Barkley Seals Vital Win in Style

So hereÂ’s hoping that they cut out the stupid backwards and sideways passing game. HereÂ’s hoping that they press high up the pitch, bring Lukaku and Kone into the game early. Play to their strengths. HereÂ’s hoping that Gibson, Osman and McCarthy boss the midfield. HereÂ’s hoping that Lennon gets on the ball and runs at defenders. HereÂ’s hoping that Coleman and Baines bomb forward like we all know they can. LetÂ’s hope that Martinez has loosened the shackles that is his nonsense of a "philosophy". The only philosophy should be to start winning football matches. So hereÂ’s hoping that we win this match. COYBs. Make this a good Sunday afternoon... for a change.

It might be an adventurous and positive lineup or itÂ’s 4 changes too many (Â’cos thatÂ’s what I think). Hope that IÂ’m made to look foolish and that we gallop away with this.

So I expect a clean sheet (hopefully). Lukaku and Kone to do the business. And Naismith and Barkley to be effective impact subs. Well thatÂ’s the theory anyway. And for the record, my lucky rabbits foot is in my pocket. COYBs.

Ohhhhh doesnÂ’t the anticipation just make your mouth water.
I wonder how the team talk is going, "just pass the ball to death lads"

Sorry, but the feeling before a game is just the absolute antithesis of what it was last season.

All the same, fingers crossed.

So much better Everton.....:)

Also good save Tim, although I have slagged you off in another thread!

We looked leggy and changes will be needed on Thursday and next week against the RÂ’s, but for now savouring what is left of the week-end!

We win!

Safety within touching distance so we can relax a bit and look forward to Kiev.

But it was Gibson who was my Man of the Match by a mile – he did spoil his performance in the latter stages with a couple of loose passes but he bossed the game and was always looking for a forward pass. Baines was in the first half back to his best and let’s hope that the confidence returns to the whole squad – not out of the woods yet but a good basis to build our points tally.

Played better as a group so IÂ’d be pleased to finish mid point if we can get through to the knock out stages of the Europa

Well done to the team and that includes the fans at the match

A very welcome 3-0 win but much to be disappointed in especially the erratic passing throughout the game.

Coleman had his worst game in a Blue shirt while Kone wasnt much better.

Good to see Lennon put a shift in and put pressure on their defence but he needs to work on his final ball.

Thought Jags and Alcaraz did ok too.

Really pleased for Ross, hopefully itÂ’ll be a confidence boost and help him get back into the team. How does GibsonÂ’s passing jump so easily between top class to pure shite?

Any news on why Mirralas was not even on the bench??

Gibson > Barry: finally we have a player can pass the ball forward directly, Gibson is far better than Barry in every aspects especially passing and vision.

Osman > Barkley: Osman is so consistent in every match he played, he can link up the midfield and forward well better than Barkley. Barkley sometimes too slow going forward (I mean the vision of play) and playing the ball backward too often.

Lennon > Mirallas: Lennon have involved a lot in the game and willing to win back the ball from difficult circumstance (the penalty)

Kone > Naismith: his hold up play, positioning and pace is far better than Naismith.

The only change that I think didnÂ’t have any impact was Baines, cause Garbutt is a better version of Baines in the making, he need game time at this stage of career.

My own pre-match words.
Just making some custard to pour over my large portion of humble pie.

Lets get results from the nest 2 games and consolidate the league and then focus on winning some silver wear.

So, from that perspective, it will probably be Barry in Kiev, which isnÂ’t ideal but it is understandable. If we can just do enough to get through, it might spark the season into life. Another nervy night in store on Thursday, methinks.

With Gibson and Ossie we have creativity and link-up play, though both will be used selectively. IÂ’m with Kone-bashers IÂ’m afraid. The lad tries hard and he may improve, but he wasted so much possession and chances today. Fortunately Lukaku is imperious at the moment - the prefect combination of aggression and intelligence and his touch has miraculously improved.

The final goal was a big boost, both to the team and to Ross. Onwards and upwards (I hope).

Did Martinez introduced a new tactic that will really cause massive consternation among the other BPL teams?

What is it?
Newcastle have a man sent off. Their centre-half, Coloccini, the fulcrum of their defence goes and what does Martinez do?

Everton, with a two goal lead, drops back on defense leaving huge spaces in midfield, stops playing forward passes for slower sideways and backward passes and eventually substitutes Lukaku for a mid field player.

I kept asking myself who has the ten men? But it must have confused Newcastle as apart from the numerous chance they had and the saves Howard made, they lost.

I give up, most teams would have tried to get a bag full of goals to improve goal averages.
Must say in the first half the Blues played well and it seems Lukaku is finally starting to show his worth. All that training practice on how to control a ball is worthwhile.
Also it was great to see RB get a goal in the last minute. Must be fair and say the sliding tackle save Alcaraz made in the last few minutes was sensational.

BEST OF ALL, THE EVERTON SUPPORTERS WERE MAGNIFICENT; I COULD ACTUALLY HEAR THEM HERE IN CANADA.

Kone looked a bit rusty but not as bad as some people are making out.

Our 2 centre- backs along with Lukaku were by far the best players IMO.

Gibson and Osman provided a bit of craft that we have been badly lacking of late, but I canÂ’t see Gibson or Ossie starting on Thursday. I donÂ’t think GibsonÂ’s fragile body can take 2 games in such a short space of time. And Osman is just returning from injury. I think Martinez will be cautious with both. Expect to see Barry, Mirallas and Naismith back in against Kiev.

Thought we were ver lucky with that "red" card against Side Show Bob. WasnÂ’t a red - yellow all day but never a red.

Lady Luck smiled, and we played well.

Huge three points.

For me, while I donÂ’t think Kone had a great game, him being on the pitch gave Rom, more space because their defenders had to mark them both, unlike a lot of games this season when Rom plays up front by himself and is man marked often by two defenders. Also having the two of them on, meant one could stay up when we were defending set pieces, which kept two of their players out of the set piece.

That said RomÂ’s movement & work rate today, especially off the ball was good today.

Defensively we looked better, Alcaraz my man of the match & Howard pulled off a cracking save. Be interesting to see who he picks to start on Thursday night.

3-1 on aggregate with the ever-important away goal will be massive.

However a reality check, the first goal was down to luck/bad goalkeeping, the second was suicide from Newcastle. When they were down to 10 they could have easily scored and I wouldnÂ’t have fancied us to hold on. We still look very fragile at the back.

But we won for the first time in 3 months at home and thatÂ’s the most important thing.

The sooner we get to safety and get rid of the feckless Spaniard the better though.

I actually thought the red was given for whacking the ball at his head! Never a red in a million years but we will take it.

JM certainly seemed to get forward more today. I'm one of the few prepared to stick with Roberto a bit longer, there isn't a manager out there who hasn't had a bad patch and been "X games away from the sack" at sometime. He's still got a lot to learn..... and a lot to offer. Let's see if he's learnt anything from the fast few months and if he has the ability to adapt his tactics.

Another couple of wins (Burnley, Sunderland, Villa, QPR) should see us safe.

We're now 33/1 for the drop.
Hull City - one place below us - are 3/1.

So, while it means nothing, the bookies have it between the bottom 6.

As for Lennon, he looks committed to our cause, puts in a real shift, and today had a major impact on the outcome in two key incidents.

One final point is that, although RM has deserved a lot of the stick he's taken this season, sometimes the criticism can be unwarranted. Saying, for example, he should have made more attack-minded substitutions when Newcastle were reduced to 10 men is a bit over the top – I was just praying we'd hang on for the win, and even my 7-year-old son asked me how long we had to hold out. Sad and symptomatic of this season, but true.

Overall, relieved to get the win and fingers crossed for Thursday in Kyiv.

Individual performances to relish. Jags and Alcaraz immense as CBs. Baines getting stuck in and visibly more committed. Gibson's passing. McCarthy's McCarthyism. Osman's vision. Lukaku Version 2 (control, power). Lennon chased and threatened.

A much more committed team performance. It felt so good.

Whichever way, I hope it spells the end of his slow, possession philosophy. We passed more quick, forward balls in that first half than the rest of the season put together and whilst there was some loose play at times we were able to put the opposition on the back foot. As a result, we got our just rewards.

Well played boys and good to see Gibson in particular and Osman in flashes showing some vision.

It was against the theme of that night's thread but was an honest opinion as it is to today's.

Both Gibson and Ossie are naturally more progressive players than either Barry or Besic. Gibson always looks for the forward pass and Ossie just moves the ball quicker than anyone else.

Secondly two up top allowed us to play with more width. Both full backs got forward more today than I have seen in any home game this season since the Arsenal game.

Lukaku is starting to play with some confidence and was a real handful in the first half. That's 17 goals all competitions which is actually more than last season.

If we can take this into Thursday's second leg maybe the European dream carries on a little longer.

Great to see Barkley score he took it really well.

Looking forward to MotD for once and as others have said if we can get through against Kiev and beat QPR we could start to fully enjoy the Europa League.

By the way, has anyone else noticed how much Lukaku's touch has improved in the last 4 or 5 games, it's like watching a different player.

Again, what is noticeable is our inability to complete for the full 90 minutes. We are NOT fit! If we keep 4-4-2 he will have to rotate the midfielders more during the game, maybe Gibson with Osman, McCarthy with Besic/Barry.

A good desperately needed 3 points. There were a few murmurings in the crowd when it looked like we thought of square passes but in the main we could see there was more forward intent so not as vociferous as Thursday.

That's just fucking strange. Are we Real Madrid?

I think the players have decided to play how the real Everton should play and not how Roberto Martinez wants us to play. Today has shown that we will always score when we move the ball forwards with pace. The slow passing sideways and backwards game gives the opposition time to park their defence and wait for us.

Lukaku, Ossie and Gibson – good. Let's hope Gibson retains his place. Martinez is surplus to requirements.

Remember Robles at the beginning and then how he looked after a few games? Kone is a decent player in my book and whilst Naismith puts a shift in every game I'd take Kone over him as he's a better player.

We still looked far from the top side we used to be, though, as you say... way too many misplaced passes.

I thought we went more 4-4-2 for a lot of the game... or at least we played with Kone and Lukaku closer than usual and I thought we looked more effective than with 1 up top.

It's clear to most of us that we really do play better with a clever passer in centre mid. But Gibson's injury record is awful, so we definitely need a new Arteta type for next season.

I also thought Lennon was good. Worked his arse off for the team, which is so important for a wide attacking player and gave us that pace which scare opponents. If he's available for ٥m as I think I read, I reckon that would be good value for an English player in his mid-twenties.

Was pleased to see Lukaku step up for the pen. Although Baines is a top taker, I think it's important for confidence that your main striker takes them and gets the goals.

We won we WON in case you didn’t realise, enjoy it it’s not happened much this season!

He has now started 6 games this year and we picked up 13 points from them. The other 22 games have brought us 18 points. And one of those was where he came on after 10 minutes when Pienaar got injured and we drew so it could be 14 from 7 v 17 from 21.

So does he tackle like McCarthy, score goals like Lukaku, excite like Barclay - No. But does he make the other 10 players play better as a team - Yes.

Yes, a little luck but so what – we the fans deserved it! We have played better and got nothing!

Sleep a little better tonight!

Yes, he put in the effort. For me, that's a given. I'm never one to claim any player "has not made the effort" or "did not turn up" — some of the more idiotic assessments of professional players made by fans seeking to sound knowledgeable.

For me, it's more about what he does with the ball when his good work and effort gets him into good positions. And I think that's where I felt he could have done a lot better today.

But he's not alone in that. Time and time again, the players were either making horrible decisions or simply doing horrible things with the ball. Apparently we're meant to ignore this (sure, Pete @102) but when it happens so often that it comprises a significant portion of your memory of the game...

Yes, it was great that we won, that we played up the field in the direction of goal, that we finally scored THREE goals... But we all know that these players, this team, are capable of far far better play on a more consistent basis. Sorry, but I'm not lowering my standards.

Lennon, while not being great, never gave Newcastle a minuteÂ’s peace as did Ossie.. .amazing what happens when you defend from the front.

Pat on the back to the team for putting that kind of performance in whilst desperately short on confidence. It has given us a starting point to finish the season on a high so long as we keep this kind of attitude. Special mention to Rom for leading the attack so well again... just goes to show what happens when you play to players strengths.

Onwards and upwards to Kiev Thursday. COYB

I'd just like to put to bed this idea that it's the players and fans who have changed our style of play. If anyone really believes that the manager is not responsible for this then they are as mad as a hatter and living in cloud cuckoo land. Martinez is, for the time being, the manager and it is he alone who is making the calls, no one else.

Mike 86, it does not mean nothing that the bookies now have us at 33/1 for the drop. The bookies are almost always right. They have called correctly almost every General Election, for example, no matter what the polls said. I'm sure we are safe now, so we can enjoy (hopefully) the EL

I thought the selection was very positive, with two forwards and two midfielders able to pick a forward pass. Could this mean that RM has seen the light?

Osman and Gibson give us the necessary vision and guile that other combinations don't. Both have their limitations, but they'd be on my time sheet every week.

1) Too many of those blocks where ball hits arm (McCarthy) have been given as penalties.

2) How did Krul NOT save that McCarthy effort? The most bizarre moment of the game.

3) Penalty for a 'coming together', Gouffran and Lennon on the edge of the area. Seen them all too often not given.

4) Straight red for Coloccino. A good decision... but again, that would have only been yellow from most referees.

As someone observed, it's a game of fine margins. As for expectations, I'll be happy when we play a full game to the level of which these players are capable.

Maybe the team just said to each other, "Come on, guys, we really need to earn our wages."

I think we have an above average squad that is massively under performing and, if you want to blame 2nd season syndrome, then just look at Moyes. Well he had 11 years and won what??? And got us into Europe how many times???

You make your own luck. And as Gary Player said : "The harder I practice, the luckier I get."

The really annoying thing for me is the complacency that seems to permeate through which, for me, comes from RM's laissez faire attitude.

At 2-0 up and against 10 men, the obvious thing to do was kill them off and score as many goals as possible, especially given our negative goal difference. We didn't do that. We started playing those pointless boring triangles in front of a packed defence. I've said before that Martinez does not know how to close out a game and it was evidenced again today. Sometimes that is by defence and shutting up shop; today it clearly had to be by aggressive attack after the sending off. I never felt properly comfortable until the 93rd minute goal.

Lennon was a short McGeady today; Kone is just poor I think. Osman and Gibson made a big difference today in providing team balance – Gibson for his attempts to play the forward pass (what a refreshing change), Osman for actually drifting out left (unlike either Barkley or Naismith) to help Baines in the overlap which made a big difference. Lukaku and Jagielka the standouts.

Job not done by a good way; I really hope that complacency doesn't come drifting back in. Hopefully QPR will attack us like they have to next week, I think that suits us more away from home.

The senior players having a word in his ear, on the other hand, is quite feasible and is common in many teams who are going through a bad patch. Wenger, Rodgers even Mourinho are known to listen to the opinions of their key players.

Probably sums up his whole career so far.

Nobody had a poor game and most played above the standard that they have been. Kone's link-up play was generally very good and although he should have shot when going round Krul his play to get himself in that position was excellent.

Lennon gets better each game and although his passing is not always the greatest he caused havoc at times and certainly adds to the momentum of the team. Jags appears to have taken note of some of the criticisms against him. He was everywhere and leading by example. Even Howard was looking to get the ball out quickly. More of the same please.

Tim made a good save at 2-0, and if they had scored, we would have been really nervous for the last 20 mins or so.

Lennon was poor first half, but got into the game and was the catalyst for us sealing the win. Lets hope we can continue to build on these last two performances. To win on Thursday is so important for our season to keep it's meaning.

Come on you blue boys.

For me, the main reason for the improved attacking performance was Darron Gibson. It is a breath of fresh air to have a midfielder who can see and play an accurate forward pass with pace. The fact we didn't play with two defensive-minded centre-midfielders gave us another attacking dimension and made us harder to defend against. I'd like to see Gibson play next to McCarthy in a 4-2-3-1 formation but with today's direct approach.

Special mention to Jagielka. I've slagged him for not being a vocal or strong enough captain but he's been leading by example lately with his performances. Also Lukaku has made a big improvement since Christmas; his hold-up and link-up play have definitely improved... I'm getting the feeling he's starting to realise his responsibilities to the team.

Kone had a good game, his hold-up play was the difference to Rom's confidence. Lennon was lively and worked hard, Alcaraz played well along with Jags. Coleman was not effective going forward.

Anyway 3 goals, 3 points and a clean sheet was a nice surprise. Going back to bed.

A lot of the misplaced passes and wrong decisions can be forgiven because the confidence levels must have been shot to pieces during the last few months – but we have to hope that today’s performance is a minimum requirement and when confidence returns we should seek to impose ourselves on most opponents.

I’m not sure that I saw much unnecessary passing at the back today at any period of the game. Yes, we did retreat a little deeper but that was understandable and we did still attempt to break forward when the opportunity arose although on a couple of occasions we were wasteful with those chances until Barkley put the game to bed, finally.

I don't know what has happened with Jags, Rom and Jimmy Mac but thank God it has.

Peace and love and 3-0. Happy days.

He did it against Kiev on Thursday and again today from the corner flag in the first 10 mins or so. Luckily he got away with both but again I think it is a symptom of passing back to the keeper too much in general. I really don't know why the team does it. Why pass behind to someone to whack it up the field when you can do that (and get it further) yourself? It's lack of taking responsibility again.

Heard it said off Spurs fans that Lennon works that hard on his defensive duties, it's affected his attacking play. Could be true, but you need hard workers in midfield if you're going to play 4-4-2. Also, I don't think it would be fair to judge Kone until he's played a lot more football, after him being out for so long.

I actually thought he might have brought Lennon off for Stones, and played 3-5-2 after the break, but the penalty, then the sending off, took what little fight that Newcastle had, out of them. Good to see Barkley score, and I hope the confidence gained from back-to-back victories stands us in good stead on Thursday night.

Jesus Christ. Lost for words. Time for bed.

1. When we weren't playing tippy tappy possession for possession sake footy we were comfortable and Newcastle didn't look likely to score at all.

2. When they were down to 10 men and we tried the tippy tappy possession for possession sake footy we were under pressure at the back and making mistakes which gave them a way in to the game as well as not being able to complete forwad passes to feet.

What I think about Lennon Â’s show, and Naismith week after week, is that it is very noticeable effort. It might not bring an end result, the final ball might be poor, but, it lifts the crowd, which lifts the players, which does us all good.

Andy also (#142) – there's definitely something that comes from being at the game that you miss when relying on the live TV feed. Yes, you can see and dissect all the on-field, on-the ball activity, and get a sense of the crowd mood (if vocal), but there's a bunch more stuff going on that you miss... so thanks for expressing that: A much appreciated perspective.

Your postings and Joe's have been pdg. One difference I do have in mind comes from the fact that I was seated close to the pitch on our LHS during the second half. We seemed to not want to use the massive amounts of space on this side and time & time again Baines was screaming out (well, Bainesy style screaming out) for the ball but the midfield players, with no exception, ignored him when he was in miles of space. I even shouted to him that sending them a text message might work better!

This has been a pattern during this season, I believe. We have been too one-sided in our attacks, which was one of the differences last year... That we used both flanks in most games.

Good to have a positive result. I thought Kone did actually make a difference in freeing up Lukaku, too.

Colin G @72, BPL is Barclays Premier League, the abbreviation annoys the hell out of me.

I don't think Barkley did anything wrong with that chance - he put it in the far corner with pace, which was correct. It's very harsh to blame a player who beats the keeper with his shot but has it cleared off the line.

Anyway, a fine report as usual. I pick but I love reading these.

Bring on Kiev, and let's do the same to QPR next Sunday. COYB.

I think Martinez has been shocked by the response of the crowd at GP at times this season, which will make him think twice about how he approaches games from this point onwards.

Why hasn’t the effort we witnessed yesterday been there all season? Players were moving, looking for a pass, and we were closing down the opposition when we never had the ball.

I can only think they all finally realised we were in the shit, after the Burnley result on Saturday. Terrible that it’s taken this long to finally get themselves up for a game.

I have to agree. I think that what Martinez experienced on Thursday was his wake-up call. The atmosphere on Thursday was surreal and you could feel the crowd's, anger, nonacceptance, whatever you can call it. Seeing the players visibly change the style of play must have left him gobsmacked!

It definitely made him think twice regarding Sunday. The main thing is we got the 3 points but, as you rightly say, why has it taken so long and that input from the crowd on Thursday before he has attempted to change things?

Lukaku had a fine game and shown a lot more endeavour although his first touch still need improving although Kone looks like heÂ’s past his best. Still cannot figure out why Osman started as he contributed little apart from one shot and the usual array of missed tackles and three-yard passes. He clearly is another past his best and should only be a late substitute if that.

Alcaraz had his best game yet but the defence wasnÂ’t really tested much by the Barcodes who probably missed Cisse.

I'll bet he's behind his desk a few weeks earlier this summer. who knows he may even plot a decent pre-season.

I enjoyed yesterday's game; it wasn't perfect, but it was a big improvement. I'm more than happy to give RM his share of the credit.

Just a pity RM didn't adopt a more direct approach earlier in the season, and maybe we would contending for top 6, and not hoovering above the bottom 6. Anyway there is improvement. Roll on Thursday COYB

I think you're right about Martinez last summer, Darren. I still can't work out whether it was complacency, incompetence or both. We'll disagree about him being on the telly, but for me, the preseason was unplanned and done off the cuff. I thought he would have planned it well before going to Brazil.

It's his first big job and this season has been his first proper arse-kicking as a manager. How hard will he have to beg for his job, and once he's back behind his desk in the summer, how will he try and convince us that last season, rather than this season, is the norm?

Even if I am totally wrong (which I doubt) and BBS was responsible for the change in play he still needs to go because of the Robles > Laughing Boy.