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Tim Greeley
2 Posted 21/08/2016 at 02:20:38
Excellent recap, Paul.

I, for one, even enjoyed the traffic report. Maybe because I spend ten hours plus a week driving to and from work myself and take way too much pride in finding that road untaken to get there just that much quicker! Good stuff.

As to the match, I'll watch highlights later but it all sounds good to me! Bolasie should be a big hit here.

Eddie Dunn
3 Posted 21/08/2016 at 09:27:27
Good report Paul- the traffic in that area is legendary, it's easy to miss a turn off.
I think you were a bit mean on Lukaku. A five! His presence changed the game and Foster pulled off a great stop to thwart him when Bolasie put him in.
I hope that now he has committed his immediate future to us, that he will start to perform the way we know he can.
Mark Fitzgerald
4 Posted 21/08/2016 at 09:59:42
Good report Paul and I'm in agreement with most of your ratings. Early days yet but already I would think the new additions will be vying for starts at Goodison next week.
I still like Funes Mori but, as you suggested, it's his spot that Williams is likely to garb. Says a lot about Holgate's performances that I'm rating him higher.
Bolasie needs to start as his service for the 30mins he played is a forwards dream. With Mirallas putting in another committed shift and a goal to cap it off, I would say that Delboy will have to do with a place on the bench.
Though I still question Rom's commitment, there's no doubting that his presence alone causing opponents problems. If he's staying then he will surely provide goals.
Stek's done well to date but I would gladly welcome Hart if the rumours are to be believed.
Still think we need another striker and a midfield general to pull the strings. Those two additions and I really see us competing at the top.
As it stands, for next week I would like to see 4-4-2:
Stek
Holgate-Williams-Jags-Baines
Bolasie-Gueye-Barry-Mirallas
Barkley-Lukaku
Tim James
5 Posted 21/08/2016 at 16:07:18
Thank you Paul, I enjoy your match reports.
Martin Nicholls
6 Posted 21/08/2016 at 19:22:41
Love your description of our second goal Paul as I was in same boat! I was at game but for some reason, my recollection was that Holgate had headed the ball back across goal! Weird!
Martin Mason
7 Posted 21/08/2016 at 20:13:30
Paul

I thought you were too harsh on Lukaku, he gave a match changing performance and we got 3 points, if he'd scored I'd have made him MOTM. He gave us the focal point in attack that you mentioned and he had a good game. When he came on and we changed shape we controlled the game and Rom was instrumental in this control with a good first touch and good lay offs back to to the advancing midfielders. I also believe that Ross Barkley had a very good game and was the main mover in the first goal

I agree with you about Funes Mori, he isn't Premiership standard. He is a prime sell because he would be brilliant in Spain or Italy. We should at least double his cost.

Anthony Dwyer
8 Posted 22/08/2016 at 02:51:22
I agree Martin, Rom deserved a 7,he'd have got an 8 if he would have put his chance away. It was a bit of a bad miss, but match sharpness will soon follow suit, and he looked hungry to catch Bolasie up to get on the end of the chance.

Jags was an outstanding performer too IMO, he looked like the leader at the back, a lot of people raving over Holgate (and rightly so) but Jags won everything they threw our way.

David Ellis
9 Posted 23/08/2016 at 09:56:39
Great report Paul - keep up the player ratings they seem to invite comment!!
Liam Reilly
10 Posted 23/08/2016 at 13:14:03
I enjoy your articles to Paul; they offer something different with your pre and post match tales.

On this report though; I'd side with the majority above as I thought Rom deserved a 7 because his presence changed the game.

If Koeman keeps making game changing substitutions you may want to consider a Manager rating also.

Phil Lewis
11 Posted 22/08/2016 at 17:20:05
Why do people continue to consider Barkley an automatic choice, when his performances are consistently poor? He flatters to deceive with flashes of fancy footwork, yet seems totally incapable of playing the simplest of one-twos!! His positional sense is lacking and his workrate simply not good enough. Admittedly, his scoring record is reasonable.

Other players come in for harsh criticism, unjustified in some cases, with some even booed before a ball has been kicked! Historically, it was always the 'local boy' who tended to get stick from the crowd when the chips were down. I'm glad that's no longer the case, but the sooner Evertonians wake up to the fact that Barkley's media hype is a myth, the better.

I trust that Koeman will see through it and judge him by what he does on the pitch. I for one, would transfer him tomorrow to the highest bidder and buy a proven class act for central midfield. I live in hope that the boy will prove me wrong, but I believe that I have seen enough already to confirm my fears.

Jay Harris
12 Posted 23/08/2016 at 17:33:01
Phil
Barkley is an automatic choice because the manager rates him far more highly than you do.

Some supporters do not get it with Barkley and that is disappointing but the lad has talent in spades and I am sure as his confidence builds by encouragement not criticism we will see why he is so highly thought of by the professionals.

Stan Schofield
13 Posted 23/08/2016 at 17:44:38
Some players can perform well, and consistently, when the team overall doesn't perform well. There are other players who, to perform well, seem to need the team around them to be performing well. I think Ross is in the latter category, and when he performs well it's very very good. So, I would expect Ross to perform increasingly well under RK as the performance of the team improves.

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