kenlau88210

I think he was most at fault for the conceded goal. He was too passive there, should have taken charge and headed away the ball

It was frustrating obviously, but I am quite certain he will improve his decision making after tonight. He simply misjudged the ball or underestimated how good that weighted pass was. He loves rushing out and usually is spot on with it. This time he got it all wrong. After tonight, I am sure he will be more cautious and the coaching team will work on this aspect of his game. Overall he has been quite good so far this season, so I think Howe will probably still stick with him as 1st choice for now.

I thought that kind of rushing out only happens when I goof around playing FIFA with my friends. Comical to see that in real life

We are just hanging on because we can't keep hold of the ball. Been a long-standing issue.

They were jumping with eyes half closed

Not hard to believe. I am used to seeing us missing chances. But I am glad we created loads this half, and looking much better overall on and off the ball

I find it so hard to believe that we still haven't conceded

Hall is such a great footballer, we really missed his technical ability

Very exciting half this is

I would much rather we play 4231 if we were to change formation Pope/Ramsdale Livramento Thiaw Burn/Schar Hall Bruno Tonali Murphy Wissa Gordon/Barnes Woltemade We have wingers with high defensive work rate and dynamic fullbacks who are good at inverting to compensate for 1 less CM in midfield, and both Bruno and Tonali are workhorses. We also have options from the bench who can cover multiple positions (e.g. Joelinton CM/AML, Ramsey AML/AMC)

If McTominay is looking for a new club, we probably won't be on his shortlist. I think the recruitment team is looking for the best available realistic options, and signing Garner in the summer or for about 10m in January makes sense. Most Everton fans rate him highly, and his versatility, being able to cover the fullback positions, is a big plus (no more Burn at LB).

Getting another 6 might allow us to use Tonali more as a 8 which is probably his most natural role (box to box). He is a pretty good box crasher.

Botman was 100%, yes 100% at fault for the 3rd goal. Total lapse in concentration. No, nothing to do with Ramsale coming on for Pope. If you watch the highlights again, you will concur

Don’t think Burn has been that bad at all at LB in all these recent games overall. He is very much a makeshift LB, and he was put there understandably considering the injury situation. I did think we could play Tripps at LB and Krafth at RB but considering Burn’s form it is probably our best option. Him struggling with fast tricky RW has much to do with lack of support from midfield and LW imo

You should rewatch the 3rd goal. 100% on Botman, he wasn't even paying attention to where the ball was after Thiaw made the tackle. In no way should he expect Ramsdale to sweep that, even if Ramsdale could accelerate 3x faster than 2009 Usain Bolt he could not realistically have swept that.

Around that time I honestly was bit confused why he got much praise for his performances. Thiaw has been absolutely terrific but Botman was just alright to me in most games. Perhaps he looks very composed on the ball and can ping a pass sometimes so people think he is class. In terms of defending I really thought he was just alright. He should have done better against Merino for their equaliser imo he gave him too much space. He also made Welback look like prime R9 (okay bit of an exaggeration probably). He does not look very dominant aerially and certainly lacking recovery pace.

I am curious if we could play 442 with him and Wolt up top. Gordon or Joelinton at LM depending on what team we face. Murphy in his usual role might get loads more assists

I didn't watch him closely, but I reckon he probably should have covered for Burn more. Normally, Joelinton does very well with the off-the-ball work. Leaving Burn to 1v1 against fast tricky wingers is always gonna be difficult for him.

If we are to stick with 433 with Wolt up front, we really need 2 wingers who are good at running behind. Murphy has good end product but he lacks the dynamism needed to threaten as a wide forward other than his crossing

Botman deserves to be dropped. Put Burn back to LCB and Hall back to the starting lineup. Simple stuff.

I am not convinced at all that he should be our long-term LCB. Not mobile enough, and aerially not dominant either. Also, there is an issue with his lapse in concentration.

Botman ball watching and had no awareness of what's around him. (Yes I told you so) he is overrated as fuck

not sure if we can blame Pope for that. The defence didn't deal with that well enough I reckon

much more like it and hopefully this kickstarts a good away run. This first half we play more like a top 5-6 EPL team

When did Pope start doing this shit???? He used to be claiming everything