From My Seat: Man City (H)

On the plus side, Coleman was outstanding for us, with his marauding runs, similar to two season's ago, whilst Barkley tried to stop the flow of the City attack with his own powerful runs directly into the City defence.

Ultimately, we simply didn't have players of the ability of Aguero, Silva and Nasri up front, who are the modern day 'game changers' every top side needs.

A word on Tim Howard, I actually thought he'd played quite well until the first goal, but top class goalkeepers really do not get caught out by their near post, and the less said about the second howler the better, although McCarthy went awol on the one-two by Toure.

We have six days of the transfer market left, which I believe will make or break our season.

Stones won't leave, certainly not in this window, but the lack of creativity in the final third, will come back to haunt us again, unless we can buy someone to fill the role.

No doubt the last few hours of the 31st will have us all hiding behind the sofa again, the joys of being an Evertonian...

First goal he got beat near post by a player unmarked who had 2+ seconds to pick his shot. Not the only time of the day that Everton allowed Man City's players to have all the time they wanted on the ball. As a keeper, I have cheated off the near post when I have seen unmarked players behind me time after time after time and seen two crosses fizzed across the face of my goal with no Everton player to intercept them. Unfortunately, Howard expected the cross and gave too much post.
Still though Howard isn't the player who couldn't score for Everton and no matter how good or bad the keeper is, you cannot win if you do not score and that is the bottom line here.

We've had excellent movement and creativity in the final third all season but it goes out of the window whenever Naismith comes on. I love the lad but he's a bit rough around the edges. Can't say his mate Lukaku had a great game but he was crowded out.

As a fellow yank are you just fighting Howard's corner?! I know yanks are very patriotic but saying the first goal was anything other than the failure to make a bread and butter save essentially says that you, like Tim Howard don't understand the basics of goalkeeping.

On a different subject, those people who say they do not want a rich owner: if you were around, did you disagree with the money Mr Moores put into the club that gave us the title of Merseyside Millionaires. This is a different era and today money talks and if you don't have it then your future is to become used to playing for between 6th & 8th in the league.

We have a few issues that hold us back which are difficult to fix. Lukaku's control and first touch is not up to standard. Barkley's decision making is still a bit suspect. These are not players we can replace or should drop so I think these problems will persist.

On the plus side Coleman seems to have found his form again, Stones looked relaxed and Cleverly looks like a good player that will improve the side. Howard kept us in the game, he did leave the near post open but the angle was so narrow I really don't think he expected it could get in the gap he left - it was a brilliantly taken goal.

He had a very good game yesterday, but typical to form, he had one of his moments which took the gloss off everything else he did in the game.

And then, instead of trying to maybe put some pace out wide in either Mirallas, or Deulofeu, or both, he goes with Naismith. Followed by a 5-minute cameo for Deulofeu.

I thought we played exceptionally well in that first half, so much so that we deserved at least one goal, but whatever was in the lucozade at half-time destroyed any momentum we had.

That little bit of optimism after last week's result has dried up, and now with games against all the money sides on the horizon, I can't see myself regaining it any time soon. Some serious business better be completed by the end of this transfer window or it's going to be another incredibly long season.

I'm sorry... that is an utter insult to John Moores.

Unfortunately if you want players of the quality City have in every position, and with back up too, you need serious money and the difference in class in most area was pretty evident yesterday. How they defended in numbers is something we could learn from though - truly impressive - and it was their clean sheet (despite weak link Hart) that secured them the points. Sometimes you've got to say we got beat by the better team, and I can't see this one ending up out of the Top 2 come May.

Great to see Barkley clearly with his tail up and getting his confidence back, and to watch Stones again in an Everton shirt - I imagine we've got a year, maximum, left of that. Ironically his last game for us could be against his home club Barnsley on Wednesday night.......

The window shuts on the 1st September and while it looks as if we have acquired a left sided central defender we still need a play maker and a back up to Rom.

On yesterday's game we were beaten by the best team in the division. They have a far bigger budget than us and we simply cannot expect to compete for titles with them at present.

The banner should have flown over Goodison yesterday when the rich played the poor and not last Saturday when the poor played the poor.

Maybe time for the rise of the ordinary bloke when Everton will again be great. That my friends is the only consolation I can offer. Lord help us!

I think City had a plan to target left back. Both Browning and Galloway did okay, but too often seem to be chasing the ball. I can't for the life of me understand why Oviedo can't get on the pitch.

That aside, I thought it was a decent performance against a vastly superior team. Quality showed through in the end. Coleman looked more like himself; few teams will be able to deal with Barkley if he can play at that level consistently. Cleverley looked handy; given a little more time I can see him really developing into an important player

Regards Super Kev, perhaps Roberto plans to let him actually get fit?

For some reason, we just stopped pressing. Stones must've backtracked 20 meters to let Sterling just keep going. He never should have been allowed to stroll into our box no matter what happened next.

Barry should have gone to LB straight away if Oviedo is not fit yet. Browning might be a useful CB but is not a LB.

I'm not going to critisise too much, at least until the transfer window is closed. As the squad stands, it is patently obvious we will struggle again with these players. I will leave my thoughts on Martinez until a bit later in the season.

I think Martinez made a mistake going into the game without any width in the team; if City have a any weakness then defending against pace out wide is probably it. But, after the stick he got at times last season for constant tinkering you can see why he didn't change a team that played so well last weekend.

I thought McCarthy was excellent; he reduced Toure to a virtual cameo performance, and Coleman is starting to look a bit more like the player of two years ago.

I think we will be a frustrating team to watch at times this season but will ultimately fair better than last. The transfer dealing in the next week will be absolutely key.

And best wishes to Brendan Galloway, I have damaged my patella tendon and couldn't do any sport for 6 weeks, let's hope the more advanced medical technology available to him can get him back and available sooner rather than later.

This City team is full of top world class internationals and they play for the world's richest club. With a little bit of luck and without shithouse officials bottling it, we could've had at least a point. We did okay as it turned out. I think we can beat Spurs and Chelsea if we play like that. Poor use of subs was a problem.

First half we competed, but our final pass in the city half was poor.
Second half I got the impression we did not start till after fifteen minutes had gone by, thought they would come out full of bite and running but the opposite happened.

Subs, well I'm with most on this: Kone I thought did quite well... maybe tired, but replaced with Naismith (who I like) when the team needed an out, someone with pace.

Deulofeu was ready to come on with 10 minutes left, the ball did not go out until I think we got a corner but he was not put on? So it was down to five minutes left, what is the point? It will take 10 minutes to get up to speed in a game and, other than to waste time, I cannot get to grips with the way subs are used.

Overall, we did OK. I do not blame the players as I do believe they can perform better but not with the tactics that are employed.

I think we showed way too much respect to Citeh. We did trouble them at times. Naismith was terrible when he came on. Why was Mirallas left on the bench?

Weird subs for me handed them the game plus a very dodgy offside decision.

But, yes, to echo what most opine here, we were beaten by a better team playing out of their skin at the moment. I think we felt the absence of Baines more than anyone today. The lack of any kind of threat down the left side meant that the City right side had a field day against Galloway and Browning.

I think that was Martinez thinking in not bringing on Mirallas – with Kone and Naismith, you have two guys who will battle for the ball and provide some protection for the young left-backs.

Regarding Oviedo, one can only surmise that Martinez has seen him in training and thinks he is not yet ready to start yet (remember, Galloway got injured in the 1st half, so Oviedo would have had to play a major part of the game).

Those calling for Oviedo to replace the injured Galloway missed the fact that he wasn't on the bench, and I think having Barry against Navas would have led to more City chances, as the lad is a bit quick. We missed Baines/Garbutt/Oviedo badly as there was a lot of space to exploit but both youngsters were very defence minded - obviously not wanting to be caught out of position.

McCarthy and Cleverley are too similar. McCarthy slightly better in the tackle, but hasn't the range of passing. In my opinion McCarthy was poor yesterday and didn't offer anything going forward.

David Silva was just too good yesterday, but we gave him a bit too much space.

Howard actually saved a few things, but let himself down on the near post - after holding out for so long the nature of the goal hurt us badly.

Naismith was not the man to rescue the situation. I would have tried Mirallas for Kone.

Stones and Jags kept Aguero as quiet as I have seen him.

Coleman had a good game - nice to see those marauding runs again.

Ross had a good game with only 1 really bad choice - in the 2nd half when he should have gone wide to Naismith.

Aguero was one of the first to spot the incident in the crowd and was quick to signal something was up - fair play to him there.

It all highlighted the difference between hundreds of millions of pounds of players against less than a hundred million pounds.

John Moores was born and raised in Stretford and was a Man Utd fan who bought Everton as Utd were not for sale. He never actually gave Everton a single penny, but helped them when needed with interest free loans. He was of course an astute businessman and ran the business side of the club rigidly.

Unfortunately both goals came as a result of goalkeeping errors at a time when we were matching City, although Howard had kept us in the game in the first half.

Small matters affect results. Lukaku's goal was "fractionally" offside, but on another day might have been given. He also grazed the bar with Hart beaten. The most frustrating incident (apart from the penalty that wasn't given for the foul on Jagielka) was when Hart mis-punched the ball which then hit Lukaku and could have bounced into the net.

If Everton play like that in the next 3 tough home matches they will certainly pick up points.

Robert@39 I don't agree with your 'one of the best performances' although clearly we were up against superior opposition and it was not a bad performance. I felt we needed to go at them more but it was difficult as they kept the ball very well.

I disagree; Barry at LB would have been a disaster yesterday. Browning was the right choice. Barry's lack of pace would've been exposed against one of the quickest players in the league.

My reasoning behind that comment was the fact that, although we lost, I felt that we performed well and that sometimes we just have to accept that we will be beaten by a superior team. So I do not feel as disappointed today as usual, especially after a home defeat.

I must agree with earlier comments that Baines would have made a big difference, particularly going forward.

There was no way that I would insult John Moores, as being a supporter from the mid 50s, I will never forget what he did for Everton FC.

I still play in goal regularly and have been caught out at my near post when trying to cover the rest of my goal when poachers are waiting for a simple cross. Kolarov was cute to pick the gap. As for the other goal, Tim had to watch the near post and the shot across him to his right and it was a clever chip that surprised us all.

The important things to learn from that game are that Martinez is unable to see obvious substitutions that will give balance and leaves it too late when thinking of getting some width on the park.

City targeted Galloway from the start, and Browning was another square peg in a round hole. Many have already asked why Barry wasn't switched to left back?

The negativity of Martinez could be understood if we hadn't fallen behind with 30 mins to go. Did he really think that a straight swap of Naismith for Kone was going to get the equaliser?Surely it was time to roll the dice and bring on Mirallas and Deulofeu, sacrificing some midfield solidity for some width? After all, City were pulling us all over the place and were unlucky not to be 4 or 5 ahead.

The players worked really hard, and I do think we are going to have a better season than I had feared. City have quality everywhere, and the cleverness of Silva was what watching football is all about.

The problem we have is still our manager. He needs to bring some flexibility to our tactics and show the kind of swashbuckling flair of two seasons ago. Last week, after the great win away at St Mary's, I said that the acid test would come when we had to break down a team sitting deep. City threw more forward than most teams visiting Goodison Park, but perhaps wary of what we did on the counter the week before, their defence were careful not to get caught too far up the park, and our breaks were less dangerous.

To think we could have gone top of the League with a win should be tempered by the thought that our next games are away to Spurs and away to Chelski. Our points tally may still be four when we take the awkward trip to Swansea.

Do you honestly believe putting Barry (our slowest player) against Navas (their quickest player) would've been a good idea?

Possibly Oviedo, but who knows how fit he is, and Browning is more defensive.

Navas (and Silva, Aguero, Nasri) rip apart any defence in the world on their day. City were the better team but we were competitive, if a bit lacklustre and predictable at times.

Twice we were inches away from taking a half-time lead. City were on the ropes a bit for a while and had to resort to cynical fouls to keep us out.

Next 7 days or so are massive, to state the obvious.

Just because the lad has a good engine doesn't make him a good footballer. This is his 3rd season with us and I've yet to see him hit a defence-splitting pass. He'll get the ball in good areas and turn and go sideways or backwards.

Yesterday, he offered the back four no protection at all and once again offered nothing at all going forward; it's becoming the norm with him now. He should've been subbed yesterday with 30 mins to go and the manager should have introduced some width, ie, put Cleverley where McCarthy was and put Mirallas or Deulofeu on.

But no... Martinez is petrified to sub McCarthy or Barry; god only knows why but it's becoming embarrassing. How anyone can say we played well yesterday is beyond me. Yes, we matched them first half but honestly, the Lukaku free kick apart, did we honestly look like scoring?

I can't remember Hart having a single save to make whereas Howard made at least 5 good saves. It's just as well Navas couldn't finish as it could've been embarrassing.

Obviously it's no shame getting beat by a side who are going to have a major say on where the title ends up but please let's not make out certain individuals played well when it's patently clear they were well below par. Oh and wasn't it McCarthy's poor control that led to the City opener? Just saying, like...

It just seems so many on here label every goal as a TH mistake or howler when it isn't. It is odd that he either saves it (and it is what he is "supposed to do" no matter the difficulty) or it is his fault with never any credit to the shooter. He even got criticized last year for not saving a PK for goodness sake.

Yes, I'm looking at you, Lukaku!!! We should have had Mirallas on in the second half.

>The better holding midfielders in the league push up high when their team attacks and they always conspicuous just outside the opposing box, looking to contribute. This makes sense tactically too as it closes the gaps between the lines.

Ours are conspicuous by their absence.