efc 1-2 Arsenal

Well, Seamus Coleman aside, that was shite.

Johnny Heitinga returned to centre midfield to replace the suspended Marouane Fellaini, whilst Coleman was rightly restored to the starting line up in the place of the ineffectual Diniyar Bilyaletdinov.

It never really worked. Once ref Howard Webb had ear-marked Heitinga for special attention early on, the Blues just could not get any kind of momentum needed to break down and Arsenal side who, while not at their slick best, where still far and away ahead of were we need to be. They just simply kept the ball better, defended better and had control of the game until the last 5 minutes at least.

It's been said that when Arteta either doesn't play or have a bad game, we're half the side as a result, and boy did his horror show of a performance epitomise our all round shite-ness. The Spaniard had one of those off-days where nothing he tried worked. We're well used to his poor corners by now, his free-kicks to goals ration is 1 out of 10 at best (though Leighton Baines should have manned up a bit and bullied him off one that was clearly a left-pegger), but his normally immaculate passing deserteted him and he was merely a passenger until he was withdrawn for Yakubu.

The goals themselves were very avoidable, especially the first one. A shot from the edge of the box by Andrei Arshavin I think, was saved by Tim Howard, but Arsenal were first to the rebound and Bacary Sagna was teed up for an effort similar to Tim Cahill's in the derby and this was equally twatted into the roof of the net. The second I don't remember much about (what? This isn't Sky fucking Sports!), just Cesc Fabregas cooly slotting past Howard 3 minutes after the break.

Despite the introduction of Jermaine Beckford for Phil Nevill and Jack Rodwell for the unlucky on this occasion Heitinga, chances were still few and far between. Rodwell should really have scored from 10 yards in from of the Glwadys Street, only to hammer a pull back over the bar. It wasn't until the 89th minute when Cahill prodded home from a corner that Everton got into the game and had Arsenal on the run, the 4 minutes of injury time saw Everton launch the type of bombardment we'd expect in return, but despite several chances to shoot for goal, nothing came of it and we were left to rue a very poor performance, even if it was against a title-chasing side.

So it's Sunderland next. Easy peasy Saint & Greavesy eh.




- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

No You Can't

Jermaine Beckford didn't win or indeed even get a mention on the Sky Sports News Goal of the Week competition. Presumably because he would have won.

Beckford's last gasp stunner was the shining light of an absolute pile of shite of a performance on Wednesday night against Bolton. Bolton did what Bolton do, be a fucking disgrace to football and get away with it. Everton were simply shocking, Marouane Fellaini's sending off late on encapsulating the entire night.

David Moyes and his shocking substitute policy returned just as Ivan Klasnic put the visitors ahead with 10 minutes to play. Moyes decided the goal was enough of a reason to hold back putting more centre forwards on, which went down extremely well with the fed up crowd. Still, it seemed the bonus 3 minutes rest did Beckford the world of good judging by the rocket he sent flying into the top corner of the Gwladys Street net.

So it's Arsenal up next at the Old Lady, which tragically clashes with the climax to the F1 season. Arsene Wenger has found time to clamber off his more high horse to grace us with his miserable presence. Wenger is an interesting character nowadays. With Jose Mourinho gone and Alex Ferguson no longer interested, Wenger has no sparring partner so has taken to launch a crusade to restore the Corinthian spirit back into football. Which is all fine and well, but it appears to have escaped his attention that it is still legal for other teams to put tackles in on his players without trying to cripple them. 

But it still has to be said that he can still get his side playing some magnificent stuff, at their very best they are unplayable. Something we have found out on more than one occasion.

However, we ourselves showed at Ashburton Grove last season that you can play them at their own game and not get snotted. Indeed, if it weren't for 2 deflections and James Vaughan's lack of composure in front of goal, we'd have been celebrating a famous 3-0 trouncing.

Moyes though will have to do without 3 of the stars from that performance. Landon Donovan is somewhat being selfish by trying to win the title with LA Galaxy, Leon Osman got himself injured during the recent derby triumph and will miss the next 6 weeks, whilst Fellaini will be mulling over his mid-week petulance from the sidelines for the next 3 games.

Arsenal themselves will be without Robin van Persie again as his blue-tac legs have melted again. Marouane Chamakh will once again get the chance to showcase his neckwarmer and weird face. Andrei Arshavin will again have to fend off accusations that he is really 10, Samir Nasri will escape the same questioning because he is French and none cares, and Abou Dhaby and Emmanuel Eboue will again deny they are the same person.

Needless to say, this is a must win game. 7-game unbeaten run or not, if we don't start winning games again, we'll be back in the drop zone before long if we are not super duper careful. Arsenal are good, sometimes great, but they are very beatable.

C'mon Everon, get into these, these are shite.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Just Looking

So, this is new. I'm not entirely sure it works properly but hey Ho, what's the worst that could happen.

So what does one do when they do a blog type thing? Talk needless amounts of shite I suppose.

So here goes.

I'll start tomorrow.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone