c1982

Ta Pad! Quality! Sat just by the partition between the Leicester fans too who had been getting a bit narky!!! We didn't coax them at all! Leicester is one of the more local games for me so almost home now - top day!

First half we were very poor, just passing it around the back and Mori launching it out of play. Barry was the only one picking out players ahead of him. Leicester were there for the taking today - gladly we did but I had my doubts at half time.

Just driving (passengering) back... top away day! Williams for me... warrior type performance! Gueye made a few mistakes but thought he was one of our better players. He had a little fall out with Holgate which Coleman did a good job to mediate and sort out. Koeman needs credit for those subs and a system that accommodated Barry, who was our most positive player when he was on - always looking forward. Mori was shaky again - his distribution could have got us into trouble in the first half. Joel deserves to keep his place - looked confident on crosses. Last mention goes to Davies, Holgate and Barkley - all have massive futures at our club!

I'm not assuming anything just stating that maybe Dutchman Virgil van Dijk saw Europa League qualifiers Southampton managed by one of his nation's footballing heroes as a better option than Everton who had just finished 11th and were adamant that his then direct competition for the centre back role, John Stones, wasn't for sale.

On the basis that they were in Europe and had his fellow countryman/ probably one of his childhood heroes as manager then yes he probably did choose them over us.

Huth and Morgan aren't exactly speed demons. Alderwierald and Vertonghan are classy ball playing centre halves. You need a partnership/unit that works together - there's no set mold. It clearly goes beyond the CB partnership too - the keeper, organised full-backs, disciplined central midfielders.

There's no disputing this either.

How do you know that? We may have enquired and he chose Southampton. Maybe Martinez just saw Mori as a better option at the time.

Mori did get a lot of good comments last year but also there were as many who remained sceptical about him. This comment rings very true in my opinion.

We've had problems at the back for the past 3 seasons.

Nice gesture... http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/chang-donate-everton-shirt-sponsorship-12368300

We have seen flashes of looking much better in the last 2 games (last 60 vs Arse and 1st 45 vs RS) - this was down to more energy with McCarthy beside Gana and Lennon/Valencia in the wing positions. McCarthy clearly isn't fit enough, Lennon/Valencia are squad players who can do that high energy job as back-up but probably don't have the quality to do it consistently at the level required. If we can improve on the supporting cast then we may see Rom and Ross fulfil their promise here. Yes they both need to work a lot harder but at the same time we need to get the best out of our 'prized' assets/ match winners by building around them.

I have my doubts about Mori; arially he's generally superb, strong and pretty quick which can compensate his sometimes shaky positioning but for a left sided centre back he seems very poor with his left foot - he gives it away and plays us into trouble and increasingly goes long - for a team who struggles to hold the ball up in attack (partly due to our main striker, partly due to lack of movement/support) this just brings the pressure straight back onto us. I can see the great deal of qualities he possesses but I don't see him as a long term answer if we're going to progress. We need to build a partnership - I think Williams will be part of that for the next 2 seasons but i can't see Mori or Jags being his partner.

Exactly what we lacked when McCarthy went off... 'Ronald Koeman is keen on the 25-year-old who starred for Copenhagen and wants him to shore up an engine-room that is shy of power with the midfielders hard-running style adding strength to the spine of the Toffee's side.'

They are going to be though. When you throw as much as they do at players over how ever long they've been doing it we just haven't been able to compete in the history of the Premier League. We may now be in a position to start signing the calibre of player to compete higher and more consistently but it will take time. Look at their midfield and attack yesterday - every single player cost in the £20-30m bracket and that's without the likes of Sturridge and Coutinho (who obviously they got for steals but we couldn't afford either at the time). Look at the top 6 - there's no surprises there - they've been the 6 biggest spending teams consistently for a long, long time and as a result have much stronger squads than us and most others. Leicester was a one off - they did amazing and have created their own £30m players in Kante, Mahrez and Vardy - now we've got one of the masterminds behind it working for us but it's not likely that such a 'cheap' squad will do something like that again any time soon. There's so much to do at Everton and it will take time. We were much the better team in the first half but our substitutions showed the glaring lack of depth our squad possesses. We are top 10 at best this season and need a massive rebuild in the next 2 windows. I for one believe we have the right people in charge to do this although many will disagree.

Gana - we'll miss him sorely in Jan.

That free kick at the end just summed him up unfortunately - very poor tonight!

We need a lot more energy to help Gana maybe Schneiderlin and another CM at least... McCarthy going off changed the game as Henderson and Wjinaldum just dominated the second half.

I can't wait to have a confident Ross back in a settled and successful Everton team... I believe the 2 will go hand in hand.

Arteta and Pienaar and a few others would walk into this team!

You've contradicted yourself there... Bony and Benteke were 'failing' players who weren't getting a look in and Hart was surplus to requirements at City.

McCarthy for looking like the McCarthy we signed. If he and Gueye could recreate that partnership on a regular basis we'd be so much better. I think Barry has been brilliant for us but he lacks the intensity we need and saw in most parts tonight.

He's a great signing on the basis of what he did at the Euros and what he's done previously in the Prem... that's how you judge a signing. Unless someone has a crystal ball what basis should we sign players on? Hindsight shows he's not done as well as he can this season but that's not just down to him and Koeman did want a 2nd CB too whether it was Kone or Kouabaily. Personally I think he'll take over from Jags/Barry as captain and be our main senior figure in the next few seasons. If we can get van Dijk in alongside him (if the £25m release clause is true) and a reliable keeper then I still think he can rekindle what we've seen previously.

Every player was shit for us. Lukaku was shit yet scored 2 goals. Barry was shit yet assisted. The subs actually had some impact but it was a different game by then with Watford content on sitting back hence why Geri went on a few mazy runs where he either ran himself into a cul-de-sac, kicked the ball out or over hit a cross. Even Gueye was poor yesterday - the player I've voted for pretty much every game this season. The overall man of the match was Okaka for me - looked brilliant. They'll just need to keep him fit. It's ridiculous how many striking options some other clubs have when we've basically got Lukaku and the Valencia. Watford had Ighalo and Success in reserve to Deeney and Okaka - all would provide much needed competition to Lukaku.