Marouanne Fellaini, after being hoiked up front in a last ditch attempt to save the game, spared the blushes of all the Evertonians who bothered there arse last night, by turning and slotting away a goal out of nothing in the last minute, we were going nowhere and over the 90 minutes probably deserved fuck all from an absolutely dour performance.
Somehow it was even more of a relief, when skipper Phil Neville caressed a left footed drive home after great work by Drenthe down the right hand side just before the restart in extra time, helping us avoid the inevitable penalty heartbreak. It completely masked an evening of frustration for the 17,647 who took advantage of the competitive pricing structure laid on by the club. I'm no 'Statto' like(no shit! goes the cry), but id be interested in knowing whether that was the lowest attendance for a competitive game we've had in say 10 or more years or something? Still, they'll no doubt all be back in the next round when we either draw a bigger team and/or realise we're in with a sniff of getting somewhere. It really is galling to hear people in one breath berating the club for being brassic and then in the next one using things like their own financial plight as an excuse to swerve and early round cup tie, basically because they cant be arsed. Evertonians go the match, Kopites go the pub. Really...?
Almost from one to eleven, the players after flattering to deceive for 15 minutes or so in possession at the start of the game, just didn't know what their jobs were. The system doesnt seem to work no matter what side he puts out. You could be forgiven for feeling optimistic and a touch excited when seeing our attacking lineup, but ultimately it was all but impotent against a sort of West Brom reserve side.
Ross Barkley unfortunately epitomised the performance by playing pretty badly for the whole hour or so he was given. People talk about him in the same company as Rooney when it comes to technique and potential and even the national press are already talking up £20 million pound moves to richer clubs. You just feel though, there is an intrinsic personality difference here, whereas if Rooney did something wrong or made a mistake, he would sort of do that embarrassed touching his nose thing then shrug it off, poor Ross seems to get swallowed up by the responsibility, looks all guilty, then goes to pieces.
Still, at home, and playing behind just one untested centre forward, who doesnt speak a word of the Queens is never gonna be an easy task, especially with Dorrans, Brunt and Olsson (not a an Outer Hebridean folk act) trying to kick fuck out of you.
Stracqualursi will hopefully get used to the pace of things and improve his fitness over time, but there were a few glimpses of desire and positioning which gave you heart. The only two players who i though came out with any credit were Baines and Jagielka, possibly Drenthe. Mainly because they weren't afraid to keep on trying and not go missing when we went one down. Mucha unfortunately looks cack and was bang to rights for the pen. Thats it really. The whole performance and game produced little we didnt already know, other than were still very capable of raising it one week and monumentally fucking it up the next.
What we need now is a confidence boosting game against one of the leagues cannon fodder. Wheres that fixture list?
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