Football: Brendan has the last laugh

[ljkeane]

Big Dunc on his way to masterminding another Everton victory.

[Raja]

Did not think Holgate could play CM

[ljkeane]

54 minutes ago, Raja said:

Did not think Holgate could play CM

I thought it was going to be an issue for Everton but he’s done reasonably well.

Martinelli starts for Arsenal and Foden starts for City. That should be interesting.

[polishgenius]

Mason Greenwood with the ball on the edge of the box and multiple players between him and the goal seems to be the same as, like, Jamie Vardy one-on-one with the keeper. 

[ljkeane]

Heh, Ferguson brings Kean on after 70 minutes and then subs him off for the last few minutes of the game. Gave him the cold shoulder as he came off too. He’s not just there to hug ball boys and make friends.

[Consigliere]

That was totally expected. Just glad we were able to come back this time and get a point. When Everton took the lead, I would have said game over because we are totally clueless whenever we have to chase a game - whatever composure we possess usually goes out the window in that situation and we become ragged. Also, Greenwood has been better than Martial of late. 

[Philokles]

I guess Ferguson was trying to leave a mark with an eye to the permanent job, but that just looks like horrible man-management. You shouldn’t be burning a £30m asset when you are only an interim. Not even like Kean played too horribly.

[AncalagonTheBlack]

Arsenal have lost this match, they need to make sure the defeat doesn't turn into a humiliation.

[ljkeane]

Ljungberg’s gone with some very aggressive tactics. It’s entertaining as a neutral but l’m not sure how prudent it is. Two goals down already, they could be on the wrong end of a hiding here.

[polishgenius]

You won't see many better single-half performances than De Bruyne there.

 

1 hour ago, Consigliere said:

That was totally expected. Just glad we were able to come back this time and get a point. When Everton took the lead, I would have said game over because we are totally clueless whenever we have to chase a game - whatever composure we possess usually goes out the window in that situation and we become ragged.

 

It was better than it has been coz we actually looked like we had a plan for it, but obviously we still clearly lack the players who can be creative and open up tight spaces.

 

[AncalagonTheBlack]

Arsenal are so fucked.

[Consigliere]

KdB put on a masterclass that half. Arsenal players look like they've already given up.

 

8 minutes ago, polishgenius said:

It was better than it has been coz we actually looked like we had a plan for it, but obviously we still clearly lack the players who can be creative and open up tight spaces.

If we signed a couple of midfielders, we could have played a 4-3-3. Instead we are playing a 4-2-3-1 to cover for the shortage of midfielders and in that system the #10 is usually the creative lynchpin except we have Lingard, Pereira and Mata for that position, all of whom are completely wank. 

[polishgenius]

5 minutes ago, Consigliere said:

in that system the #10 is usually the creative lynchpin except we have Lingard, Pereira and Mata for that position, all of whom are completely wank. 

At this point I'd honestly rather we tried Rashford in that position with Greenwood and James left and right.

[Consigliere]

8 minutes ago, polishgenius said:

At this point I'd honestly rather we tried Rashford in that position with Greenwood and James left and right.

I really don't think that Rashford has the skills to play at #10. His distribution isn't that good so I don't see him troubling opposition defences from a deeper position. Don't think he'd be any different to Lingard i.e. he'll work hard and run around a lot. Honestly, given our shit options, I'd rather we take a risk and play Gomes in that position - he's an unknown quantity but our current options have proven themselves to be useless over an extended period. 

[Consigliere]

I think playing a 4-2-3-1 is a consequence of us having only four first team midfielders in the squad. Not replacing Fellaini and Herrera was the height of incompetence. 

[polishgenius]

6 minutes ago, Consigliere said:

I really don't think that Rashford has the skills to play at #10. His distribution isn't that good so I don't see him troubling opposition defences from a deeper position.

I mean I'd rather we got someone else but Rashford can at least check on his right foot and slide a pass through, which he's better at from the left but in emergency situations he's got more creativity than Pereira, Mata or Lingard (I mean I like Lingard but he can't function as the creative player).

 

I have to say one thing Solskjaer has done well is pick which youths to advance and when so I have to think that given he looked a bit out of his depth when he did play a couple of games I trust he's got good reasons not to play Gomes. Same goes for Chong, who started the season with some hype but is patently not ready for the first team.

[Rorshach]

2 hours ago, Philokles said:

I guess Ferguson was trying to leave a mark with an eye to the permanent job, but that just looks like horrible man-management. You shouldn’t be burning a £30m asset when you are only an interim. Not even like Kean played too horribly.

Ferguson has been very clear he's not there for the permanent job.

If people, including but not limited to journalists started noticing, it would be great. 

[Philokles]

Just like how Solskjaer is going back to Molde.

[Consigliere]

That second half was like a training match. 

[polishgenius]

50 minutes ago, Philokles said:

Just like how Solskjaer is going back to Molde.

There's a difference between Solskjaer initially saying he was gonna honour his contract before Molde encouraged him to make the play for the permanent job, and Big Dunc saying openly from the start that he doesn't feel he's got the experience and Everton should hire someone else as quickly as possible.