Bournemouth vs Everton

Would be great to see players leave the field with smiles on their faces and enjoying this season. Can have a big impact as these players become a team again rather than 11 individuals hiding within their own nightmares.

I am really excited about Bernard and wonder if we may see him off the bench.

Hopefully we can take the risk after our third!

Davies doesn't pack a punch and seems vacant

Our manager is still settling into the job and the players learning more every week of how he wants to play.

I'll take a draw here.

Bournemouth have always caused us problems and I think they look a very good side in the 2 games so far this season.

It would indeed be great to see Bernard enjoying a run out.

Hoping for a motivating away win of course but we are still finding our feet this term so fingers crossed, and let's get Richarlison on the slate again.

No matter what the result, I don't expect to have my weekend ruined by an expensive idiot whose attacking strategy was set-pieces.

My worry is Keane vs Wilson which will mean we will have to score 3 to get this over the line.

Great admirer of Eddie Howe and the Bournemouth story and I am now hoping to be admiring Marco Silva and the Everton resurgent story!

I think many teams are going to get caught out by our pace up front and I expect us to narrowly win maybe 2-1.

He has been better this season and is a good choice against more physical forwards or teams where we expect to sit a bit deeper but I hope Zouma replaces him this weekend.

I just hope we score more than them and Tosun gets off the mark.

To me, that suggests Usmanov may actually be looking seriously at us.

Since then, thankfully, we have spent around £87m on three forwards who have given the manager realistic attacking options. The main question mark about the current team concerns their ability to defend, especially at set pieces.

Regardless of whatever Peacoat Blue looks like, I remember the first, and probably only time, we wore that khaki green third kit also down on the south coast, at Southampton, and came away with a resounding 3-0 win. Let's hope this new kit brings a similar result tomorrow.

That is assuming of course he starts with the predicted team, also in midfield, if he sticks with Davies as a partner to Gana, will he have the game to link the forwards, and assist Gana in breaking up play from Bournemouth?

I do like Davies but feel he needs to be more assertive, thankfully with a fully fit squad, there will be no half hearted displays.

This won't be an easy game because they have had a winning start to the season and will be buoyed at home, in front of their faithful. Also as we have found to our detriment, that they keep going until the final whistle.

It is winnable with the correct team selection, so let's just hope we can pull it off.

Given the huge difference in budgets we should be looking to win against smaller clubs. Defend well and we should win

How brave is Silva? He will know instinctively that this is possibly our biggest problem defensively, but will he wait for disaster to happen first, or will he make the change that deep down, he knows he has to?

Gueye, Davies and Sigurdsson press and harry the opposition well. Coleman and Baines are excellent along the flanks. Holgate is coming along well, Keane needs the confidence of a few clean sheets. Pickford got away with a blooper last week (everybody is talking of his wonder save instead), but he is solid.

Overall, the team is looking in much better shape now with Mina, Digne, Zouma, Gomes, Bernard, Lookman, Dowell, Baningime yet to show us what they can do. The only area of concern for me is the goalkeeping situation. If Pickford were to get injured (God forbid), then I think Stekelenburg is a very worrisome backup.

Zouma would be a better, quicker option, but I doubt he'll play. It would be interesting to see a back three though:

Pickford
Holgate Keane Zouma
Coleman Gana Sigurdsson Baines
Walcott Tosun Richarlison

But if Davies plays instead of Zouma in the 4-2-3-1 system, I think we'll have too much for them anyway.

Regarding shades of blue, in the 70's I was in my local hostelry when the barmaid shouted does anyone own a blue Rover 2000 when this bloke who obviously owned it shouted back "is it Zercon blue".

I would imagine peacock blue to be similar to the shade your member would go after a dodgy sexual liaison.

Obviously not seen before in genteel Bournemouth.

Message to kit designers, we play in Royal Blue ffs – not any other poncy shade. Who do you think you are, Dulux or Lawrence Llewelyn Bowen??? Rant over.

There is little doubt we have the tools offensively to beat Bournemouth; however, keeping clean sheets this season, or at least until the team get used to zonal marking and/or Zouma and Mina have the influence that Van Dijk had on the RS (if you remember pre signing him they looked like they'd ship a goal everytime they were attacked).

Difficult game tomorrow with a well-drilled side with a few players, if they played for the Sky darlings, would be all over the tabloids.

One last thought, how about Beni in for Schneiderlin?

As for the fixture as a whole, going to Bournemouth and winning, especially given that they've won their first two, would be an excellent signal. However, I'm a little worried we're getting carried away just because the mood and intent of the team is so much better than it was under Allardyce. All we've got so far is mood, we need to turn it into real results. This fixture is quite an early indicator of what to expect this season. I'm not saying defeat would be a disaster, but it would be a huge check on our expectations. As others have mentioned, a win would be a signal that a genuine crack at the top six is on the cards.

Other comments on our CEO and t'other Mr Harriss seem to show we are moving forward with enthusiasm and quality…

Interesting times… the January window could be interesting if Silva gets us rocking.

I really want a win this weekend – we should have too much for them and although they've won both their games I don't think they've played as well as we have. West Ham were woeful and their other win came against Cardiff – likely the weakest team in the Premier League

They have a young lad from Sheff Utd called Brooks who they are raving about – he looks about 15 years old but can certainly pick a pass. He needs to be closed down in midfield.

Lawro on the BBC has them down to beat us!

Everton currently sit one place below us in 7th position after drawing their opener 2-2 with newly-promoted Wolves and beating nearby Southampton 2-1 last weekend. Record signing Richarlison already has three goals to his name and looks like the exciting prospect he did this time last season at Watford. The team have looked very strong going forward but there are vulnerabilities at the back – similar to us. It will be a very interesting match to watch due to the similarities of both teams and I wouldn’t be surprised if there are a few goals for both sides

AFCB Player to Watch:
There were some standout players from last game and Cardiff. Callum Wilson, David Brooks, Adam Smith and Steve Cook have shone. I’ll have to go with Steve Cook. He’s a rock in defence who is extremely brave and very talented. He created Callum’s excellent solo goal at the London Stadium and scored the winner for us, and was personally my man of the match that game. He’s a determined player and a future captain, and will surely be able to cope with the attacking capability of Everton with Nathan Ake by his side.

Everton Player to Watch:
It has to be Richarlison. Having been Man of the Match in his previous two games (Wolves (A) and Southampton (H)) along with three goals already this season, the £50 million signing scored his first goal for previous club Watford against us, so it’ll be interesting how he gets on this weekend.

I wouldn't mind us defending a bit deeper, Keane was exposed a lot with that high line last week.

Good chance to see if Silva varies the tactics away from home.

Coyb.

Fraser and Wilson will give us big problems especially against Keane.

Thankfully Silva has had another full interrupted week to work with them. Thankfully no distractions from the crap Europa League.

Hopefully another chance to see more improvement but another draw I'm afraid.

Does Eddie zonal mark from set-pieces?

No Everton team should ever be happy with a draw against Bournemouth.

We need to win this one. It will be difficult as Bournemouth are a good side.

Three points. We need them.

Aside from that, we need to win games, and win them now – it's all too easy to drop behind the pace early on and never make up that ground. If we have any aspirations to finish in the top 6, we have to believe we'll win every week.

This kind of conversation is exactly why I re-worked my ‘What’s a good result?’ article! Bournemouth away is on the borderline of being a ‘win’ or a ‘draw’ game, depending on whether you think Bournemouth will finish in the bottom 6, or if you think they’ll do better.

Before the season I’d have said this is a ‘win’ game, but they’ve won two, Wilson looks dangerous and we’re not fully up and running yet. Therefore I’ll be very pleased with a win and see it as the biggest sign yet that things are going well.

The fact that it's away probably makes it more difficult, but we should be going there feeling confident of winning. Before the Wolves game, all I seemed to read / hear was we were going to get beat. Well we never and, in my opinion, we should have won, even with ten men.

As Mike Allison says, this is the type of game we should all be looking to win if we seriously want to challenge the top six (I hate saying that), so less of the negativity and let's go down there tomorrow and win.

It's a bloody long coach journey to go with a negative attitude, so I'm going for a 3-1 win for the mighty blues.

And Mike @41 -

This game is exactly the premise, in my opinion I echo your thoughts, of your article / submission.

This game, if we have any aspirations at all, must be a three-pointer.

Ask yourself, would Man City, Man Utd, Spurs, Chelsea, Liverpool, etc, think if they lost at Bournemouth that it's three points dropped?

Of course they would!!!

As should we!

If, after 3 games, playing Wolves, Southampton, and Bournemouth, we have 7 points, we have real cause for optimism. If we have 5, it's a bit meh. If we have 4, questions will be raised and our ambition/confidence will be sapped.

Our strike force should guarantee victory, they are quite weak defensively, and the pace of Richarlison and Walcott should cause damage. I'd like to see Lookman on the bench in place of Niasse. Richarlison will probably be on the receiving end of 'extra attention', so may find difficulty to last the 90 minutes.

Davies can hopefully grow from a promising performance last week also.

I expect Keane to keep his place still, but would prefer to see Zouma.

I'd prefer: Pickford, Baines, Coleman, Holgate, Zouma, Davies, Gana, Sigurdsson, Walcott, Richarlison, Tosun. Subs: Stekelenburg, Keane, Digne, Baningime, Bernard, Calvert-Lewin, Lookman.

I expect: Pickford, Baines, Coleman, Holgate, Keane, Davies, Gana, Sigurdsson, Walcott, Richarlison, Tosun. Subs: Stekelenburg, Zouma, Digne, Baningime, Dowell, Calvert-Lewin, Niasse.

We seem to be awash with tactical geniuses on ToffeeWeb and, no doubt, they will be well able to apportion the blame when any is due.

I can see that Keene is 'the unloved one' early season with Davies a close second. Schneiderlin seems to be off the 'shit list' for now but that's probably because he's injured!

An absorbing site, particularly if you don't mind being talked down to by fellow posters.

Think you just did that yourself with your own post, mate – lol!

My first memory of being there on my first day was being told to stay inside my house by armed police as a junkie was walking down Boscombe High Street with a sawn-off shotgun.

Also, with the new-found wealth Bournemouth have, I'm half-tempted to ask for the 5 quid back I gave them when they used to do a collection down at the Main Square when they were about to go under.

If we met in a pub or a networking event set up by TW (Hint there) - we would be a lot more polite and supportive and less trying to put each other down when it is tongue and cheek and done with great humour and consideration funnies are lovely, when it is done with pernickety condescending criticism - it is not. … simples really … :-)

(Am I being a hypocrite by pointing this out …. off for some contemplation and self analysis :-)

Derek, his name is Keane, not Keene.

How many tickets did we get? Seems a lot of people asking around.

The sooner the new players come in, the better. Keane and Baines will be targeted.

And on the CB subject, I wonder how many of the folks here calling for Zouma have actually seen him play much. All I recall is that he was a statue on Tosun's first goal at Stoke back in March, and I have zero memory of how he played at Goodison when we beat them last August. Anybody want to give me a scouting report on why he should replace Keane, who has actually played pretty well so far?

Diagonal balls or even just straight balls down the side, always seem to put him in trouble, and it's not just a lack of pace, it also seems to be a lack of awareness, even if it's easy watching from the side.

He's okay when the game is in front of him, made a great block to stop a certain goal last week, but he seems to find it hard with movement, and It doesn't even have to be that good of a good pass, to put Keane under pressure.

I hope I'm proved wrong, but I just don't think he can play in a defensively high line, and I wouldn't be surprised if Baines, was told to reign in his attacking play during the second half last week, because of Keane's shortcomings. Although it might have just been because Schneiderlin was not there to constantly give him the ball?

That being said, I think people are getting a little carried away with the significance of this match, suggesting that a loss would end any top-six ambitions we might have. Not sure how you can say that when we aren't even close to playing our optimal starting XI at the moment.

So I'm really looking forward to this game, and I'm a cautious optimist as to the result!

But I've posted this query several times since the first reports that we were in pursuit of Zouma, and I've yet to have anyone provide an informed assessment of the player, aside from the fact that he's big enough to head the Liver Bird off the top of the building.

Stoke gave up the joint-most goals in the Prem last season with the top-class Butland in goal, and it couldn't have been all Shawcross' fault, so why again are we so excited about Zouma? Anybody?

Have a look at the Stoke stats when Zouma played, against when he didn't.

John G, he played almost every game for them last year. 34 of 38 in the league. Unless they gave up a bunch of those 68 goals in the four games he missed, my question stands.

I was advocating getting him all summer with Loftus-Cheek and Batshuayi – so I am pleased. I can't believe Arsenal didn't go in for him. Assuming he's over the knee injury, I think he could be a top premier league defender.

A loan deal gives us an option to try before we buy. Yes, we don't have a price in the agreement – but I struggle to see him go back to Chelsea... it's 2.5 years since he last played for them.

When problems run deep, you have got to clear the decks, so I'm glad with most of the work that Brands and Silva, have done in such a short space of time.

Silva it seems has certain standards, I love the way he talks about "obligation" but this can also pose problems for a manager, who wants to have a tight nit-group, because as you say, just because Keane hasn't done to badly in the games so far, it doesn't mean he's good enough.

I'm looking forward to seeing you this winter Mike, I promised you a present, I haven't forgot, but I know what your biggest present would be this December, and I'd love Michael Keane, to score the winner for you!

It's never personal with Everton players, I just want them to be the best that they can be. No pointing blaming anyone on a football pitch, because either way, it never changes the result.

Tony, love the way you think -- although I'm gonna put my money on Mina to head in that gamewinning free kick at Mordor!

Interesting comment from Adam, especially considering he pretty much handed us the game at Stoke with that idiotic red card.

I look forward to meeting you and Dave too!

Just how could that have happened? Our previous managers were a long way from being novices in that role for their judgement to have been so impaired!

I think if Usmanov did come on board, the money for the new ground would still be borrowed at low interest from somewhere. That is the way these big business guys work. They very rarely use their own money.

Link

Funny it didn't have legs.

I think Martinez might have been too prone to gush about positives to address the negatives about players that the fans saw more clearly.

Koeman was not really as bad tactically as he seemed by the end, but if you are so wary of direct contact with the players that you have your brother be the middle-man, then it can not end well! And it didn't...

13/8 Bournemouth 13/5 the draw 7/4 Everton.

They are struggling to pick a winner which normally would mean offering a poor price for a drawn game.

Hoping we win of course, but 13/5 for a draw is a cracking price.

The team that started against Stoke, on the opening day last season, only had Lukaku, signed by Martinez, so It can't be underestimated how quickly, Brands and Silva, have got to work, in preventing Everton, becoming another Stoke, with Schneiderlin's newly found attitude hopefully being the best sign of things to come?

Professional gamblers wouldn't touch this game with a bargepole, mate.

Not sure about Momentum lefties putting pressure on Joe Anderson. The whole idea of using council taxpayers' money to fund a scheme for a private company never was sustainable, either politically or economically, it was always 'pie in the sky'.

We will need someone like Usmanov on board to fund Bramley-Moore as our new home.

We went into the betting shop where Boundary Street meets Scottie Road before we played Wimbledon in THAT game. The Board said Everton to go down 4/5. My mate went mad.

The Kopites (dirty bastards) were piling on. He demanded to know what odds we were to stay up... That was 4/5 as well, the bastards give nothing away.

He shouted at us "Get your fucking money out... we'll have these fuckers over!1" We scraped £114.50p between seven of us... that was all our money. He put the lot on.

The ones that were trying to convert us all into gamblers??

If you don't think we will get beat its a minimum £75 profit Tony

Not many bet on the draw, their probably trying to get some money on it. Just seems like a big price.

We know Everton are a work in progress and until we see the newer members are integrated into the actual scheme of things we may not see just how much they have progressed since last season if any.

Certainly there are some promising signs but we cannot get carried away just yet.

Hopefully tomorrow's game will be another stepping stone in the right direction at least.

Darren, Here's a sad footy punting story. 1986, we played Wednesday in the semi, they played Southampton and West Tip was nailed on to win the Grand National. We left for Villa Park too early for a bookies, so we thought we'd get the treble on when we got near Villa Park. The car's fan belt broke on the M6, which stuffed us for time, even though my mate fixed it with a pair of tights he bought in the service station.

We got to Villa Park just in time for kick off, we beat Wednesday in extra time, they beat Southampton and West Tip hosed up.

I'd backed West Tip ante post, but in the excitement of winning the semi, we forgot about the treble until we got back home to the Bug & Bite (Peter Mills will know!).

If was a great night in there, Blues coming back from Birmingham, Reds coming back from Highbury. We spent more than what we would have won, but I wished we'd done that treble!

There you go Raymond.
Good luck.

We were leaving for Portsmouth dead early, and I said I wasn’t even having a bevy. That never lasted long because someone put snatch on the telly. Funny film, start laughing, where’s the ale?

Gets near Pompey, I’m “lines of cotton” goes in this boozer, and there is about 15 of their lads in there, so I start winding them up. Had a laugh with them, and because our coach wasn’t full, I told them to get on it.

They were made up because it seemed like we were still about half an hour away from the ground. Loads of good stick, funny, we gets near Fratton Pk, and they are all grabbing me, come on scouse, we owe you a few drinks for this, you’re coming with us.

Had a laugh, but forgot about my bet which was a £10 double. Everton to win 2-1, and Southampton to win at Anfield by the same score. 9/1 Everton, 25/1Saints, ah well it’s only fuckin money, and if I would have seen that firm again, it was more than a few drinks they ended up costing me!

Anyway back to the game, I hope you enjoy it Rob amongst others, and I was only thinking today that I wished I was going tomorrow, and it’s a very long time since I thought that.

All three points tomorrow, anything less would be disappointing regardless of their winstreak. I sense a good game for the neutral.

Let's pop their cherries!

He’s strong as an ox, has a fantastic leap and is surprisingly quick for his size. He’s decent on the ball and will occasionally bring it out though not always convincingly. He can get caught ball watching but mostly his positioning is good. He reminds me a fair bit of Sylvain Distin. I think against mobile attackers he will do a better job of defending in a high line than Michael Keane.

Stoke were terrible last year. Form that has continued into the premiership. Zouma was amongst their best players and cannot be held responsible for their collective failings.

He's done well, in my opinion, in the first two games but has he even had a chance yet? Certainly hasn't looked capable of hitting big numbers this season. In fact, half the time he's not even attacking the dropping ball in the box. More likely to be doing the hard yards on the edge of the box.

This feels like the sort of game where we'll need to score more than once. We could really do with our striker being a goal threat.

Howe is no mug, and will have done his homework. Can our midfield stop the feeds to their forwards...?

Should be a cracker, and a game we can win, if we don't make basic mistakes.

I think we've all been on that bus Tony. I wonder how long big Rob will last today before he reaches for his first can of Nelson (if he hasn't already). My youngest better be sharing his out or he'll end up in the same state as you by the time he gets there

I'm envious of those going down there today. Koeman and Allardyce killed it for me, but I don't believe Silva will ever go into a game with the sole purpose of not getting beat. I really fancy getting back to a few away games this season.

Tickets may be hard to come by, Three years ago I was well in, Never failed to get a ticket no matter how scarce, but its surprising how quickly you fall down the pecking order when you stop going. Feels harsh, but its only fair. Those who stuck with the boys through the Koeman/Allardyce era are up there with those who travel from other countries for a game. They deserve to be first in line.

Full support 💙 will be needed.

Onward Evertonians and if anyone does feel the need to invade the pitch, please, no Lonsdales this time. We still haven't heard the end of it from the other crowd.

While I suspect Silva will stick with the predicted line up, it's always an option if our midfield are not performing as a unit.

COYB

Distin coming on talk shite shortly to talk to Georgie Bingham

I’m a bit to tired for the long treck to Bournemouth, these school holidays, have done me in, but it’s just nice to have the feeling, that I want to re-join the fastest moving light infantry in the country once again!

It’s a joy to travel away with Everton, but Koeman and Allardyce also wrecked it for me, so I don’t mind having to get to the back of the queue, behind some of the most loyal supporters in the land. ONWARD EVERTONIANS!

1-3 if Keane if playing.

Good luck to all of the Blue's travelling, best fans in the league for me the away support. Never miss a game regardless of how we are playing, easy to follow a successful side away from home, not so easy to follow a side playing dour football as we have over the years.
A credit to the club.
My away days are down to a few handpicked games a season now, but time served.
Starting off as a kid getting the bus to the Lancs, hitching a lift to Haydock Island before the 62 was built, then on from there. Used to hitch the London games on a Friday night, progressing through bunking the special, then onto a bit of comfort.
Great days sorely missed.

Win, and we can go on a great run that would give top 6 ambitions a real shot in the arm. Lose and we can see that Silva will need time to turn the ship around.

A real interesting game. Do you change a winning team, or do you strengthen the defence before Keane/Holgate wobble against dangerous opposition, or do you even change to an untried 3 at the back?

I expect same team as last week plus Tom Davies, but I would be happier seeing Zouma come in for Schneiderlein. To win this game we need to keep a clean sheet/limit them - and Keane/Holgate Vs Wilson/King looks like a goal fest to me.

Good luck blues.

You can't have it both ways. If you want to challenge the status quo, you don't get to pick & choose who challenges it, you need everyone to challenge it.

We (Evertonians) complain mercilessly on here about the 'Sky darlings' yet you're now saying that those other clubs should be considered 'under' us. Isn't that a bit hypocritical?

We signed lots of apparently 'top' players in the summer so they are trying to rebuild. We're a mid-table side and have been for over 20 years. We're not a top club just because we won a few trophies in the '60s & '80s.

The question then arises if the council can borrow to fund Bramley-Moore Dock, why not spend the money on housing or fund other hard-hit services?

Also, over time, councils change political colour.

Our record at Bournemouth isn't great – I don't think we have won a Premier League game at their ground. It would be nice to change that stat today. To me, Bournemouth are a bit like Everton were under Martinez: likely to score but also likely to concede. So I don't think whatever happens we will see a 0-0 game today.

I wonder if Silva will play Davies in Schneiderlin's position, till Gomes is fit; we don't seem to have a lot of options. What we do know is that Everton will try and play on the front foot which is a change from the way we have approached away games in the last 2 seasons. Hopefully the change of style will help us stay undefeated.

The reason the council want to borrow the money from a government fund is they will make £7 million a year profit from Everton. Money that can be spent doing exactly what you are asking them to do.

But if they borrow the money how do they pay it back, the government has a cap on council rates, so its either do a Hatton and produce an illegal budget or go bankrupt as a City. Then the government would take over the running of the city, now wouldn't that be fun.

But after 1970 when Everton lost Ball, Kendall, Harvey, Labone, Ray Wilson, Gordon West, John Hurst and Tommy Wright it took 14 years for Everton to recover when Kendall as manager won Everton's first trophy.

My hero with the beard was quoted at 200-1 to be that guy and I was outraged. I remember ranting to my mate that if I had a few spare £s, I would put a tenner on him just out of annoyance.

£2k back then was equal to my annual salary – what a prize fool!!!

I keep agreeing with you, and you keep saying you disagree with me!

My point isn't about Everton 'pushing on', it's about your original point that Everton should be somehow better than Bournemouth etc by right. I agree we haven't got better in the last few years.

This feels like a circular conversation... :-)

We gave away a lot of chances last week against an ordinary side and I think we 'll concede a couple today. Not confident at all and I've got a bad feeling about this one.

We've got to address this shocking away form if we are to harbour any lofty ambitions.... I really, really hope I'm wrong... But!

The money we would pay the council would essentially be for it, the council, taking the risk. Which I think would be around £7 million over 25 years.

I have no idea of local authority law but to me this seems a move that should appeal to Tories (imaginative use of money market), Lib Dems (local decision making) and Labour (more money for public services).

And even Momentum must surely have a problem blocking a move to help redirect money from a multi-million pound club into local services for those in need.

But I am sure someone must see a problem.

The only one I can see is someone offers us better terms. Would have to be significantly better for the club to abandon the potential social impact in Council deal.

I'm not sure of the wisdom of letting Bolasie go on loan though. I think we will have to score a few times today if we are to win, because I don't see us nilling them!

Everton:
Cup 84 and 95
League 85 and 87
European Trophy 85

Spurs:
Cup 91
League - err 1961.
European Trophy - err 1963
League Cup - 99 and 08

They are a big six club and Sky Darlings. If they are for their trophy history, then we are even more. So a top club is all about not winning anything but having lots of money. Sad times.

Although Sky focus on the 'top-6', it's likely quite transitory, a short-term reflection of current big money. When the location of the big money changes, the focus of Sky will change.

Our successes were founded on big money (John Moores') some time ago, and they were big successes that have set our expectations in concrete. For us, averaging a league position of 8th (which we've done over the last few decades) is totally unsatisfactory. We want, and expect, to be top dogs. In this sense, although we're not one of the 'top-6' presently, historically we are a top club, and fully expect to be 'elite' again quite soon.

That is what makes us insane!