Ohh great. It's Leverkusen all over again! ( See what I did there? The sky is falling! The sky is falling!)
It's so difficult to always do things correctly. I know I have made errors in my career. But for you Donovan.....it's NOT acceptable. Shape up. We demand perfection.
No one's saying this or anything of the sort. You're not actually arguing against a point that anybody's making. Please stop making posts like this in LD threads. Thanks.
apparently he can I'm sure he's pretty busted up about it but the sun will rise tomorrow and they'll be another game next week.
Thanks. Your posts continue to make me feel better. Glad Moyes is reasonable - which I knew he would be. Great all-around experience for LD. [and me too!]
Oh, I wasn't implying that I thought Moyes was blaming LD, if that's what you or anyone else is thinking. Moyes is simply speaking the truth. And like Appoo said, the truth hurts sometimes.
All things considered, it does take some of the "love affair with Donovan" feeling out of it, just a little.
No no, on the contrary. But I went ahead and posted that for the people that haven't posted but are hyperventilating.
On the ManU play...the ball bounced off the defender and hit him almost before he could do anything!! Watch the play at regular speed, not slo-mo, and it's obvious.
I love the moderators on Big Soccer. You all seem to think monitoring the slightest negative comment is of great value, but the gushing, clearly hyperbolic comments get a green light. Moderator means applying consistent standards on each end of the spectrum. It does no one any benefit to artificially build a player up just to see him crash. LD has been looking suspect since ManU and I was pretty loud about it then because you could see the last two matches on the horizon if he didn't pull his head out. Not saying I or anyone else on a forum impacts the real world, but it would help to keep some perspective, mr. moderator.
Hi, If we're not allowed to be upset when bad stuff happens, then we have no right to be happy when good stuff happens. Your pal, Reality
Yeah, soccer players do, but footballers don't. Go back to Mickey Mouse soccer land, Landypoo... ...yes, it's a joke. Bad misses happen often, and scoring goals isn't easy. I agree that it is disappointing that Donovan didn't have a truly dominant game (on the scoresheet) during his loan time, but that doesn't mean he's not/can't be an EPL-quality player. We've seen the Deuce go on extended periods without finding the net. It happens. The miss doesn't make him a failure, and scoring it wouldn't have made him an instant must buy for Everton.
Please clarify what you mean by suspect. When you say since Man Utd, are you including that game as well? Because if you believe he was poor in that game then I could not disagree more. Aside from his "botched" finish attempt, I think he was quite good in that game.
Just saw the 2nd half, thanks to YA highlights, what an incredible miss! Is this his last Everton game? I hope he has one more game and plays with a burning passion to redeem himself from this miss.
Me too. And I feel certain he will. He was trying to make up for it in this game, which is why he got mixed up with Vaughn (I think it was) in the box there at the end as well.
Oy - this thread needs a closing. Guys - take your personal beefs with each other and the moderators to PMs. None of this belongs here.
Am I the only one who thought Modric's goal was save-able? Obviously Howard has a right to be incensed by Luca being allowed such space on his first touch, but it looked to me [granted from internet stream footage, decidedly not HD] like he thought it was going out for a goal kick. The way he only seemed to half go for it and pulled his arms back, either he knew he was well beaten for a chip, or he thought it was going over and he didn't want to concede the corner. Check out the angle that starts at 0:55 on this video (from behind the goal camera)
I've watched this chance countless times since (yes, I have watched the game a fair few times since ) and I agree. He jumps for the initial cross, he is facing the direction in which the cross was coming (left) and as he comes down he turns and the ball hits Brown literally stood, maybe 2 yards behind him, and he literally is landing as it hits Brown, he reacted as fast as he could but air kicked. It happens. Same as his miss today. Maybe a 'more clinical' player would have made better contact but for me, it was a half chance at best. Onto today. Following the horrendous showing (or should I say no show) in Lisbon in midweek, I expected some changes - obviously the 2 CBs were called in unsurprisingly as they are both far more reliable than Yobo and Senderos (who was also injured still I believe). The other changes were a bit surprising, Saha has an Achilles injury (?) and Billy dropped for being Sporting's 12th player on Thursday. I think Donovan was primarily rested but also, I didn't think he looked himself all I seen him (either today or Thursday), maybe the flu has got worse (?). Anyways, I also think Moyes wanted to "bulk up" the team a little, as Spurs have some big guys in their team. First half totally killed us. First goal seemed to be a combination of bad defending and bad luck on our part. Distin missed the challenge and Heitinga was left exposed with the 2 strikers, I haven't seen a replay but I couldn't help but think had he gone towards Defoe instead of leaving him that he could of got a block on it. We had been totally second best til that point anyway so probably a deserved goal. I thought we then enjoyed about 10 minutes of half decent possession without actually doing anything. Then Spurs did a great goal with some good football and a nice finish from Modric, who is a cracking little player. We created one chance I think, first half, when Rodwell headed wide, he really should of hit the target at least. Overall, it was just not good enough and we needed some changes, we had looked leggy, lethargic, and disinterested. I was particularly concerned, especially following the performance in Portugal, I just wondered if we were headed for burn out. So then I was a little shocked when Moyes took Osman (who, to be fair, had been anonymous) out and put in Jagielka, but then it became apprent he wanted some 'weight' in midfield with Heitinga to match up with Spurs. This allowed Arteta to move forward and get closer to Pienaar and Yakubu, and be more effective in linking up play, which had been a problem in the first period. We got a scrappy goal from the corner but thats why Yakubu is there. Nice header back from Rodwell, who almost equalised straight after with the volley from Yakubu's nice pass inside. Pienaar had a good chance too, and maybe should have scored or squared it to Rodwell, I think it was. LD's miss. Well, there isn't a lot more to be said than hasn't already been said. At this level you just HAVE to score those opportunities, particularly at 2-1, because if that goes in we might be looking to go on and win the game even. It's a real shame that he missed it, he really should of aimed it back more in towards where it came (I know the defender was sliding back but there was a big enough gap, no?) rather than trying to place it just inside the post. That miss hurt him a lot, he was still cursing it as he went off the field from what I could see. Jags then missed a free header from a corner, that probably should have scored, and Donovan nicked one off Vaughan's foot (you need to call for it Vaughany!) which was unfortunate. In the end, I thought we had done enough to earn ourselves at least a draw BUT I am a lot more heartened by our 2nd half performance, we looked a lot more solid, and Jagielka played real good. If we had continued with a poor display 2nd half then I would be really concerned, as it is, I'm still pretty confident of getting a positive result next week against Jozy's Hull. Howard, he made some great saves today I thought. Didn't really stand a chance with either goal I don't think. First time he hasn't had a penalty to save versus Spurs this season Neville, the guy pisses me off when he plays that way (pardon my French). Bale was a threat all day, but a guy of Neville's experience, you think he would know how to deal with that type of player, but he just backs off and let Bale come on to him everytime. I respect him as a person, and know that he is Moyes on the pitch, but he needs to get out the team next season if we are to kick on, just my opinion though. Distin and Heitinga did good in the main apart from the slip up on goal 1. Heitinga looked particularly good in DM which is the first time he has impressed me when he plays there. I love his passion too. Jagielka looked like he has never been away. He is a great defender, and I am made up he is back. Him & Distin for CB with Heitinga infront while Fellaini is out maybe? Baines did ok, he handled Kranjcar well for the most part, I thought, as Kranjcar only really looked dangerous when he came inside (apart from goal 2). He got forward in support really well, as usual, and was dependable at the back. I am no England fan, but he deserves his chance in midweek v Egypt. Anichebe did some good things, but more bad things. He didn't get nearly close enough to Bale, and didn't play him the right way. Correct decision to take him off. Rodwell looked good in a more advanced role, I thought. He made some intelligent runs and had some chances. Love the kid though. He's gonna be a star, still only 18. He was not great first half though. Osman, anonymous for me, guessin he was pretty tired after his efforts in the last few weeks when he's been immense. Arteta done well, and made some smart passes, he is slowly getting back to the old Mikel. Still holding back quite a bit but it's nice to see him dictating the midfield again. Pienaar started off poor, giving away cheap possession. But he grew as the game went on and was back to buzzing around trying to create in the 2nd period. I swore he was going off when he got that foul when he had just got his yellow so I'm pretty relieved he finished the game. Yakubu played his best since his return from his long absence. He ran around a lot (for Yak, that's a lot ) and chased back sometimes too. When he is motivated he can be quite scary, nice for him to get a goal too, even if it was a tap in, can't be bad for his confidence. Vaughan ran around but didn't get much chance to influence the game. Donovan, I won't dwell on the miss because that's not what dictates a players entire performance. I don't know whether he was still unwell, or frustrated at not starting, or tired, but he gave the ball away a bit too. He did some nice interplay though, particularly with Arteta. I think that miss hurt him bad, so I hope he doesn't let it effect him. He now gets a week rest before Hull game next week, the fans won't turn on him for that miss. He just needs to show us what we know he can do. I fancy him to score next week. I believe he will. Be positive (Can't believe someone as pessimistic as me is saying that!)