Everton v Crystal Palace

[Matt1878]

Just got home from Scotland so missed the entire game. From the sounds of it we were lucky in the first half with some big Palace chances, but smashed them in the second half? Fair?

How did the new players do?

Röhl pace and attacking intent was great, will grow into the defensive side if he has to, but he is 1st choice rb for me now at the moment, no question. 7.3

George got MOTM, turned palace defense, was the start of a lot of our best stuff. 8.2

Hackney sat deep and was tidy, clever on the ball, gave us so much more composure in our own half, didnt see any panic play from the team all game really. We have a midfield that is very happy to control the game and expect us to have a lot more possession this year. 7.5

Armstrong won loads, controlled play in tight areas and used it very effectively, played really well with Hackney. 7.7.

[Blues Mahoney]

Just got home from Scotland so missed the entire game. From the sounds of it we were lucky in the first half with some big Palace chances, but smashed them in the second half? Fair?

How did the new players do?

Fair.

Hackney: good range of passing, decent debut. Definitely not a 6 screener.

Johnson: didn't get long, looked ok. Megged someone.

George: excellent skills and wing play. Direct. Shooting was off.

Rohl: ok at RB. Gave the ball away a lot first half. Grew into the role 2nd half.

I assumed (hope) you meant all new signings.....

[Silas]

Would kill to see what Branthwaite and O Brien can do together and I don't think I'm going to see it. Frustrating.

[NomadskiEFC]

Fair.

Hackney: good range of passing, decent debut. Definitely not a 6 screener.

Johnson: didn't get long, looked ok. Megged someone.

George: excellent skills and wing play. Direct. Shooting was off.

Rohl: ok at RB. Gave the ball away a lot first half. Grew into the role 2nd half.

I assumed (hope) you meant all new signings.....

Röhl pace and attacking intent was great, will grow into the defensive side if he has to, but he is 1st choice rb for me now at the moment, no question. 7.3

George got MOTM, turned palace defense, was the start of a lot of our best stuff. 8.2

Hackney sat deep and was tidy, clever on the ball, gave us so much more composure in our own half, didnt see any panic play from the team all game really. We have a midfield that is very happy to control the game and expect us to have a lot more possession this year. 7.5

Armstrong won loads, controlled play in tight areas and used it very effectively, played really well with Hackney. 7.7.

Appreciate the summaries.

Pleased we have a fairly unfamiliar setup that did reasonably well. Still need to get some round pegs for the round holes in our first team though.

[StirlingBlue]

Whilst I agree Hackney and Armstrong looked individually good, that midfield definitely didn’t work defensively and left a huge amount of space in front of our defence in the middle of the pitch.

One of Garner/Norgaard needs to be that six whenever we play a team who pass the ball between the lines like Palace

[Silas]

Whilst I agree Hackney and Armstrong looked individually good, that midfield definitely didn’t work defensively and left a huge amount of space in front of our defence in the middle of the pitch.

One of Garner/Norgaard needs to be that six whenever we play a team who pass the ball between the lines like Palace

Unless it's low level cup game if either player is free they start over one of the midfield three. Feel like Armstrong is adaptable enough he still gets games if he is the one who drops out

[sam of the south]

Whilst I agree Hackney and Armstrong looked individually good, that midfield definitely didn’t work defensively and left a huge amount of space in front of our defence in the middle of the pitch.

One of Garner/Norgaard needs to be that six whenever we play a team who pass the ball between the lines like Palace

Yeah, I agree, when all fit, though, I reckon he will have Norgaard, Garner, and KDH as first choice

[kramer]

Yeah, I agree, when all fit, though, I reckon he will have Norgaard, Garner, and KDH as first choice

Which is too far in the other direction.

Hackney’s confidence and quality moving the ball forward is exactly what we’ve needed in that area for years.

[Audrey Horne]

Yeah, I agree, when all fit, though, I reckon he will have Norgaard, Garner, and KDH as first choice

Id be devestated if this happens.

[Bob Sacamano]

Thought Hackney left the CBs exposed a little today. Armstrong is already better/more effective than Garner imo. KDH is undroppable because there’s no other player that turns up as consistently as he does.

[kramer]

Thought Hackney left the CBs exposed a little today. Armstrong is already better/more effective than Garner imo. KDH is undroppable because there’s no other player that turns up as consistently as he does.

I don’t see how you even compare them, the roles are nowhere near the same. Garner has played as a more traditional DM under Moyes, Armstrong played more like an attacking midfielder who occasionally stood next to the DM out of possession.

Also don’t think it’s fair to say Hackney left the CBs exposed. Their best chances came from giving Wharton too much time on the ball (KDH and Armstrong nowhere to be found) and Tarkowski and Röhl not tracking runs properly in that channel (understandable for only one of them).

[Bob Sacamano]

I don’t see how you even compare them, the roles are nowhere near the same. Garner has played as a more traditional DM under Moyes, Armstrong played more like an attacking midfielder who occasionally stood next to the DM out of possession.

Also don’t think it’s fair to say Hackney left the CBs exposed. Their best chances came from giving Wharton too much time on the ball (KDH and Armstrong nowhere to be found) and Tarkowski and Röhl not tracking runs properly in that channel (understandable for only one of them).

First point. I think he’s a better footballer already. We have to pile minutes into this kid because he’s not looking out of place despite being a teenager in the toughest league in the world. It between Garner to fight it out with Norgard because nobody will displace KDH further up the pitch.

Second.I don’t recall saying anyone put in flawless performance. Just saying I saw a young player on his first appearance as the DM in the toughest league in the world got caught out.

[kramer]

First point. I think he’s a better footballer already. We have to pile minutes into this kid because he’s not looking out of place despite being a teenager in the toughest league in the world. It between Garner to fight it out with Norgard because nobody will displace KDH further up the pitch.

Second.I don’t recall saying anyone put in flawless performance. Just saying I saw a young player on his first appearance as the DM in the toughest league in the world got caught out.

Even with Garner or Norgaard behind them, starting KDH and Armstrong together consistently is tactical suicide. One man can’t do all that defending, even someone better defensively than Hackney (which Garner and Norgaard clearly are). Palace should have had at least 2 today and better teams will absolutely roast us with the space that leaves.

I thought Hackney was solid off the ball and made alright decisions about where to stand, when to close down, etc. but they still had moments where Wharton had all the time in the world to pick his pass from deep or where one of the attacking mids had a clean pocket for a shot outside the box. That’s down to lack of support from the other two midfielders.

It’s promising that Armstrong has looked comfortable at this level but for me, he has to be used to deputize KDH with the two of them sharing time only when we’re going all out for a goal. They both like moving side-to-side off the ball and picking out little pockets of space during build-ups, which is great, but that requires a starting position relatively high up the pitch. That mostly leaves us outnumbered in front of the CBs unless we’re having basically all of the ball or opposition attacks are slow enough to let Armstrong get back into position.

I take your point about needing to funnel minutes into Armstrong but I don’t see how we start him regularly without fucking up the balance of our team. The only player he can currently replace without making us soft defensively is KDH and KDH isn’t getting dropped for all the reasons you stated.

[Bob Sacamano]

Cool stick him on the bench then.

[The Doc]

Looked really good today once they got into their stride, and still Norgaard, Dibling, Aznou a new RB and maybe Grealish waiting in the wings to contribute. Good times.

Imperative now for me that we sell Beto and roll the dice with another striker.