Match Report and Mom v Everton

My problem with Gosling is that I don't think he is as good as he himself thinks he is. We were commenting about him immediately after the match. We know he has a terrific engine and that's why Eddie picks him (I guess) but he quite often doesn't look up when passing and gives the ball away, he also tries to beat too many men and lose the ball that way. If the ball is lost in the melee of crowded mid-field, especially when energy levels are high at the begining of a match, one tends not to notice.

Cardiff were not very good and West Ham weren't up to scratch so I suggest we get got away with it but Everton are one of the better teams and I think we will struggle if we keep playing with the pairing of Gosling and Surman.

Watching from low in the East Stand, one of the runs that Lewis Cook's made towards the end of the match was a delight to watch, his determination to keep the ball was palpable, he beat three or four men and then passed to Ibe who set up an attack.

I also loved Pickford's methodology, the sideways kick with the ball kept low at speed, was a thing of joy. I think we should learn from that.

Having said all that, while this may not have been a defining match in our season, to draw with a team such as Everton suggests we probably won't go down.:giggle:
 
I'm not sure why but I got the impression that Wilson looked far more effective when Ibe came on but my man of the match was Steve Cook, thought he had Tosun in his pocket.
 
Nobody on this board would say Gosling or Surman is better than Cook. Would they?

So the sooner he gets in the side the better.

Two wins against bang average sides does not justify picking Gosling and Surman against Chelsea. There was no creative play in midfield at all yesterday our only tactic of effect was to give it to Smith while he was on the pitch or to play it down the channels for King and Wilson to take on Keane.

We can’t afford to play without an England international midfielder and hopefully soon Lerma will join him.
 
Fair play to Wilson yesterday, he had a good game. I've been critcial of him in the past but he held it up way better than the Cardiff game. I hope he continues to get better and there are signs this season he'll get back to his best, which I've doubted in the past.
 
bog_standard said:
Fair play to Wilson yesterday, he had a good game. I've been critcial of him in the past but he held it up way better than the Cardiff game. I hope he continues to get better and there are signs this season he'll get back to his best, which I've doubted in the past.
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Agree, although he's got to be finishing chances like the one in the first half. The one-on-one in the second was tough tbf.

His ability to brush these missed chances off and get on with it is a real asset too. Missed pen against Cardiff - goes on to score. Misses big chance first half against West Ham - scores a solo cracker. Missed good chance against Everton - wins pen and nearly scores resulting in assist. Good mental strength.
 
Neil Dawson said:
Nobody on this board would say Gosling or Surman is better than Cook. Would they?

So the sooner he gets in the side the better.

Two wins against bang average sides does not justify picking Gosling and Surman against Chelsea. There was no creative play in midfield at all yesterday our only tactic of effect was to give it to Smith while he was on the pitch or to play it down the channels for King and Wilson to take on Keane.

We can’t afford to play without an England international midfielder and hopefully soon Lerma will join him.
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Agree completely with this and Lewis needs to be playing regularly to maintain his skill levels. It showed yesterday that it took him a while to get into the game because he’s not been selected of late for whatever reason by EH.
 
DodgerCherry said:
Agree completely with this and Lewis needs to be playing regularly to maintain his skill levels. It showed yesterday that it took him a while to get into the game because he’s not been selected of late for whatever reason by EH.
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So his mistakes are someone else's fault?

Who is responsible for Surman's mistakes out of interest.
 
I agree Lewis is a better player nut he has 0 goals and 4 assists in 37 appearances according to PL stats. He also is liable to piss around on the edge of our area as he did yesterday. He is not infallible and as others have said, Gosling and Surman have not done too much wrong. It will be interesting to see what happens when Lerma comes in. Do we stick with 2 in CM, in which case DG,AS and LC will be contesting the other place (assuming we dont want to bench a 25m player), or go for 3 in midfield and potentially lose some width
 
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SlowDownDerek said:
So his mistakes are someone else's fault?

Who is responsible for Surman's mistakes out of interest.
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I think the point being made is his confidence has probably dropped watching inferior players start ahead of him. He would have to have massive character at his age not to have had some of the buzz taken out of him by that decision when last year we were building a team around him and Ake.

It’s hardly surprising therefore he looked jittery at times. He is a confidence player as well because his game depends on beating people at close hand and spraying passes...not looking for a ten yard give and go with a centre back which doesn’t require any bravery.
 
Neil Dawson said:
I think the point being made is his confidence has probably dropped watching inferior players start ahead of him. He would have to have massive character at his age not to have had some of the buzz taken out of him by that decision when last year we were building a team around him and Ake.

It’s hardly surprising therefore he looked jittery at times. He is a confidence player as well because his game depends on beating people at close hand and spraying passes...not looking for a ten yard give and go with a centre back which doesn’t require any bravery.
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You're making things up about his confidence here. He's not in the side because he wasn't good enough in pre season. He was probably tired due to playing more than the others in the summer - if that's not me making up my own excuses for him. Gos and Surs were picked on merit due to their Marseille performance, which was better than any of Cook's pre season games. They have repaid his faith in them with performances since then.

Personally I thought Cook looked good yesterday but he obviously made some bad errors which may mean Eddie doesn't put him back in. If his confidence isn't right he shouldn't be in the side and he's got to get over himself. I doubt there's anything wrong with his confidence though.
 
I think Cooks problem when he came on was he was trying to have an immediate impact/influence on the game. Instead of seeing 90 mins to do that in, he tried to make 90 mins of incisive passing in about 15 mins.

He needs to stop giving the ball away on the edge of our box though. The commentators said it was Begovics fault but I did not see a replay to know for certain
 
USCherry said:
I think Cooks problem when he came on was he was trying to have an immediate impact/influence on the game. Instead of seeing 90 mins to do that in, he tried to make 90 mins of incisive passing in about 15 mins.

He needs to stop giving the ball away on the edge of our box though. The commentators said it was Begovics fault but I did not see a replay to know for certain
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Begovic gave it to him when nobody was expecting it, let alone Cook. It was suicidal.

It’s handy though because it has given the ‘good old days’ fans a reason to play Surman until Christmas.
 
Neil Dawson said:
Begovic gave it to him when nobody was expecting it, let alone Cook. It was suicidal.

It’s handy though because it has given the ‘good old days’ fans a reason to play Surman until Christmas.
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Even by your standards of supporting your agenda that is nonsense Neil. Lewis could have played it to the left but decided to turn back inside, got dispossessed and made a half hearted attempt to tackle back. Like I said above, he is a good player but not infallible
 
are they the same as the chief ‘good old days’ fan who thinks arter is still one of our best players and should hands down be in the current team based on his championship form and having 2 or 3 decent games in the premier league?
 
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