"I told him most of the players in England play with flu four or five times a year," said Moyes. "If you're from Los Angeles you probably don't know what flu is!" You mean, Donovan was complaining about the flu? Toughen up, boy! It's not like this game was played at an altitude of over a mile with 100,000 fans who hate you and a few who throw beer and crap at you!
Well, I saw the team sheet and I thought Pienaar was most likely candidate to play central, which is the role he plays for South Africa. I wasn't expecting Donovan left and Billy right though. Then it clicked that Neville was playing at RB and I'm guessing Moyes wanted to try and get Donovan to use his pace v Neville. We started off slow and sluggish, kind of like the Chelsea game. They penned us back for a little while then the ball broke to them and Berbatov controlled and finished superbly well in a tight space. He is magic in those type of situations - one of the best in the world at that, in my opinion. The strong response was necessary as I was thinking "oh here we go again!" but Billy decided to stun everyone in the ground with that beautiful goal. Was hilarious actually, he shot and everyone around us was like "Ahh that's going well wide" but BAM the net rippled and everyone jumps up, going crazy...Haha We seemed to grow in confidence then and were the better team for the remainder of the firs tperiod, in my view anyway. Billy had a good chance from Baines cross. We maybe could have had a penalty with the push on Heitinga, I dunno, I'm still 50/50 on that. On Donovan's chance, to be honest, I honestly don't believe he was expecting it to fall to him. I know I wasn't. He had a less time than Berbatov to react, and by the time he had, VDS had jumped on it. So I think it's a bit harsh to criticise him. The second half, I fully expected United to come out all guns blazing but they never really. We came out more on fire and totally drowned out all of their attacks. We scored a beautifully worked 2nd with little Danny Gosling (aww, I love him!) being there in right place, right time yet again - boy has some Cahill-esque knack! Then my boy Jacky scored a fantastic solo goal, and showed why he is so highly rated. I still can't get my head around the fact he's only 18. The lad has the potential to be a top, top player. Although I was not best pleased that I nearly smashed my phone up whilst celebrating his goal! Overall, a fantastic team performance, all of them were exceptional - working tirelessly, playing good football, cool in possession and passionate. I'm so proud of them all. But I gotta give my MOTM to Osman because he totally epitomises Everton for me and I love him to bits, after everything he has been through with injuries at the start of his career and stuff, and the high expectations our fans have of him as he is one of our own. It means he gets a lot of unwarranted stick. Credit to him for bouncing back into outstanding form lately. I think today, United played into our hands. They gave our midfield a huge amount of space to play in. Our midfielders thrive in playing in space, they combined well and flowed into the space - interchanging places, and passing triangles. Sometimes it was hard to see who was playing where. I'm soooo happy though. Always good to get one over the Mancs! Credit to Moyes for some well thought out, and well timed substitutions. Howard - didn't really have much to do, but he was very solid. Stood no chance with the goal. I sense a real aura of confidence from him right now though. Neville was 10000 times better than midweek, he lost the ball at thet start of the first half but so did a lot of them. That running Rooney off the ball from around Howard was great! Heitinga is nails. He's a total psycho, but he is already a cult hero and the fans love his no nonsense defending. He will be having an operation tomorrow to get Rooney surgically removed from hsi back pocket! Distin was solid, a few shaky moments but he made some crucial interceptions and is such a big unit, players struggle to get around him. Baines started a bit off, I thought. He let Valencia have too much space on occasions but after that I think someone hit his on button and he was back and forwards all game long after that. Put in some great crosses too. Osman was exceptional. He is a real battler, but his skills are underrated too. If he had pace and a bit more strength he would be an outstanding player. Arteta, well you can still tell he is not anywhere near match fit, but he still did a great job in there. Pienaar was quality, particularly second half when he was exposing Uniteds defence with probing passes and runs, and he works so, so hard. It wouldn't surprise me if he was still running now Billy was good. He did some really nice touches and passes, and that goal...WOW! Saha played good too, he worked harder than usual and was unlucky with that strike early on. That step over for Billy's chance was quality too. He ran the channels really well today too. Finally, Donovan. He adds a totally different dimension to our play and we look SO much more balanced with him. His pace really scared United, I noticed at times they were doubling up on him first half, so they had obviously done their homework. He did a beautiful little back heel flick early on and showed some lovely touches and combination play, with Pienaar in particular. He was very happy at the end too, a bit of fist pumping to the crowd haha. I just glanced on some of the Everton forums and there are posts galore saying "Donovan must be our priority signing this summer", and it's not just one or two...Can't help but think we may be fighting a losing battle on that front though. I just can't see us having the type of money I believe MLS would want. I'm still buzzing though, this surpasses City and Chelsea for me. Huge win. To those who said we have no chance of top 4, we were 10 points behind Aston Villa at this stage last season and overhauled them I'll be shocked if we do, but if we finish top 6, I'll be pretty made up, all things considered. COYB! Bring it Spurs!
Rewatch the match: http://watchsocceronline.blogspot.com/2010/02/rewatch-everton-match-vs-manchester.html I am uploading the second half now.
So a player rating that is based entirely on someone's opinion...is an "actual fact"? That's cool I guess. Anyway, I hope LD continues his good play over there and am especially interested to see what he looks like at the start of the MLS season compared to the rest of the players.
Hello, my opinion is pretty much fact (tongue in cheek) and I'd say he had a good game. Didn't have perhaps quite as good high points as in some previous games, but being o9n the left suited him and allowed him to get a lot more involved. I know people have dissed P. Neville and I don't agree with that, but I think Donovan links up better with Baines more attacking senbsibilties and having them together suits Everton's game more.
Love to hear from those actually at the match as the TV doesn't show everything such as full sprints and other off the ball stuff. I think Arteta's Girl is correct that Donovan helps so much because he is different than any player they have. Good teams have good combinations of style and sizes added with grit and hustle. Everton have all of those right now.
Donovan is not a striker, nor is he there to make the assists. Regardless that he is the #1 striker and assisting in the USMNT. I think Donovan's uniqueness comes from being smart. A very high football IQ. It's no coincidence that, whenever he plays, all the players around him seem to go up a notch. Good positioning, great vision, excellent team participation. He is not the type of player who shines on his own, but everything he does is to make the team, the whole team, play better. In a way, that is much less common than the star who plays for himself. Everybody knows that, without him, the USMNT is but a shadow of what it can be with him. Now you'll see once he stops being at Everton and returns to the Galaxy.
Neville is a better player than he looks. His problem is that he seems bound and determined to play Route 1 soccer, but Everton's attacking force is useless at that, outside of Cahill. Fellaini is great in the air, but he's rarely forward enough to benefit from Neville's service. So Phil just keeps lobbing up looping floaters to Saha and LD and others, whether it works or not. To his credit, sometimes it does indeed work, but IMO Everton would be better served for him to work the ball on the ground more often. He also makes some stunningly inaccurate passes occasionally. As if he saw an Everton shirt in the crowd and tried to pass it to him. I hope Moyes keeps LD on the left or in the hole. He's more dangerous when he can cut inside on his right.
Another final point, his confidence is just growing game on game, you can actually feel it like oozing from him. He is always talking with our players now, like he isn't afraid to shout for the ball of them now, and he was trying to gee the players up when we went behind. Leader. He was even having a go at the referee, when decisions weren't going his way, he was still in the ear of the referee even though the incident was a good few minutes earlier. He looks so much part of the furniture already and he is right up with the team spirit. Embracing all the lads at the end too.
I think this was LD's best game yet for Everton. He did miss that early chance, but it was a weird bounce off of Brown's arm. Anyway, LD looked his most confident yet, in my opinion. The way he ran at players, that first flick to Pienaar, the combo with Pienaar that led to the second goal. And, wow, does the guy cover a lot of field. He is fast and it looks like his fitness is finally there, despite the reports of flu. Oh man, in the second half, did anyone catch that behind the foot trap from that hi ball on the sideline? An incredible amount of skill from a very high ball right on the endline...almost a Cryuff-syle trap. Anyway, such an amazing game. If LD goes there permanent, I'm sure I'll be an Everton fan for a long while. So proud.
Moyes once again said that he has no plans to sign LD, and that he wants to honor the contract he has with LAG: http://www.bigapplesoccer.com/article.php?article_id=22668 "I think Landon would like to stay but at the moment it probably looks as if he's not [going to]," Moyes told Sky Sports after Everton defeated Manchester United Saturday. "I wouldn't want to have any disrespect to his club or the contract he has over there." On the other hand, speculations are rife that after the WC (or even during it) some big name clubs will be knocking at LAG's door to get him. Everton is first, but there is a rumour around that Liverpool FC is interested.
This. Donovan didn't have the one-on-one's that he did against Chelsea or Man City - but his LINK UP and TEAMWORK is miles better now with Everton. And having Pienaar and Donovan on the field at the same time is going to give teams FITS when they're playing well together. You can't plan for that kind of pace and tenacity when they're working together. Man, I can't wait for Spurs.
Well Liverpool can jog on Mind you, if he really wants to go there. I'll lose all respect for him. Sorry.
I loved his performance today, and acknowledge that for the USMNT to do well, he has to be on, but I think the fans of the San Jose Earthquakes and Houston Dynamo might disagree with this.