Please leave ratings for all players who have played 20 mins or more.

Scoring is from 3 to 10 as follows:

10 - Out of this World
9 - Excellent
8 - Very Good
7 -Good
6 - Average
5 - Below Par
4 - Poor
3 - Abysmal

Pope 8 kept us in the game
Bardsley 7
Tarks 8 excellent but lost his man for goal
Mee 9. Mom Superb
Taylor 7
Brady 6 just ok
Cork 6
Westwood 5. Not at his best
McNeil 4 looked weak and error for goal. Only 1 dangerous cross in whole game
JRod 4 not good enough
Wood 5 missed great chance but was offside

JBG 5 ineffective
Barnes 5 as JBG
Wish Long had been on long enough to mark !

Thought we were very good defensively but shocking everywhere else. The sad thing is Everton were flat and lacking confidence and were there for the taking !

Pope 7
Taylor 7
Mee 8
Tarks 7
Bardsley 7
McNeil 5
Cork 6
Westwood 5
Brady 3
Wood 6 (no service)
Jay Rod 5(no service but non existent, at least Wood put himself about a bit)

Barnes 4 anonymous, more interested in trying to win free kicks
JBG 6
Long 10 - MOTM

Pope 8 *
Bardsley 6
Taylor 6
Mee 8
Tarkowski 7
Cork 5
Westwood 5
McNeill 4
Brady 3
Wood 5
Rodriguez 4

JBG 5
Barnes 5

Tactics and substitutions 1. Long up front one of the most desperate and pointless moves I have seen. From any manager. Ever.

Pope 7 a good stop early, some creat collections, no chance with the goal
Bardsley 6 nothing going forward, a few errors leading to unnecessary corners, throwing etc
Tarky 7
Mee 8
Taylor 6, see Bardsley
McNeil 4 too lightllweight and innefecve when away and we dont have the ball regularly
Westwood 6
Cork 5
Brady 4 wow.
Wood 5
Jay 5

Another nothing performance, a really poor and frustrating watch.
I say it a lot, but I really cant see the game plan when we play away, we are not comfortable playing at all never mind in the last 3rd.

Even with a throwing or the ball in Evertons final 3rd, we often went all the way back before a Pope long punt.

It was crying out for some quality, but I its possibly half a dozen games or more since we've seen any sustained period of possesion, pressure or quality.

We are safe this season, but theres a big 2 windows coming up.

Mee 9
Tarks 9
Rest 4
Dyche 0
Long 10 for doing as he was told

Pope 8
Bardsley 7
Tarkowski 9
Mee 8
Taylor 7
McNeil 4
Westwood 5
Cork 5
Brady 6
Rodriguez 5
Wood 6

Gudmundsson 5

Pope 7
Bardsley 6
Tarkowski 7
Mee 8*
Taylor 7
McNeil 4
Westwood 5
Cork 5
Brady 4
Rodriguez 4
Wood 4

Gudmundsson 5

Pope 7* Very assured
Taylor 7 Did ok
Mee 6 Great on the ground but beaten in the air all afternoon
Tarks 6 Great on the ground but beaten in the air all afternoon
Bardsley 7 Solid as usual
McNeil 5 Too much turkey
Cork 6 Frequently outmuscled but at least he was competing
Westwood 5 Too many sprouts
Brady 5 Too much sherry
Wood 6 Missed a sitter again and no ball control
Jay Rod 7 Good covering but little service

Pope 8
Bardsley 6
Tarkowski 8
Mee 9 MoM
Taylor 7
McNeil 4
Westwood 5
Cork 5
Brady 5
Rodriguez 5
Wood 6

Gudmundsson 5

Pope 8
Bardsley 7
Tarkowski 8
Mee 7
Taylor 7
Brady 5
Westwood 5
Cork 5
McNeil 5
Rodriguez 5
Wood 5

Pope 8
Taylor 7
Mee 8
Tarks 7
Bardsley 7
McNeil 4
Cork 6
Westwood 6
Brady 4
Wood 6
Jay Rod 5

JBG 4
Barnes 5

A fairly pointless 90 minutes in more ways than one. The very early ping pong headers in their box our only real opening (the Wood header was offside). We never produced any moments of quality though were reasonably solid.

We are looking a bit grim at times, especially away. It feels to me that we badly need reinforcements, especially in midfield. Bringing on an out of position Long (not even Premier League standard in his normal position) ahead of Drinkwater - that sent a strong message to Drinky that he is off in Jan. The trouble with Dyche is that at times he seems to prioritise sending a message over the game. No way was Long the man to grab a draw.

Anyway, onwards to united, no big deal.

Pope 8
Bardsley 7
Taylor 7
Mee 9 #
Tarks 8
McNeil 5
Cork 5
Brady 5
Westwood 6
Rodriguez 5
Wood 5

Guddy 5

Pope 7
Bardsley 6 ok ish needless cheap corners given and nothing going forward
Tarkowski 8 good game mom
Mee 8 good game
Taylor 6
Brady 3 garbage
Westwood (the midfield void) 5
Cork ( the midfield void) 4 weak
McNeil 5 needs a rest
JRod 5 not good enough
Wood 5

Barnes 5
JBG 5
Long

Dyche 3 boring predictable snooze fest. It’s been ugly football for weeks. Let’s just occasionally see some football. Do we need a ball control and passing coach ?

Pope 8 mom
Bardsley 7
Taylor 7
Mee 7 thought he was excellent right up until the goal. A bit of half clearance (not the end of the world) but looked to then lead to him being out of position which left Tarks with both strikers in the box, haven’t watched it back yet though,
Tarks 8 excellent
Cork 6
Westwood 6
Brady 5
McNeil 5 poor pass which lead to the goal. 1 very good ball, generally not given the ball in the right areas
Rodriguez 5 tried but needs the ball on the floor really and in good areas and that just didn’t happen today
Wood 6 the only threat we had (which was minimal) diminished when he went off)

Subs
Meh....

Pope 7
Bardsley 7
Tarkowski 7
Mee 7*
Taylor 6
McNeil 5
Westwood 5
Cork 7
Brady 6
Rodriguez 5
Wood 6

Gudmundsson 5

Pope 8
Bardsley 6
Taylor 6
Mee 8
Tarkowski 8
Cork 5
Westwood 5
McNeill 3
Brady 3
Wood 6
Rodriguez 3

JBG 4
Barnes 4

Pope 7
Bardsley 7
Tarks 7
Mee 8**
Taylor 7

McNeil 4
Westwood 5
Cork 6
Brady 4

Rodriguez 5
Wood 6

JBG 5

Pope 8
Bardsley 6
Tarks 8
Mee 8
Taylor 6
McNeil 4
Cork 5
Westwood 5
Brady 4
J Rod 4
Wood 5

Barnes 5
JBG 5

Pope 8
Bardsley 6
Taylor 7
Mee 9 (MOM)
Tarkowski 7
Cork 6
Westwood 5
McNeill 5
Brady 5
Wood 5
Rodriguez 5

Gudmundsson 6
Barnes 5

Pope 9
Bardsley 8
Tarkowski 9
Mee 9
Taylor 8
Brady 6
Westwood 6
Cork 6
McNeil 6
Rodriguez 6
Wood 6

Not great on the eye but superb defending as a team.

Pope 8.5 Kicking dropped him down from full Mark's
Bardsley 7
Taylor 7
Tarks 8
Mee 7
Brady 4.5 Either anonymous, or giving the ball away
McNeill 5.5 Very immature play for their goal
Westwood 6 Better 2nd half, awful 1st half
Cork 5.5 I dont think he's good enough. Creates nothing
JRod 4 Did nothing. Didnt even do enough to give the ball away
Wood 6. Terrible miss 1st half, and obviously offside needlessly had he scored. Gives the ball away too much. Second half, started really well, was looking good, and got hooked. Injured?
Barnes 6
JBG 6
Long 11 Why not. Makes as much sense as Dyche's tactics

Poor scores all round apart form defence. And reflective of a dire performance. Never looked like scoring

Pope 8
Bardsley 7
Tarkowski 8
Mee 7
Taylor 7
Brady 5
Westwood 5
Cork 5
McNeil 5
Rodriguez 5
Wood 5
Poor lump it up and hope stuff

Pope 8
Bardsley 7
Tarkowski 8
Mee 9
Taylor 8
McNeil 4
Westwood 5
Cork 6
Brady 6
Rodriguez 5
Wood 6

Gudmundsson 5

Pope 7

Bardsley 6

Tarks 8

Mee 8

Taylor 5

Westwood 5

Cork 5

McNeil 5

Wood 4

Rodriguez 5

Barnes 5

Brady 4

JBG 4

MACCA wrote: ↑

Thu Dec 26, 2019 5:40 pm

We are safe this season

We are not!!!
By Saturday night we could realistically be only 3pts above relegation, and maybe only 2 places. That's one bad weekend away from being in the relegation zone. We have a history of prolonged poor form. We could easily be starting on that run now...

Man U
Villa
Chelsea
Leicester
Man U
Arsenal

If we dont beat Villa we are in serious danger. And even if we do, it could easily be a sorry Valentine's...

Roosterbooster wrote: ↑

Thu Dec 26, 2019 6:35 pm

We are not!!!
By Saturday night we could realistically be only 3pts above relegation, and maybe only 2 places. That's one bad weekend away from being in the relegation zone. We have a history of prolonged poor form. We could easily be starting on that run now...

Man U
Villa
Chelsea
Leicester
Man U
Arsenal

If we dont beat Villa we are in serious danger. And even if we do, it could easily be a sorry Valentine's...

I think we will be ok, and what's the worst that will happen? We will go down with 100m in the bank, and a good chance to rebuild and bounce straight back.

We've been told we are continuously planning for relegation, so I'd like to think we are 110% prepared and ready for when it comes.

Pope 8

Bardsley 5
Tarkowski 8
Mee 8
Taylor 7

Brady 5
Westwood 5
Cork 5
McNeil 4

Rodriguez 5
Wood 5

JBG 4

Awful match. Only 3 players come out with any credit. Our lack of ability to play any sort of decent football makes for soul destroying viewing.

Pope 8
Taylor 6
Mee 8
Tarks 8
Bardsley 6
McNeil 3
Cork 4
Westwood 4
Brady 4
Wood 5
Jay Rod 4

JBG 4
Barnes 4

Pope 7
Bardsley 7
Tarkowski 8
Mee 8
Taylor 7
McNeil 5
Westwood 5
Cork 6
Brady 4
Rodriguez 4
Wood 4

Gudmundsson 4

Very good defensive display, very poor going forward. We desperately need someone who can put their foot on the ball and keep possession. A bit of pace and guile wouldn't go amiss either.

Looks like Brady's Burnley's career is petering out too.

Pope - 8 - couple of tidy saves and claimed well, although his kicking was indifferent.

Bardsley - 7 - defended solidly enough but no offensive impact.

Taylor - 7 - defended solidly enough but no offensive impact.

Tarkowski - 9 - defensively super.

Mee - 9 - less dominant than Tarks but scrambled superbly.

Westwood - 6 - resolute but lacked composure on the ball and gave it away far too much

Cork - 7 - screened the back four well enough, but barely touched the ball and didn't do enough to get on the ball.

McNeil - 5 - uncharacteristically poor in possession and hard to escape the conclusion hes become a marked man on the left, and that teams are trying to prey on what they expect him to do out there. We're conceding a lot of goals from his territory, but did create our only real chance from open play for Brady.

Brady - 5 - peripheral, but with occasional enterprising flashes. Should have done far better with the best chance of the game on the hour from McNeils right wing cross.

Rodriguez - 5 - either fish nor foul; wasn't playing right up too but didn't appear to be playing in deeper and certainly didn't do enough to get us on the ball and was barely involved after the first 3 minutes. With a bit more conviction might have done better when Pickford handled outside the area after he hesitated.

Wood - 6 - hustled and hustled to occasional effect, but passed up the only decent chance that came his way.

JBG - 5 - as peripheral as those who went before him but he'll be better for the experience.

Barnes - 5 - marginally less effective than Wood and no more so than Rodriguez.

Long - not on long enough and a bit embarrassing really.


Defensively this was much better than some recent performances under pressure, which is good news. The bad news is that our possession football is, if anything, getting worse. Our success this year has been based on a highly rigid 442, and whilst the results have been inarguable, theres a worry that the quality of the football is increasingly unrefined. We need to improve partly to maintain our success but also to ensure we keep our "softer" fans engaged. Theres no point in just existing; one way or another we're in the premier league to enjoy it and build a legacy.

CrosspoolClarets wrote: ↑

Thu Dec 26, 2019 5:49 pm

We are looking a bit grim at times, especially away. It feels to me that we badly need reinforcements, especially in midfield. Bringing on an out of position Long (not even Premier League standard in his normal position) ahead of Drinkwater - that sent a strong message to Drinky that he is off in Jan. The trouble with Dyche is that at times he seems to prioritise sending a message over the game. No way was Long the man to grab a draw.

Anyway, onwards to united, no big deal.

Not sure I'd extrapolate that much from the Long substitution. I think the message Dyche was sending was, "I think the best way for us to get back into this game is to go even more direct and do away with midfield completely". We can debate the strategy - not my cup of tea, but when Taylor won us a free kick in a good position I thought having the extra aerial presence might just pay off - but the idea it was a deliberate snub to Drinkwater rather a device to try and get back into the game seems a bit far fetched to me.

Pope 8
Bardsley 8
Tarks 8
Mee 9
Taylor 8
Brady 4
Cork 6
Westwood 6
McNeil 5
JRod 5
Wood 6

A grim watch.

Pope 8
Bardsley 6
Tarkowski 9*
Mee 8
Taylor 7
McNeil 4
Cork 5
Westwood 5
Brady 5
Wood 6
Rodriguez 5

Gudmundsson 5

Unread post Thu Dec 26, 2019 5:39 pm

Pope 8 Mom 2 v good saves collected everything
Bardsley 6 decent blocks but slow as a glacier
Taylor 7 some clever defending
Mee 8 marshalled well
Tarkowski 7 strong throughout
Cork 5 average
Westwood 5 not his best
McNeill 4 tired and ineffective
Brady 3 Miles off
Wood 5 no service
Rodriguez 5 no service

Bloody horrible mess though we did defend very well and until the mistake anyone could have taken the points .

JBG 4
Barnes 4
Long- brought on simply for the free kick and any late corner

Pope 8
Bardsley 7
Tarkowski 9
Mee 9
Taylor 8
McNeil 5
Westwood 6
Cork 5
Brady 5
Rodriguez 5
Wood 6

Gudmundsson 5

Pope 8
Bardsley 7
Tark 7
Mee 8
Taylor 7
Brady 5
Cork 5
Westwood 5
McNeil 4
JRod 4
Wood 5

The first goal is always important in games like these, the last three games have shown us that. Defensively superb, the back five very good today in poor conditions.

However the midfield and front two offered very little other than at set pieces. We are very one dimensional and when someone like Dwight has a poor game, we really do look bereft of ideas. Cork lightweight and easily knocked off the ball, Brady’s wand of a left foot, is more like a stick you would throw to a dog. Jay and Chris Wood no service whatsoever. Kevin Long thrown on in desperation.

Pope 10
Bardsley 6
Tarkowski 7
Mee 9
Taylor 6
McNeil 4
Westwood 4
Cork 4
Brady 4
Rodriguez 4
Wood 5

From TV

Pope 8
Bardsley 8
Tarkowski 9
Mee 9*
Taylor 8

Brady 5
Westwood 6
Cork 6
MacNeil 4

Wood 6
Rodriguez 5

Gudmundsson 5

MrTopTier wrote: ↑

Thu Dec 26, 2019 8:38 pm

Pope 8
Bardsley 7
Tark 7
Mee 8
Taylor 7
Brady 5
Cork 5
Westwood 5
McNeil 4
JRod 4
Wood 5

The first goal is always important in games like these, the last three games have shown us that. Defensively superb, the back five very good today in poor conditions.

However the midfield and front two offered very little other than at set pieces. We are very one dimensional and when someone like Dwight has a poor game, we really do look bereft of ideas. Cork lightweight and easily knocked off the ball, Brady’s wand of a left foot, is more like a stick you would throw to a dog. Jay and Chris Wood no service whatsoever. Kevin Long thrown on in desperation.

What was poor about the conditions today ??? Can't have that excuse every game now

Pope 8
Bardsley 7
Mee 8
Tarks 7
Taylor 7
Mc Neil 4
Cork 4
Westwood 4
Brady 3
Jay 3
Wood 3

Not an excuse, more an observation, defence did well on the sodden pitch, Pope three times, Mee and Tarks all slipped today, hence the comment re tricky conditions.

Not my ratings - I didn't see enough on a "broken" Amazon Prime stream - Paul Joyce, The Times (on-line from 6pm today, print, I expect, tomorrow):

Pope 7
Bardsley 6,
Tarkowski 7,
Mee 7,
Taylor 6
Brady 5
Westwood 5,
Cork 5
McNeil 5
Rodriguez 5,
Wood 5
Gudmundsson 6

Interesting that defence (back 5) average 6.6 and midfield and forwards are all 5s. Seems about right to me.

Joyce's average for Everton: 6.6

IanMcL wrote: ↑

Thu Dec 26, 2019 6:08 pm

Pope 9
Bardsley 8
Tarkowski 9
Mee 9
Taylor 8
Brady 6
Westwood 6
Cork 6
McNeil 6
Rodriguez 6
Wood 6












Not great on the eye but superb defending as a team.

Agree with the above and saves me a lot of slow typing. Had we held out our whole mood would have been different.

MrTopTier wrote: ↑

Thu Dec 26, 2019 10:03 pm

Not an excuse, more an observation, defence did well on the sodden pitch, Pope three times, Mee and Tarks all slipped today, hence the comment re tricky conditions.

A sodden pitch ??

Pope 8 - super saves, great handling, -1 for kicking
Bardsley 7 - that crunch tackle on halfway was one of the game’s more enjoyable moments
Mee 8 - solid
Tarks 7 - not sure I agree with an above post saying they won nothing in the air
Taylor 7
Brady 4 - lol. He’s done
Cork 6
Westwood 6
McNeil 4 - not today
Rodriguez 6
Wood 6

After City and Spurs I’d have taken three 1-0s in a row with two going our way - we were bound to tighten up and have done so at the expense of any sort of expansive football or fluidity.

When it doesn’t go our way, talk very quickly turns into our style of play. Admittedly not great viewing today but I’d have taken 24 points in the Premier League a year on from Boxing Day last year. Overreactions galore.

From TV..

Pope 8
Taylor 6
Tarks 8
Mee 7
Bardsley 6
Brady 5
Cork 5
Westwood 5
McNeil 5
Wood 5
Jayrod 5

Barnes 4

Despite the overall average marks we probably deserved a draw but one mistake too many and a killer cross/header/unlucky bounce off the post cost us a point we'd have been more than happy with.

Pope 8
Bardsley 6
Taylor 6
Mee 9*
Tarkowski 8
Brady 4
McNeil 4
Westwood 4
Cork 4
Wood 5
Rodriguez 4

Gudmundsson 4

Pope -8 did well in another week where he is far too busy for anyone’s liking

Bardsley -6
Mee -8 probably the pick of the outfield players
Tarkowski -7
Taylor -6

Brady - 4. I think we’ve got to move on. In terms of value for money we’ve been totally shafted.
McNeil - 4. Am hoping the deserved criticism from this game keeps him grounded
Cork - 5 - been better of late but not today for sure
Westwood - 5 - marginal at best

Wood - 5
Rodriguez -5

Barnes- 4
Gudmundsson - 4
Long - just baffling. Seriously.

Another turgid display. We got on the right side of it at Bournemouth but today we deserved nothing.
The points on the board are very very welcome because the performances for some time now have been really poor. There’s so little composure on the ball and if we don’t get a set-piece I don’t see the creativity to get a goal. It’s hard to watch. I gave credit to Dyche for 6/6 after Spurs but when we’re bad we’re really bad.

As far as I’m concerned there’s some massive warning signs here that the Board must heed. At an absolute minimum we need 2 midfielders this January who are going to push to start. If Rigg doesn’t or can’t deliver that then he needs to join the mini exodus that we also need.

I’m still looking at the bottom 3 and the gap. I think there are 3 teams worse than us but my biggest concern is that Rigg probably thinks that too and we’ll wing it again.

Defence and GK all fairly solid.
Pope 8
Taylor 7
Tarks 8
Mee 7
Bardsley 7
Midfield woeful in possession
Brady 5
Cork 5
Westwood 5
McNeil 5 - looks to be a marked man now but a bad day at the office.

Wood 5 - one of those Wood performances where he does nothing.
Jayrod 5 - Why did he take so long on his 1v1 with Pickford?