VK’s post match interview

[bumba]

Better players/teams usually beat weaker ones.
Although if you work harder and fight you can sometimes bloody the odd nose. We are neither.

I don't get the argument Everton are a average side, even with 4 key players out, every single one of their starting 11 from yesterday gets in ours.

And it's always a good sign/luxury to have a 50m striker on the bench, not many PL sides have those.

Everton are like most seasons one of the best of the rest, this season is no different

I think Everton are an average team in this league the table from the last few years doesn't lie, the difference now is they have a top manager getting extra out of every single player and there all pulling in one direction exactly how they did for us in those first few years.
The challenge for Dyche going forward which became apparent the longer he stayed with us will be his dealing in the transfer market and who he brings in to push them on

[jlup1980]

Ah yes thats what we want, players ignoring the managers instructions and doing what they want.
In fact its all irrational waffle

I understand what you're saying but I also understand the other side of the argument.

I'd like to see some personality on the pitch when things are going wrong. There was a distinct lack of leadership and belief yesterday. We used to have a team of leaders like Heaton, Tarky, Mee, Cork, Barton, Barnes etc. Players who would stick their chests out and play with pride. We currently lack character all over the pitch.

Quite honestly I'd like to see a few of our players have a bust up on the pitch, and I know how ridiculous that sounds. At least it would show they care. They were all happy and smiley at full time yesterday, shaking hands with their old pals who had just embarrassed them for 90 minutes. Where's the pride, the dignity?! IMO it shows a much bigger problem. They're at the stage of accepting mediocrity.

11 points is still the aim and we're going to struggle to get that.

[Goliath]

I understand what you're saying but I also understand the other side of the argument.

I'd like to see some personality on the pitch when things are going wrong. There was a distinct lack of leadership and belief yesterday. We used to have a team of leaders like Heaton, Tarky, Mee, Cork, Barton, Barnes etc. Players who would stick their chests out and play with pride. We currently lack character all over the pitch.

Quite honestly I'd like to see a few of our players have a bust up on the pitch, and I know how ridiculous that sounds. At least it would show they care. They were all happy and smiley at full time yesterday, shaking hands with their old pals who had just embarrassed them for 90 minutes. Where's the pride, the dignity?! IMO it shows a much bigger problem. They're at the stage of accepting mediocrity.

11 points is still the aim and we're going to struggle to get that.

The game is done at that point, its frustrating to see but them talking to old teammates isnt a problem. Weve no idea if they are accepting mediocrity, id suggest not because theres been much improvement over the season and from everything ive read and heard they put in a huge amount of work on the training ground.
The problem is the other teams have the technical quality, physicality and experience that we just cant match atm.
It all comes back to the transfer window, we got it wrong.

Kompany will know that but theres not much he can do now but try to work through it. If hed have got Milner which was the rumour in the summer, then i think hed have been absolutely key in this team on the pitch and behind the scenes

[jlup1980]

The game is done at that point, its frustrating to see but them talking to old teammates isnt a problem. Weve no idea if they are accepting mediocrity, id suggest not because theres been much improvement over the season and from everything ive read and heard they put in a huge amount of work on the training ground.
The problem is the other teams have the technical quality, physicality and experience that we just cant match atm.
It all comes back to the transfer window, we got it wrong.

Kompany will know that but theres not much he can do now but try to work through it. If hed have got Milner which was the rumour in the summer, then i think hed have been absolutely key in this team on the pitch and behind the scenes

I agree with you but it's not only after the game is over, it's during the game as well.

When we concede we just shrug our shoulders, turn back to the half way line and carry on. Nobody is asking questions of anyone else. Someone needs to stand up and be the captain.

I actually thought a number of players went into hiding yesterday. There was no belief and we looked like a group of players who knew they couldn't get back into the game. O'Shea is berated every week for his distribution but who was he meant to pass the ball to yesterday? From where I was sat it looked like the other 9 outfield players didn't want the ball. They were all stood still, happy to be marked out of the game. That's criminal at any level.

You can't just give up and that's my biggest concern with this team under Kompany. It doesn't matter what level you're at, you need a strong mentality to win games. I honestly don't see a lot of the current crop standing up to be counted in the Championship, never mind the Premier League.

[Westleigh]

I can’t remember who posted it yesterday but it was concerning our back room staff looking on a laptop whilst Sean Dyche was never off the touch line,it seems to me that we’re getting carried away with theory and data rather than what’s happening at that particular moment ,and another post was about the dead ball coach Brownhill spent half the afternoon looking over to the dug out to see what he should be doing .

[Goliath]

I agree with you but it's not only after the game is over, it's during the game as well.

When we concede we just shrug our shoulders, turn back to the half way line and carry on. Nobody is asking questions of anyone else. Someone needs to stand up and be the captain.

I actually thought a number of players went into hiding yesterday. There was no belief and we looked like a group of players who knew they couldn't get back into the game. O'Shea is berated every week for his distribution but who was he meant to pass the ball to yesterday? From where I was sat it looked like the other 9 outfield players didn't want the ball. They were all stood still, happy to be marked out of the game. That's criminal at any level.

You can't just give up and that's my biggest concern with this team under Kompany. It doesn't matter what level you're at, you need a strong mentality to win games. I honestly don't see a lot of the current crop standing up to be counted in the Championship, never mind the Premier League.

Agreed we need leaders but new ones wont come.through until theyve had a spell winning games. You cant come into a club, lose loads of games then start bollocking peoole, nobodys going to listen.
Ive seen jay rod and Brownhill shouting and cajoling, Cork looks like a more reserved leader type and im sure will be important behind the scenes. But the common theme is that these are experienced pros who have been here a while.
So again it comes down to tranafer windows, if you change the whole squad over a few windows signing only young talent then you put yourself in this situation.
I think everything comes back to the transfers unfortunately, Kompany might be the best manager in the world but with what hes got its an impossible job.

I just hope he can keep the squad on board until it can be rectified, otherwise we will have to let a very talented manager go which would be a shame

[MACCA]

I think Everton are an average team in this league the table from the last few years doesn't lie, the difference now is they have a top manager getting extra out of every single player and there all pulling in one direction exactly how they did for us in those first few years.
The challenge for Dyche going forward which became apparent the longer he stayed with us will be his dealing in the transfer market and who he brings in to push them on

Fair point and agree with all pulling in the same direction, however i think they have several players above just average Premier league player lo be honest.

But I respect your opinion

[lewishamclaret]

This way of playing and building up the team from a youthful base may well have a higher ceiling than the Dyche era in theory, but I'm having my doubts about some of these players if they can't even deliver corners into the box.

[jlup1980]

Agreed we need leaders but new ones wont come.through until theyve had a spell winning games. You cant come into a club, lose loads of games then start bollocking peoole, nobodys going to listen.
Ive seen jay rod and Brownhill shouting and cajoling, Cork looks like a more reserved leader type and im sure will be important behind the scenes. But the common theme is that these are experienced pros who have been here a while.
So again it comes down to tranafer windows, if you change the whole squad over a few windows signing only young talent then you put yourself in this situation.
I think everything comes back to the transfers unfortunately, Kompany might be the best manager in the world but with what hes got its an impossible job.

I just hope he can keep the squad on board until it can be rectified, otherwise we will have to let a very talented manager go which would be a shame

You're absolutely right about transfers. Last season he seemed to have the Midas touch. Substitutions worked for him and nearly everyone he signed played an important role during the season. Even those on the periphery popped up with big moments - Obafemi and Twine for example. This season seems very much the opposite. Very few of the players brought in have offered anything to the cause and a the likes of Muric, Zaroury, Roberts, Ekdal, Cork and even Cullen, who was the cornerstone of our team last season, seem to be on the scrap heap in favour of shiny new toys.

I like to think VK is a talented Manager but his stock is dropping as quickly as it went up last year. He just doesn't look PL ready and I'm not convinced he really knows his strongest 11 yet. You need a level of pragmatism in the PL. Dyche was probably too pragmatic, but you certainly need it. I can't help but think that someone like Ralph Hassenhuttl would be a steadier hand for us at this level. That would be a huge call from Pace & Co. though and would represent a complete turnaround of their long term plans. Football eh... it's a hell of a ride isn't it

[NewClaret]

This way of playing and building up the team from a youthful base may well have a higher ceiling than the Dyche era in theory, but I'm having my doubts about some of these players if they can't even deliver corners into the box.

That’s the one thing that riles me.

I can stand losing. I can stand being the far inferior team while we develop young players. I cannot stand the inability of professional footballers to deliver consistently dreadful balls in to the box. It’s a basic skill and needs rectifying immediately. We have to get basics like that right to keep fans remotely on side.

[Goliath]

You're absolutely right about transfers. Last season he seemed to have the Midas touch. Substitutions worked for him and nearly everyone he signed played an important role during the season. Even those on the periphery popped up with big moments - Obafemi and Twine for example. This season seems very much the opposite. Very few of the players brought in have offered anything to the cause and a the likes of Muric, Zaroury, Roberts, Ekdal, Cork and even Cullen, who was the cornerstone of our team last season, seem to be on the scrap heap in favour of shiny new toys.

I like to think VK is a talented Manager but his stock is dropping as quickly as it went up last year. He just doesn't look PL ready and I'm not convinced he really knows his strongest 11 yet. You need a level of pragmatism in the PL. Dyche was probably too pragmatic, but you certainly need it. I can't help but think that someone like Ralph Hassenhuttl would be a steadier hand for us at this level. That would be a huge call from Pace & Co. though and would represent a complete turnaround of their long term plans. Football eh... it's a hell of a ride isn't it

Im not sure if we can really make any judgements on VK as a manager off this tbh. Last season people overreacted and thought he was gods gift to football and this season people are going the other way. The reality is probably somehwere in between.

To me he probably tried to be too clever and wanted us to run before we could walk at this level. He could have theoretically signed Jonny Evans on a free, Heaton quite cheap and it would have been an absolute huge improvement on what we had. Instead he went for a bunch of unknowns at this level and he will have learnt from that youd hope. The only way to rectify it now though is probably by going back down, coming up again and then making more experienced signings