Life on the road continues to suit erratic Everton

Everton matches streamed on Peacock – 8 wins, 1 draw.

Everton matches aired on NBC – 3 wins, 6 losses, 2 draws (even more stark when you consider that two of those wins were against Palace and Brighton, plus the derby draw. So we've basically lost 6 of our last 8 on NBC).

If all of our remaining matches were shown on Peacock, we'd win the league.

Please try to get ALL of our remaining games televised by them, we will be as proud as Peacocks. You will be forever remembered on TW, and possibly nominated for a Statue at Bramley-Moore Dock, if you can pull this off mate!

1) Olsen must be first-choice keeper;
2) Coleman is no longer a starter, either Holgate or Godfrey (prefer the latter) should start ahead of him at right-back.

Now I am even more sad because of our loss against Newcastle. With those 3 points, we would be in an even better position today. Leeds are a better team than Newcastle, and we won against them.

Next is Manchester United away, I would be satisfied with a draw there although we could even win if we play well, they are not unbeatable. We just shouldn`t be afraid of United.

Also, we play against Tottenham in the FA Cup soon. We are in better form but Spurs are so unpredictable, you never know how their matches will finish. Still, I hope for a win, that would be great.

Best wishes to all Everton fans from Serbia.

The idea that Olsen is the answer to our perceived goalkeeping crisis. The triple save Olsen made was excellent. But came about because we were under pressure after his hospital pass of a clearance sold Doucouré down the river.

Olsen is a good stopper. So is Pickford. Do goalkeepers make errors? Of course they do (see the sainted Nick Pope last night). But posters to ToffeeWeb should get off Pickford's back and support him.

Olsen, for my money, is a far safer bet. His performances so far have been displays of calm competence and confidence. Frankly, when Pickford plays, I'm on edge every time the ball goes anywhere near him. That's hardly inspirational goalkeeping.

Carlo's 'turns a piece' tactics are a nonsense. He wouldn't do it with outfield players, so why should our goalkeeping situation be any different?

In the eighties. Kendall shuffled his goalkeeping options for some time, along with outfield rubbish that he bought then quickly sold, realising their limitations. There are many parallels with this squad, some players need to be dispensed with and a couple of quality replacements will see us challenging for honours.

At this stage, I'm not saying Olsen will prove to be another Southall. But I am saying that he needs a substantial run of games. He just might prove to be the answer.

By the way, what did you make of the performances of Nick Pope for Burnley, or Martinez for Villa last night?

This season, we have already taken 22 points from 30 away from home (73%) and just 14 at home. If you compare that over the last 12 years we have taken
18; 20; 18; 15; 18; 24; 19; 30 (Martinez season 1); 21; 23; 20; 22.

Clearly we are set up better to soak up the pressure and score one or two. A sort of KITAP1? Perhaps we should play for a 0-0 at home. 10 points from that guaranteed, maybe 16 with the odd winner and then continue the away form.

Anyway this morning with Everton winning and other results Brightoning the day, it is all good.

I don't really think you can base any opinion of the game just watching MotD. According to Twitter, we should have had a penalty, but they didn't show the incident on MotD so I can't comment.

My son reckons Godfrey was MotM but you couldn't tell that from the highlights, Danny Murphy thought Sigurdsson was our most influential player.

From the clips, I thought Olsen did well and surely he needs to get another game against Man Utd this weekend, as if he thinks he is only ever going to be back-up to Pickford irrespective how well he plays, then he may decide to not sign a permanent deal and look elsewhere.

There is no doubt that with Keane, Mina, Godfrey and Holgate, we have four really good defenders. And with Allan and Doucouré, we have two very good midfield players, and on their day Gomes and Sigurdsson and Davies can do a job.

James in the Number 10 role is so comfortable there and is having a good season, especially seeing he hadn't played much football before joining us, and you can see his fitness levels getting better as the weeks go by. I just wonder if we have enough firepower in the front 3 of Iwobi, Richarlison and Calvert-Lewin? On their day, they are very good but I am not convinced they can play consistently well for long periods.

Calvert-Lewin has become very effective in and around the 6-yard box, but his allround game needs working on. I just think in some games with the ability of James to play in clever passes to forwards, Dominic's movement isn't the best, and maybe a Vardy or Cavanni type would be an alternative.

Richarlison is an enigma; he can never be accused of not putting a shift in but his lack of goals must be worrying Ancelotti. Earlier in the season, him and Calvert-Lewin were at their best, running defences ragged but, of late, that doesn't seem to be happening.

Iwobi is the same player he was at Arsenal: a player who flattered to deceive... one good game in 5 or 6 is not going to get this team challenging for a top 4 spot.

Sigurdsson's improved form of late has been playing off a main striker, it always has been his best position, he should never again be picked to play in a deeper role in midfield.

I thought Gomes had his best game since his injury, I hope it's a sign of better times ahead for him. His delayed pass in the build up to the first goal was a reminder of the vision and skill he had at his best.

Richalison's form is a worry, while it was an improved performance last night he is still short of what he can produce. He might be unhappy at playing out wide and wants a more central role as the main striker. It would be interesting to see him play alongside DCL as twin strikers, although having brought in King, the chance of that happening is remote. He could be waiting for a route out of the club in the summer, if so his current form is not going to attract many suitors and certainly not at the price we would demand.

I hope with Allan coming back from injury and Doucoure in great form, we can leave Newcastle behind us as an aberration and have a really good second half of the season. However, with Everton it can be often two steps up and one step back.

India beat Australia last week in one of the most thrilling Test matches ever. Two of their batsmen, Gill and Pant smashed the ball all around the park and out of the ground in breathtaking fashion.

At the other end, was Pujara; he batted for nearly 10 hours in intense heat; he was hit on the body/head 10 times at 90-plus mph. he didn't hit the ball out of the ground, he didn't take any risks and was boring as hell. But he didn't get out... he never does! You just know he'll be there all day and the next day and the day after that! Without him, India would have lost.

My point? Jordan Pickford is Gill/Pant; Martin Olsen is Pujara. It may be a matter of personal taste, but for me, it's Pujara every day of the week!

We have had a multitude of problems elsewhere during the season and yet somehow we are still up there.

Seamus is past his best that's for sure and I am not so sure he should ever have been captain. Everton still lack that driving force of a Peter Reid type for the captaincy.

With some big games coming up we hope to see the squad show some real mettle in dealing with them but I am not expecting any sudden change in upward fortunes despite the wins at Wolves and Leeds.

You cannot compare one bad save from Pope and two bad saves from Martinez to Pickford who continually cost's us points in every other game he plays in, it's just unacceptable to compare the three.

We are all for defending our own players but there comes a time when you have to look at the saves he makes compared to the saves he should make and come to the conclusion that the guy isn't good enough to be Everton's number one goal keeper.

This isn't new either, this has gone on for years. He makes good saves from shots which any normal goalkeeper would save, then he lets himself down with horrendous decision making, poor judgement of crosses and quite frankly awful timing when it comes to going to ground to save average shots. I can honestly name you probably twenty examples of goals he has cost us in two/three seasons and that just is not good enough. One every now and again, Pope and Martinez is forgivable, however one a game or every other game should not be.

I don't understand how anyone can defend him, if you are poor at your job, and you continue to be poor at your job, then you should be moved on, it's simple. I would offer Pickford for Pope, straight swap in the summer, let him go in goal for Burnley as it may be more at his level.

Yep, DCL was in full on sprinters mode to get in position for the pass and maybe that was contributory to him losing composure at the finish.

An old pro said to me after I did something similar "always keep a little gas in the tank to finish".

I agree with Tom above, it's still the midfield. Allan and hopefully Gbamin fit will give us much more stability, strength and options. I think any chance at all of top 4 is dependent upon Allan and Doucoure being fully fit for the remainder of the season.

I would be a huge bonus if Gbamin gets properly fit and proves he is the real deal. That would be like a new signing for the last 10-12 games and could make all the difference.

Here's hoping.

I would still prefer Olsen to Pickford at the moment though.

Two things...
Olsen deserves the the right and opportunity to claim the number one spot.
Pickford has clearly shown he is erratic, has at least one mistake / bad decision in him every game he plays.
For me ( right now ) Olsen looks to be a "calmer" goal keeper.

On Olsen's pass to Doucoure, maybe Doucoure's touch let him down - not his best asset is it!

I just remember watching him a couple of times where he did play very well once against the RS at Anfield. I thought then that he was the answer.

Godfrey and Mina were majestic, Digne shows just how important the left foot is, Gomes was spraying the ball around like the maestro we had when he first came and Olsen was a pillar of calm and confidence which also helps the defence not to panic.

My only concern was the right side where Iwobi did not give Holgate much support and Holgate did not give Iwobi much support going forward. Its a good job most of Leeds attacks were going down the other flank.

Lets hope for an equally inspired display against Man U. We certainly owe them.

Kevin #13, yes, I noticed it and loved it. A year ago I posted that Everton was the slowest club in the Prem and desperately needed pace. Now we have Dom, Godfrey, Doucoure and Holgate regularly showing off their wheels. We need more, especially on the flanks, but it feels good.

Seems he has no doubts as to his first choice keeper.

They then went on to go over the other games except for the Leeds Everton game that was on for 2 min showing the goals. It makes me believe if Everton win against Utd we will get another 40min of what Utd done wrong and not how Everton played

I don't care if as they say we slip under the radar, but surely some recognition should be recognized as they don't mind criticizing when they loose.

I remember before the game last night I wrote that the game was winnable but it would take a team effort, and thankfully that is what we got. Some players stood out a little more than others but most of all it was a team effort that got the points. It will be interesting the next game but last nights game was a good learning experience, as no other team presses as hard and don't give you a minutes rest than Leeds.

You have to trust the coaches to select who they think is best, and we haven't really seen enough of our Swede to seriously compare him with Pickford but certainly I do think Pickford's distribution and vision is better. I far prefer Olsen dealing with high balls and glad to see him collect the ball when Pickford would often be punching.

He did well last night, can't really be blamed for the goal, and it would be interesting to see him deservedly get a run of a few games.

I agree that Pickford does need a break from being the number one, and needs to work on what ever his problem is, be it confidence, concentration, mental attitude, whatever it may be. You say he costs us points in every other game he plays in, which isn't strictly true. It's hard to believe, but I'm pretty sure the stats say in the last two years he has only made six errors which have led directly to goals being conceded. Then again, what exactly constitutes a mistake, is it a dropped ball which has been knocked home, or a long range shot which goes in and probably should have been saved? Maybe someone could correct me on these stats?

But as I said earlier, there are far better people qualified than those on here, to judge Pickford. Why is it Southgate continuously picks him for England competitive games?

Doucoure shows for the ball, Olsen passes the ball to his feet and Doucoure first touch pass to Godfrey was not the best, that's what put us under pressure - go watch it.

This is not to lay any blame with Doucouré either, who was excellent again - at both ends of the pitch.

"SC East Bengal coach Robbie Fowler has been suspended for four matches and fined for criticising refereeing decisions in the Indian Super League."

I just wonder how they could understand what he was saying.

I don't really care about what stats say. I'm sure the stats don't elude to the Leicester goal being a mistake from Pickford as it was a shot on target. What the mistakes were in the build up was that he pushed a cross out for a corner when if he left the ball it would of been a goal kick. He then missed the save from corner, spilling the ball to their attackers. Then he saw the ball to late and react so poorly, pushing the ball into his own net.

The stats might say 6, however he is constantly beaten from outside the area, from near post finishes and by his lack of ability. Off the top of my head I can instantly recollect...

The Derby... origi's goal - unforgivable
Running out of the box and clattering with a defender allowing Son to score from outside the box at Goodison
Being beaten at his near post by Jesus twice at City
Being beaten by Leicester from outside the box
Flapping at the cross against Newcastle last season at home allowing them to score for 2-1
You could even ask why he jumped behind his line for 2-2 against Newcastle
Near post goals against Bournemouth/Palace last season both at Goodison
He got lucky at the Derby this season with Mane offside as Henderson's shot was an easy save.

It's constant, there are no two ways about it.

And yes Mike, I for one will always welcome an unflattering story about any Red.

When a keeper plays the ball out, what's the ideal outcome? It starts a move that ends up in a goal at the other end.

What's the worst possible outcome? A turnover and a goal against.

And when a keeper's first pass out is to a teammate running back towards his own goal with an opponent tight on his heels, the ball is exponentially more likely to wind up in your own net.

Yes, Olsen made the triple save, and yes, the defense had other chances to clear the problem before the shots, but the irrefutable fact is that none of that would have been necessary if Olsen hadn't made the wrong decision with the initial pass. It was a mistake, and the same kind of mistake he was previously prone to in Italy.

Play the ball short to an unmarked teammate. And if one isn't available, boom it down the pitch. Nothing could be simpler.

Dale #36, agreed -- while we will ultimately need a new keeper, the two we have are fine for the moment. Carlo and Marcel have higher priorities to improve the club before addressing the goal line.

The problem at Goodison is Kenwright. I have it on good authority that he has live snakes growing from his scalp and if he looks directly at a player, the player freezes. He particularly seems to stare a lot at Gomes and Pickford. Cause of Covid-19 he can't travel and cause this issue at away games.

Generally, most of the time, I go to the BBC website for news and sport, but increasingly getting annoyed by comments and content, from the petty omissions to downright snubs, never giving credit where due. I can point to 3 current observations that clearly show bias even on a website.

1. Lawrenson's predictions, the guy is a prat. Always, putting down the Blues and when you see his table versus actual table, the difference is the highest negative placement on any Premier League team. That's bias, no matter what anyone says.

2. Alan Shearer. Another prat. In his recent column, he said 5 teams in the top 6 could win the league, no mention of Everton who at the time were 4th with games in hand. No mention of the fact we had beaten a couple of the teams he believed could win or that we sat above them in the league.

3. Little annoying things, like showing the teams at the top, usually the top six teams, but if Everton are 5th, they show the top 4, if they are 6th they show the top 5, if they are 7th, they show the top 6.

Paranoia? No, there is bias and even when we play well, there is always the focus on how poorly our opposition played.

Lastly, talking of bias, take the football section of the BBC website: win or lose, Liverpool always have several or more stories or opinions running at any given time. Win or lose, on the front page of the football section, you have to dig to find an Everton result and generally the only bits we do see are Ancelotti related.

You get the drift? We have been written off. Dismissed because of bias, not performance. Not even plucky little Everton anymore, but ignored. The balance of UK reporting is highlighted by watching overseas commentators reporting on games, it's a breath of fresh air in comparison.

His, “don't worry my lovelies, we are one big family. We (me) just want you to be happy and say nice things (about me) the club on social media”.

Mediocrity has a home at Goodison while Bill is still around.

Real bias (not perceived) against Everton. I put it down to RS supporters and media pundits who influence the unknowing.

Of course if you are going down the safety first road, you are correct, perhaps the safest option would have been to launch it, but I completely disagree that this was a "blunder".
It really is quite clear that Doucoure showed for the ball and only had to play a simple one touch pass to Godfrey and he failed to do so, thus putting us under pressure.

If that was Rodriquez instead of Doucoure receiving that Olsen pass, we would have been on the attack in my opinion, ( if you get what I;m saying )

Olsen and Godfrey have to be starters.
Ayling is the type of right back we should be looking at to give us some workrate.
Holgate not at his best, but shades Coleman for me.
Richarlison well off form - but King could give him some competition.

Summer wish list
Right back, keeper (Olsen), Striker. Centre midfield, winger. Pace and energy, or real differentiators.

There was a palpable uneasiness after those first four games, when the table was shown, matches discussed and so on... like "Don't mention the war". Followed by you-know-what after the derby, the like of which has never been seen before. Laughable really.

How nice to see André Gomes play with that swagger again; what a great job Sigurdsson did on Phillips; a real coming-of-age performance from Mina; the return to goalscoring form for Calvert-Lewin; the energy and drive of Doucouré; a much better performance from Richarlison; and an absolute gem of a find in Godfrey.

But no, let's focus on why Olsen had to make 3 saves because he played a bad pass. Lighten up, people, we were very good and I've not been more optimistic for a long time.

I agree with most of what you say except, Olsen didn't play a bad pass, Doucouré did – watch it!!

I remember that moment extremely well as I almost fell over getting up to scream at the TV that, moments after coming on, he almost cost us the lead.

Not that I shouldn't have expected that.

I think all Evertonians watching were probably roaring at the telly in what seemed a simple pass; however, in defence of Davies, I would imagine it would be so tough coming on late in such a high-tempo game.

A few minutes after that bad pass, Davies did really well keeping possession when surrounded by at least two Leeds players.

King, who also lost the ball late on, leading to a Leeds chance, got the same treatment from me.

In researching Andy I came across an interview he did after leaving for Watford in 1971. He said, "I had only been at Everton before so I didn't have much to compare it to, but one thing that was very different was how hard the training was – they trained a heck of a lot harder at Watford than they did at Everton."

Hmm. "Plus ca change plus la meme chose" as they say in Wallasey!

Anyway, a great win to get us off to a positive start in what is an important month; one that sets us up for the business end of the season. We have a decent run in after that, but there are 3 tough fixtures this month.

We are in touch and very well placed. Dare I say top 10 is starting to look increasingly consolidated. If we come through this month still in a similar position, top 5 or 6 is realistic.

I mean, the premise of the article is false, they are not the Big Six, and its insulting to those who are actually above them!! and as always.. not a mention of Everton, Leicester

They should retitle the article and put a new one.. "The Demise of the Big Six"

On the same subject what has gone wrong for Yedlin. He was looking good at one time.

Win our games in hand, we are joint 3rd. Win other games this month we are right in the mix as we go into the final straight.

Now I'm getting ahead of myself. The media will beat me down into my apparent rightful place as a simple Evertonian who has no right to believe. Only certain clubs have entitlement apparently.

Then again, no they won't. I'll just enjoy the moment when we prove them wrong. As the respectful John McFarlane Snr said on his post, football existed before 1992 when these media moguls got their hands on the narrative.

Right bedtime for O'Neill!

Perhaps its a total lack of balance towards other teams in general, but when we have been up there all season it does feel like we are intruders into the hallowed circle.

They also wore it both games Vs Inter..not so lucky then as they got knocked out.
All red was registered for the start of the 65-66 season.

I have always found the strip / colour debate and sport psychology in general interesting. I remember West Brom a while back changed their traditional yellow and green striped away kit to yellow and red because the then manager believed red was more intimidating and associated with winning (spit).

I wouldn't have wanted to see us in all blue. It does flash up the blue socks or white socks debate though! I think that is generational so it's white for me. It's also personal, as a player, there was always something about playing in white socks. Maybe that's just me and I need to see a sports psychiatrist!

Worse Everton strip, the Linekar bib or the Materazzi monstrosity?

Any chance of a comeback Lyndon / Michael?

Also good to see Greg O'Keefe do well for himself. Believe he left the BBC and focusses on his website The Athletic now.

I don't read the Echo much these days. Not living in Liverpool I have to rely on reading online and their website is awful in terms of unwanted adverts and continuous pop ups.

Still think the Echo could be more adept.

I fear that I'm talking to myself.

I'm thinking of giving Greg O'Keefe's site a go. I also like Lyndon's articles on 1878.

I do most of my reading of Everton on the likes of here these days. I can't remember the last time I read the sport sections of the national papers let alone regional. Sometimes look at the BBC, but I've fallen out with national media in general.