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Match Ratings Ratings vs Everton

MOTM

  • Lloris

    Votes: 2 2.2%
  • Walker-Peters

    Votes: 8 8.6%
  • Toby

    Votes: 2 2.2%
  • Dier

    Votes: 7 7.5%
  • Davies

    Votes: 2 2.2%
  • Sissoko

    Votes: 36 38.7%
  • Eriksen

    Votes: 10 10.8%
  • Dele

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Moura

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Lamela

    Votes: 4 4.3%
  • Llorente

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Wanyama

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Jansen

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Skipp

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Undecided

    Votes: 7 7.5%
  • Team Effort

    Votes: 7 7.5%
  • None Deserved

    Votes: 8 8.6%

  • Total voters
    93

JCRD

Well-Known Member
Aug 10, 2018
19,153
30,013
It was a meh game but Lucad did play well first half

I felt Lucas played so so deep in the second half and not sure why - he was like a midfielder... found that strange
 

DenverSpur

Well-Known Member
Sep 25, 2011
1,915
5,508
So why do you think that might be the case? Do you want to analyse it or just to complain about it? I'd direct the same question to three quarters of the thread.

Let's break it down. A season of fifty-seven matches with an injury list usually between five and ten means reduced rotation and more load on the same small group of players. The majority of our starting-11 group, which actually comprises about 16 players, spent the summer at the World Cup and nine of them played all the way through to the semi-final. Our second-best goalscorer played in three international competitions this season, as well as having to play long sequences of games without a break when our best goalscorer was injured twice. Our first-choice creative midfielder played nearly everyone of those 57 games, for want of an alternative, because the alternative spent most of the season injured. Our right back had a disappointing season and came in for a lot of stick, but no one here ever commented on the fact that he never got through a single game for the past 3 months (at least) without grabbing at his right groin at least once - Trippier has been carrying a minor injury all season.

They're exhausted. Knackered. Playing on fumes. It just fucks me off that everyone moans on and on about them "not showing up" and "not trying". WALOB.

The second half today was dreadful because we gave the ball away to the opposition at least 40 times under minimal pressure. That's a clear sign of mental and physical exhaustion. If we hadn't kept losing the ball, there might have been some continuity to our play and some of our promising attacks might have ended in a shot instead of just dribbling away into nothing.

Let's hope the players can get some mojo back during the next three weeks. But this season's long injury list and late-season slump were so obviously a product of overwork, wear and tear and lack of pre-season rest that it's just bloody ridiculous to read people blaming lack of effort and desire.

All valid points that I don’t necessarily disagree with but the thing is Poch could have done something about it. He had funds available in the summer and in January but chose not to buy(or loan) anyone. He could have made more use of fringe players(Foyth, KWP, N’Koudou, Llorente), he could have made more use of the Academy (Skipp could have had more minutes, Roles, Marsh etc could have got some game time), he could have recalled Onomah, Edwards or CV. There lots of things he could have done to give core players more rest but he chose not to. You could argue that if he had done any of the above results would have suffered but with 11 points out of our last 13 games I’m not sure how much worse things could have been! The reason Eriksen has to play virtually every game is that we’ve refused over the last 3 seasons to buy a decent understudy despite the fact that we are completely devoid of creativity when he is missing( either in body or spirit).He’s probably the only first team regular who does not have a natural replacement. Poch’s job is to manage all of the resources at his disposal to the benefit of the team. We all know of games were we’re well ahead and in control and yet players like Kane, Eriksen, Sissoko etc are not substituted to give them a rest and give game time to fringe/Academy players.
 

glospur

Well-Known Member
May 19, 2015
2,608
9,806
LOL we're physically, mentally and emotionally drained a few days after one of the biggest wins in the entire history of the club with our CL qualification all but secured, and as a result we put in a bit of a flat performance, but still got out of it what we needed. But nah, fuck 'em, apparently. What an absolute joke. Some people have no perspective whatsoever.
 

jonnyp

Well-Known Member
Jun 11, 2006
7,149
9,628
Goals conceded per match (all competitions):

2014/15: 1.23
2015/16: 0.94
2016/17: 0.83
2017/18: 0.95
2018/19: 1.09

Seems pretty consistent to me.

Look at the goals we have let in this season. The amount of comical errors and bad defending by our own players is a shambles, not because the other team outplayed us. I don't watch stats, I watch games. And it's a pretty huge difference letting in less than one goal a game than letting in more than one goal a game even if the difference looks small numbers-wise.
 
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