Shogun

Well done lads

History generally doesn't dictate matches. If we can nick a goal through Lukaku then I'd back us to defend it unlike the Martinez special we offered up to you last season.

I think we might match your three at the back formation with Gana out. Stekelenburg Jagielka Williams Funes Mori Coleman Cleverley Barry Oviedo Barkley Bolasie Lukaku Could see any result, to be honest.

Okay, stop being shit now lads.

It's almost like you guys think it's outrageous that Everton won't sell to Chelsea. How dare they? There's been absolutely nothing to suggest that John Stones is even considering moving away from Everton, let alone handing in a transfer request, He;s still playing every single week to the best of his ability and knowing the type of character he is, he won't be trying to force a move anywhere.

The arrogance of this thread is astounding.

I'll be shocked if he goes though the board may have their hands tied if a silly £45-£50m bid comes in. I don't know why you guys get excited over what the papers say (especially shit like the Sun). The Daily Mail have been adamant all summer that James McCarthy was unhappy at Everton and off to Spurs. He signed a four year contract last week.

I bet you couldn't get enough COC that day.

No chance we're selling him.

So has Mourinho never beaten Pardew or something? I don't think enough people have debunked the myth in the thread Good luck tomorrow, don't think it will be routine at all though.

I just realised you guys lost 4-2 to Bradford, not sure there's any point in you guys turning up for this one Join the club.

Apparently Tim Howard is coming back into the starting XI tomorrow. Congratulations on your 3-0 win.

He's already a cult hero. He's arguably our player of the season.

Never even heard of this Spike bloke by the way.

Oh, I misunderstood then! There's a whole host of reasons for it really but I'd put it mainly down to injuries and Pre-season. Steven Pienaar has been injured for pretty much all of the season along with Leon Osman who are underrated squad players and the only wingers we have with any sort of intelligence and link up play. Aiden McGeady is a bit of a dud, Christian Atsu hasn't settled and that leaves us with Kevin Mirallas who has spent a fair bit of time injured this season as well. We started getting our act together defensively shortly after the debacle against Chelsea when John Stones came in and Sylvain Distin got dropped but then Stones got injured a few weeks later against Man United and we fell apart again. James McCarthy has been injured for a lot of the season which has had a detrimental effect on Gareth Barry who formed a very good partnership with him last season. Tim Howard has been terrible this season as well, David De Gea shows you the difference a good keeper can make to a struggling team and Howard's injury has actually come as a blessing in disguise. Our Pre-season was just a mess, we only organised 3 matches by the time late July came around and then squeezed a few more in late on. Mirallas and Lukaku came back a week before the season started and Lukaku played with injury for the first few weeks of the season. That poor Pre-season showed as we ran out of legs to concede last on against Leicester on the opening day to draw 2-2 and then throw away a 2 goal lead in the last five minutes against Arsenal which killed out confidence and then obviously, you guys hit us for six, so it's been a long recovery. It's been a miserable season and it's all about the Europa League now. The funny thing is, if in the unlikely event that we win the competition, we'll be in the champions league next season and this season will be forgotten.

I think you've misread by post, Choulo. We go into this match looking better than we have done all of this season is what I was saying. I can't deny that we're looking pretty hapless up front at the moment but we're a hell of a lot more solid mainly thanks to John Stones coming back from injury. James McCarthy came back against Liverpool which made us even better defensively. My point is that this is probably the most difficult time that you guys could have played us this season. I expect us to lose 1-0, but I wouldn't be surprised if it were 0-0 or 1-1.

Probably says a lot about our season but we're at the best place we've been all season at the moment.

Because Eto'o was a bad influence behind the scenes. You guys loved him so you probably don't agree but it was the case and the fact he walked out of Sampdoria in his first training sessions probably reflects that. Tim Howard is shite though.

He's arguably been our worst player this season mate.

After a horrible run in December where we had these results: Southampton 3-0 Everton Everton 0-1 Stoke Newcastle 3-2 Everton Hull 2-0 Everton Then we've done well only to lose on pens in a match since then... Everton 1-1 West Ham (FA Cup) Everton 1-1 Man City West Ham 2-2 Everton (FA Cup) we were 1-0 with 10 men in that match as well, only to lose on pens. Everton 0-0 West Brom Crystal Palace 0-1 Everton Everton 0-0 Liverpool We needed to become difficult to beat again after that run of four defeats and penalty shootouts aside, we're unbeaten in 6, albeit having drawn 5 so we're certainly in a good place right now and confidence will be returning. The draw against Arsenal in August was a bad result by the way.

I'd expect so.

I'm surprised you guys think we're playing shit. Sure, we're not doing much from an attacking point of view at the moment but after being constantly criticised for our defence this season, we're on a run of three clean sheets in a row. I think we'll get beat 1-0 or maybe draw 0-0/1-1.

Good Evening TC, hope you're well. I wrote a match preview if you're interested. I say match preview, there's nothing enlightening about it, it just looks pretty. http://www.nsno.co.uk/forums/index.php?topic=47173.0 Looking forward to the match, sort of.

Yesterday just reinforced my suspicions that football is indeed corrupt, in all countries. I find there to be far too much coincidence that Chelsea lose earlier in the day and Man City have the opportunity to close the gap in the title race and they do it undeservedly. We didn't play well but we should have had the opportunity to play a 10 man (arguably 9 man) Manchester City for the majority of the game starting at 0-0 but instead a very controversial penalty was given and what do you know? It gives Man City the opportunity to score and of course, they oblige and that's why it's 'the most exciting league in the world'. I'm just really fed up. Barkley got booked today for diving in what was exactly the same kind of tackle that led to the penalty and he was booked because the media harboured on about his dive versus West Ham which has earned him a reputation, the referee couldn't wait to book him when it was obviously, not a dive. However, this will continue because Everton aren't currently at the top of the table, they don't have a chance of winning 'the most exciting league in the world' and it keeps the clubs that Sky want exactly where they're supposed to be whilst continuously stopping other clubs. In stark contrast a player not too far from Goodison named Raheem has spent more time on the floor this season than he has on his feet but he won't be castigated for it because Liverpool were title contenders last season. Not only that but it's the third year in a row we've conceded a penalty at the Ethiad. Incident #1 Fellaini tugging a shirt from a corner (Tevez I think) Incident #2 Coleman grabbing a hold of Zabaleta's hand in the box Incident #3 Jagielka shoulder barging Milner. They've all been very soft penalties and it's no coincidence they've been given over the time that Man City have propelled themselves to title contenders. It's absolutely tragic.

Before I say anything about Atsu, I will say that with our fans he never had much of a hope in the first place. A lot of Everton fans have clouded memories of Deulofeu being the next messiah (he really wasn't even that good) and Atsu is the like for like replacement for him in the team this season and he is constantly compared to him (with all Deulofeu's poor aspects forgotten, and there were a lot of them). Regardless of how he's viewed by fans, he has really struggled for us this season. I think he started against Crystal Palace at home earlier this season (lost 3-2 ffs) and had a decent game but ran into opposition players a bit too much and had periods where he couldn't find a way into the game. He got taken off on the hour mark but I think that was pre-meditated. He started against Krasnodar in the Europa League in Russia and he was abysmal to be fair. He had a spell of not being able to even make the bench after that and was correctly pulled off at half time in Russia. He came back into the fold against Lille at home the other week after we were 3-0 up and looked short of confidence. He ran into defenders again and then just stopped trying to take on players and took the easy option. So all in all, it's not been great so far. I personally still have hope for him as I think it's just a case of him getting up to speed with playing in a league with actual defenders (quite different from the Eredivisie) as well as adjusting to a new area and integrating into a new team. With Mirallas out for the last couple of months he had a big opportunity but for whatever reason it didn't work out. Most Everton fans will have written him off but let's be honest, what do football fans know? It's still only November and there's plenty of time yet.