What we learned from Everton 3 - 3 Manchester City

We learned that, if we want to achieve Europe, we should play like we did in the second half, not like the first half.

We learned that Mr Brightside never learns

Second half was immense, and it's a shame in some ways that performance wasn't in the Merseyside derby because we'd have shelled them.

But still, we need to stop these lapses in focus and concentration; the Haaland goal was the killer, not the Doku one.

Sickener for your bet, Darren.

A few minutes after we went 3-1 up, a thought crossed my mind for your bet after we exchanged posts in the lead up.

The players were shell-shocked to go 3-1 up and so all of a sudden their collective heads went into a spin just like all those on the Live Forum.

As that 3rd goal went in. the Live Forum was like a chicken with its head cut off. It suddenly went "What the fuck! What's happening? Oh my God! Why are we 3-1 up? Is this really happening? What the fuck!" -- and the same thoughts were running through the players heads.

They needed Moyes to point to the side of his temple and say "Right lads, calm the fuck down, we've been here before, we need to now stay calm, stay cool."

Instead, the players lost focus, lost their minds and lost concentration. If we had focussed and survived the next 2 minutes, we win the game.

Top effort by the team second half. They deserved the win. UTFTs

The whole season really boils down to us being able to go toe to toe with Man City, Arsenal, Liverpool, Man Utd etc. But fail to get points against the bottom clubs that we "should beat".

We lost 2 points last night, but expected nothing. We threw away far more points during the season to teams that should be easy to beat.

I read a post on X on th eway home from the game which summed it up perfectly it said " Everton nearly pull off the turn up of the season but leave their fans heartbroken".

I was embarrassed by our first half performance and feared a mauling in the 2nd half if we continued to play as we did in the 1st half. Thankfully whatever was said at halftime worked and we became more aggressive and started to push a further 10 yards up the pitch. The post asks what did we learn from last nights game, well I think we learned that we seem to crumble in the final minutes as we don't seem to have anyone who can say give me the ball and keep it, I also think yet again Tarkowski could and should have done more with their 2nd.

I also think we should have learned from one of our ex managers Joe Royle, who realised even if you don't have the best players provided they will get in th efaces of the opposition no matter how good they are and be aggressive they will make mistakes as City did in the 2nd half I have to be honest and say when I saw Barry getting to come on I didnt hold much hope out, but to be fair he took his goals well and worried their defenders in the air winning nearly every duel.

The points dropped in our last 3 games are now looking very crucial to where we end up this season. Had we not conceded those last minute goals w ewould now be sitting in 6th place. Finally thought Rohl ran himself into the ground and rightfully got a standing ovation when he came off Also have to say I have been a bit disappointed in James Garners form since returning from playing for England, but he has played a lot of games this season. Looks like its going to be yet another what if season, but considering we didnt have Branthwaite and Grealish ( I know he couldn't play against his club even if fit) then hopefully with these two back next season and some good additions we could finally have something to look forward to.

Really remiss of me not to say how great our fans were last night, the atmosphere created at Hill Dickinson Stadium was absolutely brilliant.

Nostalgia will always mean we speak fondly of Goodison and all it meant to us all, but the atmosphere in our new home is getting right up to what we had at certain times at Goodison.

I was worried how the move would affect the atmosphere at the new ground; as it turns out, I needn't have worried. I should have known... put our fans anywhere and they will always come up trumps.

I said on the Live Forum the Haaland goal was a killer and could cost us and was told to Fuck Off (charming) but I know people's passions run high during the game (just ask my missus).

Game management needs reviewing; three games on the bounce now, and we have bottled it.

Brian, nice to hear your match goers view, it compares with mine from the couch, but in fairness to James Garner, he was a busy defender last night.

There were many 'what if's and 'What The Fuck's in last nights game, but at the end we had all seen some great competitive stuff, that in itself was refreshing, and 6 goals was entertaining.

A great night for those in the stadium who made and enjoyed the atmosphere. :)

I learned

1) If you stand off City like we did in the first half, you will barely see the ball.
2) When you do get the ball, hopeful punts upfield to Beto won't get the job done
3) Despite the good qualities of some of our players, we simply don't have enough people with enough technique in the team to pass our way through midfield from the back. Hence the punts.
4) Their wide players had our full backs on toast, especially Doku on Jake, and thus we need better, specialist full backs.
5) Rohl may not be Doku explosive over a couple of yards but when he hits his stride, he is surprisingly quick. In a side with such a lack of pace, he is surely better than the snail like McNeil on the right.

What changed in the second half? We pushed noticeably higher, City didn't have so much time on the ball and frankly they panicked. We started winning the ball higher up the pitch and instead of long hoofs, could play it into channels more. Given I don't think we can play our way through midfield, that looks like a better template. Only Moyes will know why we stood off them so much in the first half.

Andy 10

You definitely see more on the box than being there and I am sure Sky keep showing th egoals, and sometimes at the match you don't always see everything, so maybe I was a bit harsh on James Garner.
With being at the game you cant always judge how the atmosphere comes across on the box, but I can assure you our fans were brilliant.

I thought we did okay against Doku until Patterson came on and showed all the defensive nous of a 5-year-old.

Whilst he scored in the first half, this ultimately came from Tim losing possession in his own box and Doku was closer to the right wing than the left.

He did attack O'Brien and Röhl and looked dangerous, but I thought the panic was more amongst the fans than the players, tbh.

I would love to know what Pep was saying to Jordan Pickford when the game was finished?

What is it with referees and time added on? If the board flashes up "+ 6 " then 6 minutes it should be. Adding a couple of minutes more for whatever reason other than an evidently bad injury is questionable; while messing about with extra seconds for substitutions is simply ludicrous! If a player goes down after a tackle and rolls around as though hit by a truck, the referee should be able to quickly assess his condition and call for medical help if required. The medical team should then take him off quickly on a wheeled gurney and allow play to continue. Also, why do player s need re-hydration breaks? The UK isn't exactly the Sahara desert!! What next -- coffee breaks?

PGMOL. Bringing the league into disrepute since 1992.

Brian@7, is the first person I have read criticising the first half performance but I have to agree with him.

I think City, were beginning to get a little bit frustrated before they got the breakthrough, but it might have also been the best thing to happen to Everton, because we were a much brighter team in the second half.

I never went, even though I think I will always be a person who prefers to watch a game from inside the stadium, rather than on the television, but the thing I learned the most from watching on TV, was that Barry, has been doing loads of weights on his arms.

Purple Aki, wouldn’t have left him alone after seeing those biceps, so let’s hope those two goals do him the power of good, plus his Arsenal mates, would have also been absolutely buzzing last night!

I think I learned that Rohl, and possibly Armstrong, should have been played into a role of closing out matches.

We are too often sitting back, conceding space, allowing teams to advance. There should be an understanding of who the ball carrier(s) and/or the distributor is late in the match.

There should be a direct effort with fresh legs off the bench at the 70 min mark. Just frustrate their attack before it gets into rhythm. Even if we end up chasing, don't let them get to the final third and patiently possess the ball.

Rohl probably deserves to start matches. I trust Armstrong's positional awareness. They both have enough pace to divert or turn attacks back.

Rohl should be given a roaming role that uses his speed. Armstrong would perhaps need a bit more from positional partnerships but is capable of handling the duties. We have relied too much on Gueye for that work.

John @ 14, Me too, it didn't look particularly friendly to my eyes. Was he having a pop at Jordan's supposed 'time-wasting'? If so, he needs to look closer to home.

I thought Tim and Merlin were very good last night... probably won't see either of them again this season!!!

Man City's second goal just killed us, I believe.

Just imagine, my fellow Blues, if that was a Cup Final... would we've have gone on to win the game in extra time and even if it went to penalties?

Every Blue on the planet sadly knows what would happen. And of course, many refs would naturally side with City on every decision they made!

Always the Bridesmaid... etc.

We need to find a braver management team that would push us on to get the fourth goal when we went 3-1 up... it's really that simple!\

Ndiaye needs to hang his head in shame too, three fucking times he should've rolled it square for a teammate to tap it home... but no, cos he's greedy sadly.

As a punishment, he needs to be benched and give George a chance down at Palace. It won't happen of course!... Sigh.

What did we learn?

That Moyes should have picked Röhl regularly for the last 3 months!

As Beto and Barry so rarely play in the same team, their combined goals as"Everton striker" put them 3rd behind Haaland and Thiago.

I don't really know what to make of that.

Goals per minute per player, Josh?

I don't really think that 'they threw it all away' is relevant from last nights match. The stone wall penalty last night would have given us a 4-2 lead and even City couldn't come back from that. There also would not have been as much added time either as the penalty would have eaten up the minutes and you don't add time in lieu of penalties as they are part of the run of the game. The main delay was Tim going off the pitch with a little help. As it was, the ref allowed 90 seconds over the 7 minutes to be played. Where did that come from. Wonder if the ref met the City team coach at Knutsford service station and handed over an nice new (and bulky) brown envelope for his collection.

John @ 25. How dare you infer that there may be something dodgy about our referees. Don’t you know that they are the best and most honest officials in the world !

I have to admit that after the first 10 minutes I thought young Merlin needed substituted.
He was all over the place.
However, as the game went on he became more influential, so much so, I think he deserves to start next game.
Probably as he was a bit game rusty it took him time to get into it.
If he can start games like he finished this one he’ll do well. What a turn of pace!

I also thought Tim had a really good game and similarly to Merlin, deserves to keep his place next game.

Billy agreed about Ndaiye, there have been calls to start him as the main forward but for me that's a non starter, his finishing is as bad as the other 2, ok he scores the odd worldie but if that would have been Barry or Beto missing those chances against City the abuse would have been next level,he wants locking up for not converting at least one of those chances

Merlin is a wizard. Sorry. He should start the next three games and see how he does.
I would like Delap in the summer as I think he would prosper with us.
Hopefully Dybling will prove his worth in his second season, he is too highly rated to be a total dud.
Buy a decent right back who is mobile and get O Brien in the centre with Branthwaite. Think this would be a great pairing. Tarkowski as cover as he has struggled at times this season.
Find a ball winning midfielder to save Gueyes legs so he can be rested when required.
Do not sell Ndiaye, but he needs to gain consistency
I would sign Grealish if possible, he is a class player and makes the difference in big moments. We need good footballers who can make killer passes, link with team mates and he offers this.
I don't think we could cope with two games per week with the present squad, but this season has seen a massive improvement on recent years, A similar step forwards next season would have us comfortably in the top eight.

Finally, can we please have one good cup run. Its been a while.

John 27,

I think he was selected to nullify O'Reilly, but in the first half he struggled and O'Reilly caused us problems (as did Doku all night).

I think the management sorted that at half-time and Röhl looked a better player in the second half.

Man City are a great side and they have matchwinners all over. Any team that can leave the likes of Foden on the bench is obviously a class act and Everton losing a 3-1 lead is no shameful act.

However, this has become a conundrum of late: first Liverpool, then woeful West Ham... and now Man City. Luckily they got a point from this game in the end but they lost out in the other games.

I suppose it's the story of a topsy-turvy season and at least there were no signs of dropping into the relegation battle.

Optimistically there is a lot to point to a better season next time with quite a few youngsters maturing and stepping up but it all depends on some of the weak spots being dealt with and also Moyes improving his strategies in the late stages of games -- which may of course mean replacing the current defensive set up as well as Moyes himself for many fans.

I wrote before the Man City game that Moyes should have enough arguments for a new contract, win or lose. I did not mention a draw scenario.

In a few weeks time, he is going to be asked to explain why Rohl and Patterson have not been given more time, say against West Ham and earlier?

Do you remember Rohl hit the post when he lasted started for Everton. Then he disappeared from selection. Why?

I am sure he will also be asked why he played Alcaraz against Man City. He has shown before that he cannot defend very well. In fact, if he had charged Doku instead of standing still, then he might have blocked his shot on goal.

One question is sure to pop up for him. He spent over £100M on players and subsequent £11M+ on wages, and he is saying only £28M has been spent wisely. So why should they trust him to spend another £50M+??

Why should any player under 22 possibly sign for us when they will not get a game?

I think a new system of player appraisal before purchasing will come in soon. We are committed to buy Rohl for £17M I think is the figure.

I don't think it would be wrong for the club to talk with Glasner at the end of the season, get him to explain what he thinks of our players and how he would play them. Along with what players he might buy.

Remember when Moyes left last time, he went to see Mr Kenwright just after the season ended and explained he would not be renewing his contract.

I think we learnt that Iroegbunam and Rohl can step up, and provide a very interesting base that could complement Garner, Dewsbury-Hall, Ndiaye, and the choosen striker. But we need to see that over 10, 20 games, rather than getting giddy after 1 match.

Higher tempo, more possession, more energy, more chances, is the way to move away from the anti-football weve been playing for years.

The game at Palace isn't going to be easy, but I am keen to see what we've got, and guide what we need going forward. Right-wing still feels short and the defence still worries me. It has a soft centre, Mykolenko gets done at the far post far too easily.

I don't dislike O'Brien at right-back, he is just weak passing and crossing, which blunts attacks, particularly at home.

Looking forward to see how the squad changes over the summer. I don't think it will change massively, and I hope focus is on quality over quantity.

Frank #32,

So if Everton had lost to Man City, Moyes would have enough arguments for a new contract but, given that it was a draw, he is somehow in a weaker position to argue for a new contract?

That doesn't make an awful lot of sense.

We need a modern centre-back with quality and pace who can replace Tarkowski or Keane. I think, to progress to the next level, we should do away with Tarkowski and Keane.

Both do not deserve to start. They are good defenders but both have mistakes in them. Unfortunately, we are going to have the same defence next season. Our defence works very hard but switches off in critical moments.

This has cost us a position to compete in Europe for next season. If we avoided these mistakes, we could have at least had 3 or 4 points more with a strong chance of Europa League football next season.