The festive season

With Fellaini and Rodwell returning for the Chelsea match and gaining a well deserved point. November was a frustrating month with 2 defeats and 3 drawn games, hopefully the Chelsea game will be the start of a good December for us.

December will go on to include Wigan at home Saturday, followed by a trip to Manchester next week to face City, then Birmingham at home, and finally away against West Ham.

The league is exceptionally close this season, and a string of 3 wins would take Everton well into the top half (and maybe beyond).

Everton fans have become accustomed to the team being slow starters, usually because we have to wait for a list of injured players to return. They would normally be returning one after one, about this time of year. This season we have done some things right in pre-season that we haven't before, or maybe we have been lucky, either way we have not been suffering from injuries much.

West Bromwich marked the rock bottom of our season so far, from there it can only get better. As usual then, our season starts now.

In Moyes we trust!

-MF

Arsenal preview

Everton will welcome Arsenal to Goodison Park on Sunday 14th of November, Kickoff is 14:00 GMT.

The last few games between the two sides has been fairly even.
Last seasons 1-6 defeat at Goodison was not a match that describe the difference in quality between the sides, but was a result of the state the team was in at the time.
The meeting at Emirates later in the season was a close battle, one that Everton might have won.

Arsenal under Wenger is a team that has won a lot of support from other than their own supporters. They play attacking minded football, and its more often than not a thrill to watch them play. Even though, in my opinion, Wengers almost disdainful approach to anything to do with defending has left them unable to compete for titles as often as they might have. This season with the inclusion of new signings Koscielny, and Squillaci to further strengthen their defense, a defense that was already improved by Vermaelen last season, they are looking like a well balanced side.

The fact that they are now less vulnerable to counter attacks due to having a real defensive line, obviously makes the job of their forwarders that much easier. And their forwarders are world class.

Many teams would approach this game thinking; how can we break down this Arsenal team, what is their weaknesses and how can we use those to our advantage?

Everton shouldn't do this of course.

The truth is that unlike sundays opponents, Moyes' Everton is a team that has always been well balanced, with a strong, well structured style of play built to utilize the best of our players abilities. Unlike Arsenal that has just discovered the advantage of actually defending, Everton has always emphasized that all players contribute both when attacking and defending.
The emphasis is not just on either attack or defense, its on both. Because of this we never need to park the bus, we don't need to rely on counter attacks or long throws. And, because of this we don't need to break  records when signing players, our style allows us to outplay any opponent and dominate any game.

I am looking forward to this game knowing two of the best teams in the Premier League is going to face each other, and that this is a game where both teams have to lift their game and play the best football they can in order to win.
As always its down to who wants it more. This time, that should be us.

Discuss in the match thread.

-MF

November preview

October was a nice month for us, and definitely the month in which our luck turned this season. As usual we have been slow starters, but this time it felt as our turnaround arrived early.
We are not really that much better off now than the same time last season though, but the confidence in and around the team is greater now than last season. Then, we recovered from the loss of Lescott and had to reshape our team that had seemed scattered and unfocused. Regaining cohesion and performing great towards the end of the season we found ourselves on top half once more.

Now, we are top half as well, if only 8th, and with no more than 3 points to spare on Wigan at 17th.
At least we are in the right place, at a time when the table is about to set, which puts us in a great position going forward.

Blackpool, led by charismatic Ian Holloway are our first opponents in a very exciting month. Bloomfield road has hardly been a stronghold for the newcomers, and their first victory at their own ground came in the last round when they defeated West Brom, another newly promoted team.
I can't see passed us winning this one. Maybe they will gain some confidence or momentum from finally winning at home, but I don't think it will be enough for them. We should outclass them.

Bolton at Goodison has been a nice match in the last few seasons. It has been some time since the wanderers has scored at our ground, and I think they might have a hard time getting anything passed Howard, and our defense that has been getting better and better lately. A hard opponent, as always, and I expect a close game with few goals. Home win, but with no more than two goals in it.

I already mentioned our start last season, that like seasons before that had been less than happy for us. Arsenal at Goodison was perhaps the rock bottom, that we hit in the very beginning. From then, everything got better because it couldn't get worse. The next time we met the Gunners, at Emirates, we were on top form and could have gotten even more than a draw from that one.
I think, that this time around it will be something in between those performances, hopefully a draw, but at least not a 5 goal defeat.

Sunderland, at stadium of light, is what awaits us the week after Arsenal has visited. Like with Bolton at home, Sunderland away has been good for us lately. An opponent that we rightfully respect, and it is perhaps that respect and focus that brings our superior quality out. Sunderland are good when they are allowed to defend and counter-attack. But we don't usually mind teams that like to sit back and defend, just let them try that approach, and we will grind them down.

West Bromwich Albion has been a success story this far into the season. They still play attacking, good football, but are more experienced this time around. A tough opponent, and one that might be a lot tougher than they are generally given credit for. They belong in the Premier League, because they have seemingly learned to curb their approach, so they are no longer naive, but they have maintained their positivity and focus on quality. I am looking forward to this match, it should contain some great football.

-MF

October review

Starting with the end, Stoke was beaten 1-0 at Goodison. Not the most exciting scoreline, but a very important home win and a long awaited goal by Yakubu.
3 points. - this was the one game I expected a win from.

Spurs was a tough opponent as expected, if they hadn't had a european game ahead of ours they might have had the little extra to tip it their way. We have not gotten much from WHL, so a point and a 1-1 score is something we can live with.
1 point. - one point more than I had expected, easily the hardest match this month.

The derby was as expected a tough one, lots of tackles, pace and effort from both teams. At least until we scored the second and winning goal. The second half was more about relaxing, keeping the lead and not wasting energy.
3 points. - the Birmingham win changed Everton, and we entered this game as the strongest team.

Birmingham had not lost at St' Andrews in some time before we changed that stat. A very strong effort from the Everton team, an a well earned first win of the season. This may really have been the match that changed our season.
3 points. - at best I had hoped we could get a draw against one of the strongest home teams, thankfully I was wrong.

All in all we got 10 out of 12 possible points, and a 6-1 scoreline. A near perfect October is over, and we are now on schedule for top half. We played well in the beginning of the season as well, and always looked like we would turn it around eventually once the first win was secured and confidence returned.

October was beautiful.
Here comes November...

-MF

Stoke (at Goodison) Preview and Spurs review

Goodison Park Saturday 30th of October, 15:00 GMT

After beating the potters both home and away in their return season of 08/09, the least two meetings  has ended with no winners. You have to go back to 1982 to find the last Everton defeat, 1-0 at Victoria ground.  Current league form suggest a home win, Everton are starting to look strong at Goodison, while Stoke doesn't take many points away from Britannia.
They got the potential to surprise, and their style of play is simple but effective. Even though United was too strong for them in the last round, they must be taken seriously. Kenwyne Jones is an attack in his own, and will be dangerous, even if our center backs should be able to deal with whatever Delap throws at them.

Team news, injuries and such, according to Stoke and Evertons official sites:

Stoke: Jermaine Pennant (winger) , and Kenwyne Jones (striker) are possibly out due to a virus, and Danny Collins (defender), and Ricardo Fuller (forwarder) are doubtful, Winger Matthew Etherington may return.

Everton: Rodwell, Fellaini, Osman and Anichebe out, Arteta is doubtful.

My Prediction this time is a hard fought 2-1 win for the Toffees.

discuss my prediction and other stuff to do with this match in the match thread.

The review part

Spurs v Everton 1-1.
The game was all in all what you'd expect. Spurs are a very tough team to beat at White Hart Lane, and even with a European game just ahead of our game they did look like the strongest team.
Not by much though, and even though Spurs looked very strong in the second half, we were never outplayed. It was definitely a game of two halves though, like every game.
We were the best in the first half, and they took over more in the second.
A fair result when you look at the match overall, and one we have to be happy with.

- MF

Spurs away preview, Liverpool and October so far review

White heart lane, October 23d, 12:45 (GMT)

The games against Spurs are always hard. The stats say also show that, and we haven't won at WHL since 2008. Last season our away game against Tottenham finished 2-1 to Spurs. Their goals was scored by Pavlyuchenko and Modric, ours by Yakubu.
Yakubu will be hoping to score again tomorrow, something that many thinks will result in further goals from our striker. I will take goals from midfielders, defenders and goalkeepers personally, so to me it doesn't matter if our strikers can't score but it must be weighing on their minds.

Both teams has injuries going into this one, distributed just about evenly between the teams both in severity and amount. Spurs are returning from another one of those tough European matches, and might be slightly deflated by not having their effort rewarded with even a point. Gareth Bale will be encouraged by his amazing performance.

Discuss in the match thread.

Redknapp is one of the smartest tacticians out there, and he will know his own team as well as having a plan for how to deal with us. Moyes won a tactical victory over another such clever manager recently though, Hodgson had no answer for Moyes' tactical dispositions in the Derby. Which brings me to the review part of this entry:

The review part

Liverpool supporters was still celebrating the arrival of their new owner, and wanted to continue that celebration with a turn-around on the pitch at Goodison. Well, that didn't happen.
Everton controlled the game completely, and despite Hodgson insisting that Liverpool should have gotten points, or even won based on their second half ball possession Liverpool was never really dangerous.
I do like to toot my own horn, even if I don't do so often. Here goes; I predicted a 2-0 win days before the game, and it came through. Yay me, I know stuff seemingly. Toot.
I can't remember having enjoyed a derby game that much before either.

As for the month so far, having played two games. Against Birmingham away and Liverpool at home, from which I predicted 2 points, we got 6.
In fact I predicted 5 points in total from the 4 rounds in October, admittedly that was a conservative prediction. Still, we are far ahead of schedule and our turnaround has begun.

-MF

The friendly derby - Goodison

October 17th, 13:30 (GMT)

The merseyside derby, like most derbies are games with much at stake. It will never be just about points on the table. Form, stats, history, injuries, home field advantage etc all becomes irrelevant. Or almost.

Both clubs has seen better times, and has had less than optimal season openers.
Once again Everton are slow starters, but has been showing signs of improving and has always played well even if the margins hasn't always gone our way. As the win against Birmingham last round showed, our luck is starting to turn. In every part of the team we are seeing confidence returning with every game. Fellaini and Arteta owns midfield, Yakubu is looking sharper and sharper with every game, Jags, Heitinga and Distin are making Howards job easier, and he is making top quality performances as well.

The red side has had their share of trouble off the pitch with that whole business with owners etc. I was a tad pessimistic when I saw Hodgson was chosen to take over after Benitez. The Spaniard had seemed to make every wrong choice in the transfer market, and was dismantling the team he had helped build, and it seemed he was losing support among the players.
Hodgson is a man that brought Fulham to the Europa league finals, and has experience with getting the most out of a squad. Fortunately though, he seems to be struggling with turning Liverpool into anything resembling the honest hardworking collective that he had in Fulham.

At Everton our main worry is whether Jagielka, Pienaar or Saha will be fit to play the game. It seems Jags won't make it, but Pienaar and Saha should. Rodwell will unfortunately be out injured for some time.

This game has everything. Two neighbors, both geographically and on the table. Two teams that got more quality than the table show, and two squads of players that will fight to the end for a win. Much more than bragging rights to play for in this one. Neither team can afford not to win, and only one can.

My prediction; 2-0 win.

Discuss in the match thread.

-MF

Birmingham review (and where it got us)

We won our first game of the season, got our second away clean sheet in a row, and climbed from the relegation zone last saturday on St'Andrews.

Everton dominated the match and should have led by half time. Further pressing the home team in the second half which led to the own goal. 

Another goal on overtime showed that we carried on and pressed for a second rather than sitting back trying to defend the lead. 

The teams approach was not very different from earlier games this season, but now the margins were not there to stop us. Also, its worth noting that moving Fellaini to a more comfortable position in defensive/central midfield has resulted in the team appearing more relaxed when keeping the ball in the middle of the ground. Even if Fellaini was even more comfortable and almost arrogant in his domination of midfield on his best moments last season we are seeing the return of our midfield boss. 

Like Yakubu has been showing signs of becoming more dangerous in the box lately, and again in the Birmingham match, Fellaini too will grow with every game.

Coleman played well on the right wing before being replaced by Bilyaledtinov, and Osman performed great and on several occasions combined nicely with Yakubu and Cahill in the area. 

It might sound easy to say that it only took a win, and a couple of goals to change the team, but it is an accurate assessment in my eyes. What has been wrong with Everton this season was never the way we performed defensively, or our style or approach. Scoring goals and getting the win will lower the shoulders of the players and lift the spirits. That will release the quality that is in the team, which in turn will make those margins go our way. 

This result has left us with the ability to spend the Premier leagues National team break in which to savour a great result and the feeling of finally being rewarded for the hard work and effort. A positive state of mind and the knowledge that our luck has turned.

-MF.

Birmingham City match preview

St'Andrews, Birmingham. Saturday, 2nd October, 15:00

The most likely result in this game would be a draw, like the last three league meetings between these teams, and in 7 out of 12 games involving these teams so far this season.

As Birmingham has two goal-less draws behind them at St'Andrews and our attacks are not striking fear into anybody at the moment the most likely score in that draw would be 0-0.

So, what is there to look forward to for the supporters in this game? 

Well, Birmingham are a decent team to watch. They play fair, if perhaps sometimes a tad physical football. Nothing though, that our boys shouldn't be able to deal with. If the referee don't kill the game with soft free kicks all the time and let the game flow, it will be a game our midfielders can dominate. Something that will give the extra little bit of confidence and courage they need for the important derby match the following round. 

Birmingham got a well organized defense that is hard to break down, but we are producing chances all the time against all our opponents so far, and sooner or later those chances will turn into goals. 

When it rains it pours, and I got the feeling that once we get that first goal out of the way, they will pour in. 

This will be a really hard test for our striker(s) though. Ben Foster might not be Joe Hart, and Birmingham must be weakened from the change in Goalkeepers. Still, only once this season has someone scored on Foster on his home field.  

Birmingham and Everton are faced with two similar and difficult problems. Birmingham are playing close games but not killing off their opponents which mean they draw too many of their games. Everton are playing alright, and doing everything we need to do, except for scoring goals. 

Going into this match, Moyes should show the boys the table and tell them  there is no reason to hold back anymore, nothing to wait for,  and absolutely nothing to lose. That should be all the motivation they need.

-MF.

Discuss in the Match thread on soccer24-7. 

October preview - onwards and upwards?

Following a september with 2 out of 9 possible Premier League points, and a depressing 20th place. Looking behind the results, or in fact more closely at the results, we discover three drawn matches, and three 0-1 defeats. 

The other observation is that we have only scored in two games, against United, and Wolves. 

In the month ahead we will face Birmingham (away), Liverpool (home), Spurs (away), and Stoke (home). 

Birmingham are a fairly solid team at St’Andrews. In their first home game Birmingham beat Blackburn 2-1, since then neither the Blues or the visitors has scored there.

In our last couple of visits we have drawn there, so all in all 0-0 is on the cards.

(1 point)

Personally, I am looking less and less forward to the derby games. We haven’t beaten them since 2006, and it is not a friendly atmosphere anymore, nor is it very good football. This year it will be between two ultradefensive teams. I predict a one goal win or a draw. 

(1 point)

Tottenhams season has been all over the place so far, perhaps suffering from the added strain of playing in Champions League. Ups and downs at White Hart Lane so far. 

Spurs has beaten us there the last couple of times, I expect goals and a close match.

(0 points)

Stoke started off slower than us, but has turned things around lately with wins both at home and away. Tough opponent, but one that we haven’t lost to in the Premier League.

Should be a win, and hopefully a high scoring match.

(3 points)

So, 5 points out of 12 is my guess. Could possibly put us 18th or so.

From experience we know that Everton start off slow, good seasons and bad seasons alike. Usually, October is a better month for us. 

The last time we started off this slow though was 2005-06 when we finished around mid-table even with good form towards the end of the season. So, it is best to prepare for that kind of finish.


-MF.

Not what we wished for

Our season so far has been disappointing, and last nights carling cup exit at the hands of Brentford is rock bottom. Therefore I present you with this nice list of oversimplified problems and solutions:

Problems:
First off, having a quick glance at the table can tell us some of what is wrong;
We have played 5 league games, and scored 4 goals and conceded 7.
(the same digits incidentally as Liverpool)
That puts us at around middle of the pack with regards to conceded goals, but only West Ham and Wigan has scored fewer than us.
Obviously our lack of goalscoring is a major part of our current problems.

Solutions:
Strikers not scoring is a problem that is notoriously hard to solve.
Our goals so far has been scored by Tim Cahill (2), Pienaar, and Arteta. Last night wingback Coleman scored our goal.
Changing the strikers around and using the ones that are on form would be one option, but not necessarily the best one as scoring form as with all other form is gradually built over time.
Sticking with what we got only adds to the pressure though.

My solution would be to change the formation from the 4-5-1 or 4-4-1-1 that we have alternated between to a 4-4-2 or even 4-3-3, a 5 man midfield only makes sense if you aim to dominate through overpopulating midfield and pressing your opponents. Something we aren't doing anyway.
Instead we should overpopulate the box and try to play faster direct football.
If we opt for a 4-4-2 or keep playing the 4-5-1 we need to drastically improve the quality of our crossing.

A quicker way to solve the goalscoring issues would be to work on set plays, free kicks and corners should be more of a source of goals for us as we have got quality free kick takers, and the right players to aim our corners at.

Defensively we have been alright, but there are still things to be sorted out.
As mentioned our midfield is not dominating the games, and the timing and precision of crosses and forward passes are not where it can be. Likewise, the defensive work is left by and large to our center backs with our wing backs up front supporting the attack. Our defenders are often overworked or like on several occasions this season abandoned.
Either leave the backs on our own half, or begin pressing the opponents on midfield so our center backs aren't outnumbered and overrun.

 -MF.

Before the Brentford Carling cup match

Everton will play Brentford in the Carling cup. As Anichebe, Saha, and Rodwell are still unavailable it would be a good idea to let Yakubu and Beckford use this game to figure out how to score goals.
Brentford should not be too much of a challenge, but this is a nice opportunity to gain confidence, and work out some of the problems we have had this season.

The way I see it, confidence and match practice is whats needed to get things going our way again in the league.

Our midfield will need to find their ways, and run the game like they did in the end of the last season.
The forwarders will eventually start scoring, as long as chances are being created. Yakubu has been looking alright lately, and once he starts scoring I think he will keep scoring.
Beckford needs to find his place in the team, and things will fall into place for him.

Key targets for the match would be to regain confidence, and figure out the balance between attacks and defense.

My predicion: a two goal win or so for Everton.

-MF.

soccer24-7 thread; carling cup run

Third kits

Rodwell, Cahill, and Arteta in the new kit.

Everton has just recently unleashed the third kits, traditional away colors white and dark blue.
These are the ones the team will wear when playing Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.

I like to think that Everton has more success when our away colors are white or at least is the main color of our shirts. Great things to come in other words.

-MF.

Welcome

Hello and welcome to the Everton 24-7 blog.

On here you'll find everything from match reports and reviews to random thoughts about the team, anything to do with Everton.

My name is Marthin (spelled with an h) and I have been a supporter for as long as I care to remember. I will always do my best to share my thoughts and give my views in a fairly intelligent way on here. I can't promise not to be biased though, because I am biased and will always be when it comes to Everton.

As you might have guessed from my name I am not English, in fact I am Norwegian. I did thankfully grow up in a highly Anglophile country (at least when football is concerned), and Everton was the first team I saw play. Naturally I chose to support the blue team, as that was my favorite color. Thinking about it now, I was incredibly close to becoming a Spurs fan and then my life would have been slightly different.

My brother is a Liverpool supporter, and so is many of my friends. That is not unusual for an Everton supporter, whether he is from the city of Liverpool, or Norway.

I have followed Everton through some ups and downs, and have learnt to enjoy the good times when they are there. Right now, my team is struggling with another hard start to a Premier League season.

There's no injuries this time to place the blame on, but Moyes' Everton is a team is always going to be one that needs a little time to gain momentum.  

The season of 2010-11 has started horribly (you'd have to admit) but I fully expect it to finish great, and that is far better than if it was the other way around. 

When the ginger Scot came to Everton in 2002 I remember being cautiously optimistic, telling friends that he had had some success with Preston in the division below and that he might be what we needed.

At the time, Everton was a club battling relegation. Since we have become a force to reckon with.

The kind of football that Everton play is entertaining yet simple, not very flamboyant, but elegant in its simplicity. And Everton is a club with a long and proud history. 

Please check out the other 24-7 blogs if you want, and if you are interested in discussing the club why not join soccer24-7?

Whatever you do, bookmark this blog and come back as things will only get better, both with the blog as I have some time to play with all the buttons on here to make this place look nicer, and Everton as Moyes has some time to fix what's not working over at Goodison.

-MF.