The defence is nothing short of garbage, Centerbacks especially. Zooma, Christensen, Tomori are all just not good enough. Zouma in particular was AWFUL today and Christensen was poor as well.

Until we sign 1 or 2 world class CB's we are going to be a shambles at the back. James is the only decent defender we have right now, every single other option is poor, including Azpi.

12 minutes ago, dan_cfc said:

Kovacic the only player that can come away from this with his head held high everyone else extremely poor. Our defence really is bottom half standard absolutely woeful 2 new centre backs and a left back needed imo.

 

You are saying that - but he too had some crazy give aways in dangerous areas that could have easily translated to goals for Everton. 

1 hour ago, Sindre said:

I don't understand why he's been benched. He's been better than both Zouma and Christensen all season.

Debateable, the last few games Zouma was playing better and Tomori looked suspect. At this current stage its still too early for him to be a guaranteed starter. he's on a similar level to Zouma when Zouma's at his best, and thats the problem because Zouma is crap in general.

We need some world class CB's who will transform the team massively, like how VVD did to Liverpool.

Just now, DisposeOfDeadwood said:

The defence is nothing short of garbage, Centerbacks especially. Zooma, Christensen, Tomori are all just not good enough. Zouma in particular was AWFUL today and Christensen was poor as well.

Until we sign 1 or 2 world class CB's we are going to be a shambles at the back. James is the only decent defender we have right now, every single other option is poor, including Azpi.

i think AC was worse then zouma... even if zouma had a bad clearance AC got bullied by DCL and let the ball drop which was criminal.. but 2v1 they should still have sorted it out.. They are just to panicky and light in defense.. they both are just poor defenders..

15 minutes ago, hephzibah said:

Jorginho is irrelevant to what happened today, Everton were so fired up today, they've always had very good players, they won us there last season, they just had a bad spell under Marco Silva. Everton were very good. There were no spaces for us today, but maybe we would have gotten a draw in the match had it not been for Zouma's two errors.

Yes. Credit where it’s due. They set about the task of frustrating us very well. We could have used their defenders today.

8 minutes ago, abramovich said:

Kepa is making too many mistakes and he doesn't command the area like a proper keeper should. We can see the cases of miscommunication between him and defenders in literally every game. He's nervy and unsure of himself and that makes everyone around him nervous and unsure.

Also, I'm not sure who's in charge of defensive training but that person's stealing a living. This is the softest and the most disorganized backline we've had in a very long time.

Spot on with Kepa

31 minutes ago, IndianaBlue85 said:

So you think our form has improved since lampard fulfilled his plan to drop Jorginho? Ffs we’ve been terrible since he did it and if you can’t admit it then that’s on you. I don’t know what plans you speak of but since he stopped starting him after the break we’ve won one game lost three and drawn one. 

If i recall Jorginho started against city, valencia and Westham, He just hasnt started our previous 2 games. What about Alonso. He was blamed for everything and hasnt been seen since we drew 4-4 with ajax.   Guess he isnt that bad at least he offers something offensively unlike emerson and Azpi

Just now, brownindian said:

 

You are saying that - but he too had some crazy give aways in dangerous areas that could have easily translated to goals for Everton. 

Kovacic was by far our best player, and I agree with Dan.

Sign: Skrinier, Chilwell and Romagnoli, Atal

Sell: Zouma, Christensen, Alonso, Emerson and Rudiger as well (Though hes still a maybe)

The offense keeps overplaying when we are chasing a game, we're not sure what is our best midfield and our defense keeps losing concentration in the worst moments.

Our offense needs to keep it a bit simpler, penetrate then go for the kill. Even prime Barca doesn't do tricks and play square passes in the opponent's box.

Frank has to decide what our midfield is going to be. We have 3 solid midfielders each with different qualities.

We need a better CB partnership. Whether it's persisting with what we got or overhaul it completely. Azpi is done at this level whether it'd be RB or LB, a shame but it happens. I see shades of Ivanovic now. 

Kepa. Have a word with Cech. He's good at those low reflex saves but very poor everywhere else atm. He was much better last season whether it's a case of complacency or whatnot. Something needs to be sorted.

Losing to Man City is fine but Spammers and Everton??

 

1 minute ago, abramovich said:

Kepa is making too many mistakes and he doesn't command the area like a proper keeper should. We can see the cases of miscommunication between him and defenders in literally every game. He's nervy and unsure of himself and that makes everyone around him nervous and unsure.

Also, I'm not sure who's in charge of defensive training but that person's stealing a living. This is the softest and the most disorganized backline we've had in a very long time.

Yes, we have a right back who is no longer good enough, so we are playing him at LB because our LB's are also not good enough. The thing is our RB is not good enough at LB either.

We had one CB playing, making mistakes becuase he keeps wanting to play football in poor places. So we drop him and move the other CB over. This CB can't play with the ball at his feet but is good in the air. We are playing out from the back using a keeper who doesn't inspire confidence. We now have a non ball playing CB and a LB hanging out of his ar$e defending the oppositions right side (generally the strongest side of any team).

Having dropped Tomori, we have brought in another CB who is as weak as pi$$ and can't jump and head. So having moved the non ball player header of a ball to the opposition's right side of attack, we now have the weak boy that can't jump at the back post where all the towering headers coem from.

Behind all of this we have a weak small keeper that constantly makes poor decisions and is nowhwre near as comfortable on the ball as people seem to think.

Scary days ahead. We must get a defensive coach. Please.

15 minutes ago, coco said:

Pulisic starting to look very lightweight in the challenge, the one part of Hazards game that was on another level.

I was dissapointed in him today, it shows how good everton were in tackling our players. That made it very difficult for us to play well today. 

1 minute ago, Jangz said:

i think AC was worse then zouma... even if zouma had a bad clearance AC got bullied by DCL and let the ball drop which was criminal.. but 2v1 they should still have sorted it out.. They are just to panicky and light in defense.. they both are just poor defenders..

They were both crap in all honesty, and definitely not good enough. Though saying that, I have this strange feeling that if Christensen was playing under a manager like Pep, he would suit that style and be very good. But for now, and for a while now he has been pretty sh*t.

The Jan ban has been lifted, and as much as I would like us to sign Sancho, Dembele etc etc.. What we need more than anything is to sort out the pathetic defence.

1 minute ago, DisposeOfDeadwood said:

Kovacic was by far our best player, and I agree with Dan.

Sign: Skrinier, Chilwell and Romagnoli, Atal

Sell: Zouma, Christensen, Alonso, Emerson and Rudiger as well (Though hes still a maybe)

How are we going to attract Chilwell when they are gunning for top 3 and we're so shaky

1 minute ago, Jangz said:

i think AC was worse then zouma... even if zouma had a bad clearance AC got bullied by DCL and let the ball drop which was criminal.. but 2v1 they should still have sorted it out.. They are just to panicky and light in defense.. they both are just poor defenders..

I think fair to say - about equally bad, but for different reasons. Christensen too lightweight which is a pretty major deficiency for a defender,  while Zouma just doesn’t even seem to be playing football most of the time.

1 minute ago, DisposeOfDeadwood said:

They were both crap in all honesty, and definitely not good enough. Though saying that, I have this strange feeling that if Christensen was playing under a manager like Pep, he would suit that style and be very good. But for now, and for a while now he has been pretty sh*t.

The Jan ban has been lifted, and as much as I would like us to sign Sancho, Dembele etc etc.. What we need more than anything is to sort out the pathetic defence.

 

Just now, Dean said:

I think fair to say - about equally bad, but for different reasons. Christensen too lightweight which is a pretty major deficiency for a defender,  while Zouma just doesn’t even seem to be playing football most of the time.

yeah i think both were poor in general.. my comment was more inline with the second goal..

3 minutes ago, Deino said:

How are we going to attract Chilwell when they are gunning for top 3 and we're so shaky

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

20 minutes ago, coco said:

Pulisic starting to look very lightweight in the challenge, the one part of Hazards game that was on another level.

Hazard was freakishly strong for his size and very difficult to knock off the ball.

As for Pulisic, he's only 21, he can get stronger and better. What I like about him is the right attitude, he doesn't hide from or moan about rough challenges a la Morata, he seems to have a strong personality and is a competitor.

They were both crap in all honesty, and definitely not good enough. Though saying that, I have this strange feeling that if Christensen was playing under a manager like Pep, he would suit that style and be very good. But for now, and for a while now he has been pretty sh*t.
The Jan ban has been lifted, and as much as I would like us to sign Sancho, Dembele etc etc.. What we need more than anything is to sort out the pathetic defence.

There aren't many centre halves who look good under Pep!

When Christensen was playing regularly for us in 2017/18 he looked like he had a really good career ahead of him playing at a high level and playing consistently. He us definitely gone backward since then and currently looks like a rabbit in the headlights. You could easily see Lampard targeting three defenders this January but we will get stung in terms of price to quality ratio.

5 minutes ago, Dean said:

I think fair to say - about equally bad, but for different reasons. Christensen too lightweight which is a pretty major deficiency for a defender,  while Zouma just doesn’t even seem to be playing football most of the time.

That made me chuckle, but you're probably right.

Just now, abramovich said:

Hazard was freakishly strong for his size and very difficult to knock off the ball.

As for Pulisic, he's only 21, he can get stronger and better. What I like about him is the right attitude, he doesn't hide from or moan about rough challenges a la Morata, he seems to have a strong personality and is a competitor.

yeah I have no qualms about Pulisic in that regard. He needs to build a bit more muscle and be sturdier on his feet.

He's nothing like Morata in the sense that he falls over easy and starting whinging to the ref and begs for fouls.

1 minute ago, The Don Antonio said:

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

We may eventually get Bexit through and start trading with our friends over the water but at the moment, for a little while longer it still should be

£££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££

Thank you

while we are going hell for leather on our CBs its also important to point out that both against valencia, and today our midfield didnt cover itself in glory either... for some reason late runners are not being tracked.. Kante today could have easily blocked off the striker for the first goal... similarly Jorginho against valencia.. and why are we so weak in tackle.. in our box.. the thhird goal.. we had enough back to prevent it ...

Just when you thought it cant get worse... Spurs 2-0 inside 10 mins..

F**k em all. Up the Chels.

Not a good result today, keeper and defence again could have done better but we're doing well.

Frank will sort that out. Bring on...

...cant remember who we have next, old age.

Just now, loz said:

There aren't many centre halves who look good under Pep!

When Christensen was playing regularly for us in 2017/18 he looked like he had a really good career ahead of him playing at a high level and playing consistently. He us definitely gone backward since then and currently looks like a rabbit in the headlights. You could easily see Lampard targeting three defenders this January but we will get stung in terms of price to quality ratio.

He turned Laporte into one of the best CB's in the world and I think he has a fairly similar style (or at least did at one point) to AC.

I agree with the 2017/18 season, but I think literally ever since the Barca game where he had a shocker, he's never recovered. I had high hopes for him at one point, but its been 2/3 years since and if he still hasn't improved I dont have the patience anymore. All of our CB's are literally at the same level, so as soon as you swap one out and put in another - the defence is still sh*t!

We need a complete overhaul of the backline and I think kepa would benefit from that as well. I mean he hasn't done himself any favours, but he is a good keeper in my eyes who gets let down a lot by sh*tty defending