CHOULO19

You obviously got me confused with someone else Only admins can edit reputation (I think!). I have to say @Shogun, did a great job. The answers are really insightful.

Opposition Views Here

Opposition Views Here

He does all the work and I get all the likes

Our own Shogun has been kind enough to answer a few questions prior to our match with Everton on Sunday (And did a bloody brilliant job at it!). Here's what he had to say: -First, how long have you been an Everton fan? Hard to say, I was born into a blue family (not literally) so all my life. I had my first season ticket when I was 9 years old, so about ten years now. -Another great season so far for Everton under Moyes, how important do you think he is to your success? Great season might be a bit of an exaggeration thanks to a succession of draws but it has been good. We started off well with victories over Manchester United, Villa and Swansea and a draw against Newcastle which compared to pervious starts is like a miracle despite losing to West Brom. Story of our season so far is drawing too many winnable games like Norwich H, Newcastle H, QPR A, Fulham A which has been disappointing, I think we've only just put an end to a run which prior to the West Ham game was 8 draws in our last 11. Losing to Leeds in the cup was annoying, Looking at the current four and seeing as we'd have been on your route then I'd have fancied our chances against Villa, Swansea and Bradford, Though it would have been close between us two at Goodison Park. We've done well against the top teams. Against last seasons top four we've gotten 8 points from a possible 12 (City A - 1 pt, Arsenal H - 1 pt, Man Utd H - 3 pts and Spurs H - 3 pts) which is obviously a sign of how good a team we are despite complacency in other games.Things are looking on the up again with 6 points from our last 2 games. I think that whilst the current board are in place and where we are now then he's probably the most vital piece in the jigsaw. He has his limitations which isn't always picked up on but then again, you can say the same for any manager in the league. I think he's the best man to pick out a bargain. £5m for Leighton Baines must be one of the best deals over the last five or so years and there's many others like Arteta, Cahill, Lescott and more. I'd fear for who would replace him if he left. We would probably end up with Hughes *shudders* -As it stands, it looks like Everton are fighting Arsenal, Tottenham, WBA and ourselves for two CL spots. How do you rate your chances of a top four finish? Can you predict which of the five teams will get those two spots? I think you being a little pessimistic, i don't think there is any doubt that you'll be in the top three, I think the top three will include Man united, City and yourselves then I think it will be touch and go between Everton, Spurs and Arsenal for fourth place throughout the season, Hopefully West Brom slide away. We have a great first XI but our overall squad isn't at the same level compared to Arsenal and Tottenham in particular. As long as we get a bit of luck with injuries then it might just happen. The thing we've had in our favour is a good record against the top sides this season which might be decisive at the end of the year. I think Arsenal will get fourth, Wenger always manages to get them there one way or another. I do think we will be in the race until the wire though. Who do we play last game of the season again? go easy on us! -With Jan market just about to open, what business, if any, do you think Everton should be doing during next month? Not much. I don't think we will sell anyone important, the only one I think might go is Heitinga who is third choice CB anyway. I think we will bring a CM in such as Vadis Odjidja Ofoe from Brugge (I'm sure the Belgians on the site know a bit about him). We tried to sign him on loan in the summer but the paper work didn't go through in time. There are also rumours of Lescott returning on loan which would be a good move. We also might buy a goalkeeper. Tim Howard has been disappointing and making a lot of costly mistakes this season. David Moyes has quietly mentioned how many mistakes he's made lately as well. I think Butland will be an option. -Fellaini has been your most vital player this season, but not without attracting interest from many top teams, Chelsea included. What are the chances of him leaving in Jan? And how would that affect Everton if he does leave? Very minimal chance of him leaving in January, well that's the feeling around Everton fans anyway. He doesn't seem to care that much about money (he drives a Vauxhall Corsa!) and just wants to play champions league football. I think he'll see out the season at Everton and his future will be settled in the summer and no earlier. Difficult to say how we'd do if he left, assuming David Moyes is still our manager then I'd be ecstatic with the prospect of him spending a big chunk of £25-£30m with his record of signings in the past. Also we have Ross Barkley who's a very highly rated youngster that plays in the ACM role Fellaini has been operating in. I don't think Fellaini is as important to Everton as the media portrays. -Speaking of Fellaini, he along with a couple more players will be missing from your side on Sunday. How vital will that be for deciding which way the points will go? Fellaini isn't a vital part to Everton's side which may sound laughable but ill try to explain. In my opinion Fellaini is the second best player in the squad behind Baines but we usually cope without him. One of the most underrated players around Leon Osman links up really well with the rest of the team and has quick feet which makes us easier on the eye than when Fellaini plays. We've won the last two games (West ham A is tough on paper) without him and Osman has been MOTM on both occasions. The most vital player we have is Darron Gibson who is still yet to finish an Everton match on the losing side in around 20 appearances now which isn't a coincidence. He picked up an injury at half time against Wigan. If he's out for Chelsea then he will a much bigger miss than Marouane Fellaini. -Fellaini has obviously been outstanding, but who else has been among your best players this season and who should we look out for on Sunday? Pienaar and Baines are our most dangerous attacking threat. You'll have to sure up the right hand side because that's where most of our play will stem from. With the added inclusion of Osman in the mix means that the passing in and around the opposition 18 yard box can be a menace to opponents. Jelavic is still dangerous too. If you had me cornered with a Bengal tiger set on to me then I'd choose Baines as our one player to watch out for. -I expect you're not a big Rafa fan. What have you made of Chelsea under him so far? Do you think we're still in the tittle race with him in charge? You guessed right, luckily for you he won't be around enough to ruin your team like he did in his later years at Anfield or at Inter Milan. He is a good tactician though and very good at rotating players to keep them fresh for a season. You could see Hazard tiring this season and to his credit he's given him a rest in the last few games. Made an awful start 0-0 against City and Fulham and then defeat to West Ham along with the result in Japan. Things seem to have picked up lately but doesn't necessarily mean he's turned the team around, Aston Villa are awful at the moment and I think you're result against Norwich was a better result. I don't think you're in the title race, but I barely think City are either. Manchester United have had too much in attack this season which is hardly a surprise. They have RVP, Rooney, Hernandez and Welbeck whilst you somehow got left with Torres. -If you can have one player from Chelsea at Everton, who would it be and why? On talent alone I'd have Juan Mata without doubt. He's not only Chelsea's best player but he's the best player in the league in my opinion. Tim Howard has been inconsistent and made a lot of mistakes this season therefore I'd probably take Cech if you offered me a player now. -What formation and line-up is Moyes likely to put out on this game? 4-2-3-1 If Mirallas, Gibson, Coleman and Hibbert are all unavailable then I'd expect... ----------------------Howard--------------------- -----Jagielka-----Heitinga---Distin-----Baines---- --------------Neville----Hitzlsperger-------------- --------Anichebe-----Osman-------Pienaar------- ----------------------Jelavic----------------------- Neville could play right back with Jagielka replacing Heitinga at CB and Osman dropping in alongside Hitzlsperger with Naismith coming into that trio behind Jelavic. I hope Gibson and Coleman are fit though. -Finally, please predict the result. Rafa usually got the better of us in his Liverpool days but he had the better team anyway so I'm a bit wary. With Gibson 2-1 to Everton Without Gibson 2-2 or 2-1 to Chelsea

I like him more at CM. As you said his size doesn't help him much at CB. But he can certainly play well in either positions.

Gibson has had his red card overruled. Huge boost for Everton.

I don't claim otherwise; every opinion by definition can be wrong. I hope you can practice what you preach and remember that the next time you are so sure your opinion is right.

Not for me and I've already explained why. But I respect that you think otherwise. It's a case of opinion in the end. I was merely answering someone who was suggesting where Luiz should be playing in midfield. And I don't think it's premature. It's not like Rafa is going to read TC and change his tactics accordingly We're just expressing opinions and initial thoughts that we can change later. For me Luiz does not belong in midfield at all. And that's not just based on the 3 games he played there but on everything he showed since arriving at Chelsea 2 years ago. Lampard's lack of positional discipline should not excuse Luiz's. I was saying before Franks injury that he should only be back up in this position because of his wandering out of position. And I still think that our priority in the market, along with a striker, should be a CM to play along side Mikel in the pivot.

I can see at least two of them dropping points...hopefully. That 3-2 match is one of my all time favorite Chelsea matches. 3 moments of brilliance won us the game. Good times EDIT: This one:

I agree about most what you said in there and a brilliant point about defending with the ball. But I don't think Luiz can be our Toure simply because we play different formations. Yaya plays in a 3-5-2 which allows you to have b2b CMs because you'd still have at least 5 players behind him when he makes his forward runs. I agree that one of the two in the pivot should have more freedom to roam and make forward runs, but not in every attack. I think, even for that role, Luiz has been way out of position way too often. Even if he is given more freedom than Mikel, at no stage should he end up by the opposition's corner flag!

Then we should go back to 4-4-2 or 4-3-3 if that is the way the manager wants the two to play. @SeB, made a brilliant post some time ago about the functionality of the pivot and the responsibilities of the two players in it, but I can't find it now. Anyway, even if one of the two is playing a bt deeper than the other, both still have the responsibility to cover for both fullbacks to allow them having "modern" full backs who join the attack. Both should pick their runs carefully. You can't have one of them constantly making forward runs to the edge of the pen box because it's going to leave huge spaces behind. Take last season for example: Frank was playing a head of Mikel, but he still had to pick his runs very carefully and stay deep at other times. That's one of the main reasons why the 4-2-3-1 worked wonders last season.

You can't have b2b midfielders in a 4-2-3-1, it goes against the definition of the double pivot and screws up your defense completely.

Congrats to Rami, but seriously? Casillas over Cech?!

My doctor says it's some kind of genetic mutation from birth. I'm practically not human. Would take a draw that would keep us in 3rd right now. Everton might be weakened with injuries and suspensions but are still capable of beating anyone. As already mentioned in this thread, their source of danger will be the left wing. Moses MUST start on the right to help Azpi. I would like something like: Cech Azpi-Iva-Cahil-Cole Lamps-Mikel Moses-Mata-Hazard Torres

As expected red nose escapes any punishment because he has all the refs scared of him and the FA in his pocket. Can't wait till that old bat retires

Not true.. And don't use that tone with me, mister!

We've all had that dream, haven't we? Although in my dream, you were licking yogurt off me, not chocolate..I don't want you to gain weight.

He's had 5 or 6 games this season where his finishing was good. Can't tell if his finishing has improved or if he is just having a few good games in front goal and he'll be back to missing 1-on-1s in no time.

Magic! I edited my post, happy now?!

Walcott had some pretty well taken goals this season, but he is a notoriously terrible finisher.

Nathan is the kind of player with the technical abilities and tactical awareness that can very rarely be found at his age. He was the captain of the dutch side that won the U17 Euros in the summer and one of the best players in the tournament (which is saying quite a lot consider the amount of talent that was present especially in the German team)

Very glad he got his PL debut. He's one of the youngsters that I have very high hopes for. Here's what he said after the match: http://www.goal.com/en-gb/news/2896/premier-league/2012/12/27/3630642/ake-delighted-with-chelsea-debut?source=breakingnews

Probably just needs a new set of batteries. You just shove them up your.......sleeve

If Moses is on the right wing then no need to worry.