Bournemouth vs Everton

The main problem with Everton is they appear to sign players who are no better than the ones they replaced. Yet, Everton are spending upwards of £33 million to stagnate.

We lost a game of football and are apparently relegated already.

We're going to Bournemouth tomorrow evening and there are thousands travelling. As there will be on Saturday.

Call me a happy clapper. Call me what you want. I know our failings, but I believe we can win both matches.

I was going to comment on tomorrow's match at Bournemouth but you reminded me of the terrific support we will be taking down there on a winter’s night and keep my thoughts to myself except to say “Come on you Blues, give those fans a happy journey home for once”.

I really hope all of you going there tomorrow have good trips going and coming home and see a good Everton performance.

I’m really looking forward to spending around 20 hours on a coach…… NOT!

Dave Abrahams, we'll drag them into the next round and those fans can enjoy their long trip that will end in the early hours of Wednesday morning. And many will repeat the same journey on Saturday into Sunday morning as Rob says. Mello Mello twice in a week!!

Last week is gone. This week is what matters now.

Then we can reset and look forward to Boxing Day. Hope to see you and some of the others there?

I keep saying I can't wait to get on the road again, mate, but games like tomorrow's definitely sort the men out from the boys, although knowing Evertonians, I bet you there will be around 100 young kids who will be taking a day off school tomorrow, mate.

The travelling Blue Army deserve some success but, when I see Liverpool for sale, it brings it home to me what type of owner we have had for such a long time.

Success has been all about trying to get someone to build a new stadium, whilst winning trophies is something that's long been forgotten. Is it too much to ask for new owners for ourselves? 🤞

Just as I was given a 2-day pass and let off school for the Norwich away title clincher in 1987. My word, that was a trip.

Those young supporters will be there tomorrow and deserve a day or two off school. You can always make that back. But Everton memories are forged forever.

I love the fact we've got the new stadium on the horizon. But I always think United had the right model for many years since Alex Ferguson's appointment. Yes have a strategic vision. But get it right on the pitch first and then build the stadium around the success.

We are where we are. Tomorrow and Saturday, we're at Bournemouth.

Spirit. Everton forever.

Thankfully I bagged a ticket, and the journey isn't too long for me, but I know of loads of Blues down here that weren't so fortunate.

I just hope the team can reciprocate the passion, spirit and dedication these supporters give to the club on a regular basis, despite the garbage that is served up to them, week-in & week-out.

Bournemouth won't be easy after losing 2 games on the bounce that they should have won but let's hope we can continue their misery.

We can't afford to mess too much with the team, there's only one game left before the Slave Labour Cup starts so we have to win both of these games.

It's imperative for Frank also that he alleviates pressure that could soon be building on himself here.

I was watching on Saturday; some of the crowd were getting a bit restless with Everton passing it around at the back and either getting nowhere or even giving the ball away in really dangerous positions... then not getting close enough to Leicester who had way too much space in which to play.

My thoughts were, "Change your tactics, Frank, condense the pitch. Get players closer to Calvert-Lewin, go a bit longer and start scrapping for second balls. Try and disrupt Leicester and engage the crowd." Goodison should always be about engaging a fierce Everton crowd!

Sorry for the monologue Danny, you're infectious mate!

I have read your comments Danny, and I firmly believe we will have a hard-fought victory. After all, I am temporarily a real one-eyed Evertonian!

In Frank I Trust.

I hope you're right, and it's two wins. If it is, then we all need to chill and give Frank a few more months. Anything less than a win at the weekend though, and we need to bite the bullet and get rid. Ideally before Southampton and Villa manager bounces leave us adrift in the zone.

Begovic
Patterson Mina Welch Vinagre
Davies Garner
Mills Price Gordon
Cannon

There comes a time when we cannot just keep changing managers or demanding new players; we've got to go with what we've got. Win matches by hard work, individually and collectively.

I think this is where we are at now, it's no use saying we'll be okay when January comes and we get the magic forward player in who will score 20 a season. It doesn't work like that. Any player will only be successful if the team is functioning and fighting for each other and every blade of grass every week.

For what it's worth, I'd start Gana and Garner either side of a more advanced Doucoure. Up front, I'd play Gray for width and Maupay instructed to feed off Calvert-Lewin and cause as much havoc as he can. In defence, if Patterson is fit, he must start.

Do us proud and get a win tonight.

Up the youngsters.

We have got some very good players, and most of them are young, which means they blow hot and cold. It's getting boring talking about the system, but Lampard brought some very good players to Chelsea, only for another manager to take over and win them the Champions League.

They say that it's those who learn the quickest that go the furthest, so take your time, Frank… just don't go out the cup tonight!

That kid is going to the very top, enjoy.

Footballers, in my experience, like it simple. It's actually a simple game, despite what those modern pundits would have us believe.

Gary, isn't it 3 scored in 5?

That's pedantic of me. Either way, I get the sentiment and we all know that we need to address the lack of teeth up front. We all know that.

Play as a unit, not leave gaps between defence and midfield or between midfield and the forward.

I think Frank should experiment a little tonight as the game on Saturday is of more importance. Time to ditch the two wide players please, we have loads of centre-backs so I think we might see us operating with the back 5 and wingbacks again.

I think Frank will rest as many of the eleven who he wants for Saturday and thus we will have a disjointed line-up tonight.
I think he must realise that the relegation 6-pointer is much more important.

Many players go on to have decent careers at League One standard but, at this level, they are not good enough.

I've been watching Lewis Dobbin on loan; he looks way off being a Premier League starter that some thought he was last season.

Ellis Simms has been injured but he's another who looks rather Rondon-esque.

Jarrad Branthwaite I believe will take over the central-defensive slot in about 3 or 4 years time and be a decent defender.

I agree that Dobbin is not ready but he's got pace, and might have been effective coming off the bench at times. At least he's getting first-team experience right now.

I'd sooner win tonight, Kunal.

Why do we never prioritise goals-scoring in any transfer window? It makes watching our team excruciating and embarrassing.

Whilst I'd love to see youth given a chance, Frank would be crucified if he played that team tonight and lost (as it probably would). We need a win, and a good one too!

I'd be telling Gray and Gordon to either produce in the first half or be humiliated and dragged off at half-time. I'd tell Tom Davies he can secure more starts with an excellent (no less) performance,e and I'd give Vinagre a go at left wing-back with a back three of Mina, Keane and Holgate on notice to perform or start packing.

My team:

Begovic
Patterson Holgate Keane Mina Vinagre
Davies Garner
Gray Gordon
Maupay

Gordon at 10, Gray wider. Give Iwobi a rest – we know he's earned it.

Let's hope that Frank considers the fans when picking his team for tonight. There will be around 1,200 down at Bournemouth tonight, many of whom will be travelling down from Liverpool and not getting home until about 4:30 am tomorrow morning.

The team are staying down at Bournemouth for the weekend league game, and no doubt will be nicely tucked up in bed two hours after the game ends, while we won't even be halfway home.

Should Frank consider the fans when picking his team? of course not… but, if he claims to be “One of us”, then surely he should be having a right good go to win the game, which means picking the strongest team he can. Bournemouth will no doubt be playing a weakened team, so pick a strong team, get the game won and then make the five substitutions allowed.

The last thing we want is fan reaction like Benitez got at Brentford and Norwich last season, and for the fans to face a round-trip journey of 550 miles to watch a second team is, in my opinion, totally unacceptable.

Tomorrow, I'll start thinking about 3 points on Saturday.

Keep that one eye open, Bernie.

Modern day football's clamour for pace over technical accomplishment does do my head in.

Gordon and Gray are lightning fast with the football intelligence of Zippy and Bungle.

Give me a player with pace and technical accomplishment, then we have a real player, but frankly if I have to choose at the moment, I'd rather we had a little lockpicker technician, like Pienaar, Arteta etc.

Go to win, Blues. Play a team to win, Mr Lampard.

So I'm not using them as a benchmark for Everton. And my in-laws are from the west Midlands, a mix of Wolves, West Brom and Villa. The wife a Villa supporter, so I'm well averse to their sentiments and thoughts.

It's November, not May. We know what the issues are. I was a bit uncertain about the appointment of Lampard. I'm still not totally convinced, but warming to him.

But I'm also fed up of changing managers seemingly every year on average. Someone more methodical can do the actual detail on that one. Instability has done us no good. So for me, it's stick, hold your nerve and see something through for the first time in almost 10 years.

On this basis, Kendall would never have delivered the glory years and, in a Groundhog Day or Trueman Show scenario, Moyes would have been sacked several times before Christmas on countless occasions only to come back and repeat.

We know who the real perpetrator is, but that doesn't appear to be changing anytime soon.

So like all of us, I'm getting behind a manager, the management team and the players. I'll start worrying in February or March if I need to. Hopefully not. But right now, I'm focussed on tonight and the League Cup.

Good point Jim Bennings. Pace of mind and thought combined with decision making often outdoes sheer pace. A common misconception in the modern game.

Apologies, I'm getting into match day mode and the adrenalin is pumping.

Any Bournemouth fan would have probably felt gutted but also proud of a performance like that, we need that same conviction on the pitch tonight COYB

My grand-daughter is at uni down there. She was up for a family thing. My lad is driving her down today and asked her boyfriend if he could sort 4 tickets next to each other in the home stands. He sorted it in about 10 minutes.

Evertonians don't do "secondary importance" for so-called minor competitions. They will travel in numbers for any match, be it Carabao or Friendly. Every match counts.

Back in the day, we would travel to places like Norwich expecting to see the title being won. We would go to Arsenal or Chelsea expecting to find a way, even if it meant winners coming from unlikely sources such as Harper or Reidy... But what drives these younger fans today? They have seen more defeats on the road than a tribe of unarmed nomads.

We may look over both shoulders when we say it, because we don't want to concede it to other fans, but inside Evertonia we know it. We have been fucking garbage for decades. Many of these younger blues have never seen a semi-decent team. And still they follow.

I often see the term "Gets Everton", but even though I have supported the club for over 60 years. I have to confess. I don't get these younger fans. I love them and feel very proud of them, but I just don't get them.

Lifers like Rob will never stop going to these away games. It's what he does. But he's seen the promised land. He knows what it tastes like, but even he must marvel at these younger fans.

If there's any justice in the world...

The amount of goals given away by Everton this season through lost possession is ridiculous. 3 wins from 13 matches proves how costly lost possession is causing Everton.

Or, if Lampard wants to play with wingers, stick Coady up front and play Mina at the back... radical? What the hell have we got to lose? A target man who can handle himself...

Out of the box, Frank, trying the same things will get you the same results. We need a leader up front to run off and win second balls.

So I'd question why most of the players in the summer were brought in. The squad has been awful for 5-6 years. Sigurdsson could pass, be we (as usual) overpaid.

Kunal, I didn't have you down for going back to players from decades ago, you didn't mention Stuart McCall!

Whilst we are likely to put out an under-strength team, I assume Bournemouth will have one eye on their position in the league and change their team around with youngsters or reserves looking to impress.

Can see it being a difficult night for us.

As for the weekend's match, 5 nil to us would do

Dave Thomas provided Bob Latchford with a service, Calvert-Lewin never gets one. Nor does he have a Ross Barkley slipping accurate, weighted passes as Lukaku did.

Everton are set up to preserve what they have at the start of the game and hope for a lucky or wondrous breakaway goal.
I know Everton are a very limited team and that Lampard has to cut his cloth etc, but he is very unambitious in his tactics and selection policy.

Gueye and Onana are an unnecessary duplication that automatically restricts the creative potential of a very limited midfield. Garner deserves a start, but I don't see Gana, Garner and Onana becoming a new Holy Trinity.

I wasn't happy clapping at Brentford away last season – I was fuming... I was certainly not happy clapping at Norwich away. Even more fuming, I was despondent and had a feeling of dismay at Tottenham away.

'Happy clappers' is a cheap shot at those who want the same as those who maybe think they are a bit more realistic in their own opinion.

I don't care. A ball hasn't been kicked yet. We can win this and repeat at the weekend.

Hopefully we'll all be happy clapping tonight.

Let's lure them into a false sense of security tonight for Saturday, let them think we have no firepower.

Irrespective of what supporters think, both clubs will have Premier League survival at the top of their priority list – so tonight and the weekend will be different games.

I get filled with pride standing alongside those young Evertonians as I've said countless times.

They've had nothing but they have belief. Maybe they get it from middle aged fools like me, although my son and brother often shake their heads at me with a look of concern and confusion.

Hopefully the good Evertonian Lord will give them their reward. They deserve it twice over.

Tricky for Frank – if we lose both games at Bournemouth, there's going to be a lot of pressure on him as we would go into the break in the Bottom 3 and out of the only cup we could ever hope to progress in.

It is an excuse to find a little extra cash for some of the poorer little teams and many Premier League teams use it as a means of giving younger bench players etc some experience.

As usual I expect little or nothing from Everton, especially with going to Bournemouth. The game at the weekend is far more important after that awful game against the Foxes.

Of the two matches, I'm afraid tonight's has little importance now because last Saturday's result means we are now back in the relegation mix rather than in the mid-table comfort zone. A result at the weekend is now as essential for us as it is for them.

Sums it all up really. We've become a great little club under Kenwright and getting smaller all the time. I just hope that the youngsters have a good game and show the established first team members that it is possible to pass a ball 2 yards and retain possession. Mills to open his account tonight please.

It's called the Premier League, mate, deal with it.

I feel for the young fans who go everywhere. I'm lucky enough to have seen us win the 69-70 title (team for the 70s!) and the stuff that followed. My lad, who's 28 and goes most games and currently planning to go to Australia next week, hasn't had a trophy to cheer about, only lost finals and semis.

We should go all out to win tonight, and worry about Saturday on Wednesday.

I expect Davies to start in midfield and Doucoure to cover injuries.

Adam was a lad the last time we won silverware and we're not going to win the league so the cups should be our Number One Priority!!!

If we still have ideas of being a "big" club trophies are required

Songs revived from the '60s and the '80s. Easy for me and the previous generation as we witnessed success. We know what it smells and tastes like.

Before their time. But they know it. They believe it. They sing it with passion.

Their time has to come. Let's make it happen.

I've been in Ozzy land so long, I wasn't sure whether the BBC still have it.

This is a trophy we can win. This whole prioritisation of survival over success is what is killing the club. At some point, we need the manager to show some balls and play to win.

Playing with intensity is a habit we are sadly out of. You don't get it back by turning an opportunity for silverware into a meaningless run-out for the 2nd string.

He has a good touch, can jump and head the ball, and can finish as well. Can't be any worse than Maupay or Rondon.

Sorry, I'm still one angry Blue and no time for ifs buts and maybes. To me, we look a Burnley. Certainly no mugs defensively but they couldn't score either. I'm not Welsh but very much a Doubting Thomas.

Totally agree but it's not just us. Every year the majority of Premier League teams hand this trophy to Chelsea or Man City by "rotating" has-beens and children into the line-up and then claiming "We took it seriously."

The Saturday game is not do or die. It's a game like any other, so I don't see the need to "preserve" our "best players" – whoever they may be – for that one.

I also don't buy the "so-and-so deserves a game cause he shows up and trains every day." That's his job. He is well paid to do it. If he (Davies, Keane whoever) is sensational in training, them by all means give them a shot.

But the old "He's a good pro, he keeps his head down and doesn't complain" isn't in of itself a reason to let someone represent Everton Football Club in front of paying fans.

Do you continually watch James Stewart's It's A Wonderful Life?

I'm just curious. 😂

Here we go, Blues!

Personally, I'd crucify him more for a back 3 of Mina, Holgate and Keane than I would for trying something new with a front 4 of Mills, Price, Gordon and Cannon. At least he's then trying something new, not the insanity of the same already failed players.

Hearing through the grapevine young Ishe Samuels-Smith may have a bench spot tonight.

Everton should put out their strongest team, as after these next 2 games, they only have friendlies for a couple of weeks, except for players representing their countries. until the World Cup is over.

Exactly this, Robert. But unfortunately it's just not in the culture of the club under this regime. We're now looking at clubs like Bournemouth as big hurdles to overcome. It used to be Liverpool and Man Utd. Sad sad times...

All that nonsense just creates stress. It should be simple. The best players take the penalties. If you miss, it is your fault and yours entirely for letting down your team mates, the fans, the people of Merseyside and the Everton diaspora around the world. Deal with it.

It's high time our manager gets ruthless with the players who still can't or won't perform. Our wingers are not performing so why not play without them and beef up the midfield? It can't be any worse… or can it??

And by next November, for him to be another shithouse who thinks too much of himself and should be sold for whoever bids.

He"ll still be sold for a nice profit, but not before his own fans have killed all his love for the game.

Heard Anthony Gordon's name booming out at Leeds.The fella sitting next to me said " They'll be slaughtering him before Christmas. This is why our youngsters don't fulfill their potential. The fans don't deserve them and the club doesn't know what to do with them"

I thought he was joking

I sadly doubt it... just find a fucking way to win both eh Frank!

I'm getting right with Frank having to experiment. I don't expect him to get it right but something has to be tried to address the sterile possession in the final third. We get there but then run down dead alleys or fail to find a run. The lineup should be interesting, just keep Iwobi in the middle and deep. Perhaps even as the defender at the D, the shot stopper. Desperate times require desperate measures and I think he could find a role there that no one expects. We need any effective gimmicks we can find right now.

And before you ask "what have you been smoking?", I'll just declare that it is harvest season out here but I'm seriously making the suggestion. Iwobi as an advanced sweeper, let that sink in.

It's a good suggestion

It seems Premier league footballers are quick to look for the adulation and kudos but slow to take responsibility.

Give me a good old-fashioned pro any time before this current crop of prima donnas who just want to play in world cups and champions league without putting a shift in.

When he does finally get more game time, he will go the same way Gordon went, where he was undroppable, the difference with Mills and Gordon is Mills has that football brain, where he knows where his team mates are, he will make runs, at the same time will pass, look up, and not run down a blind alley.

I would personally give him a run out ahead of Gordon or Gray, give him a few games, but keep him in the squad going forward, the u23,s are nowhere near as competitive as the old central league, a couple of these youngsters will pick up more knowledge and skill, training with the first team, getting some minutes from the bench, getting that match day feeling.

That’s why we have struggled in the past to bring any youngsters through, and yes many have left without pulling up trees elsewhere, but we have to change something going forward, too many are not coming through, time the likes of Cannon, and Mills got a look in, after all it is those areas that we are struggling with at the moment.

Let’s see how the youngsters do tonight, if any get a start.

Cup ties is normally the time to rotate, but with the new 5 sub rule in the Premiership, surely there is room on the bench for at least one youngster, if not more.

I am always mystified why our wonderful professional players, plying their trade at the highest level and being paid a ridiculous sum of money to do so, can ever be excused for missing a penalty.

They can all do keepie uppies and ball juggling but they cannot hit a corner of a wide goal inaccessible to even the largest and most agile of keepers and do so with unerring consistency.

Don't give me "pressure" either. It is utterly unacceptable. Practise, practise, practise and then more practise.

Yes, a win would be nice, as with any game, but the Premier League game is more vital given the position in the league.