Lukaku's Rescue Act Provides Potential Pivot for Everton

Thanks for such a well balanced view of the match... There is life in the patient still.

Any news on transfare either way?

Much better performance today from the team but it still looks unbalanced and has severe problems.

Putting that aside.... very impressed with the responsibility Lukaku took on today. HeÂ’s still a kid, he hasnÂ’t been in best form and the whole team is under severe pressure but he did not hide, he was a man. He did everything he could for us.

Onwards and upwards! I still believe! Plenty of bright spots today but also sadly an equal number of worrying things! I refuse still to accept that we have hired a dud and IÂ’ll give a more considered response if requested but itÂ’s near midnight in Chicago and Zzzzzzz-cars

COYB

I think the reaction that came out for the equalizer undermines the "they’ve given up on RM" argument, and was just reward for a motivated, energetic and very positive performance from Lukaku.

It was far far from perfect, but it was positive. As Lyndon said; remains to be seen if it could be a turning point. But at least it has the potential to be.

It will be interesting to see what happens with Baines/Oviedo on Saturday.

Better?

On the live forum people were talking about how shakey Jags looked in his post match interview. Did anyone see it? His display was worrying. I do feel for the defenders under Martinez. Whatever you think of his system, it puts more pressure on the back four in every sense. If Barkley looses the ball we all groan and the game goes on, if Jags makes a mistake our hearts are in our mouths! I hope he can recover from yesterdays performance and put in a commanding display alongside Stones against City.

Still lots of problems. People are highlighting our poor defending of corners and associated training methods. I’m not sure where I stand on this one. Apart from their goal I thought we defended corners ok. We probably conceded too many, but then West Ham do love lumping it into the box.

As much as this was an improved performance, we do tend to freeze when we reach the opposition box. West Ham were well drilled, and we found it very difficult to move the ball between their two banks of defence. Part of the problem as I see it is lack of movement from our forward players. Barkley passes to Besic passes to Barry, and in front of them Mirallas, Naismith and Lukaku are relatively static. Last season we had Baines and Coleman providing the runs, aided by Deulofeu and Mirallas. We just don’t have the same movement up top these days.

I just hope Martinez takes note of the key things to come out of last night:

1) Barkley must play through the middle;
2) Besic should partner McCarthy; the Serb is currently twice the player Barry is;
3) Lukaku needs the ball whipped into him at pace;
4) Distin, sadly, is done;
5) Most importantly, we score when we play at high tempo, when we get in the oppositions faces, run at them and get lots of balls into the front men early. We concede when we play slowly across the middle. Barry and Jagielka will never be Xavi and Puyol.

No one expects us to get anything against City this weekend; the perfect chance to go for it. Let’s hope Roberto has finally learned and will set them up to get at City, to hound them, to be physical and dynamic and play the whole 90 like the last 10 minutes yesterday.

Not much cause for optimism but some slight improvement here and there. Definitely Lukaku MoM and a well deserved goal for him.

We seem to have conceded quite a few goals from corners this season which is pretty ironic considering Martinez places so little value on them. Far better Managers than him understand the opportunity they present.

Whther this is some sort of tiny forward step will be revealed pretty quickly come Saturday!

Whether Roberto has lost the respect of the players or not is pure speculation. Even if there is some truth in that social media rumour, the fact we played until the final whistle as you say is not Â’proof positiveÂ’ to the contrary. I would expect that as a bare minimum of any professional sportsman at this level. Pride in their own personal performance and a hatred of being easily beaten.

Jags had an absolute MARE of a game. He’s an honest fellah who would know that for himself. I’m giving him the benefit of the doubt as the reason he looked so sheepish in his post match interview. He didn’t start the season well, but he came storming back. The collective has been poor during this abysmal run – not Jags alone. I’m confident he’ll be back on point Saturday.

Although it was a better performance last night (in terms of commitment alone), the frailties that have exposed us all season still remain.

As you say Adam, MartinezÂ’s system puts more pressure on the back four. Last season Barry and McCarthy were imperious in protecting or filling in for the back four as Baines and Coleman rampaged forward. A number of factors have negated that effective system:

1) the opposition is wise to it. All teams now maintain two wide men in an advanced position to occupy Baines and Coleman and make them think twice about steaming forward. Negating that threat further allows the opposition more time and liberty to simply maintain solid defensive lines we struggle to bypass. They simply have to wait for our ponderous recycling of the ball to be turned over to start countering us.

2) we no longer play consistently with effective supporting wide men in front of Baines and Coleman. The rapid interchange the full backs enjoyed last season between Pienaar and Mirallas has been forsaken. Injuries in this area have hurt us, but even when such players are available Martinez has stubbornly selected ill-suited players for this role – Barkley, Eto’o, Naismith, even Lukaku. The result of all, as mentioned by others, is we play a very narrow game, trying to tip-tap our way through the condensed centre.

3) I have sympathy for the defence, who appear incompetent and nervy, but IMO it is a direct result of the unbalanced team selection and overall strategy imposed from above – the manager.

Whilst the belief amongst some that Roberto has lost the changing room is purely speculative, the revelations this week in OsmanÂ’s autobiography about the training methods and preparation is not. It comes from a reliable source, a top pro, within the camp.
If true - and there is no reason not to believe him - fitness sessions are nowhere near the intensity of Moyes and, probably, most other PL teams.

The total lack of work on defending dead ball situations is HUGELY concerning. Such situations are easily studied and you increase your chances of negating them and preventing the opposition from scoring if you drill players as to what to expect. Allowing players on the pitch Â’to sort it outÂ’ is a recipe for disaster.

By practicing both offensive and defensive dead ball situations, you improve muscle memory and reaction time. There is no confusion, no delay in the thought process. You know your role and you carry it out. The mental alertness such preparation and drilling seems absent in Everton at the moment.

I don’t agree with you Adam that we defended corners well. WHU did more than merely ’lump the ball into the box’ as you say. I am sure I was not alone in my concern last night at the number of corners being conceded, nor indeed the poor way they were being ’defended.’ I could see it sat on my sofa, the number of times a quick short corner was taken with Everton players jogging casually into position with their backs turned. Buy enough tickets in the lottery and eventually you will win a prize, which der ‘ammers duly did.

Some lay the blame solely at the feet of Distin. Look more closely. It was a collective failure – again! Lukaku is actually closest to Collins the goal scorer, but loses him as the corner comes in, running into the back of a couple of our own defenders on the 6 yard box. There is a run towards the ball by a WHU player which Coleman doesn’t track, Besic does get attracted to that player from defending the near post, he is left in no man’s land as the ball sails over his head and Collins is free to plant the header home.

On other performances, Barkley is clearly an outstanding footballer – a natural instinctive footballer. However, I do wonder about his peripheral vision and his ability to comprehend even the most basic of tactics. He doesn’t appear to be a ’heads up’ player who ’sees’ all the options available to him when on the ball.

I appreciate and accept Ross has the ability to make something happen no other player in our squad has. But at the same time, he needs to balance that against a more pragmatic approach in certain situations and areas of the pitch.

I don’t think he is being helped by Roberto’s insistence of playing him out wide, when very recently, after Ross’s best game of the season against QPR, Roberto said the following about him (having played Besic and Barkley together in deep central midfield):

"The most impressive aspect of the way he took his goal was the way he got into that position. Not many players have the power, pace and ball control and the ability to get into those positions. I think that suits Ross really well.

"There are certain players the shorter the distance they have to cover to have an influence on the game the better, Ross is different. The more distance he has to cover the more effective he is."

Read that last paragraph again, then ask .... sooooooo Roberto .... by your own words, why neuter RossÂ’s effectiveness by starting him further upfield out on the flank, rather than deeper and central where "he is more effective"...?

Barkley is a TREMENDOUS asset to EFC, but we are failing to effectively utilize the assets he possesses.

EtoÂ’o is another one. When, in his entire EXTREMELY successful career, has he been asked to play so deep and wide in midfield as Roberto consistently asks him to do? Surprise, surprise! His best performances for EFC have been up front, in his default position. There, he looks a player still. As he is currently being asked to play, we again negate his best qualities.

I am happy we salvaged a draw and live to fight another day. But there is still much work to be done.

I think there were some grounds for hope given the improvement on previous games, a bit more fight and they didn’t give up, but a couple of signings needed in January.

What about a ball winner? Could Joey be the answer? His distribution has certainly improved.

The jury is well and truly still out as to whether Roberto is the answer. However, if we can at least maintain the performance from yesterday then we’ll hopefully sneak enough points against the ’lesser’ teams to avoid trouble. I think we can all safely forget about any notions of finishing top 8 this season (nevermind top 6!). Right now, we could finish anywhere between 10th and 20th!

The West Brom and Palace games are MASSIVE. If we don’t manage to get at least one win from these two games, we will likely be sucked into the relegation battle. I’m assuming that we won’t get much from the other games before the EL starts, so anything against city, RS and Chelsea will just be a bonus. We simply have to beat West Brom.

I can’t see BK sacking Roberto until we’re really in the shit but I hope he’s already putting out feelers for a replacement just in case. If we’re in the drop zone come February, then he’s got to pull the trigger as by then Roberto would have had enough time to turn things round.

Until then, it’s going to be interesting to see what squad we have some 31 Jan with all the rumours.

Nervous times indeed...

We move on; hopefully with this goal as a confidence builder. I don’t buy the; "we won’t get anything from City, Arsenal or the RS"; this is Everton - expect the unexpected.

I don’t know why but we seem very reluctant to play the ball into the area which is amazing considering Lukakus biggest asset is his finishing. There still seems to be as many questions as answers, but the last 10 minutes showed what this group is capable of if played in the right way.

I don’t think we can play Eto, Naismith and Barkley in the same team we become very narrow when we play the 3 together, and neither Barkley or Naismith are comfortable playing in wide positions.

I thought that was Lukakus best game for weeks and surely if RM learned anything it was get the ball to him early and let him turn and run at defences. The same applies to Barkley his strength is running at people with pace and should be encouraged to do this more often and also encourage him to shoot more when he gets around the opponents penalty area.

Lukaku worked much harder, but also had much more to work with and in areas which suit him better.

Besic improves with every performance, he also has some "fire in his belly" and although this can get the better of him occasionally. Better to have it than not.

Oviedo.....just great seeing him back on the pitch, and he really looks determined. Cracking ball in for the goal.

We now need to continue the improvement and determination.

Anything can happen of course but I’ve long grown used to hoping for the best whilst expecting the worst supporting this club.

Am at least expecting a ’phenomenal’ performance this weekend.

As I see it, we have some very young, inexperienced players in Besic, Barkley and Lukaku, who all require guidance and leadership on the pitch. There was none last night, and only Besic was giving out orders in the midfield. Surely this should be the role of Barry?? I didnÂ’t hear a peep out of him.

If the senior proÂ’s arenÂ’t going to step up and lead by example, then these younger players will be lost.

Still something very wrong with this bunch, I would love to know what the problem is.

2) The team always carries an attacking threat and creates chances (and it has been even during the string of losses), but has not been finishing them off.

3) If stories of Martinez not focusing on defending set pieces are true, then I bloody well hope he wakes up and makes it a priority now. We are giving up inexcusable number of goals to them.

4) Goodison when alive works as player Nos 12 and 13. There is no way a ref would dare give clangers against us at home, if the crowd were as alive as it was in the last 3 minutes.

5) Ross Barkley needs a spell out of the team. He needs to go to some place where he canÂ’t hear his own hype and watch videos of his actual on-field performance.

6) We need younger legs at the back. The team simply canÂ’t afford to have three 30+ players in Jagielka, Distin and Barry defending together. We look miles better as a team with Stones defending. If we have any money in the pot, we absolutely must sign a young defender this January. Alcaraz and Distin need to go; end of.

7) Jags never was and never will be a leader of players. It would be great if the new defender we buy is also a nasty piece of work that IÂ’ve been calling out for.

8) We lack any genuine threat from the wide areas. Mirallas is the only first choice option there. McGeady has been inconsistent, Pienaar too old and Atsu too crap.

9) Robles is actually not as crap as heÂ’s made out to be. HeÂ’s not as good a shot-stopper has Howard, but he seems more assured against the high ball and has a decent kick / distribution.

10) Lukaku was a revelation. I donÂ’t know what changed. Maybe his toe finally healed or maybe being benched for Kone was the required kick up the backside, but this is what I would like him to play every freaking week.

I was also at the Manor Ground - yes Paul Ferry # 7, it was the Manor Ground, but I don't know if Oxford Utd. still play there - that evening back in 1984 when Adrian Heath picked up a poor back-pass and scored. I can still recall the sheer look of relief on Howard Kendall's face. However, someone once said (Marx?) that history repeats itself as farce...

So, now, from my point of view, we either get two results against Man. City and in the replay or we go on sinking.

I would be happy, though to be wrong. Put up an article to change the doubters. I think you'll find an open minded response to a sound argument.

Let's hope so eh!

Good report, Lyndon and I also thought Martinez got it badly wrong by replacing Miralles with EtoÂ’o.

Best thing for me after the goal of course, was the way Oviedo was gesturing the crowd for more noise at the end. A team short on confidence needs the backing of the crowd, and although there was only 22000 inside the ground last night, it was the loudest Goodison has been for ages.

Maybe the players might actually start looking forward to playing at home again after last night's backing? LetÂ’s hope so anyway.

I fear for us against city as they are a big team and will hurt us on set pieces. Word is Aguero should be back also.

Last night Martinez used his get out of jail card but heÂ’s just winging it now. We still need a change though I think billy will drag his feet to see what happens. Martinez and his cronies are of championship level and thatÂ’s where they should. I wonder would peg leg have them back. If Billy does find the balls and get rid of them he will be shopping in Aldi for a manager. His idea of a top manager in already in the lower leagues and comes cheap. WhatÂ’s the bet on a Stubbs (prick) or a Mick McCarthy coming on the betting if he acts.

Now IÂ’m not recommending Roy Keane but having heard about our inept training programme I canÂ’t get his famous quote of "fail to prepare, prepare to fail".

City will be near full strength, if news today that both Aguero and Dzeko, are available for Saturday is true?

Then we have the Tuesday cup replay, hopefully with no injuries from Saturday. Something we are not used to is a settled side, so let's hope things change for the next fixtures? And we start to get back to some decent form.