I had to step out of the room and missed the goal but the online commentaries say it was a screamer from 20 yards; can't say whether Howard should have had it. He's been competent in making a few saves but didn't have to do anything spectacular until the goal.
It ends 1-0 to Newcastle In stoppage time Everton hit a post and saw Fellani put a golden opportunity over the bar.
Don't know whether to chalk Everton's poor run to bad luck, poor finishing, or what. It's a real headscratcher that they managed three versus United and couldn't score against Newcastle, though I think Newcastle has more or less demonstrated that they're going down was a bit of a freak event and they seem to have a quality squad.
suckiness both on and off the field though. They wouldn't have gone down if they'd had a stable management situation.
Everton seemingly do this every year, they always stutter at the start. And theyve had a strong bunch of opponents. And yeah, Newcastle just needed to drop a bunch of dead weight. It was a thorough wakeup call for them.
I thought that was usually due to injuries (especially last year), though I could be wrong. They're relatively healthy this year.
Tim was the best player on the field for Everton. Not at fault for the goal and he had some good saves. But absolutely dreadful play from Everton. I'm just so surprised. Something just seems to be amiss. I'm really confused on how they're lining up out there. Fellaini is playing farther up the field than Arteta, which seems backwards to me. Arteta is about the only player they have who can consistently deliver a good final pass. And that's what they were missing today: a decent final pass. Pienaar tries, but usually they're overhit and have much too much pace on them. And Fellaini had to have had his worst game I've ever seen. His touch was awful, decision-making was awful. He always seemed a day late and a dollar short on everything he tried. I don't know what's going on with them, but they were not the Everton I'm used to seeing. In fact, this whole year so far they're not the Everton I'm used to seeing. Hope they don't dig a hole that's too deep to climb out of.
they do this every year. and every year for some reason they start playing better and better. Landon would have been the cure to their slow start.
Watch the replay of the goal when the camera is behind the striker. Howard drifts further and further to the right side of his goal, opening up more and more space on his left. When the shot comes, he's too far out of position to make the save. Being out of position when the shot is taken is most definitely Howard's fault. Mid to long range shots like this have been his weakness for quite some time, and he still doesn't seem to have corrected the problem.
nonsense. That is a lot easier to say after the ball goes in. By that standard, every single keeper is out of position on every single goal.
It's an easy trap for a keeper to get sucked into. The play seems to be going to one side, so you drift too far in that direction as a compensation. In this case, Howard was close enough to his right post that he would have been able to save a shot to that side without even diving. That makes sense when the striker is 10 yards out, but it doesn't help at all against a longer shot like this one today. When the striker is outside the box and fairly central on the field, the keeper needs to realize that the shot can go towards either side of the goal and position himself accordingly. And, as has been the case for both the USMNT and for Everton, Howard showed today that he has a weakness when it comes to defending against these kind of longer range shots. Absolutely nothing I have said here is "nonsense."
Their goal was a screamer. Even if Howard did have a chance to make that save, it would have been spectacular. He made a couple good saves during the game, though they weren't amazing. He wasn't the best player for Everton -- that was Distin. But the loss was far from his fault.
except that you pointed this out after a goal went in. His positioning is usually excellent. Realistically, he is considered one of the top keepers in the Prem. You, on the other hand, watch soccer from your living room, basement or your computer. The chances of your knowing more about keeper positioning than Tim and his coaches is rather small.
I'm willing to bet that when Howard watches the game film, he would also agree that his positioning wasn't optimum. I'm not saying I know more about goalkeeping than Tim and his coaches-- I'm just saying I know more about it than you!
I can think of a couple goals against this summer where his positioning was off... But I digress. Howard's main asset has always been his athleticism, but his positioning and his command of the box on set plays has always been iffy. It's the latter that prevents him from being world class and keeps him as "merely" very good.
In recent years the poor start was put down to injuries. That wasn't the case for Everton at the start of this year, though the Cahill injury now is a real blow it would seem.
This. I mean, we get a little sensitive on here sometimes. EDIT:He has a legitimate question about the lack of ball pressure by his midfield.