Sam Hamwich Please stop calling Leon Andreasen ... Andreason/Andreasson, he is not Swedish. If you really cant remember his last name, then call him Leon .. .
Answered my own question. Everton is heavily English com[pared to most BPL clubs. Even so, I counted 7 English players playing in this match as opposed to 6 Americans. Actually, it's probably happened already, has it not, that there were more Americans in a game than English players? Perhaps vs. Reading?
Who headed down to Davies (which was then lamely lobbed into Tim's hands)? I think it was Johnson. Oh, can we discuss Ives some more too?
“I don’t like anybody scoring against me but if anybody I’m glad it’s Brian,” Toffees manager David Moyes said. “He is a great player, a great professional and deserves everything he gets.” What a class act.
It was great to see a cross that McBride could get his head on. He isn't fast in space, but he is as good as they get when it comes to runs in the box for headers on goal. His timing, ability to judge the ball flight and strength are excellent. That was not an easy goal at all - he did the only thing that could reasonably be done to get a goal out of that cross. Fantastic. EJ is exasperating, but I think his pace helps McB and needs to stay in with fans and Roy's fingers crossed. It sounds like he had a pretty miserable start to the game but Everton still needed to account for him. I would go with the box midfield for now when 4-4-2 I don't think Andreassen is steady enough on the ball to play D-mid in a diamond. I like his tackling, his energy, his runs and he passes ok, but he has also made some passes and giveaways that make me cringe and question whether he is the right guy to distribute from that kind of position. He also seems very aggressive so I'm not sure he would be stay home enough to be as effective in that position. Clearly he isn't a winger, but there is something about him that Roy likes to have him on the field - just not as a sole D-mid. I am not a big Murphy fan, but I can't fault Hodgson for wanting him in the middle to help calm things down a bit. He does need defensive help though so that is probably why the box. He needs to make less errors, for sure.
I think you hit the nail on the head here. I watched extended highlights on MOTD and EJ made some good plays, if he can get his strikes on target then he'll have a better chance of some of them going in of course. He's shown promise and the analysis by the BBC was all about him actually, what his pace and runs were doing to open up space for McBride and Bullard and how it looks like it might be a really good partnership. Funnily enough I think he's going to affect the EPL as he did to us Yanks, people tend to be very opinionated about him one way or another.
Further cements Moyes a my favorite manager in the EPL not named Arsene. Classy, classy guy, and I love his enthusiasm. 2 starts, 4 points. I don't think it's a fluke. Even though Eddie still does so many things that make me smash my face against the wall, he's opening up room for Fulham. He's pushing the defenders back a bit, opening up midfield and giving the defense a bit more breathing room as well. I'm quite sure he's not doing anything to hurt his chances, and will continue to play. I'm satisfied with his progression thus far. He obviously has a lot of thing to work on, and needs time. I was really happy to see just how pumped he was for McBride's goal. It was nice to see him show such an outburst of passion. McBride is the perfect role model for Eddie, the longer McBride stays with the club, the better. McBride is a legend. Just a ********ing legend. I idolized this man growing up and it's just great to see the guy so well respected in the league. He's really paved the way for Yank field players in England, and a shinning example of what's right in professional football. What a game this Newcastle match should be, depending on how this Birmingham Newcastle match turns out it could be the most important match of the season for both clubs.
He's getting better each week, and he's clearly the one guy in the Fulham attack that every defense has to game plan for. His combination of speed, athleticism, and power (that's in his shot as well. I've been impressed with the power and velocity he packs behind a shot) is something you don't find very often. There's not many in the Prem that can match it, and you can't just ignore it either.
Apoo, this is not one of your best avatars. I've come to admire you for your taste, but you're slacking off.
I downloaded the torrent of the game (SkySports1 broadcast...I assume it was the same feed used by FSC?) and the announcers were sure that the first defender got a touch on the cross and deflected it to McBride. According to their analysis, if the first defender hadn't got the deflection then the second defender would probably have been able to clear it. The deflection seemed to throw the Everton defense into total confusion for that instant McBride needed to score.
I like it...that's the babe that was in "Chuck" for a few episodes. (NBC show...and that pic is from a scene in the show)
Repped! You are exactly right. It's Rachel Bilson! She'll grow on ya You're just jealous of Rachel Bilson
It is worth keeping in mind that Dempsey transfered during the winter window a year ago and at this point last year was struggling to get any minutes at all. EJ is a year younger making the year ago comparison with Dempsey all the more appropriate. I can see him also claiming a regular starting spot next season as Clint did this year. Well maybe he has already done so. Certainly he is ahead of Clint at this point. By the way, I think Clintinho just needs a little rest to reclaim his form. He has played a lot of matches in the last couple years with relatively little rest. Between the World Cup in 2006, transferring in the winter of 2007 and the Gold Cup in 2007 he hasn't had a real break in a while. He actually would have been better off at this point if he had picked up a little injury earlier this season that would have given him 2-3 weeks of rest.
Isn't he getting a rest on the bench? When was the last time he started or played significant minutes?
The previous match. Up until he failed to make the bench against Man U the other week, he was the only player on Fulham to appear in every match this season. And, even since Hodgson took charge he's started all but three matches, and often in a grueling lone forward role.
By the time he has a chance to play again it will be nearly a month with one start (66 minutes) and one relief appearance (2 minutes). That's even longer than the 2-3 weeks the other poster was talking about. Obviously, before that he was playing tons of minutes. Even in the three weeks before the West Ham game, he only played 45 minutes total. In all, its been about 200 minutes in the last 7 weeks since the end of January. He has played a little more than I had remembered the past couple of months, but its still not that much.
Just finished watching the replay of this game, and I truly think EJ did just fine given that this is 3rd (4th?) EPL match. However, if you're an EJ fan, you must be damn mad at all this back passes. When is he gonna finally turn and take the ball upfield? If the coach spend some time with him this offseason and work up his confidence along with his touches/passing, I think he'll turn out to be a fine purchase for Fulham, for the price they paid for him.
Despite seeing many of the replays of the goal, this could be true... that being said, it didn't seem like it took much of a deflection. From the angle I saw it at, the cross was swinging in and on a pretty direct rope... McBride modified his run from the opening cross and was able to get in a position where he could head the ball down and at an angle, a pretty precise hit... hard to do on a ball that changed direction at the last minute. I don't begin to consider myself the definitive source on really small touches on the ball and the eventual angles created from them... but to me, I think I'd blame it more on their defense over committing to let McBride get to a ball in such a prime finishing position.