Boss praises “outstanding” Deulofeu

And that's the best I've seen Barkley play. Controlled the midfield and lovely array of passing

Basic did well overall

Poor leadership from Jags

Impressed Stones played

Great finishing from Rom and even Mirallas looked determined!

Now if only we could defend...

The inclusion of Aiden McGeady was mystifying, as proved by the young Spaniard's sensational game-changing display.

Harsh but true!

Del showed us why he was bought and he, along with JS, Ross, Macca, Rom etc...are the future.

Yeah he'll frustrate at times and there'll be games when nothing works. but when he's on blob, he looks mustard.

One thing that needs addressing (quick!) is how quiet we (they) are - mute for most games.

You have to fucking talk to each other.

Every hairy-arsed Sunday league side in the city talks more than we do.

I'm not looking for them to recite the Gettysburg address, just 'man on', 'pick him up' 'my ball' that type of thing.

Against City, I saw one of our players put in a stiff tackle on...another one of our players and a couple of times tonight we had fellers running into each other.

Ffs, a bit of bunny with some echo man.

Deulofeu was impressive but Barkley was equally as good. One of the best games I've seen him play and he drove us forward and always showed for the ball in quite a Gerrard esque way. Deulofeu needs to stay on the right though whenever he switches to the left he is useless.

Deulofeu Barkley Mirallas
Lukaku

That is enough to undo most sides whatever happens with our leaky defence.

He's said he's not prepared to sit on the bench so maybe it's time he moved on.

The same can be said of Oviedo and Besic, although Oviedo may be forced to play.

My big worry with these three lads is a pulled muscle in the second outing after a break. In the racing game we call it "the Bounce Factor".

Just a comment on Stones. I would love to see him stay. I just hope that our board are not playing games. And JS is sold on deadline day, with no time to bring in replacements. Do any of you ToffeeWebbers trust this Everton board to do the right thing? I don't.

As noted above, he looks like he is enjoying himself, and to my mind, he seems like he's learned a bit in his year back from his first spell - although maybe that was just the Barnsley factor.

I'm waiting for the first cynic to suggest "yeah, but doesn't this mean Barca will just buy him back more quickly".

Agree with Eugene about the talking on the pitch. I've long believed that Jags isn't Captain material, but that ship has sailed and no way will it be taken off him. So instead let's go for the old cliche of 11 captains on the pitch, or at least a couple - that'd be an improvement.

As for Naismith, I am always impressed by his performances. How many times have to seen Rom, Mirallas et al miss that header he made today? Soild player, 100% effort, always a presence in the box and I think he links up very well with Lukaku as seen today with his near missed shot. He's always the one playing one-two passes and being active in the box and off the ball He's got passion and guts and a nose for goal that some of our highly touted flair players could do with a bit of. I would miss him badly if he left. Vastly under appreciated and unfairly scorned by some.

Barkley has definitely matured. "A new animal" states Martinez to Mr Jones. From my point of view, Ross is grabbing the team by the scruff of the neck and thrusting it forward.

Not sure we'll start with specialist wingers against Spurs but I wouldn't complain if we did. Personally, I think he'll go with the usual seven at the back with Cleverley, Kone, Barkley and Lukaku up front. A combination which links up very well, rarely loses possession cheaply and feeds the right balls to the big fella.

The problem may be the left back position. Oviedo might not be fully recovered and the position is always too exposed at the best of times. Kone cannot support Lukaku and the fullback.. He doesn't have the legs. Barry should race over and let McCarthy guard the middle but he won't. Jags should always support his fullback but he doesn't. The result is a lonely leftback faced by two or three opposition players and unable to cope. It happened to Baines, Garbutt and Galloway, three lads now on the sick list and Oviedo got a taste of it against Barnsley. Why the coaches haven't put it right is beyond me. It really is.

I wasn't surprised by Deulfeu other than he actually ran back to help defend at times. Now if he helps defend we will have a proper player. That 75 minutes will do his fitness the world of good. Same goes with Oviedo fitness wise who looked well off the pace to me but will get better. Besic I thought was poor and hope he just has an odd game. Barkley outstanding again.

Next summer he'll be gone I reckon. I have to agree I don't think he's good enough, he makes the wrong decisions & so many of his passes are either over hit or under hit, losing us possession way too often.

I wish him well if he does move on, seems a great chap!

AM - matter of time before he moves on.

Del Boy -sublime, Ross big performance & Besic is class.

Attacking wise we played some great football and some of the players for future are looking like gems.

The defence on the hand is s shambles - every time Barnsley attacked my heart was in my mouth.

We stand off and give way too much space - especially down the flanks & we need someone to sit and protect the back 4.

It doesn't help that we don't have 1 naturally defensive full back, defensively minded that knows how to defend and positionally mark.

All our fullbacks and I include Barnes in this, are attack minded & better going forward than defending.

The team needs to defend as a team, all over the pitch, we need to hunt in packs to close the space, but especially in our own half of the pitch.

Bobby needs to address how we defend on the training ground, as it's our achilles heel.

However, he did this as a midfield 2 with Besic rather than in his usual attacking midfield position

As a midfield 2, he picks up the ball in more space and with more time...something to think about. He also protected the ball better. Maybe we can start trusting him to play there?

If he plays up top with a clever striker, he is intelligent enough to time his runs and play the right ball to be a fine player.
If we had another 10 with his work rate and attitude we would be unbeatable.

Barkley either pinged the ball out to Del or rampaged forward. Everytime Barkley got the ball he made the RIGHT decision.
Where did this Ross Barkley come from? and long may it continue!

Barkley playing deeper is a lot better than the Barkley #10 and although Del gets a lot of the plaudits, IMHO it was Barkley who changed the game.

Although now injured himself, letting Garbutt go out on loan looks like it's going to hurt us.

I just think that Martinez has somehow got to get the defence right; once that's in place I'd say Everton will make things happen.

And let's not forget Kone he has shown promising stuff for this season so far, let's hope he can keep it all up.

On the point of skipper does anyone else see signs of maturity and leadership in Rom? Very intelligent lad and I wonder if he could be a future captain?

His last ditch tackle throwing himself in the way of a cross just before he came off was worth a big cheer ...

Not all of these players are fully fit yet but when they are - watch out, they will cane someone!

I don't know who it was on Sky that gave Lukaku the man of the match award, I thought for large parts of the game he was anonymous. I was very glad to hear RMs comments about Stones at the end of the game, lets hope we stick to what he says and that the lad is going nowhere.

I think he has stated that he only wanted Del to play 45 minutes so after getting an extra 30 he may feel the Spurs game will be a bit too soon to start him, he will probably be best suited to have a 25 / 30 minute cameo if needed.

Mirallas is a must for me, he was hungry and aggressive when trying to win the ball back plus constantly positive in possession. I don't think he will be played against Spurs if I am honest though as I feel Kone will be included as will Ross, leaving a space in the attacking area left at one who will most probably be Cleverly.

I would like to see us play more games without the partnership of Barry an McCarthy as Barkley can be very influential when playing a bit deeper an dictating the play.

Also I'd like to see more of Mo Besic as he looked hungry, he also looked a bit weighty but still managed to do the miles too, maybe that's the key for his Premier League career. The defence and goalkeeper looked awful though, this is worrying.

Not just comparing Naismith and Cahill in mentality, but I think they're quite similar players. Both short players with very good movement and good headers of the ball. Saying he's not good enough is a joke. He's a really useful squad player, who is different to anyone we have, and look at his record against the big sides? He scores against them.

Nice to see Deulofeu play really well, 3 assists in the team is a great start. I think no one is mentioned this yet either, but you have to give Cleverley some credit. He's played right back, centre mid and left wing so far. He distributes the ball quickly, got good close control and always gives 100%.

I'm a bit worried about Spurs though, especially the defence looking leaky against Barnsley and how well Harry Kane played against us last season.

Criticism of Naismith is harsh, for the reasons already articulated by others above. McGeady, though... Well, he's not a Premiership player, not even for a relegation side. He would struggle to shine in that Barnsley side. Maybe it's a fitness issue, maybe it's confidence, or maybe he's just useless.

But Deulofeu was had and shoulders way above any of our attacking players out there. He really looked like a Barcelona-standard player.

Great work by the forward players though who started the second half last night - including Naismith, but boy are we god awful at defending.

Those who slate Barry on here need to look at the mileage he puts in during games; Opta stats prove that he regularly covers more grass than anyone else including McCarthy and provides much needed cover for that shaky defensive line.

When on form, Barkley, Mirallas and Deulofeu are irresistible to watch; we will scare the shit out of the opposition with them in the team and be capable of the fast counter attack with Lukaku in front. Imagine how much more of a threat we would be with another prolific goalscorer alongside Lukaku, someone like Austin. That would mean either playing one defensive midfielder (which is my preferred option and possible with a back four) or going to three at the back.

With an attacking five like that you would think goals would not be something hard to deliver. Naismith is effective and well capable of delivering goals and I would still put him front of Kone in the pecking order but, if we just had some investment in that area in the form of a prolific goalscorer, our first eleven would be some force to be reckoned with.

If he does that every other match he will be well worth his place in the squad, not a starter every week mind.

My view is that he's useful. He's quite good when there are teammates close to him so he can play his little one-twos. He's also good at making runs and can finish.

Put him outside the width of the box however and he's lost. He also gives the ball away an incredible amount of times when the pass is relatively easy.

Delighted to have him in the squad however.

One more thing, he's an unbelievable moaner, moreso when he wins a free and the opposition have a go at the ref. He's up there telling them that they're wrong with this disgusted look on this face.

Mcgeady is ok until his final ball/shot/decision, bearing in mind his age I sincerely doubt this will ever improve and he should be nowhere near the match day squad. This is the exact same reason that Lennon would be a backwards signing (unless a straight swap!), although his excellent workrate is infectious.

Roberto Martinez went up tenfold in my estimation last night, he seems to have the necessary cojones to make the difficult decisions and his post match interview was the stuff of class and intelligence personified.

Agreed. Not saying they're the same in how good they are, just two similar types of players.

Well done, Deulofeu, play like that every week and it won't be long before Barca, want you back!

Not his fault of course but Martinez must recognise this – him and Rom as a partnership would be worth a look for example if we wanted to go two up top.

Barnsley taught us more about ourselves than Southampton did.

Anyone else fancy their Marc Roberts for ٠ million?

I was quietly impressed with Cleverley. He slotted in at right wing-back to help the team in the second half, and he was very disciplined in giving the team a bit of balance. He also covers a lot of ground. I'd like to see him given the chance to play alongside McCarthy as the deeper midfielder, with Barkley advanced centrally (as he has been this season).

I think that Barry coming and getting the ball off the centre-halves has limited potential as he is never going to drive forward with the ball; I think Cleverly and Barkley both have good passing ranges and can run with the ball if they need to. I hope that we see Barry starting less games this season - and not so many of the games against the top clubs as that's where his lack of pace and dynamism tends to cost us.

Some jobs call for a scalpel, some for an axe. You wouldn't use a Porsche to plow a field! Naisy has some similar characteristics as Tim Cahill, he annoys players, pops in in the right place. Having seen in for Rangers (I know, only Rangers/Scottish football) he is intelligent, making the right runs most of the time. He works hard, and has pulled our asses out the fire on a few occasions, vs Aston Villa after out Derby mauling is the best example I can think of.

He is not especially skillful, or fast but his contribution is as high as any other player. First to get in opposition players faces, he is also vocal and will fight for Everton when needed.

Valuable squad player, 1st team every week? Probably not but most definitely useful.

McGeady had a couple of chances and with match fitness and a bit of confidence he will be a good squad player. He has pace and also knows how to defend something that we sometimes overlook in a player.

I'm not a fan of Nessie but he works hard and is rewarded with a goal, again a useful player to have who knows how to defend and also get on the end of a cross.

Robles looked ring rusty and a bit nervous but we all saw how a few games improved him no end with 3 clean sheets and then was dropped for the clanger man.

I thought Bryan Oveido did well and got better as the game went on.

Gerry was unplayable at times and the chip over the keeper and bar was pure genius. We have a team full of kids still learning their trade lest give them some slack. I read Robles is 24. Oh for someone in the Binman mould.