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Post by Everton News. on Mar 10, 2017 23:26:56 GMT
Manager Ronald Koeman has confirmed keeper Joel Robles will continue in goal for Saturday’s home game against West Brom. The Spanish shot-stopper has been first-choice between the sticks since Maarten Stekelenburg got injured during the Merseyside derby in December. With Stekelenburg sidelined by a dead leg sustained in an accidental collision with Leighton Baines, Robles rose to the challenge of replacing the Dutchman in goal and played a pivotal role in the Blues’ recent unbeaten run, recording six shut-outs in nine Premier League games. Although that impressive run came to an end after a 3-2 loss at Tottenham last Sunday, Koeman said Robles will keep his place against the Baggies. "Joel is starting. There’s no reason to change now,” said the Blues boss. A victory for Everton this weekend would open up a seven-point gap over eighth-placed West Brom in the battle for a top-seven finish and a potential passport into the Europa League. The Blues have turned Goodison Park into a fortress under Koeman and are chasing a fifth successive home league win – a feat last achieved in March 2014. However, Koeman is taking nothing for granted and knows Tony Pulis' team pose a genuine threat, especially from set-piece situations. He added: “We know to be prepared against the strengths of West Brom and that’s all the set plays. They are really strong in that area. “It’s not always possible to stop the strengths of your opponent, but we need to do the maximum, we need to have organisation and we need to be a little bit lucky. “You also need your goalkeeper to help in defending set plays.” Everton FC
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Post by Everton News. on Mar 10, 2017 23:28:20 GMT
Blues To Remember YoungRonald Koeman says it is right and proper that Everton remember Alex Young’s life and legendary contribution at Goodison Park on Saturday. The West Bromwich Albion fixture is the first home match since Young passed away, aged 80 on 27 February. The ‘Golden Vision’ will be laid to rest on Saturday morning at 10am in Edinburgh, the city where he made a name for himself with Heart of Midlothian before starting his affinity with Everton in 1960. Young went on to enjoy eight years with the Toffees, winning the league title in 1963 and FA Cup in 1966. In total, the Scotland international appeared 273 times for the Blues, netting on 87 occasions. A photo of Young adorns the front cover of Saturday’s matchday programme and there will be a series of on-pitch and video tributes in the 15 minutes leading up to kick-off, including a minute’s applause. “I knew and I heard all the stories about the history of the Club - and he was part of that,” Koeman said. “It’s always important to give support to his family and remember what he did for Everton. “It’s a sad day for the family and the Club will give the support his family deserve, which is really important.” Joe Royle, a former teammate of Young, will be in attendance at Goodison on Saturday. The former Everton forward and manager remembered: “As a fan, I saw Alex come to Everton in a double deal with George Thompson in 1960. I smiled in awe as a young man watching this wonderful talent who swayed around the ball and had this wonderful touch. His first touch was so good that his second was usually a shot or a cross. “He was not what you would call a conventional number nine. When everybody else had big strikers - Ray Charnley at Blackpool and Nat Lofthouse at Bolton - we had this magical player who controlled the ball in deeper areas, more of a withdrawn striker. “Having said that, he could arrive with great timing and climb above bigger players, which he did regularly. “I can’t think of a modern player remotely like the way he played. We talk these days about pace, power and energy in all players in all positions. Alex was more grace, style and finesse. Evertonians, rightly, loved him.” Everton FC
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Post by Everton News. on Mar 11, 2017 15:13:03 GMT
Everton v WBA - Teamsheet Jagielka, Barry, And Mirallas StartTwo changes for the Blues as Funes Mori and Gana drop to the bench.Phil Jagielka and Kevin Mirallas come in for Everton as Ronald Koeman makes two changes for the visit of West Bromwich Albion. Ramiro Funes Mori and Idrissa Gana Gueye, who started last weekend’s game at Tottenham Hotspur, drop to the bench. It means Jagielka makes his first start since the 2-2 draw at Hull City on 30 December and takes over the captain’s armband from Gareth Barry. Jagielka’s inclusion means he joins Seamus Coleman, Ashley Williams and Leighton Baines in front of goalkeeper Joel Robles, with Barry and Morgan Schneiderlin the holding midfielders. Ahead of them, Tom Davies, Ross Barkley, Mirallas and Romelu Lukaku form the front four. "It’s a chance for Phil and a chance to bring Phil in," said Koeman ahead of kick-off. "It’s a centre-back for a centre-back. It’s important we defend well from the set plays of West Brom and, on the midfield, I think we need to be clever on the ball today. I expect we will have a lot of ball possession and that’s why Gareth is playing today as well. "You know they will drop back, they will try to close the gaps and you need a high tempo in your ball possession. "If you score 16 goals out of 36 from set pieces, it’s really a big strength. But, of course, they can score from crosses, from second balls as well. But most of the time it’s direct play, set pieces and we need to be strong at that. "It will be a difficult game. We will have a lot of the ball but you need high quality on the ball in your final pass and, if you make a fast goal in the game, that will make the game open. "If not, then you need to be patient."
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Post by Avinalaff on Mar 11, 2017 15:13:56 GMT
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Post by Everton News. on Mar 11, 2017 17:02:41 GMT
Everton 3-0 West BromHome team scorersKevin Mirallas 39 Morgan Schneiderlin 45 Romelu Lukaku 82 While the battle for seventh has been resolved, a skirmish for sixth is gaining intrigue. Everton put seven points between themselves and West Bromwich Albion, their closest challengers, to give themselves the chance to overhaul Manchester United, even if only for a day, next weekend. Everton have been trapped in no-man’s land between the top six and the bottom 13 for months. If they represented a target for Albion, the balance of power between the two clubs was tilted still further towards the wealthier club by a man Tony Pulis tried to sign in January. The West Brom manager was willing to pay £20m for Morgan Schneiderlin and scarcely required further evidence of the midfielder’s excellence. He got it anyway, the Frenchman opening his Everton account to secure a fifth successive home league win. He supplied a deft, delicate finish, holding off Jake Livermore and beating Ben Foster, after a neat reverse pass from Romelu Lukaku. It came in a six-minute period at the end of the first half as Everton’s extra quality told. Pulis’ 300th Premier League game as a manager had begun in familiar fashion as Albion defended with well-drilled expertise. They paid particular attention to Lukaku, four defenders crowding the Everton top scorer out seconds before the opener. He responded intelligently, veering towards the right touchline and creating room in the middle for others. His deflected pass found Ross Barkley. The midfielder was beginning to adopt a shoot-on-sight policy and although Ben Foster parried his effort, Kevin Mirallas buried the rebound. It was the recalled winger’s first start in five games, but Ronald Koeman’s conviction in his decision-making is a feature of his management. Idrissa Gueye has a case to be named Everton’s player of the season, but he was demoted to the bench, before coming on to hit the post. In defence, Phil Jagielka, who had only played one minute in 2017, was also brought back and supplied solidity against a rather toothless Albion team. Pulis had dropped Salomón Rondón, who had gone 12 games without a goal, but his replacement Hal Robson-Kanu was starved of service and granted few chances to prove an upgrade. Joel Robles tipped a skimming shot from Nacer Chadli past the post and dealt rather unconvincingly with a second effort from the Belgian, but was scarcely tested beyond that. Everton were the more progressive side. Lukaku threatened against his former club, curling a shot inches wide after Gareth Barry, finding himself in an unusually advanced area, supplied a through pass, and headed just past the post. Eventually he took the opportunity to draw level with Harry Kane as the division’s leading marksman, heading in Barkley’s scooped cross. His 19th of the league campaign was also a Premier League record for Everton, Lukaku bettering his own tally from last season to give an indication why the new contract he should sign will represent such welcome news for Everton. His goal was a further indication of Barkley’s impact. Earlier, he had followed a slaloming solo run by shooting into the side netting. The scoreline may have flattered Albion. Guardian
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