Totally pointless!

The team looks weak to me today, very small in stature compared to Chelsea and for me we don't look like we have many goals in us. Hope it's not going to be a case of bringing on the attacking options when we are losing the game again

While we are not quite dominating this, we haven't been in any real trouble. The annoying thing again is our lack of cutting edge yet again...

Oh and we have already had three corners that we have failed with... Just thought I'd say!

As for Traore, he looks like he's still crocked. Our Medics didn't do much of a job assessing him when he first came over did they?

We need to stay focused and go for it.COYB!

As for Traore, it's not going to happen, is it?

These twats on BT – it's "Jose this, Jose that".... they don't call Martinez "Roberto", snivelling cunts. That prick James is desperate for these to win. Let's shut him up. COYB

I predict the usual concentration lapse in the second half and we lose the game 1-0 just like at Spurs. Playing well only means something if you get points/goals to show for it.

No goal threat, never hardly score a goal away from home, and basically we look very very very punchless.

Martinez and the board got it BADLY BADLY WRONG in January.

We'd have been better off keeping Jelavic than sitting on the £7 million... but don't worry, eh, lads — we can keep the money til the summer and then spend it on more shite because we don't have the REAL money to get top-drawer players.

Barkley maybe one for the future but, since he has been back, it is one for the distant future. He seemed to be playing with a huge immaturity. And please don’t come back with his age – Rooney et al have all done it at his age.

Referee decisions once again not clear cut but can’t take anything away from Chelsea who scored when it mattered.

A Man Utd win puts us out of any distant chances of European football and really does show how far we are from the top.

Delboy didn’t get one opportunity to run at a very average old Chelsea defence surely shows that our players on the park don’t realise each others strengths.

All-in-all, it’s a same old same old — loads of possession but in the wrong areas and with zero end result.

And I have already renewed my season ticket!!!!!!!!!

Subbing like for like attacking players was wholly ineffectual but what else could he do?

Is this another January where Bill screws our chances yet again? A fat Scottish bloke who looks like he was spotted in the Park End and a Brett Angel with a dodgy knee? We had a healthier team when Gravesen Mk II turned up.

What’s Plan B, Roberto? — because we’ve gone flat.

Mirallas blows hot and cold too much, which is why he cost what he did. Barkley is still not there, come on and actually looked a lot worse than Osman. Deulofeu didn't get the ball once in an effective area.

I'm looking at McGeady with a little more hope though, he liked to stick his foot in which might make him a better go to defensive winger than Naismith meaning that Naismith will only get put behind/alongside the striker.

Defence was strong and good all day, but as Barry lost energy in the 2nd half the gaps became noticeable. Our defence is only as good as the midfield sitting in front of them and over 90 minutes were only really have 80% of a central midfield as Barry is getting on.

I thought we were very unlucky to lose today and I'm not going to overly criticise Howard after a very good performance. He didn't lose us the game. Sure the free-kick was a dive, but there were plenty of people who didn't head the ball before it got to Howard, under pressure, at pace. A lot of 'keepers will struggle in that situation.

That's 4 defeats in 9 matches now anyway, so much for the old 'we don't lose many' purists. We don't friggin win many either though do we?

Truth is, we have been totally shite since before Christmas, our goal threat is bare minimum, even before Lukaku got injured. That is exactly why, I was craving some proper FIT new signings who could make a big difference to us maybe finishing 4th, now we don't look any better than finishing in our usual magnificent 7th again.

The Arsenal game is MONUMENTAL for the season now: lose that, and it's just our usual trot abouts from March to May where we look good when we are not playing with any pressure.

Same old shit, I am afraid.

I wonder why?

We played them off the park for long periods.

Get a grip, lad.

We were seriously lacking in offensive qualities from the midfield to the front two. Mirallas has lousy ball control. Naismith has no pace but works hard and is not enough. Lukaku won't change anything much.

Wheels off now and Europa League looking remote at this rate. Osman had one good shot but easily brushed aside. And next we've got to come back to North London yet again in the cup. What a prospect. 18 years since they won here?

For the doom merchants, don't forget we're playing the top of the PL in their backyard! We played some great football first half, they weren't in the game at all.

Give Martinez the money (fat chance!) and we could really challenge the top 4.

We pass the ball pretty but ultimately we have a Belgian who shits himself when it comes to shooting, A Scotsman who can actually shoot and knows where the goal is but no-one gets the ball to him in a dangerous position, the "new Rooney" who isn't match fit and is stinking the gaffe out... and that's the extent of our proposed goal threat... Oh, and a young Spaniard who is as frustrating as the Belgian.

No forwards, no goals and we are now ending up quite recently with no points.

It's not all Dad's Army time, but it's worrying how toothless we look. 3 out of our last 4 league games we haven't scored — but it's alright: we passed it well for two thirds of the game...

I already knew David James was a twat who didn't like Everton, but today has made me realise just how much he hates us. He can't keep that smug smile off his face after one of his beloved Redshite's rivals to the title has just won a match. Add to that his explanation as to why Jagielka's foul at the end was correct was full of liar's stumbles. I just don't understand how he can keep his job in the media. Twat.

"An average Chelsea defence"??! — Four world class international defenders, you mean? "Ends all hope of European football" — Again total tosh.

We were unlucky to lose at Chelsea and have West Ham, Cardiff and Swansea at home followed by Fulham away in March. 10 pts from those and we re right in there.

Lukaku will be back soon while RM can hardly be blamed for Traore's knock. It's a hard to take in the circumstances but some people need to grow up and look at the bigger picture...

We have performed really well against all the top teams with the exception of Liverpool at Anfield. If we can finish 6th or 7th it is as much as any fan could expect.

Our defence are fantastic and we are a couple of players short of a serious challenge. If we could get Lallana and a striker like Ba plus another defensive midfielder we will progress

As I said yesterday, it is all about taking your chances when you get them. It really doesn't matter if their goal came from a debatable decision — they scored and we didn't. We are badly in need of a striker who can do it all.

The cup will do for me.
COYB

We are oh so close to a title-winning team. We should now put everything into winning the FA Cup.

Let's just win our next 4 easy looking fixtures in the league and take it from there. And there's still the FA Cup to look forward to.... not all doom and gloom.

The summer will tell us a lot about the board's ambitions to really take this club forward... desperately need new additions.

It's bloody frustrating but that is where we are and where we have been for most of BK's tenure as Chairman; that is where the problem lies – not with the manager or players because every one of those players gave it everything today and I'll wager that Chelsea haven't been tested so much at their own ground for most of their home games this season.

Taking aside today's performance which was terrible, I'm not really sure what he does to justify the hype. Three goals and no assists is a pretty poor return considering the media have been promoting him so much this season.

My issue is the amount of time he gives the ball away, his lack of awareness of players around him and his tendency to dribble into blind alleys.

Now I know he's a poster boy in these parts but I'd bite your hand off for £50M.

Roman spot on about David James – how biased is he? He looked absolutely made up – he's that thick, though he doesn't realise that was a bad result for Liverpool today.

We had some good possession but it never lead to anything. Our crosses and corners were terrible. Mirallas bad game. Barkley & Deulofeu need a few games in the reserves, because neither of them are ready for the first team.

I think that's harsh, the ref was conned by a dive. The real error was Distin's who allowed Terry goal side.

We matched a very expensively assembled side with good football, and some neat one touch stuff. People need to realise it will take a while before the likes of Barkley, McGeady and Deulofeu can start to influence games together, especially at the likes of Stamford bridge.

I'm sorry, but Howard should have been off his line quicker for their goal, typifies how he reacts when the ball comes into the 6-yard area. A shame, because he had played well up to that point.

Naismith played well, but Mirallas didn't offer anything playing off him, which in turn blunted our attacking options.

Baines was back to his best and Coleman was as good on the opposite flank. I am in no way upset about the performance, but I would like to see Robles given a run now to the end of the season.

We won't be going to The Emirates in the Cup looking to keep them from scoring; we will be taking the game to them – which is good enough for me at this stage of our transition.

So, basically all we need to do is get 10 points during that run and, after the Shite lose against Swansea tomorrow, and then also lose their 4 games during the period in which we are picking up the above 10 points, we will be 3 points ahead of them and 4th place is back on?

Meanwhile, back in the real world, we simply aren't good enough to be anywhere near the top 4. Our record against the other top 7 teams is the worst of these teams against each other this season despite going 'toe to toe' against all of them.

Roberto's game plan has been well and truly sussed. Teams let us have the ball as they know we are zero threat against them. Liverpool, Spurs and Chelsea away, we had the majority of possession in all of these games. The end result.... Zero points, zero goals scored, and 6 conceded.

It is the same every year, whoever the manager is. We finish 6th, 7th or 8th and Kenwright is happy and keeps spending to a minimum.

Anyway, on to the match: we were too slow in the final third, great up to the box... then nothing. And don't start me on Barkley – he was woeful. If that had of been Osman coming on, he would be slaughtered for that display.

Can someone tell me what Pienaar brings to the team?

He is the only winger I've ever seen who refuses to cross, shoot or beat a man.

Somebody needed to put their head on the line and launch themselves at the ball. We’re just not aggressive enough. We can’t defend crosses and we can’t score from them.

Plenty of positives though. Baines had his best game for a long time. Barry and certainly McCarthy played really well. Coleman, Howard and both centre backs played well and Naismith was fantastic without scoring.

Gutted that we lost but I didn’t expect anything else really. Maybe a draw at best. We were playing Chelsea in their backyard and we are toothless to the extreme.

Yet again we've completely fallen off in the New Year, I'm sorry to say. We need to try and find some form again for the quarter-final.

Roberto needs to familiarise himself with that old chestnut... "goals win games"! It's the Cup or nothing at this stage I'm afraid. Really shocked how bad Barkley was... no touch and total lack of confidence.

Agree, Kevin... the only problem: I can't see where our goals are coming from.

But I like how this team is shaping up. I had written this season off as one of transition so to still be in the top seven with a shot at the Europa League place and the FA Cup is a good start for the Martinez years.

Hopefully we will finish the season off well as we have some winnable games coming up and, with Lukaku back, we should be strong. I am still optimistic and you guys/gals should be as well.

By the way, Jelavic has scored for Hull???????

I guess we were always going to make subs (as all were calling for – Plan B and all that). But they really didn’t work for us.

I feel sorry for Ross. He’s really struggling to find his feet (and those of his team mates) in the last few games. Let’s put it down to lack of fitness, to be fair - not his fault (though lack of physical attributes doesn’t stop other players getting slagged off endlessly). But Ross was woeful.

I’m only disappointed in the result because we showed so well before the subs.

Arsenal here we come, with somewhat more fitness in the team.

Martinez was just too nice a bloke in letting Jelavic leave without adequate replacements. We were already one forward down with Kone out all season. We needed to buy another decent forward.

Interesting to see that Cahill had just tweeted that "It's no good being the better team all the time, it's goals that are needed, not excuses. Criminal to be toothless up front."

I'm assuming Roberto sanctioned the sale which was a mistake. It left us exposed to Lukaku getting injured — and guess what happened in the first game.

Give Barkley a full game next week against West Ham to try and find his touch, and we could bring that Cup home to Goodison.

We have dominated at Chelsea,Spurs and Arsenal but conceded one goal to each of them where we should have been home and dry. This suggests to me that we are a work in progress but have enormous potential. These expensively assembled teams have not been able to match us in open play and the missing link is clearly a goal scorer. We have seen what can happen with a January acquisition- Traore is unlikely to contribute much and I would hope that we have kept our money ready to buy a decent striker in the summer rather than risk wasting it on a January buy who wasn't first choice.

The rest of the team has the players in place but just need extra cover in CM and hopefully one of the youngsters will come through. Barry has done well but we need a young and vibrant CM which we will not get with him . Rather than spend a fortune on his wages we should get a young and energetic replacement .

Barkley looked appalling today making very basic errors and maybe he needs to regroup a bit( though he has had a good few weeks to do this anyway). Worth giving Gerard a few starts as Kev has been iffy in the last few games ?

All told a very disappointing day but also very promising- if we can bring in a decent striker in the summer we could move forward.

The same people who moaned incessantly about negative substitutions are now moaning because RM made positive ones and the ones the majority are always on about, Ozzie cos his legs have gone and Pienaar cos he's knackered and as for Mirallas, he's playing his own game more and more.

I think we'll see a change when Lukaku returns. I also believe Naismith should be given a chance playing behind him.

We are all disappointed because we have lost our impetus a little but remember the disappointment is borne from the earlier performances which gave us belief. The application hasn't changed, we are disjointed because we have had a huge injury list, one which I'd argue hasn't been as long since Paul Power signed for us. That seems to have been forgotten a little.

The Manager has changed not the board. Why are so many surprised by the lack of investment in January? We tend to only spend once in a season anyway.

I'm confident that when all the players are back and they settle again we'll see a return to the football we saw in November and December.
I also believe we'll win every match in March.

You are totally right, he is wants to run before he can walk. He wants to win us games, he wants to split the defence, wants to beat 3-4 men, he actually wants to look good. He is not doing the basics, he should have gone outside Pienaar to create space as all pro's would have done. He makes so many wrong calls at the moment, but I'm afraid Martinez built him up big time back 3-4 months ago and the lad is utterly lacking in confidence at the moment and looks frighteningly frail.

My only concern is the lack of goals throughout the squad.

Defenders rarely look like scoring from set pieces.

Pienaar for all his hard work and creativity does not have goals in his locker nor does McCarthy,Barry nor Barkley at the moment.

So with one striker up front it is easy for the opposition to blunt our goal threat.

Roll on the Summer and the opportunity for Black Bill to empty his sofa and get a couple of goalscoring MF players in the Summer.

But I'm not an idiot either and know that Chelsea, City etc know that lashing out millions improves (significantly) their chances of winning games and consequently, trophies (fact: if it didn't, they wouldn't spend it)

By net spend over five seasons, from 2007/08 to 2011/12 Chelsea spent £159.7 million to our £5 million.

I'm always gutted when we get beat and today's no different, but considering EVERYTHING, I'm not going to start screaming and raging, blaming, pointing fingers etc when we lose 1-0 away to Chelsea and their huge pot of (iffy) money.

He couldn't have foreseen it but he could have mitigated against happening by not selling a forward and replacing him with one who wasn't fully fit when he signed him.
Pretty basic really, you need a back up plan in case things don't go as expected.

Loan players may be ok for a short term but to me it is a problem to replace them after they go back to their clubs. All the loan players we have are for a regular spot in the first team and that means at least 4 players will be needed to replace them.

The chance for a top 4 is starting to become harder so we may have to bite the bullet and start bringing in some younger players.

The main problem we had today, being all too evident, was the lack of a prolific front-man, Naismith could not be faulted, but lacks the physical presence of a Lukaku or dare I say Traore... it looks like we have another 'sicknote' till the end of the season!

The positive that we can take away from the game, is they gave it a good shot with the resources available!

Also strikers from the Ivory Coast don't seem to have much luck at Everton (Bakayoko, Kone and now Traore).

I agree with Victor (#495): Roberto is in the process of rebuilding. Playing style is changed but needs more work to quicken our attacks and score goals (which will happen if attacks have more zip). The RS were not dissimilar last season but have now learned to attack with pace. Our style will evolve but no team can change over one season and beat everyone.

I also agree with Jamie (#475) in that our centre-backs are not aggressive enough in attacking the ball at times. Yes, they play very well but can be found wanting; we do concede quite a few goals from crosses where they and Tim stand still and watch a John Terry type launch at the ball.

A work in progress but I think Roberto is on the right lines.

I believe the Hull manager said he is getting more out of the lad by just playing to his strengths?

Another potential top striker the mighty blues could be looking at is Jutassomeonewitz, plied his trade around the Championship after being let go by a Prem team but can’t stop scoring wherever he goes?

Options would be to buy a big name striker and hope he gets no injuries, which is highly unlikely with our luck/training regime, or we buy several run-of-the-mills who could score if only from the amount of chances we are apparently making.

Just a name please, who are these youngsters ready to play in the PL?

The simple truth is, say what you like about Moyes, we wouldn't have lost that game under him. We never really looked like scoring in the 2nd half, Barkley was awful; in many ways it was his mistake that led to the goal. If he hadn't wasted that simple pass and hit it out of play, we could've kept the ball up their end of the pitch.

It's all very well playing attacking football if you have Suarez and Sturridge up front but, if you have Naismith up front it doesn't really work. What is so annoying about this result is that it was so predictable. I knew the game would be settled by 1 goal and Chelsea were the only side who looked like scoring.

Great effort from the lads, and they didn't deserve that.

He occupies a major goal scoring position and in the last two goals has spectacularly failed to score with 5 shots at goal. 4 last week and 1 today. In both games had he scored the result would have been far different. I think he is getting Mirallas really annoyed. Last week Spurs had 1 real chance and scored and the same thing happened this week 1 shot in front of goal and one goals scored from a defender!! We are playing well but the players are getting frustrated due to our failure to score from so many created chances.

So please Mr M only play Osman as a sub and only for 20mins then we will see him really focus. Look his shot today the ONLY shot the Chealsea keeper could have saved was if the shot was in the air which Osman supplied. Had Osman placed his shot in the bottom left then it was a certain goal and the flood gates would have opened.

George Green is 18 years of age!!!!!

I think the point people are making about the youth is that it should be sitting on the bench, if we ever (and it’s not really happened for a while) in a position were the game is obviously won they should be getting a run out.

Yes, it’s nice to rest players when the game’s won... but bringing the youth through, if that is what we have to rely on, has to be done.

I know what you were saying; I was just asking specifically which ones?

I suspect the reason you can't answer is none of them are even close to being ready. RM obviously doesn't fancy Vellios and I can't see anyone else.

The point being we have three centre forwards, all three who are currently injured. A ridiculous position for a team with aspirations to be in.

How sad is that that I would welcome one of them with open arms, unfortunately they have what in footballing terms is two of the most valuable footballing commodities, strikers that score!!!!!

Roberto is changing our style because, once it is working properly, we will have 60% plus possession and will therefore score more goals than the other team provided we have a scorer by then. At present he needs younger centre backs who are comfortable in this style (one is already waiting in the wings), a young creative midfielder (Gibson, Barkley, one of the U-21 squad or buy one) and a striker. It is nothing to do with aspiration – if we don't have the money, then we can't spend it. Hopefully there is a decent kitty for the summer but, if not, then, as Patrick says, Roberto will hopefully blood one or two of the youngsters if he thinks they are ready for a run out.

Oh, and hands off Nais – he played really well today and deserves full credit for it!

Martinez would like a little more discipline in his play. "We need to help him a little bit, because to get into the first team he needs to master a position," the Everton manager has said. "At the moment he is a player who will win you the game for the Under-18s, but he is a bit of a free spirit."

I think it is easy to see RM's view.

I enjoy all the community stuff and improved PR, full credit there, but the first half of the season showed a footballing promised land that old hands thought gone forever and younger fans have never seen, there's no going back from that.

Bar a few "head the balls" the Martinez aspirational game has been embraced he plays football and plays to win but as injuries bite the squad is being shown up for what it is.

To play "properly" you need proper players, numerous players, if we don't supplement the quality of Baines, Coleman, Barkley, Mirallas, Mcarthy and Oviedo this summer I can't see Roberto dossing around for years on end like the previous manager.

Imagine the desperate spirit of "ginger bollocks past" returning to haunt this sacred place - I'd take up train spotting to avoid the tedium.

First half we were very good; weathered an early storm and then controlled most of the half. Second half we couldn't make the ball stick in their half which meant we couldn't apply sustained pressure.

I am a big fan of Ross Barkley but he got pretty much everything wrong this afternoon when I thought the stage was set for him to sit just in front of Barry and McCarthy and keep the ball moving into their half.

Little surprised Mirallas came off at all as both Pienaar and Naismith had pretty much given everything they had by the last fifteen minutes.

Most frustrating thing was our general reluctance to whip the ball early into the box. Considering we apparently don't rate our chances from corners we managed to turn a fair few decent crossing / shooting opportunities into corners through hesitation / reluctance to take the initiative.

If you blame Howard for their goal then you know nothing about goalkeeping. He couldn't move initially because of Ivanovic's leap. Ivanovic probably brushed the ball (which makes Terry offside but it would have been a tricky one to spot at full speed) and if he had got more on his header then Howard would have been ideally placed to make the save. Keeper can't be expected to cover all the threats; put it down to an excellent delivery and an attackers gamble paying off.

Lots of teams have at least one teenager on the bench, by teenager I mean one that has not played. Moyes blooded Barkley and he looked like a rabbit in the headlights, but has come back quite well, why can’t others?

Because the manager says he's not ready. Could I be any more clear?

We got good money for Victor, but too be quite frank I would have him back at the moment because although not prolific can hold ball up.

A number of former blues have scored today; I would not like all to still be at GP, but any striker would help at the moment.

I know loans cost money, but surely as we are as tight as they come when it comes to the purse strings must have a good deal that we took an unfit, untried in the prem striker because he scored in Russia?

What about Mirallas's fluffed effort from about 18 yards and central which almost became a pass for Naismith? Or when he jinked nicely inside the box but squandered the chance by merely trying to blast the ball through a defender?

You could take Bainesy to task for his cross when Seamus made the right run for him in the first half – there was plenty of space for him to put the ball where it would have been a sitter.

Osman did perfectly well today.

Apart from this, the whole team played well today – even McGeady in his brief cameo was impressive. The absence of a centre-forward cost us dearly in the end as it did against Spurs the other week. Naismith is a wholehearted footballer but is best coming off the bench when his guile can be used effectively against tiring defenders. We brought on wingers because there was little option.

I'd have thought it was a game when we needed a Heitinga figure who could sit in front of the defence but all we had on the bench were wingers and full backs. Howard made one stunning save in second half and looked safe. The goal came from another free kick which should never have been given and – anyway – Ramires should have been sent off for his appalling kick at Pienaar shortly after he came on. All-in-all, it was very like Spurs with Everton players surrounding another inept Ref at the end.

Big summer ahead for Martinez. He needs to sign Barry quickly when the season ends and then add more depth to the squad. My feeling is Lukaku will go abroad after the World Cup (I am just guessing but it seems to be the only way he'll play in Champions League) so we'll need at least one and possibly two forwards. Will be interesting to see if any others from the strong looking crop of youngsters we had at the start of the year manage to break through –– Lundstram, Garbutt, etc. Stones and Barkley are obviously good enough. I also think Joel seems to be settling after a shaky start. No reason to doubt Martinez can work all this through...

The one thing I will say, though, is that RM's responsibility is to EFC and its long-suffering supporters – not to any individual player. Had he have utilised Jelavic, instead of selling him, we might have benefited from the three goals he's already scored since he left; he'd have had no need to worry about his World Cup place and we'd have had no doubt about his commitment.

Instead of that, he's brought a sick-note in on loan to go with another loanee who hasn't cut it since before Christmas. Wouldn't be surprised if Jelavic out-scored them both between now and end of season.

Roberto has said this is a development season and we should be a lot better next year. I was against this guy for a long time but I've started to trust him and I think we'll finish this season quite well although, as he says, it's development time. I'm gutted to lose but feel optimistic for the long run.

Let's not make this our thread.

However, watched him on numerous occasions and as a midfielder and we are currently carrying a few shall we call them senior midfielders such as Barry, Osman, Pienaar we need to bring certain positions through quicker if we cannot afford to buy them which we obviously can't.

It is only a bonus when the likes of Rooney and Barkley come through.

Of all the anti-Osman posts that has to be the most sad and desperate. It is now his fault that two games running a keeper has made a good save from a good shot.... Fucking priceless!!!

Therein lies our problem we cannot buy that winning mentality into our club. So we have to nurture it through the system so we should not be too hard on Ross Barkley. He is 20 for Christ's sake, yet he is up against Lampard, Ramires and Matic – all trophy winners.

Today we played well and with Suarez in our team would have won. Problem is we can't afford one.

The ref gave us fuck all by the way.

All of our decent play comes through players who were already here and so he really needs to sign some decent players this summer that are actually ours. A creative mid to sit alongside one of either Barry or McCarthy (definitely not them both together) and a decent striker who will actually stay fit.

Keep it going Bob. It's my belief he gets plenty from his players. As dissapointing as this, it's usually the case that money speaks in the final third of the season. We play with confidence and belief and I can't ask more of our players or our manager.

Well there you go, you are a better judge of a young player's readiness than Roberto.

I'm actually quite looking forward to Lukaku coming back next week with hopefully Naismith playing just off him, that could be good.

Although today's result wasn't a surprise, it is galling that they should play well just like the Spurs game and come away with nothing. Perhaps next week will see some changes to the starting eleven such as Lukaku and Delboy coming in and maybe Osman and Pienaar being put on the bench.

Well he's knocking them in for Hull, he scored two in his last game for us. I don't think anybody truly believes he was good enough in the long run, I certainly don't. But it was just the short sighted timing I don't get. By all means improve the squad but how replacing him with someone who is patently not match fit was just daft.

Leaving us in an exposed position should Lukaku get injured was negligent.

We have a small squad, when they are all fit which they are not. Too many players like young Barkley, playing with injuries and trying to carry it all on his own.

We need to support our team and hope for a continuance in the cup run.

As for the league we will, barring others collapsing, finish anywhere between 6 and 20.

I think it was a mistake to bring in an injured striker, on loan, in January. God knows how long he will be out for... will we see him before the clocks go forward?

It's stop-start and has been since Xmas, we need to move on and hope that this season we have used up most of our injuries and bad luck, not getting penalties etc.

Before people start going on about the money the players get, they are doing their best. We had a settled team in the first half of the season and now it's different people every week. I think the players' confidence is being affected and Roberto should have Deulofeu and McGeady on from the start against West Ham.

We have been playing good football but never look like scoring and until Mirallas either learns to pass or is far more clinical in front of goal, nothing will change. Our small squad is showing signs of tiredness. Players are badly out of form; Pienaar and Barkley are probably the biggest culprits there.

The FA Cup offers a genuine chance of success and hopefully a bit more success with some decent signings this summer would go down well. Europe with our current squad would only tire an already tired and ageing squad.

Jela knocks them in for Hull for sure but how do you address his poor return for EFC (particularly under Roberto)? Hull play 4-4-2 and have a markedly different playing approach to RM's EFC. So RM could not foresee the injury to Lukaku (which if not happened, would not have us debating on the striker issue). Jela did not and will not suit RM's style, otherwise why sell him?

That's not the final solution – we just do not service any forward we have, haven't done for years and even now we don't create clear cut opportunities. Our final balls are poor, our final decisions are poor. And I don't know the answer to this.

It does have a bearing, Traore was bought after Jelavic was sold in the knowledge he was not fit and had played little football. We sold... leaving us in a position that, if Lukaku got injured, we had no backup.

He did; we haven't.

The personnel have the attributes, but the supporting midfield slow it down too often. We tend to blame the wrong players for not scoring enough. Jelavic did not get the service last season nor this and now he his away at Hull who see his strengths and play to them.

We just don't see the bigger picture. Lovely passing but always allow the opposition to get back in numbers and snuff out our threats.

Traore was not fit when he signed, hence why he didn't play until last week. He obviously still isn't fit, pulling a hamstring whilst warming up is probably a good indication of that.

I don't think Jelavic was a top class striker but who would I prefer on the books in the last month and right now? Jelavic every day.

Naismith is a gutsy lad, honest as the day's long but he has little presence up front on his own. I feel sorry for Barkley...here's hoping he doesn't read the totally unjust reviews he's getting here. We are improving, we are not perfect but we have to have patience. Let's stay positive... all of us!!

Strangely, it seemed to me that we came out very flat in the second half. And, after the two substations, it became very one sided – Barkley's performance was embarrassing. Deulofeu did not create one chance after he came on.

Now, I am a big fan of Martinez and am really glad we have him as our manager, but I think he got it badly wrong in the January transfer window on the striker situation. He should not have let Jelavic go (and not because Lukaku got injured or that Jela scored 2 goals today) – Lukaku was looking very poor before the window, Jela had just started scoring and we didn't have any other goal scorer in the team. And to go and get an unknown entity with an injury was a poor decision in my opinion.

However, on the positive side, I think we saw excellent performances by the back four, McCarthy & Barry. Osman was wonderful in the first half and Naismith created good chances although nobody created a good chance for him. Fantastic commitment from him, but was let down by poor final balls from the other team members.

One more thing: Why is our set piece delivery so bad? For people who say, why don't our centre-backs score more goals, I say because the delivery is shit! Out of the eight or so corners we had, not one threatened their goal.

On the bright side, Lukaku will be back, and with Chelsea out of the way, he will be keen to help Mourinho's quest for the title by damaging the other sides in the league. I hope he starts banging the goals in, so that we at least finish a respectable 6th and maybe a good run in the FA Cup.

Guys, at the end of the day, when you look dispassionately, we are competing in a league which is ridiculously loaded in favour of the moneyed clubs... (Rooney at £300k per week, anyone?) At least Martinez is getting us to play without fear and competing with the big boys. Maybe, just maybe, some of our young players will turn out to be world class and decent enough to stay with us for a few years. I can dream, can't I?

Big Sam is here next week perhaps BK should tap him up.

Tell us exactly how it was shocking tactics, he took of midfielders and replaced them with midfielders? He tried to win the game and we lost to a late lucky goal. Try to remember that we did beat Chelsea this season and our record at their ground is hardly splendid.

God, how I long for those days of shite, negative football, where the focus was on just not getting beat.

I'm certainly not getting on his back, I thought he was positive in trying to win the game. The subs just didn't work out, Ross had a shocker and that changed the momentum in the game. We stopped retaining possession which until that point we had done really well. We were still unlucky though.

I do still think he made a mistake letting Jelavic go because he at least would have given us options. To me I'd have waited until the summer.

No club in their right minds were gonna sell any decent striker mid season to another club, unless it was for an extortionate fee, so that kind of shows Roberto's rationale around why it didn't happen and why he chose to save the kitty to spend in the summer. Then better players are available for all clubs to wheel and deal and the market is more open...

How am I stopping you having your say?
This is a site for debate and discussion. You post something , I post something.

Just because I think your opinion on George Green being ready for first team,despite our manager being quoted this week saying he isn't, is a pile of steaming horse shit doesn't stop you saying it.

Martinez is not a miracle man, the top teams are looking to buy players valued at £30M+ while we are looking to bring in loan players or ones costing around the £5M mark. Small wonder we just fail, the wonder is, that the club is as competitive as it is.

We should be proud of that performance today, they gave 100% and the season so far. We might not be winning trophies but we usually give the best teams a game.

Except that's exactly what we did. Fuck what Jelavic wanted. There was every chance that Lukaku would get injured at some point and here we are. The blame for that one lies squarely on RMs shoulders.

Looks like it's now a question of limping over the finishing line.

The manager places great emphasis on possession but there has to be an end result. Despite dominating games at Tottenham and to lesser extent today, we failed to score in either game or even work the keeper. The lack of goals is a team problem with the midfielders contributing little nor the centre halves. All-in-all, I'm disappointed in how the season is heading.

So, whilst I am admiring our new style of football, it counts for nothing and will ultimately just mean we get beat in a more palatable fashion than we did previously. Never will we have a season of the promise this one has had and January could have really seen us make a statement as true challengers. Such a shame.

Our only hope is Lukaku comes back stronger than ever and hits the ground running to give our season the lift it needs otherwise we will aimlessly drift to 8th, 9th or 10th.

We have probably the two best dead ball experts in the PL in Baines and Mirallas. Why are we not drawing fouls more, in and around the penalty area in order to capitalise on this asset? Especially away from home when we don't look like scoring in a month of Sundays.

All we seem to do when in the last third is to give possession away cheaply by trying to score the perfect goal and our play becomes so slow and predictable.

We have to face it, the top four teams all cheat their way to victory and taking a moral approach is only going to give us many more so-called hard-luck stories.

Barkley looks terrible since his injury. Deulofeu trips over his own feet and not having a striker as a focal point means we just don't go anywhere in possession.

We're still hard to beat because we keep the ball well, but not doing anything with it is never going to win us games. It's all well & good playing neat, tidy football but you have to do it in the right areas to be effective.

So frustrating today.

The only good thing was the support.

Then onto next Season. Tough decisions win games.

Personally, I do not want to see any of the following starting a game next season - - Howard, Hibbert, Distin and Osman.

All been good servants and done well(ish) but all past their best now. Distin is getting like Yobo - - plays really well but makes regular points costing mistakes.

Agree with the sentiment until we get to the little dig at Ossie. Best midfielder on the park today which considering the opposition says he has no problem playing at this level, after all he's done it over 300 times.

Not a popular view on TW though for whatever reason.

Except it's not the simple truth is it? It's pure conjecture on your part.

You speak as though Moyes never suffered a narrow defeat after a battling but ultimately toothless display, away against one of the top four, so I can only presume you avoided watching Everton entirely over the last 11 years because that sort of result has pretty much been par for the course.

"Barkley was awful; in many ways it was his mistake that led to the goal."

Except it wasn't.

How can the blame for the Chelsea goal be lumped onto Barkley's back? It's not fucking connect the dots. How far back do you want to go to apportion blame? What about the bastard who kicked off to start the second half? That single action set in motion a chain of events that eventually led directly to Chelsea scoring over forty minutes later. He should hang his fucking head in shame.

Funniest thing today was watching him square up to Ramires. Never seen him do that before but I don't think Ramires was too worried.

You can. Can I laugh?

In my opinion Distin, as I said, has been great but he has been at serious fault for quite a few goals this season – you cannot keep doing that. He is smooth and looks really cool but is beginning to get caught out too often for me. No thought of him being crap or rubbish or anything like that. It's amazing that he is so fit but he is beginning to cost us points.

Howard is solid but prone to fault – great save today but very poor on the goal... as was Distin.

Agree about Osman,who is not a lad but a 32-year-old man... but sadly he does not have the strength, as you say, "to play at this level"... so maybe we have both lost the plot.

Again OK on Hibbert – but I do not want to see them starting next season and now is the time to look for decent replacements from within or outside the club.

Actually... bang on the plot, I think!

He needs to focus on Everton, cut out his media work, get some wins now and sorting out the squad before the Arsenal game. Too many players, notably Mirallas, are frittering away their abilities on grandstanding, while Barkley seems to have lost the plot since his injury – or, more accurately, being rushed back too soon.

Perhaps Martinez has learned that you can't build success by borrowing other teams' rejects, crocks like Traore and wastes of space like McGeady. The money we've used rebuilding Wigan's bank balance might have bought us a decent striker. While our recruitment policy seems to show neither rhyme nor reason with finding a decent striker neglected. This must be our absolute priority before the Felli, Jelavic and Anichebe money is frittered away.

With a goal in the dying minutes, that narrative has changed for some to "crappy".

The goal might have been crappy but for me the performance overall still stands as good.

The same issues are still here from last year the football looks better but end product is worse. We have less attempts on goal and seem to have little idea of how to break any defence down. Big summer awaits as, without investment and replacements for our loanees, this will be as good as it gets.

I never narrowed it down to just games against Chelsea. What I said was games against 'one of the top four' :

"You speak as though Moyes never suffered a narrow defeat after a battling but ultimately toothless display, away against one of the top four, so I can only presume you avoided watching Everton entirely over the last 11 years because that sort of result has pretty much been par for the course"

Yet we concede a freak own goal in the 92nd minute to a set piece and its toys out the pram, sky is falling time.

City won 4 draw 1 lost 2
Arsenal drawn 3 lost 4
Liverpool drawn 4 lost 3
Chelsea drawn 5 lost 2

28 played 4 won 13 draw 11 lost

Not bad away from home to the top, par is a draw.

That's so unfair using actual data!!

No, it was Howard with an own goal. Terry didn't touch the ball. See here: http://metrouk2.files.wordpress.com/2014/02/12697253204_97a6af09d0_o.gif?w=649

Quite simply, bad luck. I thought first half was our best performance all season. The ref was terrible, giving free kicks for the slightest contact without regard to what the offending player does. Jags tried to get out of the way and Ramires ran into him – not a free kick at all.

Don't be such a boring twat desperate to prove a point. It makes you look a bit of a dick when you fail.

You can look up 'stats'. Well done.

Might be better off learning to read the written word though. I said 'games against one of the top four' in 'the last 11 years'. Only played 28 games against teams in the top 4 in that period? Nope. Better chuck some basic maths in there as well then.

Oh, and by 'top four', did I mean the current top four, or teams in the top four when we actually played them? If the former then that would be pretty shortsighted, if the latter then City and Liverpool can be discarded for some seasons and almost all United games can be added to the mix.

Why bring on attacking/non-tackling players McGeady, Dell boy & Barkley when the game was heading for a draw? Fair enough if we we're playing them off the park but MotM Distin was showing what we needed to do and the lightweights that came on didn't fit the bill.

I have followed McGeady's career since he was a young boy, watched him for Ireland & Celtic numerous times and I can honestly say that he has no place at Everton; simply not good enough... and I'm very surprised that RM seems to have a blind spot when it comes to him,

His agent touted him about at Celtic and Spartak were the only (big) club to come in for him. Same again when he went on strike in Moscow and RM fancied him, no other Premier League club showed the faintest of interest.

Team W D L
Man U 1 1 3
Liverpool 0 2 3
Man City 2 1 2
Spurs 0 2 3
Chelsea 0 2 3
Arsenal 0 3 2
Total 3 11 16

So it really is par for the course that we lose more often than we gain a point at these venues and win 1 in 10 of the games played.

For me, Pienaar went missing again several times during the game and was most upset with Ross Barkley. (Have Chelsea tapped him up already?) Ossie really is a tryer — just a shame that he’s not rewarded with the goals he deserves for his effort.

The lack of a fully fit strike force is really beginning to come back to haunt us and has cost us more than once this season. How I wish for a 20-goals-a-season player but, without a fairy godfather or a very very rich Arab uncle, this is never going to happen. (If any ladies have the wonger, I’m sure we wouldn’t say no to their help either!)

I’m sure we all hope that Lukaku comes back next week champing at the bit and ready to fight for us Blues all through the run in.

As for the lad on loan from Monaco, I’ll forgive him for today if he nods in an 89th min winner against the Arsenal in the cup the week after next. (One can only dream!)

So, as I curse the extra-time free-kick that never was, I think it’s time to grab another beer and drown my sorrows some more. Stella can only blot out some of the memories of today!

The real problem is that we seem to have lost some shape. Yes, we can pass the ball well and played some good stuff, but at times in the second half we looked a bit panicky and started hoofing the ball.

We have no strikers and the fact is, if we would have replaced Jelavic with a better player, no-one would care; however, this never happened. I worry that the Martinez style could be starting to compromise the structure and shape of the team. If we wanted to look really depressingly about it, Wigan played good stuff at times but they mostly looked disorganised. Are Everton now starting to show the same – albeit with better players.

Well, yes, the facts might suggest something different. However, it's an observation really from the 3 games, particularly the dark side awfullness.

The reason I have chosen the last five years is because it shows that lack of investment up for what it is a dereliction of duty by the board. How Roberto is somehow supposed to turn it around with a negative net-spend is beyond my comprehension.

Can't believe people are calling for Howard and Distin to be moved out because they are liable to make mistakes! Show me a 'keeper and centre back who aren't! Obviously better replacements would be expensive even if they could be identified and these two are simply not bad enough for their replacement to be a priority.

Some strange comments on this thread about the manager making unnecessary risky changes. I thought the game had started to drift away from us before RM made his substitutions today and he was simply trying to wrest the initiative back. Unfortunately for us Barkley had a 'mare and Deulofeu hardly saw the ball. Definitely no reason to see the final result as a direct consequence of the manager being too adventurous. If we had gone defensive then they could still have sneaked one at some stage.

Mourino needed to pull something out of the hat and that something was two despicable divers. In one incident, Torres, with face contorted in torture and with a scream agony, when the camera clearly showed there was no contact... yet he fooled the ref and was awarded a free in a dangerous position.

Ramirez did what what so many in the modern game do: a bare minimum of contact and he dived. It was noticeable the 'Special One' practically broke into a run as he fled the field of shame. Not another sick note.

Could really do with something going for him. Just to get his confidence back.

Barclay will come good and we'll find a striker.

Look at the next four games and all is not lost this season.

Very very promising all round.

We were well worth a draw...but we didn't

Would the 1 point we were worth have made any real difference in the short or long term.

We can't afford the numerous 25Mill players, both on the field and on the bench, that build the pressure that forced the none foul that led to the big yard dog CH lunging at it ala Skrytl.

All we can do is play fast and loose ( within the rules ) with the loan system and try to get 'cheap' players we can ' improve' like Cahill, Pienaar... and hope for the best.

Oh and maybe get a better quality of improver to improve.

After all these years where the majority of the time it was all about starting games where the onus was on just not getting beat, and hoping to nick one. You only have to look at some of the shite Moyes came out with when he left, things like it was all about getting out of Old Trafford alive.

Now we have a manager whose mentality is all about not fearing anyone.
No money excuses etc, he's a breath of fresh air.

Also Andy, Wigan may have gone down by playing football, but Martinez is at a bigger club with better players.

If you can't see it's all about the summer transfer window and prepared to support the man (he HAS earned it) then go somewhere else you droning vaccuous pretender.

Get a mini bus there's a handful of other gobshites that need to join you.

Don't abuse me because you don't agree with my opinion. I was at the game yesterday so I'm more than entitled to express an opinion. I was banned from this site for less than you've just said, so grow up and put up an opinion – don't just spout childish abuse.

It's people like you that ruin this site.

Roberto Martinez is pigheaded and extremely stubborn in the way he plays – fact.

I stand by my comments because they hold weight.

If people choose not to accept that the underpinning reason for Everton being unable to make a season long challenge lies with the directors and their lack of investment in the team that is their choice. As I've said before if Roberto does get a proper war-chest in the summer and we are still struggling to score goals by this time next season then I will also start to have major concerns about his strategy - but I am willing to ride out the rest of this season because in truth the same problems that beset David Moyes haven't gone away and until they do Evertonians will have to accept that we cannot make a season long challenge and haven't made a season long challenge in the whole of Bill Kenwright's tenure.

We keep the ball brilliantly and I applaud both players and manager for that. I do believe however, that we're not Barcelona, we're a good team of limited players who need to be more direct at times. We don't shoot enough, we play sideways & backwards too much and all too often have no end product.

Pienaar played the ball backwards all game yesterday - Baines barely crossed the ball, same with Coleman. Pretty football, and keeping the ball is great to watch but it has to have at least an attempted end product. All bar a small handful of times yesterday, we played right up to their box, then ended up back with Distin, Jagielka or Howard getting the ball.

Moyes and Martinez - opposite ends of ends of the same problem. One didnt know what to do with the ball and the other doesnt know what to do without it.

Frying pan, Fire

I'm surprised at how tight we've been under Martinez. The problem is that because we can't score, every mistake gets punished.

Martinez's success at Everton depends on how he deals with this. We need at least one quality striker and a crafty midfielder with pace.

Can't fathom the Traore deal - an impact player who.....doesn't play??

We can argue the toss as much as we want, about how we should play etc, but the simple truth is we cant afford to improve our squad enough to win CL football.

If we could buy an Aquero, a RVP, Hazard or even a Rooney we might stand a chance!
The PL is basically a money competition

Agreed, David, it's even harder with the limited Naismith up front. I quite like him and his attitude before anyone jumps on that - he's limited but half-decent up the middle. Anywhere else and his limitations are exposed.

The second part of your sentence is a pertinent point - Martinez does have his 'way' of doing things, and he never, ever falters and never ever changes that 'way' of playing even when it's ineffective. This is what frustrates me and what I feel is his failing at times.

Stick to your guns mate. If others get a little feeling by reading something they don't agree with, then, maybe a little introspective is needed on their behalf and not yours mate.

After all, as long as your not calling for people to be shot - this is only an Everton related football site designed to facilitate supporters differing opinions.

I agree about the holding midfield player getting forward more when we are in possession, quite often we get the ball wide to Baines and there is only 1 player in the opposition box.
Surely RM can see this problem but as someone else said they seem more intent on keeping possession than counter attacking quickly. Sadly Barkley is going through a poor run of form add to that we have Deulofeu short of match practice and Lukaku unable to play yesterday.

I know there is always great debate here on TW about different styles of play, but for me there are only 2 ways winning or losing the rest is just about semantics. Did Chelsea fans really care that they parked the bus against Barca to win the Champions league. Would Arsenal fans care if they passed it a little less but won the league.

I'd certainly be critical of Martinez in the last transfer window. I agreed with getting rid of unwanted players but they did need replacing - either with long term prospects or immediate impact players. We got neither.

This summer will tell us plenty....

Lets look at what the guy has had to deal with. If we go back to July, we have OFM leaving with most of the coaching staff. Martinez comes in with his own staff, new methods. OFM then spends the next 2-3 months destabilizing the club by trying to poach our two best players for a pittance. Martinez brings in 3 11th hour signings to cover the last minute loss of Fellaini and spends the next 3 months dealing with our best player who wont sign a contract.

Added to that, he's got rid of some deadwood, brought in the best loans he can, got some players on a free and managed to save us some cash he can spend in the summer when decent players are available.

He's endured the most horrendous injury crisis I can recall over the last few months - and we still have many players out, he's got us playing toe to toe with the "rich teams" on their patch, on most occasions. We now go to these places looking to win.

Against spurs it was an individual error that cost us, at chelsea a last gasp own goal from a set-piece playing a team who hasn't lost there in 73 matches or something. We could've won it. We didn't sit back and circle the wagons, complain about finances. We went at them and created problems for them. This is how I want my team to play!!

What do you expect Martinez to do? Its his first season, he's trying to get to know the players, improve our squad, keep us competitive, and plan for the long term future. We're still not out of the champions league spots with 12 games to go and are on even points with OFM who has been able to take the league winning squad from last year and spend a further £70M to strengthen it....and we have a game in hand over them.

I can't argue that the football or the results are great, because they're not. Where I disagree with you is that somehow Martinez wants us to play slowly, side to side football with no end product and that this is all its ever going to be. When our players are up against a side with the players that Chelsea have, they're unlikely to be able to play great football.

What Martinez wants is controlled football. He wants our players to be comfortable on the ball and I'm all for that. I don't want us to go the percentage route, clearing our lines straight to the opposition so it comes straight back. We don't have the size of player in the squad to give a team like Chelsea aerial problems, and if we go there putting 4-5 players in the box for a cross, you think Chelsea with Hazard and Etoo and all the other quality they have are not going to fuck us royally on the break?

When we don't break quickly; is that because of Martinez? Is it because a lack of individual control or bad decisions on the part of the players? I think mostly the latter.

When you have Osman and Naismith against a squad which has cost hundreds of millions to put together, and we narrowly lose to a freak set-piece goal, I'm not going to throw my toys out the pram and call for the manager to forget his beliefs.

We're going the correct route for the long-term. Look how frustrated sherwood and mourinho were before their sides scored their goals? If we keep doing what we are, it will come good. Roberto just needs time to really work with the players and bring in players who can play the way he wants to a higher standard.

Everton, well... er.. em... we splashed out 13m on McCarthy and then cemented the piggy bank shut straight away. While McCarthy has been a great signing, he is hardly driving us forward to a CL league place.

Whether people like it mentioned or not, I think that there has been enough evidence in the season to date to show that at times Martinez hasn't been flexible enough in his style. Yes, sometimes he has made substitutions at the right time without altering his style of play that have won us games. But then again, there have been games when the style has clearly not been working yet it has not been altered.

I would agree with some of the comments above though that we will see what the summer transfer window does to the quality that Martinez has for both the first eleven and also the bench. If he gets to strengthen the way he would like then he should have the quality in depth to give him the option of varying his style. If he still doesn't change things as next season goes on, then I would start to have concerns. For now, I am happy to see this season for what it is, transition.

It's Martinez' first season in charge and some on here are already slagging him off to death. He needs to be given time to do it his way.

"Everton were the better side for much of this game"

"Both sides went for the win"

"They really deserved at least a point"

Those are quotes from the press this morning. It's funny that certain 'supporters' didn't see the same game as all those reporters.

Take their jammy goal away, and I thought we played quite well, especially considering we lost Traore 5 minutes before kick-off. Don't forget that we would have been training all week with the big lad up top.

Can't wait for the Arsenal game, I know we will go at them at their place, instead of 9 men behind the ball, hoofing it out of defence.

I imagine Roberto now knows who's going to leave and which players he will bring in in the summer.

What stood out again yesterday, was that when Chelsea sat back and let us have some possession in the 1st half, we looked clueless. Instead of turning up the heat and getting bodies forward, we remained flat with the two centre halves and defensive mids staying around the half way line leaving our 4 attacking players and 2 wing backs with the task of breaking through a Chelsea side sitting deep. What is frustrating is that we play exactly the same way whether a team is coming at us full pelt, or we have constant possession. There has to be some variation depending on how the game is panning out, Barry or McCarthy or even both should push forward at some points and make runs that take defenders away from our attackers. The way we currently play, our forward man often has to take on 3 players every time he gets the ball.

I hope Barry is not offered a contract and we instead get someone in the centre that can make things happen, but as I have mentioned before I don't think James McCarthy is ready to play by himself in that role yet, he still has a lot to learn and Barry is a good model for him to learn from. I don't see us improving in front of goal while we continue to play with 2 defensive midfielders.

Everyone's entitled to an opinion without having to be vilified for it. Fans should respect alternative views, yet the aggression shown towards a critical view of our manager's performance is really astounding. We as fans have ever right to question the validity of Martinez's tactics without getting a load of personal abuse thrown back.

I can see the benefits Martinez has brought to our team but I also believe he's been shown lacking when it's really counted in the last month. His high-risk style can come off sometimes but over a season it's not going to get us into the top 4; we know that now as we have seen first hand he is not prepared to adapt to the context of a game in the run-in to the end of a season.

It's a good style for cup competitions though, and I can see how Wigan won the cup as you can get the luck over a few games. But over 38 games you need to show more guile and recognise times to be more defensively minded and when to attack. Mourinho is a master at this; Martinez an apprentice. I hope he can learn and give us all what we want as fans of our beloved team.

As far as playing the league leaders on their ground yesterday is concerned, I thought we were the best side 1st half and they were undoubtedly the best team 2nd half. Now the manager is getting slaughtered by some because we lost in injury time, hardly a poor performance, is it?

For us to make the top 4 with the current ownership, it will take a miracle maker – not a football manager. Wishing for success isn't going to make it happen!

It's too easy to simply blame the size of the squad. The biggest influence on our recent performances has been the use of personnel, not the quality we possess in the squad.

Even if we have such a plethora of accomplished defenders to call upon it would be madness – and we simply haven’t.

It’s quality and quantity, we don’t have it and there’s no way around it.

It no coincidence that the same 6 clubs invariably finish in the top 6 places each year!

The tactics against Liverpool were totally wrong, I didnt see many disagreeing with this, including our manager.

With our squad and performances to date, we should gave been capable of getting 3 points from these 3 matches which would have meant we were still in the race. Of course more quality players in the squad will give more options to help to turn around games we are struggling in, but we weren't being outplayed against either Spurs or Chelsea, the opposite was nearer the truth before the subs were made.

We were never going to reach the Champions League places this season. Yes, we can dream and we are a match for the best teams if ALL our players on the team sheet play at the top of their game on match day. The fact we have a small squad and have had a right handful of injuries was always going to tell and come into play in the latter part of the season. Until we find the money to buy the quality needed to close the gap, I predict this will always be the case.

In saying that, I have every faith Martinez will make Everton strong contenders to challenge the best in our league, but it will take maybe three seasons to do just that. Even if Kenwright finds a pile of money, it could happen quicker, but I think we need to give the new manager at least three seasons to build his side and then we can judge.

I do agree with those who have stated the obvious regards the loan signing of Traore, it does seem a little silly given the guy was not fit. Don't be surprised if we lose a few more matches before the end of the season. The cup has to be the priority for the club now.

If that was the case (if his legs hadn't gone) it was, for me, a throw of the dice (risking disrupting our shape and control in midfield, for the chance of something sublime from Barks) - Plan A subsection 2.

Presumably Roberto knew how fit Barks was, and either he aint fit enough yet (in which case, a real throw of the dice) or he's lost some confidence (in which case, really worrying) or just one of those days (again).

Easy for me to say... on reflection I wonder if Roberto might just have told them to swing the ball into Naismith a lot quicker (pace) and get him to put the CBs under pressure (passion). Would have kept our shape etc in midfield and given us something we discovered in the month or so before xmas but have lost since – pace with passion.

In the match against RS, it's easy after the event to say the tactics were wrong, I put it down to they were just too good for us on the night. They tore us to pieces — just like they did to Arsenal in their next match, Wenger didn't learn much off our demise, did he?

Or should we write him off along with Martinez?

Not at all, the two events have absolutely no relation whatsoever. We have struggled since Lukaku got injured, three away games no goals.

Some foresight in the transfer window could have prevented that situation.

I love Martinez but, if he is to become a great manager, then he needs to set the team up for a result and play to his strengths or identify how his team’s weaknesses can impact the game – particularly away from home, where you don’t have the backing of the crowd. We will be a far better team next season because Roberto will have grown as a manager as he will start to recognise that he is at a serious club that will not tolerate defeat to easily.

This by the way is not a knife to a gunfight. I had no time for Moyes’s negativity but Andy is right. Know your strengths and use them to get results. Yesterday he made subs against a very aggressive side that I believe handed the initiative to the opposition. We played well but we are not yet there in terms of overall quality.

Keep playing football Roberto but recognise that sometimes getting a point is no bad thing.

Martinez was trumped early again by the opposition manager making a proactive change that swung the balance of the game — at half-time! After that, it was only too evident that Martinez would again wait far too long to make his substitutions, in a far too belated effort to counter what Mourinho had done.

But no; we needed to "be ourselves" (I'm starting to get a little agitated by that phrase...), Osman was playing well (was he really?!?) and everyone know he only has 60 mins in him, so that's what he was going to get, come what may.

For me, Both Barkley and Deulofeu had the potential to change this game.... but ONLY if they were brought on way early in the second half and given a decent opportunity to get into the game — and as soon as possible after it was obvious that the pendulum had swing Chelsea's way. Sadly, that was obvious within 5 or 10 mins after the break, but I worry that Martinez does not allow such real-time negative observations to affect his admirable Big Picture Positivity...

I can't guarantee that the outcome would have been any different, but at least these players would have had a decent chance to get into the game. As it was, giving them just 26 and 15 mins of normal time respectively was a huge mistake by Martinez.

His subs policy has become far far too predictable. The gameplan and ultimate outcome of this game was far far too predictable. Yes, he's only been here 8 months...we all know that. But we still have 11 games to play... THIS SEASON! He needs to be more adaptable, more flexible, more willing to change his policy based on how he senses the game is changing — assuming he actually does!

John Terry's attitude was the difference yesterday; he's a winner and, unlike our defenders, he cost nothing.

Didn't he make two changes at half-time against West Ham to win the game? I think he has made plenty of game changing substitutions so far this season.

It's only with hindsight that the substitutions can be called a mistake. Certainly in play I was happy enough with the changes, however they undoubtedly changed the dynamic of the game.

Barkley had one of his worst ever games, he literally gave the ball away every time he was in possession in the last 15 minutes. That contributed to us coming under increasing pressure and Mourinho made reference to that in his after match comments. I'm not sure another 15 minutes would have made any difference to his performance.

I'm not sure where this Osman has only got 60 minutes in him comes from, he played 90 against Swansea and didn't look to be tiring to me on Saturday where yes I think he played well.

That being said, Ross can give you something different, which is why I thought it was the right substitution. Who knew he would look like his boots were tied together.

Was it Barkley for Pienaar a minute before they scored after a Naismith foul? They battered us so badly, that was their first shot on target. Or was it the two subs we made late in the game after they were already ahead?

Against Liverpool, which tactics did he get wrong? Assuming it was the unfit players he played, which team was he meant to put out?

Against Chelsea, I will agree we looked worse after our subs. But we looked fine till the 92nd minute when Howard scored an own goal. Should we have brought a defender on for the last 20 minutes, circled the wagons hoping to get a point? Do you think we'd have been any better equipped to defend a set piece against a team with so many tall players?

What I find odd, is that Martinez has generally got his subs spot on for so much of the season. I understand people are frustrated, but I also see a lot of whining and moaning and not a lot of specifics about what the hell Martinez was meant to do. Should he pull a Xavi out of his arse?

All of the teams we've played and who've narrowly beaten us have spent vast fortunes and have significantly better individuals. Any criticism of Martinez or indeed our players needs to take this into account as well as the injured players we have out

I never thought we would be challenging for a Champions League place at the beginning of the season so, for me, we are in a good place at the moment despite a few frustrating results.
COYB!