Everton's powers of recovery too strong for Leicester

Mirallas was really energetic and made a mockery of his exclusion from the starting line-up at Anfield and his early substitution at Old Trafford.

It amazes me how we look so good at home but away from home are very timid and limited going forward; hopefully it's an area Koeman quickly resolves next season. The restoration of Fortress Goodison is a credit to Koeman, though, so fair play.

I had a bit of a go at Pennington early on but fair do's to the lad – he was solid for the last hour of the game. Holgate was excellent once again. Ross my MotM.

We dropped the intensity a bit but it was an excellent performance. Just what we needed. Well done, Blues!

10 point gap to West Brom pretty much nails 7th place down with an outside chance of higher. Just looking at the remaining fixtures, Man Utd still need to play Chelsea, City, Arsenal and Spurs! Arsenal have an easier run in. Burnley home next so hopefully another 3 points to keep the pressure on the top 6.

Very good result today, well done blue boys.

A quick observation of the defense, some from today but mostly from the season as a whole:

The defensive unit is weak. It looks solid at times but it stands there way too much because there is no pace. Pennington is a Jagielka clone and do we really need that if we are going to move forward? I'm rooting for him but are his type of players going to take us into the top 3? I don't think so. Jags has had a great couple of matches for him though. 2 goals is wonderful for him. Both are fringe players to me that wouldn't make the subs on a top European Club.

Baines is fading now – way too many injuries and age are catching up to him. A great servant that now needs to reflect on what he brings to the club.

Coleman may never be the same again. He's definitely one of my favorite players and I love the bastard but we cannot bank on him returning to the man he once was. That would be bad business if we did.

Heart and passion can take you far but you need skill and pace to move the ball forward. Williams is a rental but his balls outsize any other centre-back on the team. But, again, he is a player that should be coming off the bench to ice the match, not start. Holgate, for me, is a very solid defender coming off the bench right now-he will develop into a starter. Funes Mori is a bench player as well that we need to keep but he is not very quick and doesn't move the ball forward well.

My observation: We have defenders starting that shouldn't be. The fact that they have seen success, in my opinion, is more Koeman's defensive genius than skill. Koeman has organized them as best as he could and then slapped glue and tape to hold them together. They are a solid group that a team outside the Top 10 would kill to have but we will be permanently stuck in the 6 to 9 spots if we don't upgrade.

Sorry if this sounds negative – I love our boys but our strongest sons haven't arrived yet. I may get some stick for my comments.

If we are going to be a consistent Champions League club, then we need to invest in 3 to 4 defenders-which could cost around £30M-50M. 2 of them will need to be paid hefty for.

If I had to guess, there could be around 10 players leaving the club(including U-23s). Clear the books, ship out the ones that don't fit the system and bring in pace. This upcoming summer has to be about burning the leeches off. £75M will need to be spent with Lukaku staying. £100M with him gone for sure.

The difference between this Everton team and the Everton team of the previous two seasons is that Gueye and more so Schneiderlin are constantly trying to win the ball back when the Blues don't have possession.

Morgan is the playmaker who helps the Toffees tick and it was noticeable when Barry came on that Leicester found it easier to retain possession and Everton looked a little toothless. Davies also adds something to the team but obviously, given his youth, lacked the stamina to influence the team as much he can or will do in the future. Those 3 midfielders allow Ross to make mistakes and play more to his strengths and that has to be great for him and the team.

The thing that excites me the most is that, given that Ross and Rom stay a while longer, we have the basis for a very good team for the long term and, if we can add a couple more players in the coming months, we could be onto a very good period in the clubs history.

Never mind what the media may think, this team has a chance of matching those above us in the coming years, and any team winning seven home matches on the trot must be doing something right. The only bug-bear I had today was the showboating element during the early part of the second-half. Come on lads, put the game to bed as early as possible and then you can bring out the party tricks.

But a very satisfied Evertonian tonight and forget the media hype or lack of it when it comes to the Toffees, we'll do what we've always done and appreciate when we have a decent side and hopefully celebrate a trophy or two in the coming seasons.

Special mentions to Jags and Baines but my man of the match goes to Morgan Schneiderlin who is a class act.

As an oldie, now living in Canada, the first half reminded me of the old School of Science. They played as a team with each helping each-other not as a computer game, depending on which current technical formation chosen. I know I just relished it, not once wondering if we were playing 4-4-2 or 3-5-2; whatever?

Even after we lost the lead, I was not upset as I just knew we would win... and that's not me! Then came the second half with the defencive techniques entering the game and my worries returned.

Why have we not seen Mirallas making more amazing runs like he started at the beginning of the game? Tom Davis is like an indefatigable bouncing ball that suddenly appears all over the pitch. Jags omade it easy for the two other young defenders; but surely that's what you expect of an older, rather seasoned pro, coaching them as the game progressed. They have a lot to learn but they will! Remember your first day at work?

Plaudits for the other players have already been offered by contributors on ToffeeWeb and I am not going to duplicate what has already been said. All I hope is that this frenetic first half was not a one-off and we can expect to see it growing for the rest of the season and then taking off like a rocket next season.

The report is heavy on Lukaku's uncertain future.
Reference to the last prolific striker, Lineker, leaving after one season.

Conveniently omitted the fact that Lineker was denied European football with us because of the Heysel ban due to the marauding RS fans.

Shove the license fee where the sun doesn't shine – an old boys' network of gobshites.

Does anyone know if Browning can slot into LB? How is Garbutt doing? I haven't heard much since their injuries.

Same again v Burnley!

I agree with Trippier as I wanted Everton to get him 3 seasons ago and to take a crack at Mee (Left back and now, left center-half). Trippier was regarded as the best left back outside the EPL when he went to Tottenham. Walker upped his game beyond belief to keep him on the bench. When he does play he does very well however.

A bit more game management is required and that needs a director on the pitch. A good old fashioned captain in the mould of Peter Reid or Kevin Ratcliffe (Phil and Gareth are too quiet) to steady the ship when the youngsters go a bit too gung-ho.

I'm not being over critical as it was an admirable display over the 90 minutes but, having time to reflect on the performance, I wondered how we would approach the same scenario if it were at home to Chelsea. I would like to think the same attitude would be adopted with a little more nous to cut out the defensive errors.

Barkley, Baines, Schneiderlin and Mirallas were all cut out of the game for their break away equaliser. We have the fourth best total against the top six in the table even with two defeats to the RS. Better than Man Utd, Arsenal and Man City, so it is not unthinkable that, with better concentration and the same self-belief, Chelsea could leave Goodison with sweet FA in a couple of weeks time.

Looking at the fixtures, I for one still believe this could be a great season not just a huge improvement.

Gladly, my fears were totally unwarranted, and I witnessed a thoroughly entertaining game, which could have easily been 7 or 8 goals for us.

I was also quite impressed by young Pennington, playing at Centre Back, which I believe is his normal role, he was positively dodgy at RB the last couple of games.

The only one who let us down again, was El Teflon which underlines the necessity of having a new keeper, and a striker, as priority on our transfer shopping list!

I actually thought he had turned the corner, having pulled off a few good performances, but he seems to have dropped back, to committing costly mistakes. If memory serves, Stek was doing great before his injury, and that was Joel's chance to step in. Maybe he thinks his place is guaranteed, which is wrong, and Stek should have played, but that's hindsight for you.

Still it's reassuring to know, that we can cope better with injuries and suspensions, these days with able deputies in the squad.

Tom Davies was again, showing what a good player, at such a young age, he is, and surely will get even better.

I'd love for us to have kept Stones and had a footballing CB partnership of Stones and Holgate. I remember Liverpool from the days of Phil Thompson, Mark Lawrence and Alan Hansen, they showed that you don't need a Robert Huth for a good defence.

Early on, Pennington was all over the show. It was his weak play which gifted Drinkwater's free kick. Baines committed himself miles forward then Davies completely failed to react allowing Slimani literally acres of space to score.

Joel was in a poor position and got done by Drinkwater's very astute free kick. Joel got nutmegged. Why do current day 'Keepers persist trying to stop attackers with this starfish routine? Big Nev would have saved that. Superb save from Joel later, but Jags subsequent clearance was every bit as brilliant as Barkley's cross.

People criticising Idrissa's passing. Can't fathom that at all. Plus, this man robs the opposition more often than Dick Turpin could.

Still delighted though. Had some trepidation on the way in with the foxes on a run of form.

I am also an 'oldie' now in Canada and still missing my regular Everton fixtures over the 30 plus years I lived in the UK (both home and away) before emigrating in 1980, like you I won't rehash what other posters, most of who show an amazing measure of knowledge, mainly relating to Everton as well as football in general,

As for yesterday's result suffice to say I was made up especially as two of my favourite players, Jags and Kevin Mirallas along with the rest of the boys made my day. hoping for a similar outcome on Saturday, COYB.

I think Koeman can man manage well and no player is safe to start unless they impress. Such a good change.