Everton 21/22: Fat Man and Little Boy(s)

OCST

Sunny von Bulow
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For the past few years, I've started this thread with a burst of enthusiasm over Everton having won the transfer window, a projection of earning a place in Europe, and an altogether un-Evertonian sparkle. Of course, as the days would get shorter, the winds would get colder, the festive period string of defeats would get longer, the cup exits would follow one upon the next, the expensive acquisitions would strain and struggle, and the manager would be sent packing, I would be left to sift through the wreckage and convince myself that we really didn't want that last European spot anyway.

Well.

A bit different now with Carlo F'n Ancelotti at the helm.

Everton were bright last season after Carlo took over, but began to run out of gas just before the COVID shutdown. Several injuries and departures in midfield left that unit painfully thin in the restart, with only Gylfi Sigurdsson (terrible), Tom Davies (worse) and Andre Gomes, still not fully recovered from being maimed by Son,who was subsequently awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his performative anguish over his dirty play. The opposition routinely ripped the Toffees apart in the middle of the park, butThe Toffees limped to a 12th place finish.

You know what happened. Carlo, rather improbably to many, brought in James, who had been languishing on the bench at RM, but who had been a Carlo favorite there and at Munich. Carlo also went pilfering at Napoli, his last stop before Merseyside, and brought in Allan. Watford, who have been the Kansas City A's to Everton's Yankees in the past few seasons as far as a development farm, obligingly coughed up Abdoulaye Doucoure. I didn't want to get too far ahead of myself, but secretly wet myself a little because if this new group gelled, the Toffees could have one of the better midfields in the league.

And here we are.

Carlo has lined up in a 4-3-3, with a midfield three of Gomes, the attacking-minded mid; Allan, the relentless ball-winner and dirty-worker; and Doucoure, the high-energy box-to-box guy, with a good shot from distance. These three have been very good.

But the secret sauce has been James. Lots of folks thought that he was past his prime, or couldn't adapt to the PL game, and they were dead wrong. James is ostensibly on the right of a front three with Calvert-Lewin in the middle and Richarlison on the left, but he has a green light to drift at will. If you haven't seen him play yet - make a point of it. More than one commentator has called him "silky." Everything he does looks effortless. His passes are perfectly weighted - and Richarlison and DCL are getting on the ends of them. He has 5 goals to lead the PL (Vardy just tied him I think)? Carlo has ordered DCL to stop running the channels and to stay in the box to poach and he is doing a bang-up job. Richarlison has only one to date, but has looked very bright (to be fair, Calvert-Lewin vultured two goals that could have been Richy's).

Carlo joked, sort of, that he wanted 20 goals from both Richarlison and DCL, since even he could score that many with that midfield behind them, and Calvert-Lewin is already a quarter of the way there after three games.

Lucas Digne is up there with the best left-backs in the league and is a great assist man and set-piece taker. Seamus Coleman, on the right, is having something of a renaissance; he compeltely shut down Zaha in the Toffees' win over Palace yesterday (first time in four seasons that Zaha had 0 dribbles past an opponent). A bit thin at CB, with Mason Holgate's injury. Michael Keane is maybe the most improved player on the roster since Carlo took over and has been rock solid, even chipping in with a couple of goals. Yerry Mina is talented, but still raw and does some goofy things (against Palace he fell to ground and twice tried heading the ball along the floor, before handling it).

The disappointment has been in goal. Jordan Pickford is a great reflexive shot stopper, but an immature boob. He commands his box poorly and rone to the big lapse in concentration, as Divock Origi will tell you.

So with this start:

Tottenham 0-1 Everton
Fleetwood Town 2-5 Everton (League Cup)
Everton 5-2 West Brom
Everton 3-0 Salford (League Cup)
Crystal Palace 1-2 Everton

Everton have won their first five domestic games, all comps, for the first time in 80 years.

The win at Palace was aided with an iffy handball call on Joel Ward, but while the result was harsh for Palace, Everton were the better side IMO. Palace were physical, Everton were tired, so it was a gut-it-out second half and they got it over the line. James gave way for Sigurdsson, who seems to be doing OK as a deeper-lying midfielder when called upon.

It's a good time to be a Blue, for now.
 

ninjacornelius

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The most pleasant surprise in this young campaign has been that none of the results have been particularly flukey. Using Michael Caley's expected goals model, Everton's xG vs. xGA on the season is 6.4-1.8. They've had some finishing luck (scoring about 1.6 more goals than expected), but also some finishing luck against (although how much of that is luck and how much of it is Pickford being below-average is too early to tell at this point). But they're currently at a +4.6 xG differential, which pretty much aligns with their +4 actual goal differential.

Everton have outshot their opponents, have had more shots on target, and have created more big scoring chances in every match so far this season. You could try to qualify these results (Spurs didn't have Bale and Reguilon, West Brom can't defend, Palace got done in by an iffy handball), but the fact remains that they've been the better team for three straight weeks. I know it's happened more recently, but it feels like this hasn't been true of any three-match sample since Roberto Martinez' first year at the club when they finished 5th.

And they're just so fun to watch right now. The buildup for the first goal against Palace, where Doucoure fed James who played a one-touch pass to Coleman who then cut back to find DCL wide open six yards in front of goal, had me jumping out of my seat. Allan is the stabilizing midfield force that we've needed ever since Idrissa Gueye left. Michael Keane may have finally made the leap. I'm not totally sold on Doucoure yet, but I thought that he did really well in the second half against Palace running toe-to-toe with Zaha. And aesthetically speaking, James is the most enjoyable Everton player to watch since either young Romelu Lukaku or young Mikel Arteta. It's still unbelievable to me that he chose to come here. We aren't supposed to have nice things.

This is still a paper-thin squad, despite having what I assume to be one of the most expensive benches in the PL. It's bad enough that they have to play Lucas Digne as CB during cup games because they don't have enough warm bodies, but if they're put in a position where they have to give meaningful minutes to Tom Davies, Gylfi Sigurdsson, Fabian Delph, or Alex Iwobi, then it could all come crashing down and we could see another season of mid-table obscurity.

But if, IF, they can make it through the season relatively healthy, then we might be looking at something special here.
 

OurF'ingCity

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As per usual OCST said it way better than I could. James is great - to connect this to the Celtics, he kind of feels like Hayward in that sometimes he doesn’t immediately stand out as a playmaker but the whole team just seems to flow so much better with him than without him.

Coleman has long been one of my favorite Toffees just for his attitude and his veteran presence so I’m glad to see him somewhat returning to form, and totally agree about Digne - ably filling Baines’s role as the key cog in the defense. I’m a little bit less sold on Keane and agree Mina is hit or miss so I would like them to see them upgrade there when possible. (Doucoure also makes some questionable choices, particularly in the CP game, but overall I think he adds more than he takes away.)

Pickford is what he is at this point. Not entirely sure where the easy upgrade at goalie is, so they might just have to ride or die with him for the time being.

But, yes, this is the most excited I’ve been as an Everton fan in a long time and frankly even though it’s early a finish outside of the top 6 this year would feel like a massive letdown.
 

67YAZ

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No doubt James remains a world class attacker, but the question is health. Can he make it the full 38 plus cup ties? I hope so, the league and Everton are so much better with him in it. Well, except for the derbies. He can rest his hamstrings during those matches.
 

Morgan's Magic Snowplow

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No doubt James remains a world class attacker, but the question is health. Can he make it the full 38 plus cup ties? I hope so, the league and Everton are so much better with him in it. Well, except for the derbies. He can rest his hamstrings during those matches.
His bizarre career has left him a total outlier among top players in terms of playing time, so its hard to know what to expect. He has only played over 2000 minutes once since the 2014-15 season and not once over 2700. On the one hand, that means a lot fewer miles on his tires than many other players at similar stages in his career. On the other hand, who knows how that body holds up when asked to play >3000 minutes for the first time since he initially arrived in Madrid.

I agree that he is great to have him in the Premier League and at Everton. Class player and a bit of a shame that he couldn't get out of Madrid earlier in his career.
 

OCST

Sunny von Bulow
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The most pleasant surprise in this young campaign has been that none of the results have been particularly flukey.
This is true.

And they're just so fun to watch right now. The buildup for the first goal against Palace, where Doucoure fed James who played a one-touch pass to Coleman who then cut back to find DCL wide open six yards in front of goal, had me jumping out of my seat...We aren't supposed to have nice things.
This is also true. James had the hockey assist here so it's not reflected in his stats, but this goal does not happen without his pass - an unobtrusive little bleeder that just rolled obediently right onto Coleman's boot as he ran full speed. Effortless, silky, buttery, it just seems as if James glides through games while everyone around him huffs and puffs.

This is still a paper-thin squad, despite having what I assume to be one of the most expensive benches in the PL. It's bad enough that they have to play Lucas Digne as CB during cup games because they don't have enough warm bodies, but if they're put in a position where they have to give meaningful minutes to Tom Davies, Gylfi Sigurdsson, Fabian Delph, or Alex Iwobi, then it could all come crashing down and we could see another season of mid-table obscurity.
Yep. Another body at CB would help. Holgate and Keane is the best pair right now. 6'5" academy product Jarrad Branthwaite looked promising as the CB in limited action in the restart and they would have been OK with him as the #4CB, but he's also out along with Holgate so another body is needed. Kurt Zouma may be coaxed back for another loan from Chelsea, Tomori was also linked, but Chelsea are having trouble sorting their defense at the moment.

Coleman at RB is covered by Jonjoe Kenny, who did decently well at Schalke last year but seems not quite up to PL level.

A very exciting prospect who the Toffees scooped up for nothing is Niels Nkonkou, a French teenager from Marseille. He's turned heads in the League Cup games - assured on the ball, lively off it. The only downside is that he plays at RB, behind Digne, one of the better players in the squad.

But if, IF, they can make it through the season relatively healthy, then we might be looking at something special here.
Yep.

A bit of a kick in the balls that it's happening to empty stadiums. It would be so much fun to watch Goodison rocking with this side, and also to make my first trip there. I was supposed to go last Thanksgiving, ended up not being able to, but it was a miserable 0-2 home loss to Norwich that left Marco Silva's axing a foregone conclusion, the derby was the nail in the coffin.
 

OCST

Sunny von Bulow
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Pickford is what he is at this point. Not entirely sure where the easy upgrade at goalie is, so they might just have to ride or die with him for the time being.
Tough spot. The payroll and roster are too big. Can't buy someone "better" than Pickford without selling him first, but there's no one on the roster ready to push him. I agree that he's locked in as the starter this season. I hope Carlo can man-manage him into not being a doofus, but expectations are low.
 

ninjacornelius

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But if, IF, they can make it through the season relatively healthy, then we might be looking at something special here.
Welp.

Richarlison, Allan, and Jonjoe Kenny all left today's Carabao Cup match with injuries. Allan's looked to be the most serious, as it seems like a groin pull. The other two had ankle injuries of unknown severity. I shouldn't be surprised because it's Everton, but, fuck. I'm gutted.

But on the bright side, they're cruising past West Ham right now to make it to the Cup quarterfinals. DCL has a hat trick, making it 8 goals in 5 matches for him across all comps. My man is going supernova at the moment.
 
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OurF'ingCity

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For what it's worth Ancelotti said he didn't think the injuries would be too bad. They also have the international break coming up after this weekend so that's an extra week of rest right there. But, agreed, Allan's injury did seem to be the worst and would have to imagine he'll be out the longest, which sucks even if it's only for a game or two.
 

Rwillh11

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Thought Delph and Sigurdsson looked pretty good today. Delph energetic defensively and looked composted on the ball. Sigurdsson has looked far better than last year; playing alongside a defensively solid midfielder seems to really let him focus on creating. Presumably one of them will slot in against Brighton. Even if Allan and Richarlison both miss out, we should be able to put out a strong team against Brighton.

If either player is out much past the international break, things could get a little dicier, but barring anything else there is the depth right now so that it's not a disaster like last year.
 

OCST

Sunny von Bulow
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Siggy is ok in this role. I’m not a fan of Delph at all but he was decent.

The player we need to be talking about is Big Mick Keggers. Last year he played himself out of the Everton and England XIs with some horrid performances, his confidence was shot. Carlo has worked wonders with him and now he’s not only heading away every cross into the box like a footballing Mutumbo, he’s showing confidence and adventure on the ball... and dare I say a feathery touch? For DCLs first goal he did a little Cruyff-turn-esque type thing to turn upfield and then from the middle of the park he hit a sweet little rainbow of a ball that dipped over the WH defenders and hit Dom in stride for him to one touch past the keeper.

View: https://youtu.be/vA_m_7bD-1k

I mean that’s gorgeous. Big goofy CBS can’t do that, right? I was on my feet.

DCL’s hat tricks in 2 consecutive games at Goodison is the first time in 60+ years.

Heady times. Just hope Allan is OK. So great having him alongside James. It’s like having a midfield of Fred Astaire alongside Animal from the Muppet Show.
 
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OCST

Sunny von Bulow
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DCL gets his first ever England call-up. I hate international play that involves my club players because I'm just praying that they don't get hurt, but it's a lifetime dream for him and he's thrilled, so.

Light on midfielders here.

34573
 

ninjacornelius

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Andre Gomes picked up a knock and he's out for tomorrow against Brighton, along with Allan. I have no idea what the midfield will look like this weekend, but I thought Gylfi and Delph acquitted themselves reasonably well midweek. Richarlison will have a fitness test and could still be in the squad. If he can't go, I'm guessing it'll be Iwobi on the left. Yay.

In much happier news, Ancelloti thinks that Allan will be back after the international break: “After the international break, Allan will be ready, 100 per cent. Jonjoe is out for four weeks. Gomes I think will be ready - if we played Sunday or Monday he’d be ready.”

I think Brighton is unlucky not to be sitting on 9 points right now -- they outplayed both Chelsea and (especially) Manchester United. I'm looking forward to tomorrow's match much more than I would've expected at the start of the season.
 

OCST

Sunny von Bulow
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I think Brighton is unlucky not to be sitting on 9 points right now -- they outplayed both Chelsea and (especially) Manchester United. I'm looking forward to tomorrow's match much more than I would've expected at the start of the season.
Agree. I watched some of their Utd game and they dragged them all over the park.

In other news, Everton close in on CB Ben Godfrey of Norwich

https://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/sport/football/transfer-news/ben-godfrey-takes-step-towards-19041558
Supposedly a 25M fee and 5 year deal.

Another CB was needed, but this isn't the guy you get just to hold a spot until Holgate comes back from injury in a month. There will be a pretty intense competition between Godfrey, Holgate, Mina, and Keane for the starting spots. Of the three currently in the squad, Mina is the odd man out once Holgate gets back. Holgate was a squad player who blossomed into one of Everton's best players after a year-long loan at West Brom in 2018/19. The fans all wanted to dump Keane at this time last year but his improvement under Carlo has been stunning and he'd walk into most PL sides at CB right now. Mina is bigger than either but is raw and injury prone. Jarrad Brathwaite, the 6'6" teenager, appears to be #5 now.
 

OCST

Sunny von Bulow
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34713

Indulge me - this is new territory for me - my knees are shaking a bit.

Everton win their first seven in all comps for the first time since, ever.

Of course they will come down off of this, and how they respond to the inevitable slump will tell us much. But the most encouraging thing is that the scintillating form has been accompanied by (brought about by) high spirits and a great feeling around the side. This group has jelled - it feels like they've been playing together for years. New acquisitions and old hands, English, European, and South American - everyone is playing for the shirt and for each other, with one exception, see below. Whether it's competition or better players around them, the level of play of underperformers like Davies, Iwobi and Sigurdsson is much improved.

On Saturday, Everton 4-2 Brighton.

DCL outjumping the mammoth Brighton CBs, a thumper off the huge forehead of Yerry Mina, and two sweet strokes from a silky James. Despite that James scored two and set up another, Mina got many MoTM shouts - he was that good in front of goal. Davies and Sigurdsson deputized ably for the injured Allan and Gomes, Davies looking solid in a deeper lying midfield spot and Sigurdsson showing enough quality on the ball to be effective. His lack of physicality has been a problem for the Toffees, but with Docoure buzzing around the middle of the park like Taz, he could play his game and worry less about getting his kit dirty.

But the fly in the ointment continues to be England's Number One. Pickford turned a simple chance in the six-yard box into a hand grenade and Maupay pounced. His errors are worrying, his immmaturity and lack of focus even moreso. He was excellent in the first game against Spurts, but has been poor since then, including against lower-league competition in the cup games. His poor performance and doofy demeanor WILL cost the team in both points and esprit de corps. Let's hope Carlo can get his head straight.

International break, and then the Merseyside derby. I was hoping that the Reds would beat Villa so we could have two unbeatens squaring off. Oh well.

Edit: I'm keeping the typo, and may continue to use it in the future.
 
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OCST

Sunny von Bulow
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A solid window closes with a few other moves.

--Theo Walcott brings it full circle with a loan to Southampton for the last year of his Everton deal, salary split 50/50.

https://www.theguardian.com/football/2020/oct/05/theo-walcott-leaves-everton-and-returns-to-southampton-after-14-years
I wish him well. He was intermittently decent, occasionally serviceable, most often terrible, but only because of the passage of time. His attitude was always professional and he's a good guy. Everton take a big loss on the deal but getting him out of the squad and getting half of his salary paid by someone else is a win.

--Sandro Ramirez leaves on a free to Huesca, of whom I've never heard before today; they're a newly promoted side in La Liga:

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-8808477/LaLiga-newcomers-Huesca-complete-signing-Everton-flop-Sandro-Ramirez-free-transfer.html
Toffees blew huge sums of cash on Sandro, who is probably the biggest bust in their history and that's no mean feat.

--Supposedly a deal was closed just at the end of the window for GK Robin Olsen of Roma:

https://royalbluemersey.sbnation.com/2020/10/5/21502131/everton-transfer-deadline-day-live-blog-walcott-confirmed-robin-olsen-roma-deal-bernard-besic-news
 

PedroSpecialK

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Given his relatively low fee, I'm surprised you'd say Sandro's a bigger flop than Davy Klaassen / Morgan Schneiderlin / Yannick Bolasie / Cenk Tosun / Nikola Vlasic / Moise Kean (to date)
 
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Rwillh11

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Given his relatively low fee, I'm surprised you'd say Sandro's a bigger flop than Davy Klaassen / Morgan Schneiderlin / Yannick Bolasie / Cenk Tosun / Nikola Vlasic / Moise Kean (to date)
With Sandro it wasn't the fee - which was low because of release clause in his contract. He was coming off a big season in Spain, was ranked as one of the top prospects in Europe (he was in the Guardians top 100 young players in the world or something like that), etc. He was supposed to replace Lukaku and lead the line. He was signed on enormous wages because of the low fee - which also allowed us to lure him over Atletico. Then he was an absolute train wreck.

Schneiderlin at least was decent at first. Tosun has been a disappointment, but hasn't looked totally lost when he plays. Bolasie was fine before getting injured. Vlasic always seemed promising, and has done well since leaving - he seemed to be a victim of circumstance. Even Klaassen seemed to mostly be a victim of an odd recruitment strategy (sign every #10!) and did well in germany.

Kean is somewhat similar to Sandro - but even with Kean it seems like there might at least be a player in there. And of course, the Kean story also isn't over yet - he may do well at PSG and either have some resale value or come back into the team.
 

OCST

Sunny von Bulow
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With Sandro it wasn't the fee - which was low because of release clause in his contract. He was coming off a big season in Spain, was ranked as one of the top prospects in Europe (he was in the Guardians top 100 young players in the world or something like that), etc. He was supposed to replace Lukaku and lead the line. He was signed on enormous wages because of the low fee - which also allowed us to lure him over Atletico. Then he was an absolute train wreck.

Schneiderlin at least was decent at first. Tosun has been a disappointment, but hasn't looked totally lost when he plays. Bolasie was fine before getting injured. Vlasic always seemed promising, and has done well since leaving - he seemed to be a victim of circumstance. Even Klaassen seemed to mostly be a victim of an odd recruitment strategy (sign every #10!) and did well in germany.

Kean is somewhat similar to Sandro - but even with Kean it seems like there might at least be a player in there. And of course, the Kean story also isn't over yet - he may do well at PSG and either have some resale value or come back into the team.
100% this.

Shouldn’t have let Vlasic go imo. Has a nasty streak that I liked. Unlike Klaassen, who WB just let go back to Ajax.

Tosun has a poacher’s nose and a fantastic attitude. Just not physically gifted enough, a plodder. He was on loan to Palace and they liked him but he got hurt. He might be ok as a 4th forward but not your #9.
 

fletcherpost

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In all the madness, knowing you're happy cos of the Toffee's start to the season, does make me smile.

All these other clubs struggling to do business during the window and Everton get it done with minimal fuss, (as seen from the outside).

The Derby is gonna be fun.
 

OCST

Sunny von Bulow
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Give it up for Marcel Brands.
Remember this name: Niels Nkounkou. 19 yo LB brought in from Marseille on a free. Will turn out to be one of Brands' best pieces of business.

Yeah, I'm really buzzing.
 

PedroSpecialK

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Gotcha, makes more sense re: the low fee / high wages for Sandro.

This James guy might be in form now but he's got "bust" written all over him :fonz:
 

ninjacornelius

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Remember this name: Niels Nkounkou. 19 yo LB brought in from Marseille on a free.
Close: they paid £240,000 for him, which I think will be even funnier if he turns into the player he seems capable of being in a "60 grand 60 grand Seamus Coleman" kind of way.
 

OCST

Sunny von Bulow
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Bumping.

Toffees have been either fantastic or turrible this season. Our hot start was derailed when Richarlison sat out his suspension for his studs-up tackle of Thiago*. We took 0/9 points in losses to Southampton, Newcastle, and ManU. He's clearly the straw that stirs the drink. Not only does he fuel the attack, he's one of the most effective and energetic defenders in the side - at the top of tackles/90 min for attacking players, always tracking back.

Then Coleman and Digne got hurt. Carlo decided to go three at the back, I suppose because we have three good CB in Mina, Keane, and Godfrey. It didn't go well. They never looked comfortable. A rotating cast of mostly ineffectual midfielders took turns as wingbacks in what often played as a 5-2-3. It didn't work very well. A 3-2 win over Fulham and a 1-0 loss to Leeds, both scorelines flattering Everton - Fulham missed a penalty and were the better side for much of the game, and 5-2 Leeds would have reflected that game. Disorganized in defending, overrun in the middle of the park, labored in attack.

Started with the same formation against Burnley. Fanbase starting to wonder why our HoF Italian manager couldn't fix a porous defense and kept going back to an ineffectual formation. Worst fears were realized when some Burnley rando fired from distance at 3' and beat a leaky Pickford as sundry Everton CBs milled about ineffectually. As luck would have it, Fabian "Glass Joe" Delph, the left wingback, got hurt for the fifty-eighth time in an Everton uniform when a butterfly flew too close to him. Andre Gomes came on to join Allan and Doucoure in midfield and we switched to a back four, with Godfrey at RB and, rather scary at the time, expensive bust Alex Iwobi at RB. Despite the patchwork lineup, with the extra body in midfield, Toffees immediately looked better and salvaged a point with yet another DCL goal in the box. Godfrey was quite good and, surprisingly, Iwobi did fine.

With Chelsea and Leicester looming on the fixture list, James going down with a calf injury in training seemed ominous. But, confounding expectations yet again, Everton won both, beating Chelsea 1-0 and the Foxes 2-0 and looking solid in the process. Carlo went back to the 4-3-3 of the seven-game win streak (all comps) at the start of the season. Mason Holgate, recovered from injury, and Godfrey again, deputized as fullbacks in a back four, with Richy, DCL, and Iwobi up front in the James spot. Iwobi has been shockingly good in the role, earning serious MOTM consideration - the only problem being his poor passing touch, which is admittedly a huge problem for a wide player tasked with crossing to DCL. The back line has been excellent - not just good, but excellent. The midfield works much better as a three - Allan and Doucoure are a solid pair of ball-winners but need someone alongside with a little more attacking flair.

Unfortunately, Allan went down with a hamstring against Leicester. IMO he's been Everton's unsung hero this season, he does all the dirty work and has an insane work rate. Gomes has looked mostly ineffectual, Sigurdsson has turned in two monster games but has been awful all season, so Davies may be the best hope to provide some starch in the midfield, which is iffy. James is not back yet either.

Schizophrenia. An all-time best start, an awful stretch against middling competition (5/21 points) and then two convincing wins over two top-four sides even with stars on the bench and players out of position. After falling as low as 12th in the table, a win over Arsenal today puts us in a CL place.
 

OCST

Sunny von Bulow
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That's right baby.

Everton 20-21

7th PL
League Cup Finalist
THIS TIME WE MEAN IT
 

Rwillh11

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224
It's really interesting that the good run of form has come not only without James, but also without Digne and Coleman. They've look really solid defensively, and very dangerous on the counter. Godfrey is a really exciting player and has been immense the last three games. Iwobi has been excellent and Sigurdsson has actually been quite good. I would disagree with OCST that he has been awful outside of two games - for the most part he has been solid. He obviously isn't James, but this year he has brought a lot to the table and is miles better than last season.

Now Coleman is back and supposedly James should be healthy for the games this week as well. James doesn't really fit in the current formation. If Ancelotti wants to play him on the right, it's Iwobi who misses out - but he has been one of our best players while James has been out. If you replace Iwobi with James, you are giving up a ton of pace on the wing and defensive cover as well. Especially if Coleman is back in the team and pushing forward, that's a scary right hand side defensively. The logical thing might be to swap out Sigurdsson and have James play centrally and drop a little deeper than he was. But unclear if Ancelotti sees it that way.
 

OCST

Sunny von Bulow
SoSH Member
Jan 10, 2004
24,483
The 718
It's really interesting that the good run of form has come not only without James, but also without Digne and Coleman. They've look really solid defensively, and very dangerous on the counter. Godfrey is a really exciting player and has been immense the last three games. Iwobi has been excellent and Sigurdsson has actually been quite good. I would disagree with OCST that he has been awful outside of two games - for the most part he has been solid. He obviously isn't James, but this year he has brought a lot to the table and is miles better than last season.

Now Coleman is back and supposedly James should be healthy for the games this week as well. James doesn't really fit in the current formation. If Ancelotti wants to play him on the right, it's Iwobi who misses out - but he has been one of our best players while James has been out. If you replace Iwobi with James, you are giving up a ton of pace on the wing and defensive cover as well. Especially if Coleman is back in the team and pushing forward, that's a scary right hand side defensively. The logical thing might be to swap out Sigurdsson and have James play centrally and drop a little deeper than he was. But unclear if Ancelotti sees it that way.
Dire performance last night in bombing out of the Carabao Cup, 0-2 to ManU.

One change was Coleman at RB instead of Holgate. As you said, Coleman's game is to get forward, and that made the back four less solid.

But the biggest problem was in midfield, as it has been too often. Allan was sorely missed. Gomes started. He was awful. Beyond bad. At his best he has little to offer defensively, but at least can get forward and thread a nice pass. He didn't even do that. Bruno and Pogba ran wild in the middle of the park. Everton looked beyond bad. The first 20 minutes was the worst stretch of football I've seen from them in a long time. Utd could easily have scored 3 or 4, some combination of luck and barely-off finishing keeping them from scoring. Not only was the shape all wrong, even the best players in the right places were making unforced errors left and right. The whole team looked drunk. They pulled together for some semi-effective spells of play but there was not much menace in it.

Davies should have started for Gomes, but when he came on at 60' he was poor. Inexplicably, he loitered in front of the back four instead of manning the midfield, leaving even more of a gaping hole in the middle.

It looked like it was heading to penalties when Cavani buried a screamer at 87'. A garbage time goal followed.

The officiating was awful. Cavani confronted Mina with his hands at his throat and shoved him to the ground. Should have been sent off, would have been with VAR. In another incident, Bruno pushed Richarlison in the back, straight into the path of Bailly who was coming in recklessly, feet off the ground. Richarlison was flattened, had to leave the game, looked like he could have been concussed.

But Toffees were exposed as having a thin bench and, with Allan and the Snuffaluffagus-like Jean-Pierre Gbamin out (supposedly ready to return after the New Year) there's just not enough resistance in the midfield.
 

swiftaw

Member
SoSH Member
Jan 31, 2009
3,434
An unnamed Everton player has been arrested on suspicion of child-sex offenses. Only details are he's 31 and married. Interwebs seem to think its Sigurdsson. Everton have issued a statement saying a first team player has been suspended pending police investigation.
 

OCST

Sunny von Bulow
SoSH Member
Jan 10, 2004
24,483
The 718
Early in his career it seemed as if he would Spur on to greater heights, but this will probably be his Swan song. He has Ice in his veins as a pass-threading No. 10, but is soft as a Toffee when it comes to getting stuck in on a tackle.

Who is our mysterious pedophile?
 

OCST

Sunny von Bulow
SoSH Member
Jan 10, 2004
24,483
The 718
Another report (Icelandic) that it's Gylfi.

I'd prefer nobody did shit like this, but I really hope it isn't him. I've always enjoyed watching him play.
He single handedly dragged Swansea up to mid table, they went down as soon as-he left. Of course he was the linchpin on an Iceland side that punched far above its weight.

But for Everton he’s been an enigma. Even when the sides most productive player he has seemed like a luxury player- moments of brilliance but mostly a passenger for 80 minutes. He has a way of coasting through games - there are several damning photos of him loafing around snd pointing at attacking players, ie “you go tackle him, Yerry,” instead of sprinting over and getting stuck in. The horrible derby FA Cup loss at Anfield to a squad of kids with tight-end and O-line shirt numbers undoubtedly the worst. For a guy who got the armband often, he was passive snd disengaged. Definitely not a leader of men on the pitch or in the locker room which is what you need from a player of his stature and price tag - 45M, an exorbitant fee at the time which is now regarded by the fan base as a waste.

He was, last I knew, the active PL player with most goals from shots outside the box. He is capable of worldies- google his goals at Leicester and vs Hadjuk Split in the Europa League- but he’s a traffic cone for 3/4 of the game.
 

OCST

Sunny von Bulow
SoSH Member
Jan 10, 2004
24,483
The 718
what was wrong with Olsen as backup GK? Why do they need Begovic? thought he left EPL already
Olsen left. It was going well enough that all sides might have agreed to extend the loan from Roma. But a bunch of guys broke into his house in Liverpool and menaced his family with machetes:

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-9382281/AHEAD-GAME-Robin-Olsen-eyeing-Everton-exit-terrifying-attack-home.html

So that was that.

I'm not thrilled with Begovic, I'd call it low risk low reward. But at least his wife tweeted out a celebration of the move by posting a video of her riding a horse with an Everton shirt on.

View: https://twitter.com/TheToffeeBlues/status/1417552574559969281?s=20



She answered in the comments too, it's pretty funny.
'
 

ninjacornelius

Member
SoSH Member
Aug 18, 2005
584
Austin, TX
There probably isn't a person in the world who reads the news "Andros Townsend agrees to terms with your favorite team" and gets excited, but for a two year deal on what one assumes is reasonable wages I don't hate it. I mean, I don't especially like it, but he's not gonna handcuff Everton for the next half decade if he sucks.
 

OCST

Sunny von Bulow
SoSH Member
Jan 10, 2004
24,483
The 718
There probably isn't a person in the world who reads the news "Andros Townsend agrees to terms with your favorite team" and gets excited, but for a two year deal on what one assumes is reasonable wages I don't hate it. I mean, I don't especially like it, but he's not gonna handcuff Everton for the next half decade if he sucks.
View: https://twitter.com/WhoScored/status/1417046804420517889?s=20


Andros Townsend had the best cross accuracy (25+ attempted, excluding corners) in the Premier League last season (33%)

Very nice feature if you have the best header of the ball in the league camped out in front of goal.
 

OCST

Sunny von Bulow
SoSH Member
Jan 10, 2004
24,483
The 718
supposedly Carlo wants Richarlison. He bagged a hat trick against Germany today so that might raise his value, although he had a bad year last year. Assuming the price is right I’d be ok with it. But RM have money trouble (hence the super League) and I don’t know if it’s a need.

RM fans online have opined that DCL is a donkey. I am a complete fanboy, I even named my lizard Dominic, so I’d be sad if we sold him.

Pretty sure-they don’t want James, he’s fragile snd the wrong side of 30.
 

SocrManiac

Tommy Seebach’s mustache
SoSH Member
Apr 15, 2006
8,632
Somers, CT
supposedly Carlo wants Richarlison. He bagged a hat trick against Germany today so that might raise his value, although he had a bad year last year. Assuming the price is right I’d be ok with it. But RM have money trouble (hence the super League) and I don’t know if it’s a need.

RM fans online have opined that DCL is a donkey. I am a complete fanboy, I even named my lizard Dominic, so I’d be sad if we sold him.

Pretty sure-they don’t want James, he’s fragile snd the wrong side of 30.
RM fans think that Dominic’s a Donkey? They realize he’s not Italian, right?