Bluebird Hewitt 1,282 Posted January 2, 2022 Share Posted January 2, 2022 Of course I used a free hit and put Calvert-Lewin in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Subscriber RandoEFC+ 7,644 Posted January 2, 2022 Subscriber Share Posted January 2, 2022 1-3 On the bright side, at least bringing in a defensive manager to play five at the back at home and give us "stability" and "organisation" is paying off on the defensive side. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smiley Culture 1,651 Posted January 2, 2022 Share Posted January 2, 2022 Surely that’s Benitez gone, though Moshiri should be getting plenty of stick for whatever the fuck it is he does there and the bizarre decisions he makes with each passing manager. I look forward to him appointing Jonah Hill and Brad Pitt after he sees Moneyball on Netflix next. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Subscriber RandoEFC+ 7,644 Posted January 2, 2022 Subscriber Share Posted January 2, 2022 Gordon 2-3. Great move to be fair. Benitez thinks he's a genius now because Kenny got the assist there, making the three goals we've conceded by overhauling the entire defensive shape and line to accommodate his need to punish Lucas Digne for telling him the truth about his tactics worthwhile. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lucas 3,825 Posted January 2, 2022 Share Posted January 2, 2022 Big win for us that, it felt like a must win and was thoroughly deserved. We missed some great chances in truth and I'm absolutely begging Bamford is back for the next one but credit where it's due, when Burnley pulled one back out of nowhere, we responded well. We completely outran them last 15mins. That break has done us good for sure, Burnley couldn't match that intensity. Gelhardt ran Tarkowski and Mee ragged near the end there. 8pts clear of them and 18th now although they have 2 games in hand. Long way to go yet but we have the points on the board and we got till the 16th before the next league game to hopefully get one or two more back. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Subscriber RandoEFC+ 7,644 Posted January 2, 2022 Subscriber Share Posted January 2, 2022 We are totally pathetic now. Home wins over the likes of Brighton used to be something we could take for granted. This regime is going absolutely nowhere and it needs to end as a matter of urgency. We've seen Everton teams in the past down tools when they know a manager is on his last legs. You can't say that this time, the graft is there and sometimes, the quality is too. Perhaps in some sense that's an endorsement of the manager but it's also a damning indictment of his tactics and methods because the players are still giving pretty much everything and can't beat Brentford, Palace, Wolves, Watford, Brighton, etc. Today was the perfect summation of how badly out of date Benitez' approach is in the modern Premier League. When we actually tried to carry a threat in the second half the quality of our attacking players shone through and most people watching would say if we did that for 90 minutes we'd have won. Brighton have some good players as well, and I'm not arrogant enough about our squad to suggest there's a gulf between us or that I wouldn't take several of their players in a heartbeat, but pound for pound we have a better team than them and if we'd have gone toe to toe with them we'd have won. Instead we played an absurd formation with three centre backs allowing us to get outnumbered in midfield and surrender possession again and came out for the second half 0-2 down with no choice but to get forward and attack. When we did that, we spent most of the game on top. People are going to think the irrational hatred of a former Liverpool manager is influencing just how much blame he gets from our fans for our poor season. There's a strong narrative about Everton's mishmash squad and having spent a load of money on mid table players and journeymen. That narrative holds true to a good extent, but not to the point where we should be battling at 15th in the table and routinely losing to the teams around us. Our win over Arsenal is still the only one we've had since Norwich on September 25th. Even with the injuries we've had, this squad is much, much better than that. What's more concerning is that our only worthy results came against Arsenal and Chelsea. We're getting nothing against the teams around us and those plucky results against the top six can't be relied upon because a) there isn't that many of those games and b) if they're in the mood to turn up and spank you 3-0, that will still happen whatever you do on some days. Any objective analysis brings you to the same conclusion, whether he was unpopular from the start or not. Benitez is failing as Everton manager. Spurs acted with Nuno when they realised they'd made a mistake in appointing him. We should have done the same and still should now. Instead our owner has decided now is the time to finally give someone the opportunity to mould the club in their image by making wholesale changes to the staff and structures. This is what he should have allowed Brands to do 3-4 years back. Benitez looks increasingly like the worst possible person to finally give that power to. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Honey Honey 3,767 Posted January 2, 2022 Share Posted January 2, 2022 I suppose Leeds winning is good for us. Looks like 3 from current bottom 4 unless someone above has a John Carver of a second half to the season. Could be anywhere from 30-36 points to stay up I reckon. Everyone above bottom 4 on course for high 30s, 40+ points. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lucas 3,825 Posted January 2, 2022 Share Posted January 2, 2022 3 hours ago, Honey Honey said: I suppose Leeds winning is good for us. Looks like 3 from current bottom 4 unless someone above has a John Carver of a second half to the season. Could be anywhere from 30-36 points to stay up I reckon. Everyone above bottom 4 on course for high 30s, 40+ points. I still don't think we are out of it with our lack of squad depth and the big players we still have out but we've eased the pressure somewhat. Depends on what we can do from March onwards when we hopefully have as strong a team as we've been able to field this season. Realistically for me, we need to make sure we beat you later this month to keep you from sucking us in, that's huge for us. The next two for you infact, including Watford (by far your biggest game of the season to date) are massive for you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Subscriber RandoEFC+ 7,644 Posted January 2, 2022 Subscriber Share Posted January 2, 2022 Should have singled him out earlier but very happy to see Anthony Gordon get his first two goals in the Premier League. His end product is hit and miss as you'd expect from a player at his age but he's fought his way ahead of Iwobi and probably even Townsend in the pecking order to become a first team regular. It was a matter of time for him to deliver some tangible returns like he did today. Needs a LOT more polish but the way he gets involved in games and continues to improve highlights the benefit of having local lads like him in and around the team. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Honey Honey 3,767 Posted January 2, 2022 Share Posted January 2, 2022 49 minutes ago, Lucas said: I still don't think we are out of it with our lack of squad depth and the big players we still have out but we've eased the pressure somewhat. Depends on what we can do from March onwards when we hopefully have as strong a team as we've been able to field this season. Realistically for me, we need to make sure we beat you later this month to keep you from sucking us in, that's huge for us. The next two for you infact, including Watford (by far your biggest game of the season to date) are massive for you. You're on course for 38 points. Maybe that could drop a little but unless 2 of the bottom 4 have as good a 2nd half as someone like Brighton have had a first then even 36 points is unlikely for them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Subscriber Dan+ 1,915 Posted January 2, 2022 Subscriber Share Posted January 2, 2022 There's very little in it I know, and I know they've had games called off but I get the feeling this is Burnley's year to drop. They did finish only 17th last season as well. They're just a bit crap. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Palace Fan 3,400 Posted January 7, 2022 Share Posted January 7, 2022 On 02/01/2022 at 21:40, Dan said: There's very little in it I know, and I know they've had games called off but I get the feeling this is Burnley's year to drop. They did finish only 17th last season as well. They're just a bit crap. There bread and butter always felt like it was 1-0 wins but I don't think they've had a 1-0 win all season. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Subscriber Dan+ 1,915 Posted January 7, 2022 Subscriber Share Posted January 7, 2022 5 hours ago, The Palace Fan said: There bread and butter always felt like it was 1-0 wins but I don't think they've had a 1-0 win all season. I feel like Burnley have gone a bit stale. They don't keep the goals out anymore which is the big worry. I think they're better going forward than they get credit for, but they are far worse at the back than people think as well. 17th last season, one win all of this season. Comfortably beaten at a struggling Leeds. I think this might be where they drop. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cicero 5,265 Posted January 11, 2022 Share Posted January 11, 2022 Good to see Broja doing well. Hope to see he and Gallagher in the squad next season. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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