago, Bluewolf said:

I would rather us go down to the Championship... 

I would also rather you done that 

Don’t worry lads you can spend another half a bill this Summer to try and rectify things

I do hope Liverpool win it. Arsenal aren’t negative, but they do choose to play negatively at times like this and it’s just boring to see. Hopefully the team that dares to win the league does.

The thing that stood out to me about both teams here is that City are still in transition and just don’t have the consistency or superiority they had last season, and I think a lot of that has been to do with missing Jack Grealish. He didnt look sharp when he came on but his inclusion instantly pushed Arsenal back and put the game in City’s hands. Obviously there is also the matter of new players like Kovacic, Doku and Nunes integrating whilst previous big name players have left.

For Arsenal, they just lack star power. There was no one in that team today who you thought would win them the game. Saliba and Odegaard you could argue as being or being close to world class, but they have too many players who are just not at that level yet. Namely Trossard, Jesus and Saka in their attack today. But the list does go on. And that is the difference at the very top. It’s why I’ve predicted Liverpool to finish above Arsenal this season, ofc with 8 games to go I could still be wrong, but they have world class talent that get you over the line.

Great result for Liverpool, all in their hands now. No need to worry about anyone else

Grealish and Doku have changed the game, pinning Arsenal forward and preventing their counter attack. Still no end product though

2 minutes ago, Dr. Gonzo said:

It’s almost always both imo

If Liverpool or City done that to United they’d be waxing lyrical. But when a smaller team does it its straight to United and whats wrong with United

18 minutes ago, Stan said:

I don't get why it always has to be one or the other. It can be both. 

It rarely is both tbh

Just watching some clips from yesterday. Arguably the most dominant performance from any team you will see this season and its reduced to how poor United were rather than how great we were. Classic football media