Everton vs Chelsea

[lluubbeenn 153]

14 hours ago, robsblubot said:

Was reading that we had close to 70% possession and only 5 shots on goal.

if that’s the case then the collective did not produce enough to win the match. That goes into strategy, team setup, player characteristics, and quality (roster).

Teams will start playing with a lower d line against us, so this is hardly the last time we will struggle to find space.

It is not so easy to lower the defensive line without a lot of training. Everton are probably the only specialists in that aspect in the prem at the moment. Weather conditions and the home fans helped them to succeed yesterday. It will not be easy to defend against our team for 90min, so I don't think they have showed THE way to others. Its just that Everton are really good at what they are doing. 

[MoroccanBlue 5,318]

Yeah not every manager can organise a side like Dyche when you want anti-football. 

[Ledg 640]

I wonder when will the refs stop protecting the English players.. That lunge from Pickford on Gusto in the box yesterday was absolutely ridiciouls, like the one on VVD a couple of years ago.

Malo is very lucky, a little bit higher and he was leaving Goodison Park with a broken leg.

[Fulham Broadway 16,917]

Fair play to the faithful away fans yesterday made themselves heard, always a boost to the team - horrible weather and then the 0-0 but at least a point

[robsblubot 3,529]

7 hours ago, lluubbeenn said:

It is not so easy to lower the defensive line without a lot of training. Everton are probably the only specialists in that aspect in the prem at the moment. Weather conditions and the home fans helped them to succeed yesterday. It will not be easy to defend against our team for 90min, so I don't think they have showed THE way to others. Its just that Everton are really good at what they are doing. 

Never said it was easy. We've won quite a bit of silverware employing low blocks.

It's certainly *easier* to defend with a low block than with possession: less space behind your D line to worry about. it's also far cheaper to play defensively, and defend with a low block, than it is to employ, successfully, a possession + attacking minded side.

I think every time your team plays some is indeed shown to others who might be paying attention. Heard from multiple managers that it's common to be forced to switch strategies during a competition as other teams find ways to block your most effective strategies.

How effective other sides will be at employing a low block against us? we will see soon.