Fortune and Frustration in Equal Measure

We were lucky to get a point but on the positive side our best quarter was the final one. I hope Tom's injury is not as bad as first feared but he is not our best option out wide.

The big negative from yesterday was Barry, he was really bad.

There are now two and a bit days to go before the window closes. We desperately need a centre half, absolutely criminal that the issue is not totally sorted at this stage. The guy from River Plate better get a permit!
Has the search for a creative number 10 come to an end in the historic battle by King Billy to keep Stones.

Barry, as you both say (Christopher #1), is looking every bit his age. The only consolation is we can rest assured that he'll miss games this season through suspension. Let's home they're games we really don't need him in, or RM starts resting him in recognition of his advancing age.

Tottenham were dirty little shits though. Almost an image of their manager's playing days.

And the fear now being expressed is that whilst we're "not a selling club" these days, we're increasingly looking like we're not a buying club either.

Still the media refuse to relent on the Stones story, so maybe we will have some money coming in... Especially as they've just lost out on a player. (How many have they signed since Jose said they'd done their business after the first Stones bid was knocked back?)

But both but are limited on the ball and, without a proper playmaker, we do look one dimensional when moving the ball forward from the back. Barkley has improved this year but to be honest he was shockingly poor last year. Sadly, he is not (yet?) the playmaker we need.

It's an approach that won't produce enough victories especially at home, with the window about to close will he sign a creative player and change tack? I doubt it but live in hope.

A month ago I think most people would have happily accepted five points from the first 4 games - I know I would have. The disappointment of the watford game was cancelled out by the southampton result. City loss was expected and a point at WHL was a nice bonus.

Chelsea up next but at least we have some points on the board going into the international break. Big shame about Cleverly's injury, looks like he'll be out for a few months at least so other than Deulofeu, we have the same midfield as last year but at least Mirallas is still with us (then again there are still 2 days till TDD!). Looks like Barry will carry on in the middle for now...

We missed Cleverly once he'd gone. I thought we should've give Deulofeu more time on the pitch once they had their yellows.

Special mention for Oviedo who was excellent and Howard of course.

Kone is looking an important member of the squad now, Barkley much improved and giving glimpses of a great player again.

Mirallas was pretty bad to be honest.

Jagielka is a great do-or-die shot-blocker but that style is almost dead in the British game and his spacial awareness, marking a man and space and judgement has always been poor. He was shambles at Barnsley and was pretty poor yesterday.

Barry's complete lack of any pace and his need to take too long controlling the ball and the situation is leading to serious problems. He is continually getting caught in possession, hence the number of bookings for his reactions.

I am not on either of their backs but big decisions win games and Martinez needs to act big as well as speak big.

After the first 15-20 minutes yesterday I thought we just let it go and lost any rhythm and edge.

Not the end of the world, time still available for change. But we have to be more decisive on and off the pitch.

So we bring in "No 10". Who is going to be left out for him? What would the formation be? Would Barry and McCarthy still be automatic picks?

Roberto has his faves who are first change if not first picks which offers no flexibility.

Naismith yesterday was brought onto the right wing then moved to CF after Kone was withdrawn. Not a very well thought out substitution. And apart from running around like a headless chicken and trying to referee the game what did he bring?

Lyndon sums it up well as an opportunity lost even though in my view we didn't play well in any sense of the word, Howard excepted.

Howard MOTM by a mile. Kone did well to hold up play, but everyone else in the attacking sense was poor against a solid Spurs back 5.

I think a point away at Spurs isn't to be sniffed at, and we have all seen worst away performances in the capital, so circling in on Martinez is a bit premature in my view. Fingers crossed we can shift some deadwood and bring a couple in by Tuesday deadline.

As others have said, 5 points from the first 4 games is better than many would've expected, and the 2 away games we have played both resulted in defeats last term, which can be viewed as improvement.

The squad is obviously in need of strengthening, I'm not sure how well we will do in that regard, and Barry is a concern as it seems he has something in his contract that means he has to play - even when his legs have clearly gone

We need a clever player coming from the left, any new 10 would mean Barkley having to move position, and he seems to be finally living up to his potential this season.

I agree about Barry though, it's time for Besic or Cleverley to play in that position.

To speak first of the negatives as raised by Lyndon, we still don't look a well drilled defensive unit, either the back 4 or the defensive midfield pairing.

That said, resources at left back are stretched due to injuries. Galloway did well there and Oviedo is evidently not yet fully fit. He shows flashes of pre-leg break form, but in the main he has yet to show the dynamism we know he has, or is that 'had?' Hopefully, with games, he can return to the levels he is capable of.

On the other flank, Coleman looks back to his best and although Jags had a dreadful game yesterday and Stones has had to endure very public inspection, individually they've played 'okay.'

It is as a unit the defence continues to be unconvincing. There is a disconnect and a good defensive shape is rarely kept. This needs serious work on the training ground.

Then we have the Barry-McCarthy axis. Again, like Jags, Barry had a dreadful game yesterday, but I don't agree he can't cut it at this level any more. In the 3 other games he played this season he has played very well. Yes, he needs to be better managed and not played in every game at his age, but he has played several levels better than McCarthy this season.

Because for me, McCarthy's season has not yet started. He has been our poorest performer by some distance. If he doesn't fulfill his primary role - stamping out the threats before they develop, or making covering, saving blocks and tackles - he doesn't, or isn't, bring much else to the table.

As things stand, at times in games the opposition has an obscene amount of time and space to operate in down the middle of the park, putting strain on the defence

And therein lies a dilemma for RM. If his preferred central midfield pairing are being ineffective in their delegated roles to the detriment of the team, what is the point of persisting with it? Can, will he change it?

Now to speak of the positives compared to last year. Whilst there are still some moments of overplayed tikka-takka at the back, it has been vastly reduced and play further forward has quickened up. Indeed, at times there has been too much hoofing up the park.

The quicker joined up stuff is due to Ross looking a real player again. Yes, he still has some brain fart moments, but things are starting to happen again when Ross is on the ball. He also looks physically stronger this year, harder to knock off the ball, sticking the boot in himself and how many of you noticed the number of times he won decisive headers in midfield against Barnsley?

Lukaku too has shown better form already than almost the entire last season. Not quite on it yesterday, but he and the team have been greatly helped by the renaissance of Kone, who had a wonderful game yesterday. His control, hold up play, the way he drew players in and gave them the slip, then sliding in cute little passes or sharp one-twos, was excellent.

Finally, Cleverley has been bright since arriving and I hope his injury is not as severe as first thought.

I have no doubts, given the superb 3 assists Gerry made in the Barnsley game, and the unexpected and goals Mirallas offers, we will see them both starting games and Everton playing with more width and verve, once Gerry in particular is fully up to speed. It will be a matter of horses for courses, depending on the venue and opposition.

Given it's still only early season and the challenging fixture list, I'm in the main happy and upbeat about our start. Fitness levels are clearly better, woefully out of form players from last season are playing closer to their true ability, play is nowhere near as ponderous as last season and we have retained all key elements in the squad.

I would be happier if we were more competent and organized defensively, and as for transfers, I'll wait for the window to close before casting judgement.

Our giving away of possession was evident yesterday as was the lack of options when midfielders were going forward. We've shown what we can do against Southampton so hopefully there will be more performances like that to come. Is Osman injured at the moment?

Tactically we were too predictable Spurs didn't allow us to counter and we looked poor. We have to find a way of getting Lukaku involved more. Too many aimless long balls at his head yesterday and no one supporting him.

So how can you get at him without making it obvious? Well firstly, you hardly give him a mention. Readers who never watched the match would think he was seldom involved. Secondly, you go on and on about the need for someone to knit things together. Something our friend Kone does very well. It's just a pity he doesn't have another Kone to interplay with.

A couple of times yesterday I noticed him try to interplay with Lukaku but it fell down because the big fella remained rooted to the spot. He remained with his defender and made no effort to dash into space and receive a pass. A problem your miraculous number 10 would also face.

Don't get me wrong. Whilst appreciating that Arouna Kone is a proper footballer, I would prefer a younger version with more stamina and stronger, quicker legs. Leandro perhaps. Who knows.

I wasn't too keen on Ross Barkley being referred to as a possible "water carrier" but understood what you meant. His lack of room also highlighted a major flaw in our defensive tactics. Spurs closed down very quickly in the middle of the pitch whereas we allowed them to stroll through unhindered. Occasions when Ross and McCarthy disappeared.

Finally, I am asking Martinez. What's with all this backing off? Coleman and Stones especially. Backing off into your own penalty area is completely brainless. As Ruud Gullit pointed out on Match of the Day, and he should know. "When defenders back off, it makes it easy".

Yes, we can find positives: Oviedo is improving and can cross a good ball; Kone has shown he can link-up play effectively; Ross is showing signs of more consistent, more intelligent play.

But overall it's more of the same from last season – a lot ponderous, sloppy play, lack of creativity and holes in front of and between the defensive set-up. And will this be addressed in the next 48 hours? Don't hold your breath.

Criticism of Oviedo is a bit harsh I feel - Jags and Barry are supposed to cover for him and neither is doing it too well so far. He will only get better with games as Kone is starting to show.

Tim showed yet again what a frustrating goalie he is - drops his fair share of changers but then keeps us in a game like yesterday - bizarre and must drive Roberto bonkers at times.

I am happy with 5 points and just the one defeat - a number of players need game-time to get fully fit and Roberto has to address the DM situation as we can all see it is not working. Play Ross or Mo as one of the two DMs - it gives Ross more space which his game needs - and leaves room then for the number 10 who is due on Merseyside in the next 2 days!!!

It would be interesting to see the heat zones (of whatever they're called) to see how many of our players got into the Spurs box because I watch the game twice (saddoooo, saddoooo) and I can't recall a single instance where a MF ran behind Spurs.

Obviously RM isn't going to change it anytime soon and certainly not with Chelsea next up, but something needs to be changes to make our football more fluent. As we keep saying, this is the best squad of players assembled at GP for years, we should-we must do better than this

He never looks for the through-ball or offers himself for the quick dart behind the centre back. He invariably mis-controls it anyway so perhaps we should be recruiting a different type of striker to offer something else in our attack...

Lukaku: I'm amazed know one has picked up on his positioning yesterday and his lack of ability to stop a ball at his feet or even try to pass it on and create a move. In comparison I thought Kone was superb and every ball that came to him from defence he managed to get it to his feet and get past a Spurs player, or make a successful pass. I know Lukaku can score goals but he's woeful when he has the ball at his feet. Also why for the life of me did Lukaku have to be 5 yards inside of Kone's zone - he suffocated the lad all through the game.

Lyndon you rightly mention a lack of width and pace; this manager has slowly killed off that part of the game by restricting our left and right backs running down the line - although we did see some decent play by Coleman. In relation to that you could have Messi as our "missing" No.10 and he wouldn't make the slightest impact with this style of Martinez football. Not once during that game did I see an Everton player race towards the Spurs by-line until Deulofeu came on.

Howard may have got the MotM award but lets not kid ourselves here, he is a total liability and we will get punished by a more cynical side soon enough if this clown continues to distribute the ball the way he does. The whole defence was a shambles and we were more than lucky to get a point.

Roberto insists upon playing him though, even when there are better options, Deulofeu must be the first choice when fit. He has the ability to beat his man and get crosses into the box, something Kone doesn't do very often.

"Why for the life of me did Lukaku have to be 5 yards inside of Kone's zone? He suffocated the lad all through the game."

Setting up strike partners in close proximity is a long established, legitimate and effective strategy. Indeed, since Kone's introduction Lukaku has looked a better player exactly because they play in such close proximity. Having two strikers playing off each other like this unsettles defenders who don't know whether to stick or twist, get drawn out of position or go with the runner.

Your comment about restricting the full backs forward movement may have been legitimate last season, but less so on the evidence I have seen in this still fledgling season.

Your final comment on Howard implies a fixed prejudice you hold about him. Like many, he was poor last season. Like many, he has performed considerably better this season.

Trevor (#25),

Kone is NOT playing as a right sided midfielder. He is playing more central and advanced than that, NOT a classical #10, nor an out and out striker, but a floating role twixt midfield and attack.

This is making him difficult to pick up and mark and why he is being an effective link between midfield and Lukaku.

IMO Ross and Kone are kinda playing the #10 role between them. I've seen plenty of evidence already that between them, Ross' surging runs, Kone's hold up and lay off play and Rom's sheer power and one touch finishing, all in close proximity of each other, has already been very fruitful this season and will continue to be so.

Isn't RM showing imagination in setting up the team differently? Are professional footballers unable to adapt to new demands placed upon them? I see no evidence of Kone struggling to fulfill the role currently being asked of him.

Many have long called for two strikers on the pitch simultaneously. Most teams however, don't set up like that. Frequently, IF teams play with 2 strikers, one tends to be deeper lying as Kone currently is.

The current formation is one option RM has to play with - no out and out wide men, rather the full backs playing that role, Barry and McCarthy the holding role and Ross, Kone and Lukaku doing their stuff further upfield.

By game's end yesterday that shape had changed with 1st Kone alone up front and Naismith more like the right midfield position you attributed to Kone, then Naismith up front alone and Mirallas and Gerry in wider positions.

There are many possible combinations which can see both Kone and Lukaku in the side as well as Mirallas, Gerry and Ross.

Why, you could even drop one of 2 holding midfielders...

Now that would be radical.

Kone had been a revelation, and his unselfishness and willingness to play one-twos has improved our play. Lukaku was confused and frustrated by Spurs crowding him out. Tottenham were aware of our threat on the break, and were never gung-ho in their attacks.

Walker had an easy time against Oviedo, who was often overlooked by our own midfield. If Deulofeu could've been put out on the left with 30 mins to go, we may have seen some crosses.

Nothing ventured... nothing gained.

I felt we didn't get out of 2nd gear yesterday. Got the impression we played our recent history against Spur, rather than the mediocrity against us on the pitch. Hats off to Howard; I've given him plenty of deserved stick, but he played well. Nothing lucky about that, as the real Howard always said, good defending isn't good luck.

Kone keeps showing us the importance of real link-up play, Mirallas came on and showed why he isn't starting, Cleverley's absence showed us how much he's been contributing. McCarthy needs to show up this season. And Martinez again showed his cautiousness. I would have understood Deulofeu being rested yesterday, but 7 mins? He's got to learn to trust that back four, or bring in someone to coach them.

The old story, when teams back off us, we struggle. We needed some movement, inspiration and an eye for a pass and didn't get any, so we hung on for a point.

Happiest people will have been our directors, sitting there watching two ordinary teams. One cost a fortune and is unbalanced, one cost comparatively little and was at least as good. Hope they spread their joy to us by 6pm Tuesday!

I think this is why we get frustrated with Lukaku, so much depends on him. If he plays well, we play well. If he can make the ball stick we can get forward in numbers, but when he's repeatedly losing possession, as he was yesterday, his team mates are often reluctant to bust a gut to get up and support him, and most of our attacks are strangled at birth.

It's too much to ask of a young man still learning his trade to lead the line on his own, week-in & week-out. He will have some good games (Southampton) and he will have some shockers.

This was a hard-earned point against a very physical Spurs team, desperate to kick-start their own season. Some positives but, unless Martinez can pull a rabbit out of the hat in the next couple of days, I feel our season will be as inconsistent as big Rom's form.

I'll not pay to see that until the underlying philosophy of the team changes. It's soul destroying, and Martinez "I couldn't be happier with today's performance" is seeing a different game to me?

At the moment the core of our team from defensive midfield upwards should be McCarthy, Besic, Barkley, Cleverley, Mirallas, Deulofeu and Lukaku. Everbody else who occupies those positions are the ones we should be looking at replacing. I would keep Naismith because he's good on his day and a handy sub but with replacements in those areas then the manager should be looking at moving the others on.

If we stuck to the philosophy of playing our best team, week-in & week out, and taking into consideration injuries, I think we wouldn't need that many players to challenge for a first team slot. A prolific Number 9, a creative Number 10 and a left and right winger (not Lennon although Henen could be one of them depending on how well he's progressing). We don't need any more defensive midfielders with Ledson in the background so that position is fine, we just need a bit of money.

It seems to me that none of the players who were here last season, is playing markedly worse. Most are playing better. Kone is beginning to show why RM had so much faith in him, but he still needs a little more time.

Tim Howard is (generally) much better than last term. Ross is showing much more confidence. If Stones stays, and I think he will, the strength of character he has shown over the last few weeks, will make him unbeatable.

Lukaku looks much more effective with (a rejuvenated) Kone by his side. Seamus is somewhere near his marauding best. Left back is a problem, but that's mostly bad luck.

Cleverley looks better than we thought; Deulofeu looks as good as we always knew he could be. Barry & McCarthy could do better, but still OK. I would like to see more of Mirallas. Hoping for one rabbit out of the hat on Tuesday!

All in all: we're in the top 10; we have a positive goal difference; we've already played City, Spurs and Southampton. It could be an awful lot worse lads, it could be an awful, awful lot worse!

ps: I'm not saying there isn't room for improvement, and I agree with some posters: there's the nagging feeling that, if we were just 10% better, we could take the league by storm.

Everything depends on good movement in the other team's half and someone having an eye for a good pass.

As I keep saying, despite all the money teams have spent, it looks a mediocre league, apart from City. No one else scares me so far.

The way the transfer market is looking, we'll be gambling with someone unheralded. I'm not bothered about marquee signings, as long as they fit in, can pick a pass and score some goals. Plus a decent keeper.

Howard has been at fault with three goals at least, Lukaku flatters to decieve and it was only luck again, as against Barnsley, that we got a draw from Spurs.

I fear only Lennon will be here on Tuesday and that's our lot until January, and let's hope we are in a decent position by then.

I'm surprised by your comments, Harold, but I'd start by saying there simply isn't enough time to focus on every player in a match report and, seeing as our attacking contribution to this game was depressingly small, I stayed with the main issues as I see them in other areas of the side.

Kone did play well yesterday as he has for most of the season so far. He controlled the ball well, used it well and actually seemed to have a good understanding with Seamus down the right.

But he didn't get a sight of goal until he went up top and that's one of my issues – he was being played out of position and wasn't allowed to come central enough. The other is that as tidily as he has played, he is not a top-class player; he is adequate and will no doubt contribute his share of moments but if we have aspirations of challenging for the top four, we need to add real quality.

As for Palace and Swansea, well there's always one or two teams that come storming out of the blocks (Leicester?) only to fade later on. Marathon, not a sprint and all that.

Why not play one holding midfielder, Barkley, Mirallas & Deulofeu behind Lukaku & Kone?

Kone does not suit the wing & I just think we pass it sideways too much in midfield.

If we can just survive the brutal stretch of opponents in September and October, even with 14 points or so, the schedule will open up for us to go on a run in November and December and get up to 34-36 points by the end of the year.

That would put us on pace for 68-72 points for the season, and we can at least make a run at 4th place. Obviously we have to play better than yesterday to do that, but the chance is there for us.

Zero-ish on Cleverley, a sound move;

٢.3M on Geri, shrewd... if he ever gets to play in the Premier League for more than 20 mins and then if he's brilliant we are forced to sell him back to Barca... ace;

𧺬k on Leandro;

١M on some Spanish striker who's 19 and untested...

٤m on Mori, who, if he gets a permit, will be a decent if wee bit unstable defender!

And that could be it as the price for keeping Stones and Coleman. Yep, around 㾺M and hardly a dent in the dire need to strengthen the squad with real game-changing quality.

But I could be wrong and we may make a No 10 㾻M purchase... what few digits I have are crossed.

Oh yes, the Spurs game? It was there to be won, if we'd have had the ambition, but we didn't. We just don't create enough and the service to Rom has to improve with decent wing play... soon.

Sick of reading the same comments about Barry and McCarthy, the commentator made me laugh when he said Spurs most creative player is Garath Barry. Summed it up really.

I would argue that we don't actually play with a flat back four for most stretches of the game. We nominally line up in a 4-2-3-1, but in defense, it looks more like a 4-5-1 with two banks sitting deep and Lukaku providing a target to outlet. When we have possession it looks more like a 2-4-3-1 or a 3-4-3 with the fullbacks pushing up to provide width like wingers, and Barry falling back to add an extra option at the back to create additional passing "triangles". Sometimes when we've had possession for a while and the opposition is sitting back in two backs of 4, it even looks like a 3-2-5 with fullbacks and wingers filling the gaps between thier backline, stretching out horizontally while we pass the ball around the back looking for a lane for a through ball.

Martinez's possession-based football works well when teams press us – the system seeks to capitalize on an opponent's mistakes, usually by over-committing players up field.

In my book, the problem we have isn't that Barry and McCarthy have defense-first assignments – it enables Coleman and Baines the license to bomb forward – but that we lack the creative #10 to pick out the incisive ball behind, especially when teams sit back and collapse space in the final third. I think that was the main difference between last season and Martinez's first season – teams figured out that they could just sit back, take away space and challenge us to break them down.

We have a team that's good on the break with good fast/skilfull wingers, talented attacking full-backs and a forward that needs balls played ahead or crossed in.

This is proved when we actually play this way (as in our 'recovery' at the end of last season or when we're a goal or two down) and we look genuinely dangerous, score goals and often win.

Yet despite all the evidence, Martinez persists in playing the slow possession game that suits literally none of our team (especially our star striker who is poor with balls to feet or behind him) or indeed our league in general. (Name any of the champions that have played this way - it's certainly not the way Man City, Chelsea or Man Utd play!)

Then, to compound this error, he insists on playing two defensive midfielders (which delivers literally nothing besides ham-stringing us by wasting a player) and also keeping the wingers on the bench, forcing forwards and midfielders into wide positions. Don't even get me started on the logic of taking off strikers to replace them with wingers...

I raise this every week and in every available opportunity, but I genuinely don't understand the thought process when the approach is so obviously not working to either improve the defence or create more incisive attacks.

Kone has a good touch, so we can play off him, and Rom can come on when the game begins to get stretched.

Nothing worse than playing football with a centre forward who can't get hold of the ball, especially when we haven't got that much creativity in midfield.

Also any news of Cleverley's injury? Having watched the tackle numerous times, I can't see how Dier was not yellow carded at least. Looked like he was out to prove a point about being let go. Especially when you add in his tackle on Ross. I think Rom was trying to point out the error of his ways in the scuffle before the free kick.

After 6pm tomorrow, nothing to worry about for almost 2 weeks as the boring international break kicks in. I can only imagine Goodison will be like the proverbial bear pit when Chelski arrive!

On the subject of the game in one respect it is too early to jump on the Martinez bandwagon but on the other his tactics are frightening.

We are wide open in MF with no closing down of the opposition apart from the occasional "late" tackles from McCarthy or Barry.

Also we fanny about so much with the ball that the opposition have time to organize and reorganize their defense such that we don't even trouble their GK.

2 shots on target against one of the poorest Spurs sides we have faced recently is not good enough.

When we had to get back in the game at Bradford we changed the tactics completely.

Can we please have more Sin miedo and less Todos Miedo please.

We have a good group of players let them play FFS.

Totally agree. To be honest, I thought Kone was shot, but he has been an unexpected bonus so far this season and has a far better first touch than Lukaku.

I don't want to be too critical of Lukaku; he will get us lots of goals, but he can be very careless at times. He does not have natural close control so he should show a little more determination to fend off challenges and take better care of the ball.

I suspect he does not fully understand his importance to the team's performance yet. Yes, he's there to score goals... but we need more; he has got to start making that ball stick

Virtually every club in the league have spent upwards of 㿅 million.

Money cannot buy everything... but it can buy something!

Oviedo lost possession a few times and the turnovers almost cost us. He is not sharp enough at the moment. Barry seems unable to track players moving at pace into the box and Ryan Mason breezed past him once like he wasn't there and almost scored. As for Lukaku, I am lost for words. He makes Balotelli look like a grafter. We need ALL of our outfile players functioning at 100%.

Howard played really well. Even though he has an achilles heel for crosses into the box, he is still a superb shot stopper. He is still a long way better than Robles. A goalkeeper has to have great concentration. Robles switches off too often and is unreliable. He also seems to be quite timid. I would still like to see a few players coming in before the deadline.

"He is a total liability and we will get punished by a more cynical side soon enough if this clown continues to distribute the ball the way he does."

You must have been referring to his GK kit when you called him a clown because, when I checked the facts, guess what I found? Going into the game, he was the 3d rated keeper in the EPL per Barclay's site. Per Squawka.com, his distribution percentage is at a 70% success rate. The same as Joe Hart and Cech.

BTW, his length of distribution was about 10 meters more than either of them per attempt.

How is that poor?

Against Spurs Howard got lucky on some of his saves so he takes the Kudos, no problems with that.

His short game distribution in that game was near suicidal; when we're under pressure it would be helpful to his defence (and the Everton fans) to just grab the ball and boot the fucking thing up the pitch - it isn't pretty but it is effective.

As regards to your stats - how do they explain the two goals Howard conceded against Man City because he should have had both goals covered?

Just to reiterate that (IMO) Howard is shite, always has been and always will be regardless of the stats.

I am lost with RM’s tactical mind. Does he not see that Barry, McCarthy & Cleverley are pretty much the same player!

Why not play one holding midfielder, Barkley, Mirallas & Deulofeu behind Lukaku & Kone?

Kone does not suit the wing & I just think we pass it sideways too much in midfield.

We were crying out for width at Tottenham – but, instead of playing Mirallas (whose spectacular half-volley sparked our revival at Barnsley) and Deulofeu (who gave one of the most inspiring performances I have ever seen in an Everton shirt), he plays Kone out of position on the right and Cleverley out of position on the left. Then brings Naismith on!

And as for his obstinate persistence with the now wholly ineffective Barry - McCarthy axis... words not only fail me, but every other Evertonian. Is there ANYONE out there who thinks it works any more?

I think we are close to having what can be regarded as a ’People’s Choice’ first XI:

Howard
Coleman, Stones, Jagielka, Baines
McCarthy, Barkley, Cleverley (preferably Pienaar when fit?)
Mirallas, Lukaku, Deulofeu

However, in front of our keeper and back four I am sure Martinez gets a fattie on fantasing about the day when he can play Lennon, Naismith, Barry, McCarthy, Cleverley and Kone and grab a hard-earned point at West Brom.

After a wonderful debut season, he has gone worryingly backwards and it is now safety first and being more concerned about the opposition (déjà vu, à la David Moyes), than focusing on making them concerned about us.

One final thing that occurs to me too, when we play a more marauding style, with Mirallas, Lukaku and Deulofeu all going direct to goal as soon as they they get the ball, Barkley becomes twice the player.

All hard work and no play however, alongside the likes of Barry, Naismith and now that failed headless chicken, Lennon, makes him a very dull boy!

Crossroads looming large on the horizon, Roberto. Make sure you choose the right direction...

4 games in and Howard is sitting pretty then.

Care to delve back into last season's stats and tell us how he performed? Pretty fucking badly.

That said, I think it's a bit of a pointless exercise to look at a keeper's stats when they rarely tell the full story.

Howard is okay in certain areas. He pulls off some great saves as you'd expect at this level. However, his ability to collect crosses and command his area are non-existent. Robles looked much better in that department... the rest is history.