When I said I wanted us in for any central defender who would keep Williams off the pitch, I should perhaps have been more specific.
Don't mind me, I'll be over here eating crow.
Happy to be proven wrong, and long may it continue.
7:29 - Marouane Fellaini spent seven minutes & 29 seconds on the pitch after coming on as a sub, before being subbed off again. Fleeting.
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) January 31, 2018
I see Chelsea imploded today and Newcastle have played like Newcastle (Joselu missing a penalty is a microcosm of his entire season).
Don't mind me, I'll be over here eating crow.
Happy to be proven wrong, and long may it continue.
I'm going to play my "it's just one game and very early into his contract" card.
Fully agreed it's early doors, but Theo also looked good in his first game, setting up our goal (and would have had more if we were better at finishing).
In any event, an important three points for us today, in spite of an uneven performance.
Can.... can we just give City the league title now? Just let them focus on the cups.
As the window has wrapped up, a few thoughts on Everton's business.
Inbound:
Theo Walcott - I was more than skeptical, and it is definitely early, but he's already offered more than I expected, and there were glimpses of a potential great partnership with Seamus Coleman in yesterday's game
Cenk Tosun - Jury's still out. Made some good runs in his first game with us but had really poor service. Second game was poor (as was most of the team), and the fact that he didn't make it on even as a sub against Leicester isn't super inspiring, but still hoping he'll come good.
Eliaquim Mangala - I'm not enthusiastic, but as a half-season loan, probably reasonable (which reflects how the season has been a shambles). Ought to keep Williams off the pitch, though I think I'd prefer for academy players to get playtime (at least, once we get to safety).
Outbound:
Ross Barkley - Suddenly fit again as the window opens is not a good look. Glad we got a fee for him, but the way he handled his exit was... less than great.
Kevin Mirallas - (Who?) Decent player when he decides to put a shift in, but those games are few and far between. Surprised he wasn't sold earlier, in spite of our need for wingers.
Muhamed Bešić - This one breaks my heart a little. Showed some promise as a midfield enforcer, and I'll always chuckle remembering his (fair) tackle on Yaya Toure, followed by a condescending pat on the back while Yaya was complaining to the ref, but he has been too injury-prone. Hope he does great at Boro and earns a spot in our squad, but expect this is the end for him.
Sandro Ramirez - Back to Sevilla, and can't imagine he'll come back. Never settled in England, but for 5m was worth a punt.
Aaron Lennon - Love that the club stood by him during his mental health crisis, and that he's managed to get some game time. Wish him all the best at Burnley.
Ademola Lookman - Easily the most surprising trade for me. A team that is largely lacking pace and width, loaning out a speedy young wide player? Don't know if his attitude in training has been poor, or what's going on, but something is clearly amiss. A (small) silver lining is that he and Vlasic won't be competing for minutes now.
Things going well at West Ham, I see.
For anyone else wondering, I'm a guess Prederick means this. Which...woof.
That might be a woof, a bark and a bow-wow.
Don't think I can blame Riyad Mahrez for throwing a fit over how Leicester's handled his transfer request.
Wenger is moaning that the money in football is ruining competition. Hey Arsene, remember ten minutes ago when you signed a new forward for £56 million?
My team brought a kid in from the League of Ireland and picked up a cast-off considered not good enough for Nottingham Forest. We also loaned someone to Luton. As a form of punishment I presume.
You're not wrong Arsene, you're just wrong about which side of the problem you're on.
The good news for Arsenal is they got Ozil under contract. Spending huge on Aubameyang when they need to rebuild most of the back-half of their best XI isn't something I agree with but I guess they should be reasonably decent to watch going forward.
Arsenal should sell Alexis Sanchez more often, I guess.
Agent Mangala off to a fine start.
So apparently, Gary Neville (world's greatest coach, just ask any Valencia fan) has 'castigated' Pep for only naming 6 subs against Burnley.
Notwithstanding the fact that there are a number of players carrying minor knocks (Silva, Foden for example) and others with longer term injuries (Jesus, Mendy, Sane), the rat faced pundit has asked why they didn't put some of the kids on the bench.
Here's a thought, chuckle - why not do a little bit of research before opening your trap. City's EDS team played LAST NIGHT, and therefore any player who hadn't already been held out for the Burnley squad would not really be in a fit state to make their debut, now would they?
Stick to trying to destroy Manchester's architecture with horrendous tower blocks, you clueless waste of carbon.
ESPN also managed to list '6 players who City could have played' in big letters. Slightly smaller letters at the end of each paragraph "...he also played in the EDS last night."
If this happens again Pep should name himself as a sub.
While the battle for first in the Premier League looks downright boring this year, the battle to avoid regulation could be incredibly dramatic.
Here's the table from position 11 on down.
The 19th place team is at 24 points. The 11th place team is at 27 points. 9 teams separated by 3 points, and 2 of the nine will go down. Even West Brom, at 20 points, is within range of escaping.
On Gary Neville, I've never got the adulation regarding his "insight". He seems to be developing this character who just acts unhinged and angry over the slightest thing. Anything he can find a bit annoying is "a disgrace". I don't know if it's the mission statement given to him and Carragher by Sky Sports, but they both just seem to live for the theatrical side of things, blowing whatever they can out of proportion. I know Sky have always tried to do that a bit (which in turn has made the BBC follow suit, see Garth Crooks and his obsession with Paul Pogba's hair), but Neville just seems to be the drama machine overclocked.
Mention for Wycombe this weekend who played Carlisle, who were 2-0 up at half time, had a player sent off and gave away a penalty 2 minutes after the 2nd half started, missed a penalty to make it 3-1, then conceded 2 goals in the space of 2 minutes to go 3-2 down, then equalised in the 92nd minute, followed by a winning goal in the 96th minute! I mention it because those 2 goals were what I needed to win my 7 team £5 accumulator, so I am £300 richer
It would be nice for Newcastle to have a goalkeeper who wasn't playing Flappy Bird back there. Feels like we haven't had a decent one since when Steve Harper first took over, if not Given. Krul had the occasional amazing game that masked over him being pretty mediocre overall.
I guess Rafa decided he needed to open things up a bit to try and win points but a Shelvey-Diame pair at the base of midfield is the stuff of nightmares
I have a feeling that the bottom 3 there will be the bottom 3 at the end of the season.
West Brom have a decent squad - on paper. But Sturridge won't be healthy to contribute enough, and that loss to Southampton yesterday could be a killer.
Huddersfield don't have enough good players, or a goalscorer.
Ditto Stoke, and their home stadium isn't the fortress that it used to be.Only takes a win or two though to shoot a team out of there.
If Goal Differential is indicative of future play, then yeah, Stoke and Huddersfield are in serious trouble at -26 and -27, respectively.
But like you say, all it takes is two wins in a row and you're at the top of the pack. All the teams down here are averaging around one point per match. Heck, Huddersfield could jump from 19th to 14th with one win, then to perhaps even 11th with two in a row.
Victor Wanyama kicks the ball VERY hard. Goodness. I do appreciate Liverpool's commitment to always putting on a spectacle.
MEanwhile, Fulham's current run of form is both exciting and terrifying, as they're starting to get my hopes up.
Only takes a win or two though to shoot a team out of there.
Soton literally went from 19th to 13th this weekend with one win (until Brighton won).
Victor Wanyama kicks the ball VERY hard. Goodness.
I enjoyed Lemina's goal (which was similar) quite a lot. Then I saw that one. Good GRAVEY!
Also, we gave you Targett, so I guess I'm officially pulling for Fulham now.
The self belief in this Newcastle squad seems shot, there’s a decent team there, but they seem so nervous once they go ahead and incapable of really pressing on with an advantage.
Benitez does tend to make some weird subs too, a lot of them are risk averse. See yesterday taking Kenedy off after around 60 minutes.
We badly need to start winning at home again, that’s where nerves are showing the most. I’m hoping Slimani is back soon enough as we seem to be banking on him being the answer to our lack of goals.
I’m also glad Diame got a goal, despite a little bit of a mixed game, he’s been great since being cheered at being substituted by our own fans, some of his passing in spreading the play to the wingers has been great. Playing him a bit further back does create problems in that our number 10 options are dwindled, but maybe Merino can fit in there since he’s got a bit of height that we need when Gayle plays.
Eeeesh. Can we start asking if this Chelsea team has given up on Conte?
Because.... eeeeeeesh.
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