From my seat: Man Utd (h)

Ken, as ever the voice of reason,
Top Man.

Ken I think you were sat on my knee. Spot on

Thank god a fan who actually went the match. Ken knows what he’s talking about and the doom and gloomers should start listening.

Interesting comments and I agree with a lot of it.

I though Jags did alright though - he looked committed and strong in the tackle. And I must confess I’m not convinced with Pienaar - I’ve said it about 100 times today but he gets caught in possession too easily and he’s a couple of yards off the pace. I would have liked to have seen more of McFadden than Pienaar

Mark, agreed on Jimmy Mac at least

went today and i thought we were good defiantley didnt deserve to lose as our deserve made tevez and co look poor. Yakubu and Johnsen look like a great partnership in the making nothing spectacular from the two but little touches and runs showed they have potenital with more understanding.
Phil Neville was the worst player on the pitch he was truly awful his distribution was shocking and his tackling was greatly better. I though pienaar is going to be a asset for us even though he had little to do. He likes to go at defenders and make things happens justs needs to get used to the pace. Wessels and the defence did a great job pitty about about the goal. Midfield lacked creativity Jagielka and Neville didnt boss the game and Yakubu and AJ looked promising. Got ma tickets for the aston villa game so hopefully a good perfomance of thursday can help with the performance of sunday but nevertheless we were awful we actually played well COYB

I’m sorry Ken but for the first time in a long while this seems like a report from within. You almost seem like you want to appease everyone and talk in gushing tones about what for me was a poor performance. I agree that Baines looked impressive and continues to look like a good buy, but how you can defend Hibbert leaves me gobsmacked - he can’t defend properly, he has no peripheral vision and gets away with things because of his only attribute - decent pace.

Describing the Yak as lazy seriously underestimates the impact of playing up front with poor quality passing and opportunities. Had he stopped running or given up when a chance presented itself I would agree but the quality of forward play was poor. He needed the ball to his feet or his body in order to do turn the defence and did so several times. If it was humped forward then he didn’t run off aimlessly because that is not his strength then who’s fault is it? the passer or the runner?

Ken you do us all a dis- service by trying to justify poor playing and poor technical ability. We have players who cannot compete with sides at the top and I have to say a manager who replaces like for like. The substitutions were photofits- same position different personnel but no change to the way we play.

United were poor, little real threat and little real quality and penetration. They passed the ball well across our midfield and we coped, but where was our threat and attacking flair for the home team? Today was a case of the penny dropped not we did well but !!!

mmmm...agree with a lot of things Ken says (as usual); although Jim is right in his assessment too.

I actually thought that the strikers were not dangerous enough and once Victor came on, uglier though it was, we looked more likely to score and we quite rightly should not write him out of starting upcoming games.

The fact is we were at home, and disciplined and tight though it was you need to throw caution to the wind and give the crowd something to chew on before they can turn the game for you Blues.

Finally someone who went to the same game!

Yakubu was lazy

Johnson ran past him more than a couple of times to chase down the last defender or the keeper, however its could be said that great strikers have an economy of movement, so they’re fresh to make best use of the ball when the real opportunities arise.

My mantra is please give mcfadden a decent run in the team

I think Jags is coming good and will be a class anchor in the middle.this should give timmy or tommy liscence to attack. Phil Nev is a good man marker....but cant pass for toffee...surely the bench is awaiting when all are fit. Hibbo had his best game for many a moon, but i just dont think he is good enough, shits himself going forward ( compare to Mr Baines ! ) gets caught out of position and is guaranteed to make 1 massive cow pat during the game.Why bring mcfadden on...how many chances is he going to get, poor decision making, no pace, loses his rag and gives away needless freekicks,wears his boots on the wrong feet. surely the time is right to cash in and sell him to the Gers while he is a hero up north.Ossie is lightweight and will be a good squad player.....drifts in and out of the game.all in all im a very happy blue nose...we put out a marker today and now the " big four" are going to crapping their shorties as their guaranteed cash injection ( champs league) looks like it is no longer guaranteed.

The failings of our crosses into the box was our downfall. I dunno how many times I dropped my head and shook it from side to side to see the Keepers hands on the ball once more. If we are to deliver a handy header for the boys up front these need to be worked on. Van Der Sar just had it way too easy.. and this resulted in more time wasted with Man U running it back up field.

The only other criticism I had was that if either of two forwards fail to score in the first half, then bring on the hero of the week. I realise we needed to try the Yakubu/Johnson formation for the first time at Goodison, but Mcfadden provided the only real decent strike for the game, and only HAD one opportunity to do so. Had he been there since half time we would have had scores on the board and taken more from the game.
Hibberts a great defender. Yes he can’t play the ball up the field too well, but damn. If you need someone stopped in their tracks, he’ll slide tackle with precision :) Neville did fail the team in some respects, but I just feel he needs some better positioning and less turn overs. Its just a question of confidence. I would have preferred Cars in there someplace myself! He has a true eye and confidence, and its just not the same without two bald ’eaded white guys in the field.

Paza,I don’t know if you were being sarcastic,when you say"All in all I’m a very happy blue nose,we put out a marker todayand now the "big four"are going to be crapping in their shorties"?Can I ask, why they will be crapping in their shorties?At the end of the day we came up against a lacklustre Man U today,and we still couldn’t beat them.Apart from the spurs game,and the last 20mins against Bolton,we have played some poor football for the rest.Hardly setting the league alight.Somehow,I don’t think the so called "top 4"will be losing much sleep over us.

A good summary of the game, the few points I saw differently were:-
1. I thought that as at Bolton Yakubu does sometimes look lazy, but is this just because AJ runs non-stop, but every time Yak actually got a half decent pass Rio (World Class) Ferdinand struggled to keep him from turning. Unfortunately these passes were in the wrong place and few and far between.
2. I also think if Neville plays, he brings Jags down, because neither of them are attacking players, and whoever said Neville is a good man marker has seen a very different player to me. He couldn’t get near Tevez today, thank god for our defense. I feel moyes has caused himself problems by making him club captain.
3. This brings me on to my final point. Tony Hibbert. I really don’t rate him in the premiership, I have had the arguement about a defender must defend 1st many a time, and although I actually thought he played quite well, it is no use having a great defender if when you start breaking forward and players are out of position he gives it straight to the opposition and they then break on you. (Which Neville does in midfield as well!) Neville for me must play at right back as he is slightly better than Hibbert there and it keeps him out of midfield.
What we must remember is we restricted the league champions to very few chances, and they had almost a full strength team out, and we had a few important players out. The players should realise there is nothing in this league to fear and this is the best squad I have seen since the 80’s. COME ON YOU BLUES!!!

After seeing the highlights on MOTD and getting a better view of incidents you dont see to well from your seat, I thought Hibbert was at fault with the goal. He is useless in the air. In the first half Utd’s only chance was when he was beaten in the air at the far post from a cross.
Alan Hansen gave us a good review. We lack craft in midfield and Johnson is out of touch. McFadden brought on with 5 mins to go was a major blunder by Moyes who should of capitalised earlier on his confidence. I didn’t see anything in Pienaar to make me think he is a great player.
We are nearly there we need Johnson & Arteta to find form, McFadden to be given a run in the team, and in January that elusive midfielder we require. Gravesen & Cahill will make a big difference also when they return

A good summary of the game, the few points I saw differently were:-
1. I thought that as at Bolton Yakubu does sometimes look lazy, but is this just because AJ runs non-stop, but every time Yak actually got a half decent pass Rio (World Class) Ferdinand struggled to keep him from turning. Unfortunately these passes were in the wrong place and few and far between.
2. I also think if Neville plays, he brings Jags down, because neither of them are attacking players, and whoever said Neville is a good man marker has seen a very different player to me. He couldn’t get near Tevez today, thank god for our defense. I feel moyes has caused himself problems by making him club captain.
3. This brings me on to my final point. Tony Hibbert. I really don’t rate him in the premiership, I have had the arguement about a defender must defend 1st many a time, and although I actually thought he played quite well, it is no use having a great defender if when you start breaking forward and players are out of position he gives it straight to the opposition and they then break on you. (Which Neville does in midfield as well!) Neville for me must play at right back as he is slightly better than Hibbert there and it keeps him out of midfield.
What we must remember is we restricted the league champions to very few chances, and they had almost a full strength team out, and we had a few important players out. The players should realise there is nothing in this league to fear and this is the best squad I have seen since the 80’s. COME ON YOU BLUES!!!

Yakubu lazy!! Absolute rot.
Hibbert to blame for the goal!! Tosh.
Moyes should have played McFadden wide left!! Laughable.
Fact is, we were edged in a very close game. Yakubu gave Ferdinand a torrid time, until he tired. Hibbert defended silidly if unspectacularly against a bevy of dangerous players. And as for the ludicrous McFadden suggestion, has that person actually watched Jimmy in any games apart from the Scotland ones? Against Man Utd, his lack of pace would have made a position in midfield completely untenable.
If I was to lay criticism of yesterday?s performance, I would cite Arteta?s reluctance to shoot. More than once, he got himself into a decent position but tried to take on one man too many.
All in all though, I?m not despondent about narrowly losing this one, and prefer to salute Vidic, who in my opinion gave the best centre-half display I?ve seen in years.

Why has no one blamed Hibbert for the goal?

Ken you even state the most important quality of a full-back is to defend.

Yet on the near post he should have been alert enough so that in case Yobo lost his man (which he did) he could clear a ball with relative ease.

Instead though he was flat-footed and with poor reaction times he let Vidic in front on him.

Hibbert at fault for the goal. Sorry I still have too many doubts over him and I disagree with Ken.

I wouldn’t mind if a full-back could just defend if we had creative wingers. But we don’t.

On that point Moyes is trying to get the full backs to overlap to increase our attacking capabilities- Baines has that down to a tee. Hibbert sadly doesn’t. If he can’t fill the requirements Moyes wants of him he shouldn’t be in the team. I was at Bolton and Jagielka was a better player in the same position- could pass and move and even defend.

Hibbert wouldn’t have even been in the side today if Gravesen had been fit.

Personally I thought Everton played some good football today and deserved to get at least a point out of the game. Admittedly I only watched 1 hour on Footbal First but I enjoyed their performance. They have improved and will continue to improve.

You talk of Yobo losing his man yet still blame Hibbert!! No doubt had Hibbert come for the cross and got beaten to it by Vidic’s run, you’d have blamed him for leaving his post.
Still, at least you’ve got your whipping boy, deserved or not.
I despair of some people, I really do.

Ken, congratulations on a fair and balanced view of the game and the players on show, as you say it's not all doom and gloom like some postings i have read since the game. Trust in Moyes, he has new players and in that midfield department he will find the right formula with what we have. We all know that he wants to strengthen in that department, and we can all speculate as to what his plans were come the transfer deadline with regards to that. The new players will improve as they settle in, and the team will imrove dramatically for it. Good times ahead, keep the faith.

Ian Roberts - I agree with you about Harry Calson’s allocation of blame to Hibbert for the goal.

Come on Harry, are you so desperate to blame Hibbert for the defeat? Yobo lost Vidic and once that happened Hibbert had no chance against a defender who must be seen as one of the best headers of the ball from set pieces!

Hibbert gives us nothing going forward, is not good enough in the air and I too feel the team needs to move on from this sort of player if it wants to progress. However, he was not directly to blame for the goal and actually defended well against some top quality wingers!

I still think we need to look at Jags or Neville as our first choice right back but give Hibbert a break, he can’t be blamed for everything Harry.

COYB

Excellent article on the disapointments of yesterday afternoon, Ken. I agree with much of what you said but for me the midfield situation is not cause for alarmbells-at least not yet. We must remember the instrumental players that were absent yesterday, most notably our Tommy. Further, Tim’s return cannot be underestimated. For me, Cahill’s role on the pitch is perhaps even more vital than that of Mikel’s.
My biggest concern is that our squad is still so slender by European standards.With the increase in games, travelling across the continent and the hectic Xmas period all to come, I worry that Mr.Moyes may have to chose one road (beit a cup competition or league placing) and sacrifice the rest. Nevertheless, I have utmost faith in our manager and our team. Up the blues.

Ps. I’d like to see more of Stefan between the sticks-hopefully at Hillsborough.

All the Mcfadden comments make me laugh.

He’s been shite for us for years yet suddenly everyone thinks he would have made a difference yesterday,i don’t think so.

All our problems stem from centre mid with our inability to dominate things from there be it against Man Utd or Wigan Athletic.

Until the manager sorts that out we will never be any better than a mediocre side.

I want to stop this ’Yak is lazy’ crap before it starts. We need a striker in the team who will be in the box to convert chances, AJ is great and will run forever - but hey I can do that - the ’knack’ is to get the ball in the net, hence the Yak.

We struggled in centre mid which is hardly surprising when we are playing a centre back and fullback there due to injuries against 2 England quality midfielders in Scholes and Carrick. It may have been different with a Gravesen/Cahill pairing? Other than that I thought we more than matched Utd and deserved a draw.

Wessels looked more than competent which bodes well for the season, and the back 4 looked really solid. Arteta is having a qiet spell, probably because of the burden of ’running ’ the creativity bit of midfield, he came more alive against Bolton when Tommy came on as he was able to share that burden putting his foot on the ball.I personally can’t wait for the Tommy/Tim pairing.

Moyes played a system against Utd which would make for a tight competitive game.
That?s exactly what we got!
Utd needed the points more than we did and this could have left gaps for us to exploit late on.
The hope would have been to win the game 1-0 but sadly Yobo and Hibbert allowed Vidic to power in a header.


I would expect that these same tactics will be used against all "the top 4" teams.
It?s nonsense to think that we were going to play like Brazil and beat Utd 3-0 or something.
Hibbert is the weak link in my opinion - it?s not down to work rate or desire - he just doesn?t have the positional sense of a right back required at the level we are at now.
McFadden deserves 1 more chance to impress and as one of the lads on here said - if it doesn?t work out - sell him at a Premium to Celtic or Rangers.
I watched Pienaar play for South Africa - he plays behind the front 2 and his passing and his speed of thought were incredible.
We should play him there against weaker oposition at Goodison - Assists is his Strenght!
Wessels looks like a Great alternative to Howard and I would have no problem if Moyes let him keep his place until he is injured or off form or suspended.
Jagielka has impressed me too and I think he will take the right back position when Cahill comes back into the midfield.
Yakubu being Lazy is a Myth and people should judge him on his play for us and not by the bitter Smoggies parting comments.
We gave Utd a Great game and were unlucky not to take at least a point.

Hibbert should be a sub and with Cahill coming back into the team in a month or so - we will have Our Best Starting 11 since the mid 80s!
C O Y B !!!!

Ian I don’t understand why you misinterprete my words.

I personally would not have had a problem with Hibbert leaving his post to attack Vidic’s header and missing it.

Problem was he wasn’t on a post!

Looking at it..Baines I and believe it may have been Osman (not sure) were covering both posts.
Hibbert was left to cover the near front of the penalty area. I.e. Stopping players getting in front of him.

He didn’t do that- he was flat footed and I’m sorry I won’t defend a player solely because he is a Evertonian.

He didn’t react to the danger and although I do blame Yobo for losing his man Hibbert’s position is meant to hopefully cut out the threat that might occur if Yobo was to lose his marker.
Moyes is brilliant at ensuring his side can defend set-pieces. Did anyone else see the dismay over the fact Vidic foiled Yobo and Hibbert in a single blow? Vidic is a good defender but it wasn’t exactly a hide corner to defend!

If he can’t do his basic job of defending then on that basis he should not be in the side.

People mention he didn’t let anyone beat him on the wing. Evra in the first few minutes anyone? Just because he let fly a shot into the side netting doesn’t make the fact any less real..Hibbert had switched off then as well.
I am not trying to find a scapegoat here. I believe Hibbert had been fairly solid up to the goal..he got his usually exceptionally good tackles in and for once he was overlapping.
Sadly he hasn’t looked a shade of the player he was 2 seasons ago before he suffered with injuries.

But if he can’t do fill his overall criteria he shouldn’t be in the side. Mark my words- he will not be in the side next weekend against Villa or against Metalist this Thursday. I for one will not be wondering the reasons why...

I was at the game yesterday and while I agree with some things that have been said, I?d like to raise a couple of points, firstly why is everyone saying Utd were ?lacklustre?? they were only allowed to play as well as we let them, Ronaldo (player of last season) was well marshalled by Baines and Hibbert, Tevez was only allowed to shoot from 25 yards+, Giggs never got a kick, Scholes was easily wound up again, "wonderboy" Nani, HA, Louis HA HA, nuf said, .. Their one stand out player was Rio Ferdinand who rescued them. We were reminded that they were without Rooney, we never had Tommy Grav, James Vaughan, Tim Cahill. They are the current prem champions with a vast amount of more disposable income than us. Give credit where it?s due, The boys done good, and will do better. No one will ever think this team are pushovers!!!

I find it disgusting how so many Blues complain that sky sports or whoever else always say that United or Chelsea played poorly when Everton equal them or beat them. Never giving respect to Everton for being the reason that the other team didn’t win the damn game. But now immediately following a game that was even with 8 minutes to go, with one of our shots cleared off the line, so many Evertonians are sitting here saying United were lacklustre and that’s the only reason the game was close. Ronaldo was shut down by our defenders. What did Tevez do all game? United aren’t shit, we just gave them a tough game. I also find it amazing that people are having a go at the likes of Jagielka but nobody will mention the fact that Arteta seems to have forgotten how to take a shot at goal. I noticed that the defenders would actually drop off him a bit know he was only going to play the ball into the box. He needs to start testing the goal keeper again to keep the defense honest, something Fabregas is doing to great effect at the moment and Arteta did very well last season. It was a disappointing result against the defending Champions. We should bounce back quickly.

Nice one Ken.

I do have more doubts about Hibbert than you though.

I was at the game, in the middle of the top baclony with a great view of the match and this is what I saw and observed.

United WERE lacklustre, it was a 12 o’clock kick off and pretty warm for playing football, the atmosphere was also lacklustre too for the same reasons and United were there for the taking.

As soon as I saw the teamsheet I feared an opportunity was going to be missed. The game itself did nothing to dispel my concerns. Osman plays well 1 in 10 games, normally when everyone else is playing well and he has lots of time and space, no one to tackle and no one to beat. Neville can’t tackle and couldn’t make a forward defence splitting pass or forward run if his life depended on it. His passing is attrocious and he MUST have given the ball away at least 15 times in the first half alone. He never makes him self available for a pass and does not know what the term ’give and go’ means. For me, like a lot of other blues, Neville has to go to right back ASAP and stay there.

This game proved once again to me what is missing in this Everton team, that illusive playmaker, someone who can get hold of a game, get hold of the ball and drive a team forward, retaining posession and ALWAYS making himself available for a pass. I honestly believe that if Gravesen had been fit and started we would have walked over United yesterday.

Our defence is superb, the best I’ve seen since the mid 80’s. Baines was a clear MOTM, Ronaldo never got the better of him once to my knowledge and his forward runs were terrific.

Up front we will scare lots of teams to death with the power and pace of AJ and Yak IF THEY ARE USED PROPERLY! Why does Moyes seem to insist on getting AJ to run 40 yards to close down a defender or keeper when no one else in the team is playing a pressing game? All that happened was the ball went to a midfielder (Carrick) and united passed it around for a bit tiring AJ out, then when we had the ball and we needed AJ to make a run he was knackered! It is for this reason AND the lack of creativity in the center of midfield he hasn’t scored this season. AJ actually did not have 1 chance against united, that says it all.

I am praying that Gravesen gets fit ASAP, that Neville goes to right back and Jagielka plays the defensive midfield role. I’d play Piennar on the right and Arteta on the left. If Moyse FINALLY gets his selection right when Gravesen is fit I’ll be hugely relieved and we will start playing decent football instead of percentage stuff and hoofing the ball up field for AJ and Yak to fight over.

I don’t mean this post to be negative, we are 1 player (Gravesen or similar) in the center of midfield from actually playing good attacking football and when that happens we genuinely will be a top 6 team and play football befiting of a top 6 team.

Yesterday we didn’t deserve to beat a poor and lacklustre united and played poor football ourselves, we gave united too much time and space and made it too easy for them, giving the ball away too much and not creating any chances ourselves.

This isn’t doom and gloom, I’m just REALLY FRUSTRATED that we are so close to having a genuinely great team, I just hope Moyse sees that!

Brian Waring and Andy Young, you’re both spot on!

Agree with everything in the article! It’s the centre midfield pairing thats the problem at the moment.. and we need Grav and Cahill back desperately. Once we have those 2 back.. we should be fine. I’d start Faddy left wing in the next game as Pienaar or Osman are good but nothing special at the left wing.

AJ is a first division player at best. Yakubu is not a team player, Hibert dives in to much and we desperately need a bully in the centre mid. We need Vaughn, Cahill and Grav back asap. Anichibe done more in 10 minutes than the 2 upfront done all game. I honestly respect Neville for his leadership and attitude to the game but if he’s not giving the ball away he’s fouling somebody. The rest look good. I know all these players i’ve had a go at are capable of having a MOTM performance every now and then but you should be having 1 bad game in 5, not 1 good game in 5. You can slate me for saying this but it won’t be proven till the end of the season and i hope i’m proved wrong.

Very disappointed that we didn’t get at least a draw but Vidic’s goal was a corker. The reason he scored was he got away from Yobo (who apart from that was terrific) and then "threw" himself at the ball. I don’t think Hibbert had any chance of preventing it - Robot Man did one thing right all game by landing that corner kick where he did.
Nevertheless we can take some positives out of the game:-
Baines looks a great buy.
Wessels looked very confident - I like that in a keeper:).
McFadden was only on for a few minutes but managed to produce a good save from Van der Sar. He’s finding form - give him a go.
My armchair manager bit:-
Neville has to go to right back.
Midfield when all available - Arteta, TG, Cahill & Jags.
Front two? - Whoever looks likely to score regardless of cost or reputation!

It has been obvious that Hibbert is not good enough to play in the Premership for the last couple of seasons.

He is awful in the air , poor in possession , targetted by oppostion teams on set pieces and his positional play is also wayward. Instead of worrrying about Neville and Jag’s , Ken , concentrate on the right back.

Not much I can add to this stuff. Obvious that had Tommy been fit, he?d have been in centre-mid with Jags, with Neville at right-back.

I was pleased with how well we contained Utd, but as the home team, we have to show more attacking intentions than we did. Van der Sar didn?t have a shot to save till near the end - and the problem goes back to a lack of creativity.

Hibbert: Actually one of his better games - which isn?t saying much. He?s a good tackler when he doesn?t dive in and commit himself, but too frequently out of position or asleep. Passes out if he crosses the halfway line and seems completely scared with the ball at his feet.

Neville: Needs to be back at RB instead. Did nothing in this game.

Arteta: Needs to shoot more. Class player, but there were def. a couple of occasions when he should have just had a dig at goal, rather than trying to beat everyone.

Ossie: The problem with him is that he too often drifts out of game. One of those guys, who, if he doesn?t score, you never see him. I?d like to have seen Pienaar or Faddy introduced earlier.

AJ/Yak: Nothing much to go on. They can only be as good as the service they?re given - and it wasn?t much. Far too many aimless, long, high balls.

All in all, a great defensive performance, but we desperately need that quality in midfield to unlock the other team and cause them some problems, too. Too often in the second half, we couldn?t get the ball off Utd and when we did, swiftly gave it away again, coz we don?t have anyone besides Arteta who can put their foot on the ball and keep it and give US something going forward.

One final point: Wessels looked solid in goal. Looks like a good backup.

Again, about the ?lacklustre? Utd team... don?t kid yourselves, they went to Goodison with the attitude that they had to win after their slow start. They were there up for it, they were not allowed to play their flowing football which blew teams away last season and never looked like scoring, I actually expected a late goal to come from the blues and we deserved it , don?t forget this wssn?t Derby we were playing it was the current champions. Just give the lads credit where it?s due!

Obviously disappointed not to get anything out of saturdays fixture. A draw would have a been a fair result. Of all the games i can recall only i think only the 1992 win at old trafford and ferguson inspired victories of 1995 and 2005 are the only times we have beaten them in the premiership. I was looking at the toffeeweb statistics page on friday for pregame and the readings for our meetings since the start of the premiership do not make pleasant readings. i suppose myself and others will have to put this behind us quickly and concentrate on the ukraine game this thursday. As much loathing as i have for the opposition on saturday anyone will admit that even with key people missing they are a class outfit and anybody has to be at their best in order to beat them. Hopefully that will count for ourselves in the subsequent years with the way this club has made strides under the canny moyes reign. One more thing. I would like five minutes alone in a room with no windows with that shower of shite ronaldo. He may be a talented player but his constant showboating and diving and sucking up to referees makes my blood boil. Cant someone just hit him with a shovel or something. Next week is aston villa. I dont want to sound pessimistic but under o neill they have looked a good side and its going to be difficult to get anything out of it. All said, i still feel this club has something to offer this season. With all due respect to sheffield wednesday i feel that the league cup game against them is academic. Into the last 16 a home draw and who knows what could happen. But first lets hope for a convincing performance on thursday and travel to birmingham at the weekend and get our league issues back on track. PS Baines lookes a good signing and justified for me his man of the match award. I hope he can keep this up and together with him and the side as a whole we can achieve something of note this term. Its long overdue.

I think you must be my doppleganger ken ! ( if you can use that in a literary sense) I dissappointed that we never got to see more of McFadden. i thought he was unlucky to lose his place after scoring against blackburn. then after scoring a goal that had the european football world talking i thought he might even start at johnsons expense. but it is no use decrying our strikers if there is no one to supply the bullets. playing two defensive midfielders will not produce exciting football, or goals ! incidentally, i think that lee carsley does a better job than either neville or jagielka in that position.please can we have riquelme now !

I agree with both Ken & Ian here, there were lots of positives to take from this game and Cahill would have given us the edge to win it by a couple.
One thing though about their goal. I think people are being harsh trying to pin the blame on Hibbert for that. Vidic did bloody well and if anyone was at fault it was Yobo for letting him go but even then it would have taken a shove to stop him. I doubt even Dave Watson would have stopped him there, fairly.
(Deggsie Mountfield would have tho...)
murf

i feel sorry for hibbert, all the stick he is getting on these pages, but please wot about neville, the guy is a donkey, he should not take hibberts place at fullback, he should never been bought he cant pass, tackle, the only thing he does is wave instructions, but so what neville out of everton now