Bains missed an equalizer off the bottom of the bar as he beat the K on that last freekick. But it was not Everton's night. Losing 3 players, two of which were defenders and one of which was your first substitute is tough on any team...but especially a team trying to find a way to put the ball in the net. I was not impressed with Strakaslaski? whatever his name was, I think I would have prefered Saha up front with Landon running off of him, or the 0 for 2011 Tim Cahill even.
Look. You can't anoint Donovan the Everton savior when he just looked okay and his best play was hotly debated on this very forum. Give him time to settle in, but in a game where he didn't score, or create a goal, he'd have to play a lot better than this to be MOTM.
This is great for Bolton. They needed this. Once Stuart comes back, I think they'll have enough to stay up.
Cahill will be labeled the greatest defender in the Premiership tomorrow, and definitely worth £125k per week. Engage the English hype machine.
he was close to being motm, but if you can't see his dangerous runs and sharpness were well above anything his teammates could match, and only judge players through stats, soccer aint your sport
Final assessment: while LD seemed to have the best composure and the best ideas off-the-ball, running into open spaces and going behind the defenders without putting himself in offside, it's obvious the team is not used to him, so they couldn't really use his runs or his dribbling. Defensively, LD was out of step with the rest, not finding himself where he could have been most useful. Also, at times he seemed nervous and unsure about what to do, no doubt a product of a lack of synch with the rest. All in all, any attacking player in Everton looks subpar now (Saha, Stracqualursi, Cahill, even LD) because the spine of the team is not doing its job. Without Pienaar and Arteta, this team is a shadow of what it was before. The exception was Osman, who has a solid partnership with Baines. As LD gets better acquainted with Hibbert, things will also improve on his side.
In a game where his team loses, it's going to take more than the little things to make that case. He had some good moments, had a reasonable case for a penalty, and faded in the second half when his team really needed him. Taking into account it was his first game, you can excuse his tiring, but it certainly rules him out of MOTM.
I would put the BL up there in excitement as well. Five years ago or so, Wolfsburg finished just one spot ahead of the relegation zone. Two years later that club won the BL title. Hanover the season before last finished in the last safe spot, last year 4th. Parity in that league is great.
Yeah, good first half, poor second half for Donovan. Howard kept Everton in ths game and was easily MOTM.
Sorry to see Everton lose with Howard and LD, but I am actually glad that Bolton won. I don't want to see them relegated because I want Stu Holden playing in the EPL. Hurry back Stu!
True, the Bundesliga has been fun for the last five years, specially. You have about six clubs playing very good football, and the days of Bayern ruling the place are over. The Toffee Talk forum is divided about MOTM: Howard, Osman or The Wind. I'd vote for Osman, personally. Timmy did some awesome work, but I don't like that he punches balls out when he could grab them, and his distribution is not exactly the best. And, truth be told, that goal was a ton of luck. That's why he didn't even want to be congratulated. I bet he was feeling sad for his colleague on the other side. PS: Bolton is such a traditional side in the EPL that I also don't want to see them going down. It's sad enough to see Charlton, Leeds, the Hammers and now Birmingham crawling around the lower levels.
I wonder if he wasn't celebrating because he remembers the same thing happening to him years back in a reserves game for Man United.
That's about what I saw. Tough match for Everton with 3 injuries to 3 important players. The wind didn't make for pretty soccer.
Bolton, meh I guess. I grew up in England and I long for the teams of my youth like Leeds, Forest, Charlton, Wimbledon, Sheff Wed, Coventry. There are a few teams that I think the Premiership is more exciting when they're up. I like Martinez as a manager but I think all of those teams would add more quality to the league then Wigan.
Agreed. Under better circumstances, Donovan puts in a 60-75 minute shift, gets replaced by Cahill, and Everton guts out a draw. Tough game all around.
Goalies grab balls when they are sure and punch when they are not. I'm sure the wind was a factor in his decisions. I agree that Howard probably thought that the goal didn't deserve celebration due to luck along with empathy for the goalie.
I know I'm dating myself, but man, I remember those times when Forest ruled Europe! Great team, with a long, glorious past. Maybe some sheik can buy them and turn them into a powerhouse once again. But enough reminiscing. Back to my dear Landon. I'm not too happy about him stuck in Everton this time around. Unless they also get someone to reinforce the central midfield. The rumor around is that they may get Dani Parejo from Valencia. Since I don't see Pienaar going back, I think it'd be a good thing for them. Parejo is a player in Arteta's mold: with the typical Spanish flair and vision, the ball distributor/rythm imposing guy they need to impulse the attack. LD would work a lot better with a guy like him in the middle.
Howard had no realistic chance of catching that ball over the leap of 6'3 David Ngog. He did well to punch it wide. Sometimes BigSoccer just isn't very realistic.
So True. Leeds is probably a top 5 side in England historically. Forest, Southampton, WHam etc. all make EPL a richer place. I just don't think Wigan and Bolton add much to the mix from an atmosphere standpoint.