Lukaku Shines As Blues Tame Die Wölfe

GK: Howard, Robles
RB: Coleman (not quite 100%), Hibbert
LB: Garbutt
CB: Jagielka, Distin, Browning
CM: Osman, Besic, Ledson
AM: Barkley, Mirallas (not quite 100%), McGeady, Atsu
CF: Lukaku, EtoÂ’o

Out: Baines, Oviedo, Alcaraz, Stones, Barry, Gibson, McCarthy, Pienaar, Naismith, Kone (to all intents and purposes)

ThatÂ’s 17 fit players - 1 of whom is a goalkeeper, 2 not quite 100%, 3-4 kids and a couple of old heads who shouldnÂ’t be relied to play 90 minutes for 6 or 7 games in the next month.

LetÂ’s hope the likes of Baines, Gibson, McCarthy, Naismith are back soon. But we canÂ’t look to rush them back either. Tough times!

Besic needs to grow up a bit more, a red card waiting to happen... but has the potential to be an Everton great.

I wouldnÂ’t mind us having Perisic and De Bruyne.

But, in all honesty, the vast majority of those attempts were speculative shots from distance.

The lads did a fantastic job of containing Wolfsburg and limiting them to those long shots.

As has been mentioned, the downside being the potential injury to McCarthy which, with Barry also out, leaves us with a deficiency in Midfield, although I thought Mo did well (although a bit too cavalier at times) and he will have to watch the Yellow Card count.

I was disappointed again with McGeady who, despite some good work, gave the ball away too often and missed what was virtually an open goal.

I think we will have done ourselves a few favours and again provided some entertainment for the neutrals in the process. I watched the Spurs game afterwards, and although it was marred by sporadic pitch invaders, I was thoroughly bored watching it. I hope they play like that on Sunday, when they entertain us in front of the cameras again. A decent win will have us back where we belong.

COYB

We need to play Jagielka and Distin in every match. We are in the same boat with defensive midfield with just Ozzie and Besic to choose from.

I just hope that Coleman, Naismith and Baines are back in contention along with wishfully Pienaar.

First, hats off to the fab Everton fans, who were a credit to our club, as were the Wolfsburg fans to theirs.

I thought Besic was great tonight, as was Luke, two stalwarts for the future I think.

For me, the game turned in our favour when Ossie came on. His experience and quick feet shone through. Well done to all the team, and remember, every team needs an Ossie type player.

Howard
Coleman Jagielka Distin Garbutt
Besic Osman
Mirallas Barkley Atsu
Lukaku

Subs: Robles, Hibbert, Browning, Ledson, Kone, EtoÂ’o, McGeady.

Kone may get a run out if we are leading 2-0 with 10 minutes to go.

Comments have been almost 100% positive and when you consider the real hatred directed at the so called Â’bigÂ’ clubs by the media, praise for the Blues has come from the most unlikely sources such as Manchester and London, mostly from ordinary fans... even some from across the park who have had their unfair share of abuse of late.

Phil, Atsu in my opinion is slowly improving and I think he will peg their left back (Dier?) back with his energy. We need some fresh legs for this match; unless Pienaar makes a recovery, it is Atsu for me.

That Palace result still annoys me. If weÂ’d have won that weÂ’d be 4th right now.

Atsu is extremely talented, as is Besic, weÂ’ve just been denied the opportunity of finding that out up to now.

However, Sunday will be a much tougher test following that journey and away to a side where we have lost 3 and drawn 2 of the last 5 games. LetÂ’s hope Barry, Coleman, Baines and Pienaar are all fit and available to bring some strength back into the side.

If Barry is not available I wouldnÂ’t mind looking at Bainesy in midfield with Garbutt at left-back.

LetÂ’s hope the support havenÂ’t lost their voices.

COYB.

I couldnÂ’t agree more. Textbook indeed. A very astute tactically aware manager. Top of the group with a probable 15 points out of 18 with a goal difference to date of +8 tells you all you need to know.

One or two posters doubt him despite the results. I feel this is down to a stubborn mentality. They didnÂ’t want him as the manager and havenÂ’t got the courage to admit they were wrong.

If we needed to play Ledson as a holding midfielder instead of McCarthy, I donÂ’t think it would be the end of the world. I seem to remember him doing quite well a couple of pre-seasons ago. Maybe 30 minutes against Spurs to replace Osman could be on the cards?

Hopefully it wonÂ’t be too long before the walking wounded are back anyway, and if a few youngsters can get some minutes under their belt, it may just provide them the opportunity they need to shine and save us some cash in the next few transfer windows to replace the senior players who are moved on.

What I saw, certainly in the first half, was a set-up that was failing to provide sufficient cover to our defenders both down the flanks and through the middle. Because the side contained too many players for whom defending and ball-winning does not come naturally. IÂ’m thinking Mirallas, EtoÂ’o, and McGeady in particular.

A better side than Wolfsburg, or a luckier one, would have been one or two up at half-time and, whilst losing in a league is recoverable, it is going to become more critical in the knockout stages.

The puzzling feature of the sides Martinez has been picking for the Europa Leage away games is that they look on paper to be attacking line-ups but they then play with little adventure.

If the likes of Ledson and Browning get and make the most of the chance, as did Garbutt last night, then we shall go into the second half of the season with a squad in which we can have every confidence.

Sign up a decent goalie and all bases will be covered.

Our advantage was having a veteran backline that didnÂ’t see anything it hadnÂ’t before.

IÂ’m really not sure what to make of Roberto. IÂ’m looking at February 2016. Think weÂ’ll have the measure of him then.

Full strength we are ready to dish out a thumping. However, if we concede an early goal, I fear we could be on the end of one.

If Lukaku didnÂ’t shine, I donÂ’t know what he is supposed to do to please you.

Just one small thing: I was sat/stood right up at the back of the ground in the away end, there were about 50 empty seats dotted around, strange as tickets sold out ages ago. Oh, and it was bloody freezing up there!

If he carries on at his current scoring rate of one in two, and that can only get better, the ball can bounce off him as many times as he likes.

He is a baby for the position. As he realises how strong he is, and throws his weight about by bullying centre halves, along with gaining experience of positional sense, he can only improve.

ItÂ’s not like heÂ’s just started playing footy a couple of seasons ago, heÂ’s probably been playing to a higher level since he was a baby so ability with the basic skills should be a given.

Saying that, I thought our passing as a whole was poor also.

I was trying to think of another player his age with his great goal scoring percentage; nobody came to mind

ItÂ’s really nothing to do with his goalscoring ability.

At times, his touch was bad again; at times, he was lazy and wouldnÂ’t come to the ball or challenge properly in aerial duels. HeÂ’d try and run away with the ball and actually leave the ball behind at times; by time heÂ’d turned and looked where it was, the ball was either taken off him or out of play.

Aye, he even nearly cocked up for his goal with a shocking first or second touch that nearly allowed Malanda to sneak in and pinch the ball off of him!

But credit where credit is due, he used his strength, shrugged him off and went through and showed real calm and coolness to slot the opener.

For the second, he did really well and this is what frustrates me most about Rom cos heÂ’s capable of this kind of thing. He backs in to the CB, gets the ball under control, turns away from his man and spots the run of Mirallas and puts through an inch-perfect pass to set up the winner. What he did for both goals is what I expect more from him and heÂ’s got that in his locker but heÂ’s not producing it on a regular enough basis.

As for other performances, Garbutt did really well. Yes, there were a couple of moments where he didn’t get close enough to shut the cross out and things but, all-in-all, he showed up really well. And he’s got a mean left peg on him – that corner from which Distin should of scored from was just brilliant!

And speaking of Distin, he was my MotM. He defended brilliantly all night and the amount of blocks he put in was amazing. A lot were writing him off earlier on in the season but thereÂ’s plenty still left in the big manÂ’s tank.

Besic gave a good account of himself. He had a few lackadaisical moments on the ball and put himself about but he played well. And I also thought Ossie did a good job when coming on.

And Mirallas just makes a hell of a difference for me, gives us that pace, quality and an outlet in the final third that we so lack at times. So glad to have him back.

ItÂ’s a shame McGeady doesnÂ’t compliment him on the other flank! Again, I thought he was shocking. Yes, he worked hard but when in possession he was terrible. Giving the ball away, every trick he tried didnÂ’t come off and at one point when on a run he even bamboozled himself when doing step-overs and left the ball behind... and the less said about his miss, the better!

Maybe Atsu can kick on and show his worth at some stage this season but for me we lack a quality wide player to compliment the rest of the team. IMO we do miss Deulofeu. His pace and ability to beat men and, okay, his end product wasnÂ’t always great but, when it was, it was deadly. But just like Mirallas, he was on outlet out wide, handy to have on the break cos of his pace and trickery and for me McGeady is failing to bring any of that to the table right now.

When everyone is fit, I think we are one quality winger away from being a really good side thatÂ’s seriously capable of consistently challenging for top four and making it!

To get Deulofeu back wouldÂ’ve been great, or if weÂ’dÂ’ve had the cash to sign Tadic, that wouldÂ’ve been amazing... but hopefully come the summer, we have the readies to go out and get a top notch wide man of the likes of Perisic, Depay, Yarmolenko, or even try and sign the likes of Ayew or Konoplyanka on pre-contract agreements in January ahead of free transfer moves in the summer?!

As I said, it is something that will improve with more games and experience.

As it stands he is doing well to be a one-in-two goalscorer

Do you expect him to hold the ball up everytime? Do you watch other professional footballers? They are not perfect, and I wouldnÂ’t expect Lukaku to be at 21. He scored a fantastic goal, and a sublime assist in an extremely tough away match in Europe, but according to you he didnÂ’t shine? Seriously, what do you expect?!

This near idiotic pessimism on here is so frustrating. Why canÂ’t we support our players, and praise them, especially when they are still developing at 21? You must be a really fun guy.

He keeps scoring his goals – what more do you want.

Out: Baines, Oviedo, Alcaraz, Stones, Barry, Gibson, McCarthy, Pienaar, Naismith, Kone (to all intents and purposes)"

Startling to see in writing how many players weÂ’re missing at the moment, despite our improvement in form. You could make a decent first 11 out of that + Browning and Robles! (4-2-3-1):

GK: Robles
DEF: Baines, Alcaraz, Stones, Browning
MID: Oviedo, Gibson, McCarthy, Pienaar, Naismith
STR: Kone (Or Naismith and Kone in a 4-4-2)

Not exactly a team that would challenge for the top 4, but a hell of a back-up 11.

LetÂ’s hope we get some of those players back sooner rather than later, as being able to rotate will be essential over the convoluted Christmas and new year period.

COYB