Column About Last Night... Martin Wallace 04/10/2007 58comments | Jump to last I'm not quite sure how I feel after that; of course pleased that we progress, but I'm simultaneously numb, bemused and angry that we managed to make such an absolute mess of it. It's obvious we 'didn't play well' ? but WHY did we even set ourselves up as we did in terms of selection and formation? Given that we?ve kept two clean sheets in two, why was it suddenly time to mess with the Stubbs/Lescott partnership and re-introduce Yobo? For the last few weeks I've moaned about wanting Hibbert dropped and Neville in as right back, but why add to the changes in the back four by doing it now? Similarly why is Baines suddenly not first choice as LB? With so many changes for such a crucial game, is it any wonder we played like a gang of lads who?d only just met in pub car park? It was pathetic how easily they walked through us in the first half ? Jagielka was a mere observer (he probably missed Neville beside him). But do we change our formation to match them in midfield when they are blatantly out passing us? No. We just continued to go long and wonder why we couldn?t get out of our own half. Even when we do go 3:2 up ,who do we bring on? Hibbert. Was any Everton supporter in the land sitting there with this tactical masterpiece in their head? What was Carsley even doing there? And incidentally, why didn?t Andy van der Meyde travel? McFadden?s goal could easily have missed the target and (the outstanding) Lescott?s scuffed goal is nothing to get excited about (check out McFaddens ?shot? in the build up) ? yet again we?ve more than rode out luck. I?m dead pleased for Victor and he deserves to start with McFadden ahead of Yakuboob. Yes, Everton have made progress up the league in the last few seasons, but Moyes needs help because he just isn?t positive enough when it comes to showing what is now a decent set of players how to play football. I?m made up we?re in the group stages but unless we started making a habit of being comfortable in possession (ie, passing the ball), it?s going to be a stormy and short European ride. Reader Comments Note: the following content is not moderated or vetted by the site owners at the time of submission. Comments are the responsibility of the poster. Disclaimer ant 1 Posted 05/10/2007 at 05:16:40 Report abuse First half almost brought back the memories of Bucharest massacre. At half-time I already started thinking that hopefully we don’t qualify for Europe next season as we will probably lose to a Icelandic pub team. At least Robotist Everton managed to beat Metalist Kharkiv after being totally outplayed by the Ukrainians. It was a very dire approach by Everton who seemingly wanted to whizz up long balls from the back to no one particular. Instead they should have looked at what their sub-standard opponents where doing: playing short-keep-ball, neat one-twos and creating changes through the middle. Stubbsy was absolute mess, Jags looked out of sorts and I am sorry to say but Osman and Pienaar are very light-weight at this level. Even Moeysy was an embarrasment - he was celebrating the goals like he had womn the Chhampions League. Hopefully we get Grav or Timmy back to add some bite alongside Arteta in the midfield - otherwise we will have some huge problems during the group stage. Michael Dillon 2 Posted 05/10/2007 at 06:04:00 Report abuse It’s always easy for us to talk - like empty cans making lots of noise. Heck if Moyes can predict whats gonna happen in each game, then he’d know what to do. Oh well, I guess the 2 of you would be great Everton managers. Then we’d win the league, fa cup, league cup and the champions league all in 1 season. Lyndon Lloyd Editorial Team 3 Posted 05/10/2007 at 06:14:43 Report abuse "And incidentally, why didn?t Andy van der Meyde travel?" Andy van der Meyde has a touch of the Bergkamps. No, sadly not his devastating ability and model professionalism, he doesn?t like to fly. Seeing as he couldn?t get five minutes at the end of the ?Boro game when we were 2-0 up, maybe Moyes told him not to bother putting himself through the agony of a flight terminating on a "patchwork runway" (ref: evertonfc.com). Pat 4 Posted 05/10/2007 at 06:38:50 Report abuse I agree it’s great to reach the group stages but the performance was far less than impressive.I thought Osman , Jagielka , Piennar were none existant and as great a servant as Stubbs is his legs aren’t there anymore. He will be caught out by the better sides in Euorope. Mcfadden scored but he still seems to moan at the ref more than anything.On the olus side Lescott was good and it was nice to see Howard showing some leadership at the back and letting our defence know how he felt. Arteta was quiet but when he gets the ball he always looks for a blue shirt rather than the hoof ball so often selected by our defence.The midfield needs soring to protect our defence and then feed our attack. Rome wasn’t built in a day but lets hope now some confidence will return and results will follow. Adam Wareing 5 Posted 05/10/2007 at 06:52:53 Report abuse Can we please stop with the pesimism and the moaning on this site! The blues arent playing well but winning games which, if im not mistaken, has been the trait of many a championship winning side. The second half last night was a far cry from the first - moyes is a fantastic motivator- and the boys came back from adversity away from home to win against a quite decent underrated european team. Lets not forget Metalist have earned the right to be there as much as we have and we should give them the respect they deserve. They certainly showed they could play. It’s ignorance not necessarily a lack of quality that caused us problems in this tie, that should be our lesson! No games in Europe are easy, David S 6 Posted 05/10/2007 at 07:27:17 Report abuse Bang on there mate. Martin, lighten up. We won. Michael, great post, Lyndon I hope you never go through what he s with his kids, and Pat cheer up.And Adam, the mopers live is this cave heyd even complain if we won the bloody thing. Colin 7 Posted 05/10/2007 at 07:52:59 Report abuse Scrappy performance - we were very nervous in the first half; we couldn’t have been much worse - a better team would have buried us. However we should all commend the spirt in the second. Happy we are thru - but we must do better to survive.However Yakubu - what a disappointment! He has a lot to do to convince any of us he was worth £11m. Daniel Lim 8 Posted 05/10/2007 at 08:15:28 Report abuse I agree with you Adam, aren’t playing well but winning games is as important as playing well and winning the games. Look at MU at their 4th and 5th and even 6th games of the season, they didn’t deserve to win, but they got the results. Look at where they are now.As for ant, what’s wrong with Moyes’ celebration? For him, this was a very very important match of his Everton career. If we failed to get to the group stage, I will be the first (and I believe many more will do the same) to call for his head. A win means 4 more European matches for the team, I would celebrate as if I had just won a cup myself. David Grace 9 Posted 05/10/2007 at 08:38:28 Report abuse The boys didnt play well, theres no doubt about that, and to win when your not playing well away in Europe is a massive bonus for us. Thats what good teams do, pull out a win when its needed and hopefully we can kick on from here. Neviile and Jags is not the perfect formula in the middle of the park, they dont know how to pass wind at the minute, but i think once we get Gravesen and Cahill back, along with James Vaughan, the team will look a lot more lethal, composed and balanced. I personally cant wait for the group stage and the rest of the season once these players are back, because then we can see the best out of Yakubu, he does not play well with Neville, Yobo, Stubbs knocking it long to him, play to his strengths, give him the ball at his feet around the box, stop making him come to the touchline for the ball, otherwise its another striker well of turned into a bloody yard dog!!!!!! Gai Roberts 10 Posted 05/10/2007 at 08:47:08 Report abuse Pat- u were watching the same everton game were u last nite? Pienaar was "non existant" ! He was by far one of the better players on the night surely Steve Syder 11 Posted 05/10/2007 at 08:50:01 Report abuse Certainly good teams win when they play poorly, but the gulf between their "Poorly" and our performance last night is vast.The first half was the most abject Everton performance I can remember in a long time.By all means, be delighted we’re through - I am - but don’t let that cloud your judgement over just how much better we need to be to seriously compete.I really hope the group games will help the players and Moyes learn and grow, but in Moyes’s case, I doubt it. Martin Wallace 12 Posted 05/10/2007 at 08:19:12 Report abuse Adam W ard & David S - If you see what I’m saying as ’pessimism and moaning’ - then you just don’t seem to get it. It was ugly last night and we were lucky. I’ll take both of those if required. BUT we made it harder for ourselves by ringing so many changes.AND WHY is Moyes so slow to realise that Metalist aren’t there for a laugh? I thought we?d all found that out at Goodison.AND WHEN will we realise that passing isn?t the preserve of star players, but is in fact the ONLY way to remain in any way in control of a game. It?s also something we should EXPECT a premiership team of our standing to be capable of or at the very least trying to do.It’s not about moaning, it’s about being realistic and trying to eradicate what’s blatantly weak about us yet totally fixable. ie Don?t make major selection changes for no apparent reason; do change formation when a team is consistently strolling through the middle; do look at the evidence ? playing not so accurate long balls into our forwards typically results in us merely giving away possession and subsequently finding ourselves under another attack.Only a fool would expect crappy + jammy football to return results week in week out.Lyndon, AVM has had six weeks to catch the bus. mike ford 13 Posted 05/10/2007 at 09:19:22 Report abuse I can,t believe some people, yes we may have been a bit lucky but remember Villareal ?. That was a travesty that set us back a long way and the RS have been blessed with good luck in Europe for years ! Just enjoy it for fooks sake ! Gary Tan 14 Posted 05/10/2007 at 09:23:50 Report abuse Oh Martin! First, you grumble that Moyes made changes to a winning team. Then you want Yakubu dropped for Anicebe this weekend....If Moyes had started with Hibbert and kept Yobo on the bench, I am sure you would be moaning that he is naive for playing our 3rd choice right back and for not using the pace of Yobo in defence.... You can’t win with some of the folks here. Yes, by all account is wasn’t pretty. But 3rd win in a row, Liverpool lost at home, more Euro games to look forward to..thats 3 very good reasons to celebrate a wonderful week! Eddie 15 Posted 05/10/2007 at 09:40:44 Report abuse We’re in the groups stages. I don’t care about last night. Lets all look forward to more Euro football rather than pick apart last night!! Jay Campbell 16 Posted 05/10/2007 at 09:38:28 Report abuse Some people need to open their eyes and quick!!! That 1st half was one of the worst i’ve ever seen out of an Everton side and against good opposition we’ll get our f*ckin ars* smacked. Very pleased that we are through but the performance out of several players and the manager’s tactic’s over the two leg’s was disgraceful. The whole balance of the team is WOEFUL and that’s down to Moyes. His poor decision’s will cost us in the future there’s nothing more certain. Why the f*ck does he keep player’s players out of position and start with players who for years have not been up to the job. Then man’s a f*cking genius in he?? vin bleu 17 Posted 05/10/2007 at 09:39:06 Report abuse I thought Pienaar had a good game. At least he could control the ball and deliver a pass - something we desperately need. Overall - very poor first half, better second half but nothing to write home about. Well taken goals, especially Victor’s who deserves more starts. And yes we got more than our share of luck but isn’t it about time? Well done to the boys for sticking at it! We now have eight Euro-nights to look forward to - cheer up everyone! chris keightley 18 Posted 05/10/2007 at 09:56:54 Report abuse I thought it was a roller coaster of a ride, spirited, enjoyable, tense, just like european football should be, although the first half stank, moyes got it right in the second half and we have progressed, i loved every nail biting second of it, more please !!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Robbie Shields 19 Posted 05/10/2007 at 09:21:44 Report abuse Martin, you’re spot on .....only fools expect crappy + jammy football to return results week in week out...I have said this before on this site WE WILL WIN NOTHING PLAYING THIS HOOFBALL!Tonight THANK GOD we got incredibly lucky. Once again a group of Ukrainians outplayed our talented squad, how is this possible? Simple, they are coached to pass and move, create space for themselves, make themselves available for a pass etc. etc. etc. you know the rest.We once again played most of the match hoofing the ball up the field, the midfielders giving the ball to the defenders to CREATE chances by then hoofing the ball up field. Our once acclaimed defence looking pathetic because of the tactics employed by Moyes.How anyone can say that we are a good team because we can win when we are playing shite is beyond me. I’ve got news for you, we only win when we are playing shite because that is the only way we play.I am delighted that we are through and I am naturally an optimist (Believe it or not, expecially with regards to Everton) however I have seen enough of Moyeses brand of football to know that we are going nowhere fast. YES I know we just qualified for the group stages of the UEFA Cup (And I will be going to the games away in Europe, before I get slagged off for not supporting my beloved blues) but we WILL get humiliated if we come up against a really good team playing this shite.Team spirit is great, every successful team needs it, but that can come via many methods, my prefered one is by playing good attractive football, this then turns in to winning matches and a better team spirit. Last night Jagielka looked destroyed, Yakubu bewildered, Neville useless, Osman ineffective, Arteta and Piennar frustrated, I could go on. For me, even our famed team spirit is very fragile at the moment, I suspect that many of the players KNOW we are playing shite football and have lost confidence that they can actually win a game by playing BETTER than the oppositiion. This can soon lead to a demoralized squad. Hopefully getting into the group stages where we have 4 guaranteed matches will help to repair this but I doubt it if we come up against some genuinely good passing teams.I’m really looking forward to going over to Europe with my fellow Evertonians, but i am not looking forward to the shite that Moyes will serve up. chris keightley 20 Posted 05/10/2007 at 10:10:15 Report abuse Alright Robbie calm down we are never gonna be brazil my friend, if you support everton then you support whatever dross they dish up, if you support everton then you should also praise the fight in which everton showed when other prem clubs would have crumbled, ie blackburn, and spurs just getting a draw from their tie against minnows. metalist were a good side capable of beating everyone from 10th down in the prem, this was a great result and id be more than happy watching us play bayern, or villarea,l or basle ,or anyone we get drawn against chin up mate the team will find its standard when everyones back, and it will be good footie again. Tim 21 Posted 05/10/2007 at 10:15:50 Report abuse Listen, we went away to Ukraine and in a difficult atmosphere we won with 3 away goals. That in itself deems us worthy winners and means we deserve a shot at the group stages. Marc Arabella 22 Posted 05/10/2007 at 10:17:40 Report abuse I am still in shock that we actually won!No problem with Moyes celebrating; it at least shows that he has passion for the Everton causeParts of the game sent my mind back to a certain Wimbledon affair.In the first half we were ripped apart and a better quality team would have *really* embarrassed us.Jags was just not there and you must ask is he good enough to play in the Premiership?What about Beattie???.oops sorry Yak! Slow, disinterested and shown up by Anichebe. Given his efforts, you have to wonder if Moyes bought him.There are plus points Lescott, Anichebe and Howard all stood out and yes, Stubbs is getting on a bit, but his presence is seen.Basically, we were very lucky, but hey, we won and have Tommy and Tim to come back.. Robert Pierpoint 23 Posted 05/10/2007 at 10:04:51 Report abuse As a start it is important to remember that it was an awful place to go. The pitch was cutting up everywhere and made it a nightmare to play on. However ive got to agree that the first half peformance was abysmal...1. I seriously wonder whether Jagielka can cut it at this level. Just where is his best/actual position. It clearly isnt in midfield because last night and sunday proved that he doesnt have a clue, he leaves acres of space and just seems at a loss. If we spent that kind of money on a right back who can just about cover yobo in january then im worried. we should have just bought a new centre back.2- The glaringly obvious thing for me is that even with players fit, we lack a strong driving force in the midfield (fingers crossed for appiah in january...) Perhaps cahill brings ’bite’ but we lack that strong leader who can rally the troops when the chips are down. The midfielder that can lead by example. Without wanting to hark back to seasons past its so unfortunate that we were so close to sissoko.3- I think the criticism of Yakubu is unfair. He is at a new club and has to get used to how we play, (poor boy!) If all our midfield do is lump balls up to him then what is he to do. Last night that is all we did, and when he controlled it he was met with two kharkiv defenders. Remember the old ’feed the yak and he will score’. I honestly believe that, and im not too fussed if he doesnt do all the chasing as long as we somehow discover a bit of quality that can provide him with the ball to put in the back of the net...i hate to say it but a certain dutch no.7 is coming to mind.To all evertonians, lets keep the faith with yak. his record speaks for itself, lets not do what some fans did with beattie and make him the whipping boy for the lack of craft and guile apparent in our squad. Paul Crowther 24 Posted 05/10/2007 at 10:18:26 Report abuse I really hope David Moyes learns from last nights performance. OK we won but it could have gone horribly wrong. We were exploited in the first half with wide open holes in the midfield and defence.What is of particular concern to me is that Yakubu looks terrible. He looks slow, his movement is poor and he struggles to hold up the ball. I hope that I am made to eat my words but 11 million quid is a lot of money to a team like Everton and i really hope that he comes good. But let’s end on a positive. We won ! bill green 25 Posted 05/10/2007 at 10:25:58 Report abuse this was an embarasing lack of tactical knowledge by a manager who is clearly of of his depth, finished with 7 defenders, no wonder we can not pass, i sorry this was a total inept and deeply worrying performance for anyone who has ever played football or even has a decent knowledge, this is a forum for people to aire their views, not to try and protect the club with some ridiculas stiff upper lip mentality, the problems are glaringly obvious to us all,...............except David Moyse. James Elworthy 26 Posted 05/10/2007 at 10:56:42 Report abuse Eastern European clubs are always difficult to beat in their own backyard. Shakhtar Donetsk are now a pretty useful side winning at Benfica, Dynamo Kiev have beaten Arsenal in the past. Give credit where credit is due, they are th 3rd best team in the Ukraine, 50 million people so its not a small country.Give credit where credit is due Metalist were a far better team than they were given credit for we went there and knocked them out, which is something Blackburn couldn’t do against an unknown Greek team. Danny Carr 27 Posted 05/10/2007 at 10:54:12 Report abuse For once it seems that we have taken a leaf out of the red shite’s book of "Being Lucky Bastards in Europe"If we can play shite and still win then bring it on... what will happen when we actually play well?? Richard Dodd 28 Posted 05/10/2007 at 10:56:51 Report abuse The Moyes tactical genius brought us vicory last night.Too many of our players were not at their best in the first half and I have no doubt that only Davey’s half-time talk and vital substitutions brought home the spoils.Luck had absolutely nothing to do with it, you make that yourself.Last night on the European stage our manager showed he is up there with the very best. robert carney 29 Posted 05/10/2007 at 11:04:48 Report abuse When is Tony Marsh back?I hate to say it but his honesty is missing here.We were shite, but still in it. Can we last out to January?I fucking hope so. I said yesterday folklore starts in places like the Ukraine, and I am jealous of all those great people who made it. They deserve to see a massive improvement in our next european game.As well as a full squad of players we need a lot more nous from the manager and his coaching team.Looking back, remember the impact when Colin Harvey was promoted o first team coach. I am not saying that calibre is in the club but we should start looking if the progress is to continue. Martin Wallace 30 Posted 05/10/2007 at 11:11:28 Report abuse Mr Dodd - are you sure your first name isn’t Ken? Billy Piper 31 Posted 05/10/2007 at 10:59:31 Report abuse Boris Johnson was right about the people of Liverpool....whine..whine..whine !Anyone from Plymouth to Carlisle would look at a team which was 5th in the league...had progressed through to the next stage of two competitions which included winning against an excellent team in distant Ukraine after being behind twice and which had an English board with a twice manager of the year manager at the helm....with nothing but envy.They would be incredulous that so called supporters of this club were waging a debilitating...for real supporters...guerrilla war against the manager because his side are not Brazil 1970 in terms of ’entertainment value !!!Jeez....! Mark Lloyd 32 Posted 05/10/2007 at 11:05:02 Report abuse For once let’s give credit where credit is due. Yes we rode our luck, yes the tie should have been over in the first leg, but come on it was a massive game and the nerves and tension were there for all to see. Of course Moyes is a little tactically niave at this level, tell me how many other managers in the Premiership have a wealth of european football knowledge? All that comes with experience, he and the team will hopefully learn from these games.On the players, Arteta for me was the biggest disappointment. Not that he was the worse player but simply because he’s our best player by a country mile and didn’t show it last night. Let’s hope again that was down to nerves. So come on, let’s for once bask in a little bit of luck and a whole lot of glory! Michael Newton 33 Posted 05/10/2007 at 11:25:21 Report abuse Who remembers UCD of Ireland in the Cup Winners Cup. They hit the bar at Goodison with a terrific shot, we drew 0-0 there and won 1-0 at home we would of gone out on the away goals rule. I still shake now sitting in the Park End stand seeing that shot dip and swerve hitting that bar with Southall well beat.We scraped through beat Bayern and won the cup against Rapid Vienna.Metalist are a far better side than UCD was, bring on the big boys now AT 34 Posted 05/10/2007 at 11:17:10 Report abuse Agree with you Billy. No team is ’lucky’ to score three goals away from home in Eastern Europe! What will it take to satisfy some people? I’m off to blue kipper! What a bunch of whinging pesimists some people are! Crawl back into your pits of dispair! If you really don’t have anything good to say, then why spoil the mood for the rest of us! I was actually as excited about last night’s triumph as I was when we won the cup in 95. See you at Newcastle and I ’ll be singing my heart out for blues! Sean Rothwell 35 Posted 05/10/2007 at 11:18:59 Report abuse "McFadden?s goal could easily have missed the target".This just goes to show the lengths some people will go to in order to be negative on here. You could make the above comment about any goal that has ever been scored by anyone. McFadden’s goal did not miss the target, hence the fact that it was a goal. And not only was it a goal, it was a very good goal. You appear almost resentful that we scored. We have seen the redsh*te be comprehensively outplayed year on year in the Champions League and manage to scrape through on away goals and odd refereeing decisions time after time. Do you think their supporters whinge about it? Of course they don’t. As long as you are in it you can win it. That’s all that matters. Chris 36 Posted 05/10/2007 at 11:36:59 Report abuse I was exstatic lat night (probably due to the Guinness) but in the cold light of day the result papers over some pretty substantial cracks.We appear to have completely lost our midfield. We seriosuly struggled to string more than 2 or 3 passes together before giving away possession. OK we have a few players out but the replacements just seem woefully out of their depth.Thank christ their pitch was a shocker otherwise they would have been through us even easier. That said if you are going to play ugly...at least win ugly.We are still in the hat and 5th in the League, could be a lot worse!COYB Goughy 37 Posted 05/10/2007 at 11:47:48 Report abuse "McFadden?s goal could easily have missed the target".Well said SeanI couldnt agree more about that rediculous statement about one of our best performers this season. The Scientist 38 Posted 05/10/2007 at 11:26:18 Report abuse someone said too many of our players were out of sorts last night,thats bull too many of our players were out of their depth,Yobo was diabolical and was matched by the useless jagielka(we couldve had Barton for £6million)osman was once again useless,too weak knocked over too easily too slow to move the ball and yakubu wasnt interested,pienaar at least carried the ball several times and got involved but he too is lightweight and far too similar to the useless osman,by far our best player on the park and a winner through and through was Lescott,he was superb,he was far more creative than any of the midfield dross around him(even Arteta stunk)Faddy pulled his tripe out too,he looked shattered at the end unlike the rest of the team who looked shattered after 20mins.This was another example of moyes tactical ineptitude,he hasnt got a clue and is totally unable to respond to whats going wrong on the pitch,we were being swamped in the middle again but he was unable to see it,jagielka didnt know what the fuck was going on looked like he’d just come from a pub team.We’ve been screaming for a central midfield general for how many seasons now,someone to hold it all together and move the side up and down the pitch in one unit,that was a shambles,as for the ’experienced’ Neville,its 2-2 and were hanging on all he can do is keep hoofing the ball giving the possesion away constantly and putting us right back under pressure.Yes i’m made up we’re through to the group stages but unless we sort that central midfield birth out we’re going to continue to struggle in every game we play. Dave G 39 Posted 05/10/2007 at 11:52:07 Report abuse Everton, Everton, we’re forever EvertonAll for one, one for allEverton’s the team that plays nothing but hoofballWe’re the kings of Goodison we play in royal blueThe hope of all the Toffeemen we’ll hoof it long for youWe’ll hoof it down the left, we’ll hoof it down the rightWhichever way we hoof it, well hoof it out of sightWell done EHC - Everton Hoofball Club Dutch Schaffaer 40 Posted 05/10/2007 at 11:09:53 Report abuse I don’t understand your problem. Everton were winning 3-2, the opposition needed two goals to win, so why not bring on another defender and completely close out the game?Using Hibbert in the final few minutes was the perfect way to ensure Metalist didn’t score and force a final few awkward minutes.Sounds like good management to me. Mike Whittaker 41 Posted 05/10/2007 at 11:41:13 Report abuse I agree totally with Robbie Shields post. The disapointing thing for me is that 2 years ago Moyes was set an examination that he failed abysmally i.e to be a successful side in Europe you have to have players with strength, pace and be comfortable with the ball at their feet.2 years later and 25 million pounds further spent, the same questions are presented to Moyes by yet another european ’minnow’. Once again we are an embarrassment. (yes i know we won but by far the better footballing team are out of the competition)The football we played yesterday was diabolical. I fear for Phil Jagielka, he looks like a man in turmoil. David Moyes has taken us as far as he can. He has a good character and is an honest man but he doesnt have the correct skills or footballing brain to convert us into a successful footballing side. He’s built a side in his own playing mould - dependable, old fashioned and basic. And for those of you knocking Yakubu, he comes with a good scoring record, like Beattie and Johnson before him. Can it not be that Moyes and Everton are making him look crap rather than the player himself? Michael Newton 42 Posted 05/10/2007 at 12:10:06 Report abuse Martin Wallace ’McFaddens shot could of missed the targe’What a stupid statement, if your fathers sperm would of missed the target you wouldnt of been here today.McFadden did hit the target, just like he did for Scotland in Paris just like he did for the goal of the season v Charlton. Dont come up with all this what if hypothetical stuff, he is paid to hit the target and he hit it, who do you think he fucking is Robin Hood Sean Allinson 43 Posted 05/10/2007 at 11:56:15 Report abuse Can we get away from the idea that we were ’lucky’ last night. All of our goals were due to our good play or their bad play. Luck had no hand in any of them. We showed amazing character to come from behind a second time. Going 2-1 down so soon after we had equalised must have been a kick in the nuts for our players and a huge source of inspiration for theirs. And yet we still came back from the dead. The first half was of course a worry, mainly because we seemed to playing with fear. The fitness of Gravesen was and will be key to us in future games. A player who can put his foot on the ball is essential if we are to progress in European competition. His absence meant by-passing midfield with long balls destined on 99% of occasions to one of their defenders. Lucky, that’s what Metalist got when the ref made Johnson retake his penalty. Must do better-yes. Lucky - no. James Elworthy 44 Posted 05/10/2007 at 12:21:03 Report abuse McFadden is that most natural goalscorer at the club, his shots are always inevitably on target or pretty damn close, Moyes put him on against Utd in the 85th minute he brought out the save of the match in the 5 mins he was on. McFadden has wonderful talent and I hope this is now the making of the boy. Cockney Blue 45 Posted 05/10/2007 at 12:25:43 Report abuse Evertonians are the most whingeing set of supporters I have ever heard in my life.We won we are 5th in the league, the team has progressed tremendously in recent years. We are spending much larger amounts of money on players.But no we whinge about it, we won in Eastern Europe for gods sake.However we moan about Moyes, Hibbert, Jagielka, Yakubu, Kenwright, Wyness, the colour of the toilet walls the pies the location of the ground you name it and you whinge about it.I also agree with the guy who has a go at Martin Wallace for saying if McFadden had of missed the target, we wouldnt of won, he didnt miss you fool he scored he put the ball in the back of the net just like he wanted to. To many of you bring up ifs but and maybes. Face the facts we won be happy get a life stop moaning we have won 3 games in 9 days we are in the next round of 2 cups, 5th in the league, we have the best squad we have had since god knows when. em 46 Posted 05/10/2007 at 12:26:46 Report abuse Great were through, tremendous, weve got european nights that we have been desperate for. but... that performance was not good, we cant afford to just hoof the ball up all the time and conceede possesion, we should be playing the ball to feet and creating chances thats the way to play football not giving it away so cheaply.... best player was lescott last night he was really commanding and good at going forward, not sure bout jagielka yet, ive watched couple of times now and he gives the ball away very often hope its just a case of settling in, same goes for Yakubu he looked lazy last night, but overall good win and were in europe now so lets put that game behind us and look forward for the group stages weve deserved it. Martin Wallace 47 Posted 05/10/2007 at 12:28:29 Report abuse Ok the ?McFadden goal could have missed? idea does tax logic.But, can anyone (especially all you very clever optimists) tell me the logic behind changing the back four so much for such a crucial game?And Mike Newton ? for god?s sake, leave my al man?s sperm out of it. Lee Spargo 48 Posted 05/10/2007 at 12:33:57 Report abuse Yes, the first half was poor.Yes, we made this harder than it should have been.Yes, we could have been knocked out last night.But guess what? we won. We scored three goals away from home and we deserved to go through. We’ve just played three games in eight days. We’ve won all three. We scored eight goals. We’ve conceded two.Happy days. John Crook 49 Posted 05/10/2007 at 12:22:44 Report abuse First and foremost - the fortunate win last night will set us up nicely for newcastle away and liverpool home. i really feel we will take a minimum 4 points from these two games (so hopefully a draw on sunday and lets face it after three games in a week and a gruelling trip to the Ukraine and back we will settle for a draw in the north east and maybe a clean sheet. Gravesen, Johnson and possibly Cahill will be back for the derby.But going back to Metalist (who are a decent side which they have proved twice) we should still be outclassing these kind of teams. I was pleased when we signed Jags as a quality squad player but he was proven he is not a holding midfielder. And why was the gap between defence and midfield so large last night. This is what enabled Metalist to have so much passing freedom. When Stubbs plays away from home we need to play deeper to accommadte his lack of pace but we need a carsley type player right in front to clean up. Jagiewlka was a real weak link last night and with pienaar and osman who are both small and lightweight this did not help. So...third time lucky...will Moysie learn from this European lesson??? Lets hope for some luck with the group draw. lets hope we are still in by Jan and lets hope a quality powerful holding midfielder will join Moaning Blue 50 Posted 05/10/2007 at 12:46:57 Report abuse cant stand them cockneys Al Dugan 51 Posted 05/10/2007 at 13:05:20 Report abuse Let’s start at the beginning here...AJ misses not one but two penalties which would have made the away leg meaningless....now, throughout this thread we have people calling for Moyes to change his tactics, and we have others who complain when he makes a change to the lineup that won two in a row. We won 2-0 over Boro on Sunday, and yet THAT game sucked...then we get 3 goals in a far away land to win in the Uefa Cup, and that game SUCKED...you folks must really hate your lives....no wonder the Empire collapsed...it was too hot in India, too cold in Canada...your lot is the most pessimistic bunch I have ever encountered in my entire life...better we don’t qualify for anything because you can’t stand to watch...better we play in the Championship because it will give you something to complain about for the next 10 years...You don’t know anything about football or teams or managers or life...all you know is how to bitch and moan when things don’t go right...Joe Strummer was right....Career Opportunity is the one that never knocks....it’s a song about excuses, and you will come up with any set of excuses to make a point so you feel horrible...what a miserable existence...WE won the match and advanced...and this is cause for depression? It must be the socialized medicine... Steve Ashton 52 Posted 05/10/2007 at 13:05:19 Report abuse We rode our luck well in the first half, those who think it was the worst EFC performance they can remember obviously can’t remember Bucharest, in 45 years of following the Blues that was the worst.But there is a common thread between the 2 matches - Joe Yobo - dire in both. The reason Stubbs looked so poor last night was because he was to all intents and purposes the only centre back we had, in the circumstances I thought he did well.One thing is certain if we are going to make significant progress (there are another 12 games to get to the final) we will need serious additions in January and with players being ’cup tied’ that seems unlikely.On the plus side I thought Piennar, Howard, Lescott, McFadden, Stubbs all played well. Anichebe played the long ball game far better than Yak because he came off their back four and held the ball up and took his goal really cooly, even if it could have missed! Jolene Strummer Lescott 53 Posted 05/10/2007 at 13:33:22 Report abuse Al Dugan no one said they re depressed but if you think were going to get anywhere bumbling through the season with embarassing amateur performances like that then you are deluded,yes were all happy we stumbled through but we’ve just posponed the inevitable,yes it will be great to meet some well known European opposition in the group stages,but with a midfield that is incapable of creative attacking football we will surely be embarassed again,DM is incapable of taking us to the level of football required for European success and the last 3 seasons have been the worst standard of football we have played since the seventies,its dross.Were 5th in the league because lets face it,despite all the media hype the prem league is not the best in the world and apart from 6 or 7 teams the rest are shite.Some is rich and some is poor and thats the way the football world is but i dont believe in lying back and saying how bad your luck is! Andy Townsend 54 Posted 05/10/2007 at 14:09:10 Report abuse Has anyone seen Gazza? He’s got my inflatable doll. Probably doing something hilarious with it. Brilliant. M Brando 55 Posted 05/10/2007 at 14:20:32 Report abuse Loved the drama of the game. Fantastic result but....How shit was Leon Osman?!!!!I thought Pienaar, Lescott, Howard & McFadden all played well though.We wouldn’t want to win easy would we? John Owens 56 Posted 05/10/2007 at 21:30:26 Report abuse 5th in the league, next round of the carling cup and group stages of the UEFA cup and we are still moanin !! this site will go out of business if we ever win something!! didn’t play well but it was vital that we got thru to the next stage of the UEFA cup, the club will benefit from the extra experience. Magnificent support again, if the team were that good we would be winning things on a regular basis. jimmy hoffa 57 Posted 05/10/2007 at 22:59:30 Report abuse I wuz thinking, given our predicament right now with our midfield being missing, why don’t we try playing AJ aas an Attacking Midfield in addition to Mcfadden and Yakubu playing strikers?AJ is fast and he can cross and set up goals. Plus, an attacking midfielder can score goals as many as a striker i.e. TIm Cahill Al Dugan 58 Posted 06/10/2007 at 00:15:28 Report abuse Jimmy...thinking like that will get you named Manager of England © ToffeeWeb