Re: Everton-Wigan - For those of us watching the 7pm Saturday FSC feed [R] Landon played well early, but less so later. One thing I thought was that in general, Everton was playing too rushed and too selfishly. Landon was doubly out of sync, because he was playing too slow sometimes and too unselfishly alot of the time. [result]Here's why.[/result]
Re: Everton-Wigan - For those of us watching the 7pm Saturday FSC feed [R] There were ten other games I wanted to follow with YA in them I strictly avoided the main Everton-Wigan thread. But the FSC showing was my first time to see Landon in Toffee colours anywhere close to live, so I held off for the ~eight hours and it would be new to me. One thing I'm surprised is Big Soccer's lack of a mobile site. I couldn't seem to login from my Blackberry at all.
Re: Everton-Wigan - For those of us watching the 7pm Saturday FSC feed [R] Yeah, if I remember this one correctly, he was in a lot of space just outside the top of the box. Could have taken a touch or two and teed up a right-footed shot ... or else made a better pass. That's my contribution to the weekly Landon over-analysis
Re: Everton-Wigan - For those of us watching the 7pm Saturday FSC feed [R] My only hope is that you guys all coach !!!
Re: Everton-Wigan - For those of us watching the 7pm Saturday FSC feed [R] Sky Sports gave Landon a 7... Fellaini and Saha also got 7s They Gave Piennar and Osman a 6 ... Cahill an 8 And Baines a 9. They labeled Landon as "Lively"
Idk, the only one I disagree with is Pienaar. Maybe I'm being overly harsh, but that's the worst I've ever seen him. I've watched him before with Everton and South Africa, and I've just never seen him that flat. Maybe I'm just disappointed that he wasn't the dominant force we saw against Arsenal and Man City, but he was giving passes away left and right, literally.
I meant based on the way Sky Sports usually does their player ratings - it's been nearly 2 months since they last gave an Everton starter less than a 6.
Only saw parts of the first half of this one, but I thought the guy with the big hair, maybe #21 (Soccernet says that's Leon Osman?) was just awful with his passing. Did he get better later on?
He's been for the most part brilliant recently. However, Wigan's goal was to ugly up the game, and they succeeded, and as a result, nobody looked pretty. Everton's triumph was in making them pay in one of the few chances they got, while only allowing two chances themselves, one saved by the Timmy and one by the crossbar. There was a certain amount of hand-wringing over Donovan's lack of a quality final touch in this match, but I think most realize in retrospect that everybody was lacking that final touch quality for the most part. To their credit, Baines and Cahill managed a great cross/header in spite of it. On most days, that game ends as a draw. But Everton are playing really well right now, and you could almost look to a match like this as proof.
Re: Everton-Wigan - For those of us watching the 7pm Saturday FSC feed [R] Missed this first time around. Not only at Bayern but all the games with Everton too; although Donovan has played well in every game thus far in each of them you can clearly see the timing issue. Getting use to the speed of play in the Premiership (that doesnt require a whole lot of dribbling) and knowing when to hold for that second or two longer can make all the difference. Obviously in MLS he never had to think so quickly, so I blame MLS for it. No worries for a player of Donovan’s caliber, players/manager know thats a simple work through and see the bigger picture in his on field contribution and value. It'll be interesting to see how he does against Liverpool this weekend who can take the quickness thing to another level. My guess is that hes fine tuned and made the final adjustments…
Saw a little of this match the other day. Say the first 40 minutes or so. For Donovan I think he looked ok. But nothing particularyl special. Everton should've done better a few times nad so should Donovan have. Taking players on is something he should have a little more confidence to do - maybe on the positive, IMO he does look a little more confident now because he's trying some things and getting around who's assigned to him with a few good moves. One in particularly was a little embarassing for Figueroa with a neat and well weighted flick, Donovan turned and was already a few yards away from him. Those are the touches of class that IMO shouldn't be ignored and enjoyed, and are to build on. Downside is Wigan have a real mess in Titus Bramble. I still haven't got a clue how he's a premiership defender. It's one of the greater mysteries to me. He's just awful. With that in mind I think Everton should've attacked him and hoped for his inevitable lapse a little more often in the opening 40. It wasn't that the match was sloppy to me, because Pienaar and the others had space to simply sprint up field. But with someone like Arteta they would've done that and sliced them up. Still, 3 pts. on the road's a fantastic result. The bigger US player IMO was Howard who made some good decisions on when to come out, some nice saves and threw off a few players that had good chances.
Re: Everton-Wigan - For those of us watching the 7pm Saturday FSC feed [R] For those who were comparing him to Arshavin, it will be interesting to see how he (Donovan) approaches the game. Arshavin has been getting lost lately, but I think that was due mainly to playing him as a target striker. One thing is pretty clear, Donovan is nowhere as aggressive or confident attacking the defense and pulling the trigger as Arshavin. I hope he finds some of that because it is necessary at this level. My knock on Liverpool since forever is that they have no speed except in Torres. Donovan should be able to exploit that back line all day if he gets played into space. Look for Liverpool to be very aggressive on him trying to nick and ankle or foot or knee.
Harsh! Osman takes a lot of stick off our fans, mainly cos he is a local boy. Our football improves a lot when he plays central, although he does suck out wide...