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Post by empresstouch on Sept 15, 2021 16:47:05 GMT
A player sent off and Tottenham drop their first points of the 2021-22 Premier League season to the relegation favourites, meaning we're joint top again.
This would be very nice in May, but the footballing season is a marathon, not a sprint, and everyone has to contribute as much as they possibly can.
There are many glowing statistics besides the League position; doing the Bayern Munich 2nd-leg again an obvious one, yet besides many revealing individual stats that Mina, Digne and Gray all are brought into very high praise, there are two key points I'd like to mention myself.
Briefly, isn't it wonderful when the player taking the most stick for individual errors suddenly becomes the player who breathes new life into the on-pitch XI through netting with the scoreline 0-1? Michael Keane,like many players at our club, has been very loyal to us. No tantrums or unfortunate episodes with the media, just doing his very best for the team in difficult circumstances - like Jordan Pickford last season.
But there's also a player who's contributions to the team may not be registering with traditional statistics, as far as many observers - Evertonian, or otherwise - would like.
Yet if we'd been tempted to cash-in on his services - I dare not even consider it...
Our most gifted talent, probably eclipsing James Rodriguez, is clearly not scoring the level of goals he's perfectly capable of in a yellow shirt.
Some have blamed this on the player's character. Some the previous managers. Others (often those regrettable media 'pundits') simply saying he needs to move on.
My call on Richarlison's lack of goals is simple: give the young man a team of ten other players who can run fast for 90+ minutes, without any complaining if they don't receive a pass when it's on, whilst doing their own duties without slip-ups for the full duration, and the team will succeed.
For when a team wins, there's enough glory for everyone. True glory that everybody now hungers for - but for the right reasons.
Certain unusual circumstances may have led to personnel being unavailable, and out of respect, are not mentioned at this moment in time.
But there's some great news in Goodison right now: that unquenchable thirst to score goals Dominic Calvert-Lewin displayed throughout 2020-21 has now spread throughout the squad. Demarai Gray an obvious example, but we're also seeing a former England international (in Andros Townsend) wanting to take the game to the opposition.
If we can keep this going against Aston Villa... all the way to Old Trafford, still joint top of the Premier League in October, many more people will only be declaring: "Please don't go back to the days where we have to nullify the opposition first, before doing anything with the ball ourselves!?!", and quite understandably when we see a player almost addicted to playing and running all over the pitch non-stop, with his team-mates following suit.
It's really a mouth-watering fixture, the 'real' rematch at Old Trafford, where (if you ask me) we've played the best football - against outstanding opposition, we can really measure our quality.
One thing to be battling teams head-to-head, before blitzing them when the chance arises; can we do this against European heavyweights and earn both results and long-term respect from PLAYERS?
James Rodriguez's absence last Monday night, well... I enjoy a game's story being played out the entire 90 minutes, when both teams have something to play for and try their best. Like Brighton: Burnley did this. Like on the south coast: our players responded very with courage AND class; not being deterred with the physical side of the game, before winning with quality and breaking down strong opposing team spirit - fair and square.
Quality Brands, Moshiri and Benitez deserve great credit - for holding on to, with some superb Summer 2021 window signings under very difficult FFP restrictions, persuading Richarlison, DCL and Digne ALL to say 'NO' to PSG, Arsenal and Manchester City, in that something special could yet just happen.
Enjoy Villa Park.
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Post by rugbytoffee on Sept 15, 2021 17:42:17 GMT
All rosey at the moment , but we were almost at the same place last season at this time. Time will tell if our current squad has the necessary quality to improve on last seasons disappointment.
Gray and Townsend have been positives, showing spending big doesn't always guarantee success.
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Post by evertonfan1968 on Sept 15, 2021 20:25:22 GMT
So far so good if we can stop letting them in. We'll not score those goals every week. Who takes penalties now?
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Post by jimmy on Sept 17, 2021 11:39:16 GMT
So far so good if we can stop letting them in. We'll not score those goals every week. Who takes penalties now? It will probably be Richarlison or Gray.
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