Everton 2-0 West Ham Utd (30/10/16)

[Colours never run]

Bring in Diego Costa, Matic, Hazard..............we bring in Nordtveit, Ashley Fletcher, Zaza........

You really aren't going to argue the equivalence, are you?

Mor course I'm not arguing like for like quality. I'm asking for a lot more freshness in the team because it showed drastically to me.

[Jumby]

Today was a reminder of who we are and what to expect from the near future. I accept it but I find it disappointing, you can't play without a decent proper striker.

[steps]

Not for the first time I found myself asking, does Payet want West Ham to score or does Payet want Payet to score?

He should of definitely let Cresswell take the free kick which was too close for him. If he didn't think he could of got enough elevation then let Cress take one. That underneath the wall thinking they'll jump attempt wasn't a great idea.

[smuts]

This season is going to be a struggle all through, largely due to the piss poor transfers this summer. Major mis-management on the part of Sullivan and Bilic in bringing in too many players clearly not equipped or ready to play in the Premier League.

Totally bungled it. Just like we did after 85/86, Roeder's first season where we finished 7th and so on.

"Next level" my foot.

[durham city hammer]

Whilst I don't think today was anywhere near as bad as some are making out and it was a game we really shouldn't have lost, there does seem to be a pattern emerging with us where for 20-30 minutes we play well and look a pretty decent team, but if we haven't scored in that time we seem to dip in confidence and fitness !
That being said I still didn't see us getting beat until we gifted them the first goal and I still fancied us to claw something back right up until Bilic brought on Zaza and Feghouli, it all went to pot after that.
I've stuck up for Zaza saying he needs more time but tbh it doesn't look like it's going to get better with him, more importantly it's looking like we don't have the time to wait for him to come good, I do wish our owners would stop looking to serie A for players, very few make it over here and the ones that do usually take at least a season to acclimatise. We need to look at this league in January, even if it's less glamorous, I'd love Defoe but seeing as he's the only striker Sunderland have it's probably unlikely!
Souness got it bang on though saying we are team playing without a striker that is in desperate need for one!
Ain't that the truth, yet again !!

[jacko]

Antonio should be put back on the wing. He doesn't have the composure to be a striker. He is a handful though.

I thought Bilic got the subs wrong today. But he is hampered by not picking a full back on the bench. It will be interesting to see how Ayew works out when he gets fit and is starting. I

[Puff Daddy]

Whilst I don't think today was...

You can also add the Turkish League to that too

[wizzo_66]

I'd take the win on Wednesday for that display today.

Almost inevitable in terms of fatigue.

Shows how poor our transfer window was again though. Our squad depth is dire and we signed 11 in the summer. Awful recruitment.

[Colours never run]

I'd take the win on Wednesday for that display today.

Almost inevitable in terms of fatigue.

Shows how poor our transfer window was again though. Our squad depth is dire and we signed 11 in the summer. Awful recruitment.

I totally agree with you on first couple of points. But I don't think the summer business was awful recruitment. For me it was hit and miss.

Hit:

Fernandes, Feghouli, Ayew (I understand that's personal but for me I thought it was a really good signing, hopefully he will produce the goods as I expect), Fletcher, concluding Lanzini and to an extent Arbeloa. The youngsters side of the recruitment I really do think they did really well.

Miss:

Tore, Zaza, Nordtveit. Selling Tomkins and not getting in another quality CB.


I agree they could have dug in more for transfers and getting some better signings but I also believe they got some real finds and some genuine quality which will be proved in time after injuries are for over.

[Aceface]

No-one seems to be expecting much from him, but Ayew offers some hope of a resolution to the frontman issue prior to January. He was always the one in the summer who looked like he might actually improve the starting side.

He's not a specialist centre forward but has a far better all round skillset to play there than anyone else we have, including the injured mob. Once he gets up to speed it should be a significant upgrade on what Zaza, Calleri and Antonio have offered thus far. We're going to need him to be with the run of fixtures coming up.

[Puff Daddy]

I'd take the win on Wednesday for that display today.

Almost inevitable in terms of fatigue.

Shows how poor our transfer window was again though. Our squad depth is dire and we signed 11 in the summer. Awful recruitment.

It was and Ayew apart, I wonder if those responsible knew anything of these players and their backgrounds. I can't tell the difference between Feghouli and Tore, Nordtveit, is a League 1 standard player, Calleri was completely unknown outside of Argentina and Uruguay, where he spent time on loan and Fletcher, is a young lad, with just a years' experience playing in League 1 I have said many times before, I find that signing baffling in the extreme. God only knows what those in command were thinking in signing these players.

[mushy]

It was and Ayew apart, I wonder if those responsible knew anything of these players and their backgrounds. I can't tell the difference between Feghouli and Tore, Nordtveit, is a League 1 standard player, Calleri was completely unknown outside of Argentina and Uruguay, where he spent time on loan and Fletcher, is a young lad, with just a years' experience playing in League 1 I have said many times before, I find that signing baffling in the extreme. God only knows what those in command were thinking in signing these players.

You thinking that our transfer policy involves picking players out of the Lucky dip bin?

[Crouchend_Hammer]

Chelsea made changes today because they played their reserves on Wednesday. They prioritised today's game. We prioritised the cup game. I do think we should have freshened the team up with a couple of changes, maybe fougheli and Ayew

[sendô]

The one word match report for this game would read... sloppy.

The first 25 mins or so we were on top, carving out chances and looking like we'd get one. However we let them into it as not only were we wasteful in the final third, but time and again we just gave the ball to them when under little to no pressure.

On another day we'd have got a draw from this, Everton weren't really that good.

Ultimately though the line up didn't really work - Antonio is no striker. The fact that Bilic played him there though tells us all we need to know about Zaza, and probably Callieri and Fletcher too in truth.

Whoever called it above about this season being a backwards step due to our poor performance in the transfer window is spot on. Edimilson and Masuaku have looked decent in flashes, but the rest just simply haven't been up to scratch.

[kitthehammer]

I put todays performance down to three reasons:
Bilic had set the team up incorrectly (cresswell too far forward)
The players seemed to be knackered
We don't have a decent big striker

Zaza & calleri are a waste if time and fletcher isn't getting a game. I don't quite understand the logic of not getting a direct replacement of a big tall striker like carroll.

Too many players had poor matches. I'll write it off as a bad day at the office but we must sort out the striker problem asap.

[Aceface]

[
It was and Ayew apart, I wonder if those responsible knew anything of these players and their backgrounds. I can't tell the difference between Feghouli and Tore, Nordtveit, is a League 1 standard player, Calleri was completely unknown outside of Argentina and Uruguay, where he spent time on loan and Fletcher, is a young lad, with just a years' experience playing in League 1 I have said many times before, I find that signing baffling in the extreme. God only knows what those in command were thinking in signing these players.

I don't think Feghouli should be dumped in with that lot. He was a pretty well-known entity, and a decent performer in La Liga. He'll be ok.

The others are inarguably ***** so far. Tore looked average even in Turkey the times i'd seen him, although he did have a good game or two during their Europa run against English teams, which is presumably why everyone was spaffing over him prior to his arrival. Someone on here told me I was dreaming when I said he wouldn't be a starter.

Calleri looks exactly like the player everyone watched huff and puff through the Olympics so presumably he was bought on goal record alone rather than actually watching him in action.

Nordtveit was the only one I didn't know from Adam when he turned up - I actually think he could be the worst of the bunch. A late-period Gerrard/Rooney long ball made flesh, and not much else.

There's nothing wrong in principle with signing players from lesser leagues if you do your scouting right - Southampton have built their team on it. Even we've had some success with it in recent times - and Masuaku and Fernandes look like being some of the better arrivals even in this fallow crop.

[Diogenes]

I thought we played pretty well today and were unfortunate not to get at least a draw. We certainly were not outplayed and both the Everton goals were down to very poor defensive errors rather than splendid Everton play.

Disappointing and frustrating yes but at least we are attempting to play football. Isn't that what everybody wants? As a negative I thought Bilic's subs were poor. He does appear fond of flogging a dead horse. Personally I would rather see him bringing on the youngsters.

I also thought the atmosphere seemed very, very quiet. Dead almost.

[Jumby]

I don't think Ayew is the answer to our goalscoring problems, he can help though

[Colours never run]

I thought we played pretty well today and were unfortunate not to get at least a draw. We certainly were not outplayed and both the Everton goals were down to very poor defensive errors rather than splendid Everton play.

Disappointing and frustrating yes but at least we are attempting to play football. Isn't that what everybody wants? As a negative I thought Bilic's subs were poor. He does appear fond of flogging a dead horse. Personally I would rather see him bringing on the youngsters.

I also thought the atmosphere seemed very, very quiet. Dead almost.

I saw it exactly the same as you.

[Gerblatz]

A disappointing result...we played some good stuff at times, but no matter how much a manager prepares, they can't legislate for player errors...that's what lost today's game. We were handling them ok and then the defensive mishap changes the game. Everton are nothing special, but their play is uncompromising and there were a few more personal battles on the pitch that needed to be won that weren't. One of those days, but still a number of positives to carry forward. Antonio was my MOTM...and Fernades is looking a prospect.

On the downside, it really isn't going to ge any easier the next couple of months...to a player, they have got to battle else we are going to get cut adrift in the lower half scrap to survive the drop.