Blues hold on for vital win

COYB!

Heitinga's playing - but where? Defensive mid with Neville RB, I imagine.

If Heitiga is in the back four IMO its a serious mistake taking Jags out of the middle to play rb.

I would have liked to try Oviedo as the holding MF instead of Pip.

...rather than a winger at centre forward, a centre forward on the wing, a right back in midfield and a central defender at right back...

I'm sure Mirallas favored position is up front top scorer in the Turkish league last year, but why not two up front more than possible if he had played Oviedo instead of Neville putting him on the left and pushing Pinaar right.

Far to casual from Johnny but that says everything about him to me. He does something good (Bolton) and thinks he's world class.

Stupid mistakes may cost us this season.

I admit it would be nice to win a game comfortably, but honestly this is Everton and they don't make it easy for us Evertonians. COYB

Another positive set of results on Saturday will help with the hard run of games after that.

WE WON!! and against a top half as well! And look at the table, 5 behind Chelsea, 1 behind Spurs, 3 ahead of Arsenal, and 6 in front of Liverpool, thats how important this win was.

Now, a couple of signings tomorrow, a win on Saturday then a very fine week indeed!

The slight disappointment is probably because we threatened to win easily but it didn't materialise. We were solid though and looked the more likely team to score later on. I'm happy enough with that.

Pienaar and Baines looked back to their best, Osman (miss aside) was composure personified, and Mirallas and Gibson both got game time, what's the problem?

Once again, Everton's problems do not just exist in a vacuum. Liverpool threw away a 2-goal lead and defended for most of the game, Chelsea threw away a 2-goal lead, Spurs drew, Arsenal drew at home, but yeah we're the only side that doesn't do what 'top' sides do.

As soon as I see JH in the team I get nervous even before kick off. He is shot to pieces defensively and the goal he gave away was not his only mistake. If Duffy is not better than him then he should change jobs!!

I really hope that we can sign a consistent right fullback and get Jags back into the centre of defence asap. It's a shame that we are within touching distance of the champions league and have such a shallow squad. None of our youngsters are making the grade, they should be pushing for places.

Why did DM not put Neville back to fullback and leave Heitinga on the bench? Putting Oviedo in midfield would have been a better option surely.

Let's hope that a couple of rabbits are still in the hat before this window closes. God damn this board for leaving negotiations so late every time there is a window. We really need to strengthen the squad so that we can really push on, our competitors are there to be taken!!

Besides who could/should have played, why wasn't Jag in the middle and Heitinga at right back?

Because Jags is very quick and will nullify their opposing winger. Certainly not the best option but the only one with our holding midfielder injured and 2 right backs out also.

I will be so much more confident in clean sheets when Hibbo returns and we can get back our best back four.

You have a point but Jags is better in the air and up for the physical battle more. It was never going to be ideal who ever played right back but I don't see the sense in taking your best centre half out of the middle.

Every time I watch him I think he is the best player on the park, from both sides. That's a rare compliment to a left back, but he is usually a class above anyone else. A different type of person and he'd be playing for one of the biggest clubs in the world, thankfully he already is.

The fuck up with the transfer was defo for the gullible. Everton were never going to buy this guy, it was always a con. Call it political, but it was at the end of the day a con. Thanks Bill.

By the way, was that ok for you mods, I mean I wasn't over the top with political incorrectness. Just seen the Osman miss. What is it with these girls? Is it all about side foot, I mean cant footballers today put their foot through the ball like laces first. Like I say what a bunch of fuckin girls......

Mirallas gave us something different down the left, and is badly needed to mix our play up. Baines was back to his imperious best after a couple of average games.

I wish Ossie would have planted that chance after riding two tackles that tried to take him out, Messiesque!!

So it was no a concern that our centre back gave away a goal worthy of pub team, or that when it comes to chaces we must be one of the least clinical team in the EPL? You did not see the sitter that Ozzy missed?

All in all a good night's work and BTW, someone should tell Barry Horne that he's not commentating on Everton TV or Radio Merseyside.

On the transfer front though........

Out of 3 big uncertainties (Moyes, Fellaini, Baines) for EFC future I am now convinced that he is the top priority to keep (followed closely by Moyes and with Fellaini a distant third). Put another way, he would be my first pick of the 3 if I was any one of the Champions League usuals.

If we fail, we sell Fellaini for £30m anyway so where's the risk?

People on here slaughter Jelavic and Naismith but Osman escapes because of his quick feet... ha ha – not that quick when he is missing sitters your nan would bury. If the Reading sitter wasn't enough, now this after the St Mary's horror show and woeful display at Bolton.

More worrying is Osman is coaching at Finch Farm with Neville... Gulp! How and why do these two continue to get a shirt?

I agree with what you say. I think we have an overall problem here. The defence was weakened because Gibson is not a starter and Moyes wants to push Fellaini further up. Solution? Captain Pip who, for me, is a much better full back than he is a centre midfielder but he is a better centre midfielder than Jags or Johnny. That means our defence gets re-shuffled.

Neville has been lucky to get games this season but only has because Hibbert, Gibson and Coleman are out.

Football hey? For years we got away with one left back but this season we are struggling despite having 3 right backs on our books!

And if Moyes really needs Pips vision in the middle why not play Heitinga right back and Jags centre half? I'm pretty sure Johnny played right back for Atletico Madrid and for Holland. But hey, what do I know? Surely with Gibson back, it's the last we will see of Phil in the middle of the park.

Some madness being spoken on here though. True, the game wasn't the most fluid or exciting event this century, but as soon as Baines scored we were going to win.

Pienaar and Mirallas switched sides a fair bit which shows that Moyes can let the team move, and Victor worked his bollocks off all night, and won a very good penalty.

I'm not going to let the fact that I'm Johnny's biggest fan get in the way here: his cock up was a bad touch, but had he controlled the ball better there would have been no problem. Also, I think Long came from behind Distin so Heitinga wouldn't have seen him coming in his peripheral vision. It was still a terrible mistake and it will affect him no doubt. I don't think it was as bad as Osman's miss though, but giving goals away is always worse than missing scoring them, especially when you're winning. That said, as long as Osman wasn't trying to score a goal, he was quite good tonight.

Lastly, I watched the game with my West Ham mate, so he knows bad football when he sees it. Every time Neville got the ball he cracked up laughing, saying how when he goes near that ball he knows something bad is going to happen. Our captain's constant selection in the midfield is becoming a parody of itself, and he should either play RB, or go manage Yeovil Town.

Well done to the Toffees tonite... another fine result and the other results round about help to. We are really looking as good as I've seen us in as many years (imo) and as we've also started well which is even better, onwards and upwards for the Toffees and Celtic. Hail, hail to the Everton.

He gets turned to easily, and let's in to many shots, crosses and gives away penalties from the same point.

Negatives-
Heitinga looks a potential liability, a slow Joseph Yobo?
Neville way too many errors
Osman should have about 10 goals this season!

If Heitinga hadn't made the decision to get good contact with his wrong foot instead of possible poor contact with the outside of his good foot, we wouldn't have this arguement. Give him credit for getting back, these swing and hope hail mary goal line clearances are all in the lap of the gods.

You're letting your frustration get the better of you, do not give in to the anger of the darkside.

And great to see development in Victor after all these years. Well done Moyesy for working on him and sticking with him.

Anichebe - worked hard (unusually) but offered nothing else - gets praise

Time wasting from the 17th minute shows what their game plan was. Sit deep and try and get us on the break. All the teams below us are now attempting to do an "Everton" to us, defend well and hope for a goal on the break.

I see Predictable Potty Peter is still finding something to slag Moyes off after another win.

Marshy, Osman probably gets a shirt due to inch perfect passes to his own man to set up a goal, granted it was about 30% Osman 70% Baines.

I think "won a penalty" is a bit much, it makes it sound like he dazzled the defender into making a mistake. I think "the defender gave away a pen" is a bit more accurate. Other than running more than normal, did he show an ounce of quality? He could have scored when the keeper spilled the ball into the 6-yard box but Anichebe was too busy doing his usual remonstrating to the ref with his head in his hands to notice the ball and open goal was behind him.

"Heitinga's best aspect" - his extremely late tackle on Lady Boy during the last world cup final, then whispering some friendly words whilst Lady Boy awaits the medics. Quality, and he only got a yellow card!!!!

On last nights game, well firstly it was extremely quite at GP, fucking quiet to be exact. The fans are expecting something big and they want it, but teams like Albion can make it difficult, so what starts as a dig from the stands suddenly becomes total fucking abuse (Neville must have to put ear plugs in prior to kick off because that boy takes a shite load of shit from the stands).

But hey, the Baines boy put's everything right and the fans can now sit there as as happy as the day is long - though obviously Everton are Everton and you can fuck right off with an easy 3 or 4 nil win and resting key players after 60 odd minutes. Not on your life, lets have it the Everton way, enter Heitinga for the usual comedy classic.

Anyways, next up is Villa, more of the same I feel though Gibson will probably give Neville ear's a break and we may actually look more organised.

I also thought Moyes made a good, and brave, decision to omit Jelavic.

"Tactical Ineptitude," according to Peter Barry...

(Or, back on planet Earth, Lukaku kept very quiet, and 63% possession for the Blues).

Another 3 points against the Premier League whipping boys on Saturday please.

While I can say I agree with all the players Moyes selected and the positions they played in but they won the game with a decent performance other than the 10-min wobble after conceding. Also all the other results more or less went our way, what is there to moan about?

Passing much slicker and purposeful in the main, with enough creativity from different players to overcome their attempts to stifle our left-hand side. Relatively few attempts on goal but with a lot of activity in the final third and their penalty area very nearly leading to something. Defensively comfortable for the vast majority of the game, restricting them to a few break-outs and potshots, unfortunately marred by JH's 'comedy' moment.

A few comments on key individuals:

JH - lacks pace and not the bravest but he is a more accomplished passer than Jags or Distin. Apart from his glaring mistake I don't think he had a bad or ineffectual game. I thought he had somehow arranged to not play right-back for us as he doesn't like the position. Last night Jerome Thomas would have had a field day if he was up against Heitinga rather than Jags.

KM - looked lively and positive and definitely gives us another dimension when he plays. Needs to look up to see what else is on instead of trying to finish things himself at time, but hopefully this will improve if he stays fit and has an extended run in the side.

VA - applied himself well but I have to agree with those who question whether he really did any more than Jelavic has been doing lately. Apart from one incident when he failed to really have a go at a ball that was there to be played towards goal I thought Jelavic did okay when he came on, carrying the ball well and looking to get into the right positions.

MF - No one else has commented on it so was it just me who thought he wasn't playing the advanced role last night (some statements make me think people thought he did)? To me he played in a central area, with Neville left to do the majority of the defensive midfield duties and Ossie liberated to link-up with the likes of Baines, Pienaar and Mirallas. This formation means Felli can break-up attacks through the middle, pick up balls from the defenders and carry the ball forward, and still get into the opposition's penalty area on enough occasions to provide another attacking threat. I like this position for Fellaini and in my opinion it was a big reason why a lot of things looked better for us as an attacking force last night.