Silva looks ahead to Watford clash

Put frankly, another performance like Wednesday night and we can forget winning it because you just don't get away with lacklustre performances in this league unless you are Man City or Liverpool who are ahead of the rest.

No tinkering should be done and Richarlison should be back up front with Bernard on the left.

Regardless of what we think Richarlison is or isn't, he is at present the only forward player that I back with any confidence to take a chance in front of goal.

Selecting Tosun or Calvert-Lewin just restricts quality from the forward line as we seen in September, neither are good enough to start matches.

We must beat Watford otherwise, with Man City and Spurs next, we will come to Boxing Day and December 29th facing two must-win matches at Burnley and Brighton to keep our place in the top 7/8.

Le'st just not have our usual mid-season collapse and fall so far behind the rest.

Bringing Tosun in proved a change too far as he didn't have the pace or trickery to test the Newcastle defence. Bernard might have given them more to think about and should have retained his place.

Why does Silva think rotation means the need for multiple changes when one or two would be okay without disrupting the squad rhythm built up over the previous run of matches?

I hope he doesn't screw up against Watford or we could be staring at a bleak Christmas after all the previous good work.

What to do at Center-Back is the only real question I imagine - though I think Zouma and Mina will be our best pairing going forward I think we should go back to Keane and Mina.

As January approaches, I hope we have deals for Zouma and Gomes lined up already – as well as a possible striker from left-field.

Mina or Zouma? Tough call but on the evidence of my eyes so far I'd say Zouma shades it for me, particularly with his Premier League experience. Mina needs a little more work, and more time to settle but remains an excellent prospect.

Up front – it's all been said. We know the need up there and the midfield is sorting itself out nicely. I can see maybe a rather ugly win on Monday, but a win nevertheless.

Important this one.

We can't painstakingly stick with the same XI as they will get tired at some point. Liverpool showed how to do it, they made 7 changes, went away to Burnley and won.

I do feel that our attack has been built on pace and trickery, Tosun has neither. Calvert-Lewin would have been a better choice as he would have opened up the defence more for Richarlison and Lookman.

Hopefully Silva will learn from this.

Taking Kevin's point, Calvert-Lewin is probably best equipped to play alongside Richarlison, certainly in the way Silva sets us up, but I worry that he is simply not clinical enough. Watford will be a big threat, we must start on the front foot, and the crowd have a part to play in lifting the players for what will be a physical game.

I'm in the camp who would like to see Bernard moved inside to No 10 and Siggy slightly wide again; little Bernard could do damage amongst Watford's rather bovine central midfield.

Case in point: Digne has an off-day and no-one of note to replace him. Same at right-back, despite the emotional "he's one of us" brigade re Seamus.

No sentiment at the very top. Let's hope Marcel has been briefed big time.

Yes, Niasse does give us something to talk about... We will continue to talk about us in the Championship if the likes of his level are not long gone asap.

If you look at the derby starters as our first XI then the replacement represent a pretty big drop-off in quality. Tosun is a long way behind Richarlison. Davies is not a patch on Gomes, Dowell is probably the closest replacement to Sigurdsson but a long way off. Lookman sadly struggled to reach even Walcott's relatively mediocre level of threat. Calvert-Lewin cannot do the things that Bernard does when playing well.

Our first team is strong, not perfect in any way, but good enough I think to get top 6 or 7. But the depth, especially in attacking areas is not there. We really need more goals in the squad though they are hard to find of course. Hopefully the likes of Davies, Calvert-Lewin, Dowell and especially Lookman may improve and all of them would benefit from a run of starts but it maybe that we are not the best team to afford them that opportunity.

I'd be tempted to give Lookman another start, replacing Walcott in the XI who started the derby game. I think Watford will come to play a bit more than Newcastle did and will carry more threat though hopefully be a bit more open. Back to winning ways at Goodison please.

However, with all their possession and attacking prowess, City only managed to maintain a one-goal lead for a good portion of the game, mainly down to good goalkeeping and the woodwork preventing a higher tally.

They did score another later in the second half, but Watford never gave up and managed to grab a goal of their own at the start of injury time. This in turn saw a very determined Watford play out the remaining period, determined to get another goal and equaliser, and almost succeeded.

The point I am trying to make is that they should not be taken for granted, and will be better prepared than Newcastle, and still have some dangerous players.

I can also share our collective concerns for a lightweight frontline if Tosun or Calvert-Lewin plays, we must address this problem come January, as we can't rely on Richarlison and Sigurdsson being pretty much our only source of goals.

The problem wouldn't be so bad if we had regular scorers from other areas of the field but, like I mentioned before, if Richarlison or Siggy don't score, there is little likelihood of a goal.

Silva seen enough of him and probably sees him in training and has arrived at the same conclusion that Koeman did.

The comedy of seeing him fall over and the ball bounce in off his arse has worn off now; he's a terrible footballer, can't trap a bag of cement and wouldn't get near another top 10 side. Even his attitude stunk in the games he did play in this season, especially Rotherham.

We need Brands at his best in January.

The good thing is that both Marco and Brands have already proved that they can spot a player, and I am sure they have had long conversations between each other over the forward replacements they need. But buying players in general in January is difficult enough, to buy a top striker is almost impossible. So I am quite prepared to wait till the summer when again I think we will see many leaving the club.

My choice for a main striker, if he intends to play Richarlison wide next season, is either Wilson from Bournemouth or Rashford from Man Utd. I would also love Zaha but I think Spurs would be favourite to sign him. But I genuinely believe, if we can sign Gomes and get 1 or 2 forwards, then we will be challenging at least top 6 next season.

So it would be back to our regular XI with rotations on Gueye and Digne. Then the next game Sigurdsson and Coleman. And so on.

Make 7 changes and win away from home? If only we had that kind of depth.

It is understood that Steinsson will work closely with Brands and will manage a team of 7 European scouts; these will be working in Portugal and Spain, as well as scouts in Italy and France and South America.

I have heard criticism before in the direction of Gana, unfairly in my estimation, and I think he is very much an unsung hero, whose work-rate is phenomenal (not paraphrasing, Bobby Brown Shoes btw). Okay, he may have been a bit below his usual game against the RS and the Barcodes, but he wasn't the only one in the latter example.

He has complimented Gomes wonderfully (and I don't mean about his looks, lol). I remember well too, that when Schneiderlin was a regular, it was always Gana who did the hard work, and Schneiderlin got the plaudits, until people started noticing otherwise.

Admittedly we do have problem areas in the team and squad but, if fit, Gomes and Gana are shoo-ins, and pretty much also Digne.

He is probably League Two standard, though I may be overrating his ability with that ranking. Silva's no fool, he'll be looking to get rid if he can!

Tosun was a poor buy by you know who; Championship standard at best. Won't be missed when he is let go.

Niasse was there last season at a time when Everton Football Club capsized in front of our eyes, we had just sold Lukaku and we needed something and Oumar was there like a Denis Stracqualursi figure.

Reality is he just isn't good enough, never has been and never will be for a club with serious aspirations.

Tosun was a mistake but we never seem to learn in buying these strikers from weaker leagues for big money and it's always with that warning on the tag even Allardyce said as much when first signing Tosun.

We have done it too many times over the years, Niasse, Tosun, Bakayoko, right down to even cheaper signings like Madar.

The best striker signing straight from overseas for me was Tomasz Radzinski but we have had no joy since and the key is to buy from the Premier League when they have a proven record, Saha, Lukaku, Yakubu, Johnson, Kev Campbell etc.

I don't want to see us go out and spend 㿊 million on someone from the Hungarian league (example) and hear how many goals he's scored in the Europa League and see YouTube videos making him look better than Messi.

It's a totally different kettle of fish to doing it in the Premier League.

I know Tosun's opportunities have been limited, but it is clear to see why: he wants too much time on the ball when, and if he receives it; also, his general control when receiving a ball with pace is very poor indeed.

In all fairness to Marco Silva, both were inherited from previous incumbents, and unfortunately in Tosun's case, for a large fee (which will never be recouped) and on massive wages. Which of course, makes it even harder to move him on without major losses.

I don't envy Marcel Brands, who has done a miraculous job thus far, in not only shifting a lot of deadwood out (many only temporarily though) but in his recruitment via the last window.

Like many have alluded to, January has never been a window for bargains, but if he can just pull another piece of magic off for the striking situation, we can survive till summer.

Don't forget, Silva signed and played him and got a tune out of him at Hull, so it's not as though he is basing his decision about not playing Niasse on his time at Everton alone.

Everton needs goals. Niasse is someone on our books who has a good goals-to-minutes-played ratio, but is not getting anywhere near the matchday squad.

There is a reason for that and one that is not going to change anytime soon whilst Marco Silva is Everton manager.

I don't think I can ever remember Madar for anything other than that open goal sitter in front of the Kop to make it 2-0 and in Typical Everton fashion they equalised from the resulting goal kick, lol.

Whoever coined the expression 'seventhish', he would have it right with our present squad who repeatedly flatter to deceive. I'm enjoying the more imaginative football but we had all that with Martinez and we had a hot striker in those days – is there any chance we could get him back?

Historically look at the likes of Suarez, Torres, Zola, Henry, Bergkamp, Ronaldo, Van Nistelrooy.

Steve Walsh had a preference like you for ‘proven' Premier League players that lead to us signing Bolasie, Schneiderlin and Williams among others.

There are some good players in our league and I'm not adverse to looking at the likes of Callum Wilson but they come at a premium cost and little guarantee. Players should be judged individually on what they can bring to the team and I trust Brands to fulfill that job with good judgement for the most part. He certainly won't be limiting his search to the Premier League – and with good cause.

Richarlison has played 1,110 minutes so far this season. During that time the team has scored 17 goals, 7 scored by him.

Tosun has played 588 minutes, during which the team has scored 15 goals, with 2 of them scored by him.

Calvert-Lewin has played 379 minutes, during which the team has scored 4 goals, 2 of which were scored by him. Admittedly 6 of the games Calvert-Lewin has played he only came on the for last few minutes, so not much opportunity to be part of a team that scores.

Richarlison has scored 3 when playing as a striker and 4 when on the wing.

Tosun and Calvert-Lewin have scored the same as Walcott (2) and more than Bernard (0).

So, given these figures and given we don't have a new striker (yet), and given we want to play Richarlison on the wing, then Tosun has to be the striker, even though he doesn't score many himself.

I don't think Tosun is good enough, Calvert-Lewin has potential, but not good enough right now either. But we don't have another option.

Lukaku might be a good goalscorer but him and the likes of Pogba are not a recipe for squad harmony.

Silva is just about restoring the team spirit we had with Moyes and is well aware of our lack of goals throughout the team.

I am sure he will address it sooner rather than later but, in the meantime, they need our full support and I don't mean the atmosphere against Newcastle.

If we want to lift the team we have to lift ourselves to be more supportive even when players make mistakes.

Goodison can be a bearpit but not only for the opposition.

Also, Coleman is not the full-back he used to be when he used to surge forward more often into the penalty area. Bernard should be pushed into midfield to provide better front service because he has more skill than Gueye.

Upfront is of major concern. Walcott has basically stopped playing, while Tosun cannot score freely like when he was in the Turkish league.

The transfer season is not far away and I hope Silva can plug those holes when it opens. Mainly for 2 players who can finish upfront. That leaves Walcott, Tuson or even Lookman needing to find other clubs.

I actually think that might be worth a try. Put Theo at striker, Richarlison out wide left, and Bernard out wide right. Lookman off the bench for the time being, as he didn't perform against Newcastle too well, and has been superb as a sub.

I think it's definitely worth a shot.

It's worth a try Andy, if only for the entertainment value alone.

Derek #18, I partly agree with Amit. I started posting in the first half on the Forum that Digne needed a game off. He has never played this many consecutively in his pro career, and he looked jaded to my eyes. Baines for me on Monday, then Digne back in. Agree with you on Gana, however.

Jamie and Andy, who knows; might be worth a try with Theo. He's certainly not getting it done on the wing right now.

For anyone (Steavey Buckley the most recent) to possibly consider selling Lookman must be deluded. He is one of the most talented and gifted players we have had for a generation. He is 21 years old with literally the world at his feet.

People are lauding over players such as Jadon Sancho etc and we have a player who in my opinion is better than the lot of them. He is quick, skilful and technically gifted with a clear eye for goal. He has until now had very limited opportunities with us and hopefully he will be offered far more.

When he has been offered game time, he has shown his potential and his skill and given regular starts I genuinely believe he will be one of the best Premier League players.

I know he has been criticised for his attitude but despite it gnarling me a little owing to my love of Everton, I actually believe that world class players need a degree of arrogance and spirit. Whilst sulking is not the answer, the desire to play football week in and week out shows me that he thinks he is deserving of this and he believes he is more than good enough.

Apologies for going off on one, but look at some of the greatest sportsman of all time and they all have an air of selfishness and arrogance about them. Yes, there's exceptions but take these as examples:

Best
Cantona
Ronaldo
Shane Warne
Ronnie O' Sullivan
Mohammed Ali
Becker
McEnroe

Players need that extra belief about them. Show your better than anyone else then go out and prove it. Give this lad starts for the next 10 games and I guarantee the opinion of some will change.

I think we have an absolute gem here and to even consider his sale is ludicrous.

Rant over.

Crazy to think, Mike, exactly 7 days days ago (BST) we were all in the Midland, such is the marvel of modern travel.

In Neil's words, rant over.

And Neil, speaking of which, forgive my ignorance but who is Ronnie O'Sullivan?

I honestly can't recall the last free kick we scored can anyone else?

One time, not all that long ago, we had the likes of Baines, Arteta who were knocking them in on a regular basis from 25 yards and even Mirallas scored a few but I'm wracking my brains to recall the last time we scored a free kick?

Ronnie O'Sullivan pots snooker balls from lampshades, basically he's the Lionel Messi of snooker lol.

Can't think of any more recent ones, Jim, but there must be some.

There aren't a lot of goals directly from free-kicks these days. It was all the rage in the 90s. I don't know if it is the lighter balls or that goalies wised up after watching 99 free kicks on the "100 Greatest Goals of the season" but they seem to be few and far between these days. Especially, the top corner variety. The ones going in these days tend to be around the wall, (as opposed to over it), or under the wall (when they jump).

Further to my comment at 43, I did some digging and the official Premier League website had an article on this topic pretty recently. Funnily enough, it was illustrated with a picture of Baines taking a free-kick.

Seemingly, teams are giving up less free-kicks in goal scoring positions. 600 direct free-kicks in 2005 versus a little over 300 last season. Willian of Chelsea had the 4th most free-kicks on target, not scored, but just on target, and his grand total of on target direct free-kicks was a meagre 4. Sanchez and De Bruyne were joint second with 5 on target, and Erickson was number one with 7 on target.

The percentage of direct free-kicks scored is less than 5 percent. Apparently, that number has held fairly steady but, with half as many free-kicks, the number scored has halved.

I know you do it without the aid of a computer or books as, having met you in person, I can attest that you are a font of knowledge for all things Everton.

I agree it's not something you expect to see every other week but we seemed to score at least one or two a season until recent years when it's just dried up altogether.

Anyone remember the unlikely free-kick expertise of Lee Carsley in 2004?

Gary Naysmith in a 3-1 win at home to Spurs in 2004 lol.

I've been a bit disappointed with Gylfi on the free-kicks so far given his record on them at Swansea, he's barely hit the target with one.

Was Mina's header on target, and come to Richarlson via a deflection, or did he not make proper contact, and it glanced across the area?

I ask because I can't believe we never put anyone on the near post, even when the pitch is soaking wet, and it really is frustrating, that we don't cover all angles, in such an important part of the game.

Go back to the Gary Stevens corner and I bet you we would still score loads of goals?

For all the time the players & coaches spend on training, surely they can come up with free-kicks & corners that ring the changes & keep the opposition defence guessing. If we were a little more creative with set-pieces, perhaps we would see a reward for all that possession.

It would also, IMO, take some pressure off us if we could pop a few goals in from set-pieces. But alas, I watch the same thing happen week-in & week-out on corners particularly. I am not asking that we score directly from a free-kick or corner, but we have enough skillful players with fast feet who could conjure something if perhaps the ball went into the box hard & low sometimes, rather than always the high ball. Just a thought.

When Big Joe took over in 1994, every time we got a corner it felt like a penalty, Hinchcliffe seemed to whip in those inswingers like they were fired from a cannon and all they needed was a deft flick usually from Dunc or Rideout.

I personally hate our corners now, those stupid outswingers and the way we just float them in slowly, like kicking a beach ball, you are then asking for the attackers to that corner to generate all the power with a header.

I suspect remembering stuff is a declining currency because people can access so much via the internet. Even for those of us who are fortunate enough to be able to attend every match, our memories are blurred by the repeated television footage of every goal from every angle. So increasingly what stays with us are the TV pictures rather than the view from our seat in the Stand. The introduction of VAR will reinforce that trend.

Big Dunc twice against Man Utd 1995 and 2005.

Dunc against Liverpool in 1994.

Matt Jackson set the ball rolling at Elland Road in the '95 Semi-Final, thanks to a Hinchcliffe beauty.

Can't understand why we have neglected them so much.

There can be no other explanation for us lumping it in time after time, occasionaly beating the first man, and usually plonking it straight on to the head of an opposing defender.

Our lack of imagination against Newcastle was disappointing.

And there's as Everton connection -- the cross that resulted in Sargent's goal was supplied by... Davy Klaassen.

Silva clearly does work on them. The routine that produced Mina's early header against the RS was lovely – Mina just missed it.

And I watched us repeatedly running patterns on corners against the Barcodes... but again, the execution just sucked.

Some of the top teams can struggle early in the game because the lesser club comes out fresh and fighting to stay in the game but when you have the offence of City or RS it's usually a matter of time before you take control.

Everton are as we all know still quite weak up front and without Richarlison or Gylfi on song, games will be hard to win.

It goes without saying that we all want some additions in January to improve the situation but no point going after another Tosun or Niasse type.
Better to wait until the Summer if the pickings are slim in January.

I wholly subscribe to the view that we, Everton, are appalling! While I'm very much encouraged by M&M in other areas of play, I just cannot get my head around why our hugely and obscenely paid players remain so fucking useless at this basic skill — a skill that should become second nature following enough hours practicing at Finch Farm.

Any response, Marco?

And Zouma and Keane should be first choice they were doing okay before the Chelsea game. We had no choice to start Mina cos of the loan deal but Zouma should've come straight back in.

Front three: Bernard, Richarlison and Walcott.

I would pick the same team that started the derby with the possible exception of Zouma. His pace saved us on at least one occasion against the Toon.

As far as a striker goes, someone made a shout for Balliotelli the other day, which I don't think got much of a response. He would take a bit of managing but I think Silva could bring out the best in him.

When he is on blob, he is the complete centre-forward, big, mobile and scores goals. I think he would thrive in this Everton team and I think he is only 28.

He is out of contract and Inter are sniffing but he is cheesed off with the fans. I would like to see us go in hard for him.

Keane and Mina were on the brink of a third consecutive clean sheet before the derby calamity – that's nothing to sneeze at, particularly when you're playing the likes of Chelsea and the RS on the road. They'd basically played over 270 minutes of scoreless football since being paired together.

I agree that dropping Zouma is harsh, but Mina has the highest ceiling, poses the greatest threat on the offensive end, is exactly the sort of big personality this club desperately needs, and isn't just here on-loan. We would be crazy not to play him.

At this point, various people will scream Pulis or another dour relegation escape artist. I hope we are not aspiring to replicate that nonsense.

Somewhere, I think it was Matt Cheetham, stats-man, said teams score on average >2% from set pieces.

Let's be honest, Everton look more dangerous from opponents set pieces than our own!

The point I guess is the football we are developing and aspire to doesn't involve lumping the ball into the box unless we are desperate. I'd rather we critique our passing from open play than our delivery from a corner.

We have the 2nd most corners after Man City. Are they banging them in left right and centre? Nah.

Is Virgil van Dijk turned into Degsy Mountfield overnight? No chance.

A better question is if our play is clearly good enough to win loads of corners, why aren't we converting the shots or passes better that yield those corners in open play?

I think we are looking in the wrong place for improvements.

A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.

Yup.

We need to stop the rot. Now losing at Mordor the way we did – freak occurrence – and managing a point against the Barcodes isn't exactly a certifiable rot. But still...

We need to field a top line-up and grab three points.

If you give up two home games with only 1-2 points and lose to Liverpool? That's a rot.

Stop it in it's tracks.

Given how poor our conversion rate is from the traditional cross, it is surprising we do not use a short corner more often. Generally we are poor at converting crosses, whether from set pieces or open play. Rarely do any of our forwards make a run to the near or far post. Most of the time they appear to be stationary. The exceptions were the two headed goals scored by Richarlison and Sigurdsson at the Park End earlier this season.

Good arguments can be made that Walcott, Tosun and Bernard have not been performing to the standard required. So there is an opportunity to try something a bit different, with three quality young players. Imagine the buzz if the three of them do turn on the style and produce the goods.

Richarlison on the left, Calvert-Lewin centre-forward and Lookman on the right.

We are simply not giving him enough service. There are many saying that he's better on the left, but he has everything needed to be a top striker. Everything except decent service. For all of our fantastic build-up play, we just don't create enough clear-cut chances. The final ball, cross, through ball is often just not good enough.

I believe Richarlison is the answer up front, but the service into him has to improve. There have been a few shouts for Walcott to start up front, but he is a very poor finisher and it never worked at Arsenal. All Walcott offers up front is acceleration, but Richarlison doesn't lack in that area and is a far more accomplished finisher and all-round player.

It's actually very hard to see what we're doing wrong. So much looks so good, yet our front 3 are not getting a lot of clear chances. It always looks close, and you think they're going to get in, but then the final pass or decision-making is poor.

I think Silva will keep faith with his front 3 in the belief/hope that this team will really click when given enough time, patience, and belief.

I'd stick with Bernard, Richie, Lookman for a few games. Although Lookman was a bit disappointing against Newcastle he still had better stats than Walcott's average at Goodison, read this: Link

The way we are playing, a lot of the buildup goes through the full-backs. And, while Coleman is decent when he is using his speed and overlapping etc, he is very limited in his passing.

Coleman has been serving us well. But his assets are speed, passion, commitment etc which are all useful. But Silva requires also technical ability and passing skills so I think he will upgrade us on the right back as one of his priorities.

I've noticed that when we play totally defensive teams, we don't see the best of Idrissa Gueye. He's a diamond but he's wasted, redundant against these teams.

What you say is perfectly sensible. But look at Man City: their corners (I believe) are mostly short and they try and immediately engineer open play were they are stronger and more likely to score.

Ultimately, corners and free-kicks are just a throw of the dice.

Corners are an element of football raging against the dying light. With the implementation of VAR, corners will change from their current iteration.

But really what I was trying to say is there is too much emphasis placed on set-pieces to be improved, and far less attention to open play.

It is mind-boggling that nobody ever seems to get a decent run on the ball and how rarely we work the near post.

We definitely need a half decent striker who can play on the front foot in the 6-yard box in particular – but we have enough height and power in our current centre-halves to have done more.

Watching the corners and crosses coming in on Wednesday was frustrating to the point where I found myself picturing Cahill back in there – it didn't help my sense of despair.

Set-pieces have their place even in elite footy – 15 goals and 6 or 7 points a season.

Changing How the World Thinks About Set Pieces

Bit of a shot to nothing here. Any chance that anyone is driving over from Newcastle and has space for two people?

Would be greatly appreciated

Obviously there are different strategies on set pieces. But since we cross it into the box every time I think it would be useful to practice it (which I off course think we do). I read we scored 1 of 93 corners. If that stat could read 3 or 4 goals from corners, that would mean a lot in terms of league position.

I get your point that there is also room for improvement in converting our nice open play to chances and ultimately goals. 76% possession and 3 shots at target is not very impressive against Newcastle. I was at Goodison Park against Cardiff and have not seen the stats but my impression was it was same pattern.

On the VAR, wouldn't that be an advantage for the attacking team? And hence an argument for even more focus on corners.

Interesting article, Thomas @80. That was actually what I referred to on another thread stating that Midtjylland won the Danish League from being best at throw-ins!!!?

That's a fascinating and revealing article: Link.

Thanks for sharing. I've bookmarked the site for future reference.

Did a quick scroll through the site to find Everton-related articles and came across this one that attempts to show that Idrissa Gueye is THE MOST KEY PLAYER in Silva's game plan.

Idrissa Gueye Powers Everton's Surprising Defense

Really great site, Thomas. Thank you again.

Man City taking them short is sensible. Today with taller keepers and centre-halves, the corner is less productive.

Remember the Teddy Sheringham - Darren Anderton combo playing for Spurs in the 90s?

Anderton used to drill a low corner to the edge of the box for Sheringham to sweep home low and hard.

We don't have any variety, it's just float one in slowly and too high, hope for the best and nothing happens and it's the same end product repetitively.

Watford may be a Newcastle type game, a combative midfield, with a few chances either side. My best guess is to make a few changes, say give Calvert Lewin a chance, for one and maybe be more patient in the attacking build up and making runs from deeper positions.

I'm just hoping with a good game plan, we will be able to undo Watford.

Momentum and pace are invaluable in the Premier League so we should revert to Richarlison up front, Bernard on the wing for the Watford game in order to get back on track and above Man Utd.

As has been quoted many times, the season is a Marathon, not a sprint and tends to level itself out come the end of the season.

Our neighbours will be cock'a'hoop now that they are the only team with an unbeaten record, but by virtue of that very fact, they will become 'the target' that everyone wants to knock off their perch.

Okay, they are playing well and getting more than their fair share of luck, or is it some Faustian Pact? Either way, their day will come, when hopefully they go on a downwardly spiralling run, or we will never hear the end of it.

At the same token Niasse does not deserve the Shiite he is getting on here, at a time when we had dark Days, he came out of the wilderness and popped up with some vital goals. He's no world beater and yes he struggles to trap a ball, but he never gives up and owes Everton Football Club nothing.

The same happened when Coleman's form dipped, same with Sigurdsson, Keane, Jagielka, every one of them pilloried to death on here.

It's time you looked back and seen what these players have done for our football club instead of taking cheap shots at them.

We will move forward, we will upgrade on a centre-forward, but the abuse on here about Niasse is wearing thin.

I had hope when we signed him we would have another weapon to use from set pieces but it's just not happening.

Do they not practice it? Is it the fault of the guys putting the ball in? Or are they all just shite at heading?!!

It's doing my head in when we have had so many brilliant headers of the ball in the past with nowhere near the apparent ability of the current players but they were goalscorer even if they were defenders.

MotD plays on pretending we don't know the scores, so it was a false statement. That's something to get annoyed about — not that Liverpool are a good team.

Jay, thanks for finding the article about Idrissa. We know and respect what he brings to the team. Seeing it broken down the way the author did points out just how important a player he is for Silva's strategy.

But, to be fair, he has improved a lot in other departments since he had the shackles Schneiderlin put on him removed.

IMO, Deulofeu, who many TWebbers considered a bit of a show pony, is far more effective.

The current top six teams seem to have the knack of holding things together against the defensive sides and then inevitably, after a lot of patience, score in the final minutes to win the game.

When we go a goal down against these sides, it's like we have a mountain to climb.

I would like to see our players attempting to dribble into the box as this always seems to create panic in defenders who are well-drilled at blocking shots and passes but seem to go to pieces when a forward is approaching them doing anything out of the ordinary.

I'm sure everyone will agree that Watford will be far more of a handful than Newcastle were so we really have to be at the top our game to win this match.

We wasted a lot of money on Tosun and he has scored less than Niasse. Says it all really.

Whilst personally not surprised at the article that highlights the importance of Gueye to the team, I don't think it tells the full story.

It kinda touches on it without expanding on it when mentioning how high a press Everton make, basically leaving the two centre-backs (and Gueye) to protect our goal.

I think Silva's game plan is more subtle than that.

Yes, when the opposition is in possession from their goalkeeper or across their back line, we are in their faces. BUT! The thing is we don't get 'physical' with them.

I've previously described it as the 'non-contact press'. That is, we don't go in to win the ball which, if we lost that battle, would leave us a man down behind the play with a chance for the opposition to make in-roads on us.

No. Silva has set the team up to cut out the passing lines of the opposition from the goalkeeper or from their own half. This results in two things:

1) They cannot counter-attack on us quickly, so we have time to re-organize our defensive lines with the advanced full-backs tucking back in to fulfil their defensive duties

2) In trying to break the high press, the opposition frequently attempts a higher risk ball out from their half, which either our forwards pick off or, in the rare cases the ball does make it through to midfield or into our half, that is where our very own 'seek and destroy' Idrissa Gueye comes into his own and picks it off.

A consequence of 2) is that we potentially have a numerically overload to attack the opposition's goal.

The defensive organization of this system appears to be working really well, as the numbers of goals conceded since 6-7 games in has radically decreased. The offensive side still needs tweaking and refining as we are not getting the goal return required to ensure a comfortable victory each time.

Now, of course, other teams will get wise to this and work on counters to it. But given time and the right personnel, I'm confident Brands and Silva can get this balance right.

Enough said about Seamus; great servant, like Baines and Jagielka, but a club our size should never be relying on them at this stage of their careers – even as a back-up.

Despite giving the shite one almighty scare, we still handed it to them on a silver platter... partly because of the fear factor as the minutes tick by.

We need winners from somewhere. Including a manager who believes in himself and the team. Silva, we hope, is that man. Not so far...

A) he wants to play there;

B) He's got lots of footballing nounce and, if used Vardy-like, would give defenders lots of headaches;

C) Richarlison doesn't seem to want to play up top as he plays everywhere bar.

On to Gana. What do you say? The positives are super positives but the negatives are also super. Like not being able to consistently deliver a 5-yard pass. And don't even mention his goal-scoring or assist record.

Ultimately, I think he should be replaced with someone with a better passing range.

Unfortunately Marco Silva doesn't read ToffeeWeb! I say that obviously with tongue in cheek, but often suggestions from the terraces of TW, do eventually come to fruition with varied successes, or failure.

Like you succinctly say, I remember before he came to us he expressed being in the striking role was his favoured position, there is no doubting his pace and eye for goal, it has to be better than the other alternatives at present.

Re: Gana.

I think you are repeating an urban myth about his passing range.

Opta stats and the like make a nonsense of your claim. And this season he has been spraying accurate long-range passes across the width of the park.

All players will eventually be replaced, but why advocate that NOW for a player who is in the top 3 rankings in the Premier League for his role and what he does?

He does give the ball away, but usually wins it back, and his game is not about direct assists or goals. That is what Gomes is for.

Gueye is the first name on the teamsheet. Hopefully Davies can develop into a player able to do Gueye's job, but to simply 'replace him with someome with a better passing range' is basically asking to simply find the best midfielder in the world.

Honestly can't see us getting Kante or Busquets, to be fair.

I think his passing is actually okay but why, in the name of Holy Fuck, is he allowed to take shots at goal the stand behind the goal in almost every game?? Drives me apeshit to see him so wasteful. He has no idea where the fucking goal is.

[Cue some bright spark telling me he's actually scored a goal or two for EFC...]

First Gana; I did say that the positives are super positives and there's little doubt that his closing down, tackling etc is first rate. However and regardless of stats, I'd be prepared to sit down through 5-10 games (yes I'm that sad that I've got them all recorded) and just concentrate on his distribution the amount underhit or stray passes which undoes his good work getting the ball.

BTW, I'm a Gana fan and, since Schneiderlin has left the building, he's been freed to express himself. But to make the point that any holding mid who can pass a ball consistently 15 yards is in the Busquets league, I'd have to disagree with that one.

But I was just asking the question: Do his positives triumph over his negatives? And I'm agonising about that.

Moving over to Walcott; I must be reading or not reading the fan pages, because all I've read is the opinion that Lookman should be given gametime as opposed to Walcott to be switched to the centre. But nice to see people are for it. 'Tis a game of opinions.

We should've beaten Newcastle but we lack that clinical touch in front of goal at the moment, which is worrying, but not as worrying as when you're not creating any chances at all.

Last season wasn't that long ago and we have come a hell of a long way since the flatline football we were playing back then, we were a mess. I for one am very happy at the improvements and changes that have happened in such a short time and I can only hope Silva and Brands continue to build on their excellent start at Everton.

We're starting to turn the corner at last and there's going to be setbacks along the way, like the Newcastle result, for example... Although I wouldn't really class a draw at home as a setback but the expectations here are so high – too high at times given the situation last season – but we can't win every game and there will be more games like that to come. Teams come to defend against us now and park the bus as such which tells me they fear us and our ambition.

Patience is the winner here and we all need to get on it and not be so negative and irrational when we don't beat a small team. It's not a nice feeling, it's a kick in the wotsits that's for sure. Silva needs to be given time to implement his ideas and get the right players in. If that happens, then maybe we'll lift a trophy; if not, the misery will continue.