[Archived] Everton - the "Prestige Friendly"

[Jamesw1982]

back to the same thing if we need a left back centre mid or 2 and another striker who would u go for?

[Roverthechimp]

As an aside i do wonder what instructions are given to Lowe? Personally (my opinion and based on very little) is that Lowe can play football and could be a reasonable "box to box" but he always plays as a defensive midfielder and frankly he's pretty @#/? at that

[Jamesw1982]

i wudnt mind us trying to bring Jack Robinson from liverpool at left back

centre mid looks like bannan is gonna sign but cud do with sum1 who is more box to box

As for the striker its a bit of a puzzle wudnt mind sum1 with a bit of pace its what rhodes needs alongside him imo although if rhodes is gonna be our only striker plz play rochina behind him

[rovers11]

Well, that was quite simply woeful.

Marrow, Taylor and Lowe are too workmanlike to be in the same midfield. Simply cannot start together again. Just no quality on ball with that midfield. Kept passing it back to the defence who, in turn, lumped it forward to Rhodes. Everton won the ball back easily time and time again.

Granted, Everton are a very good side but we won't beat many teams in the championship if all we do is the lump the ball forward to Rhodes.

On the positive side, once we brought on Rosado, Formica and particularly rochina we stopped lumping the ball forward and finally had some players with some technical ability in there. We actually looked quite threatening then.

Bannan will make a huge difference, Rochina has to start, and Best has to partner Rhodes up front. Best held the ball up and put himself about well when he came on. Rhodes is a goal scorer but not much else so needs support.

Work to be done in transfer market. Two new CM`s, winger and LB.

[Hasta]

One word RUBEN ROCHINA did more in his 20min cameo than the rest did all game

That's two words

[Salgado Is A Hero]

Bannan doesn't strike me as the dynamic midfielder type which is what we desperately need. Can't believe Lowe and Marrow are still playing in the same team, it's one or the other, and from what I saw at Rochdale, it should be Marrow!!

Bannan would be good because he can sit next to Marrow and give the ball to Judge, Rochina, Taylor etc.

[rovers11]

Bannan doesn't strike me as the dynamic midfielder type which is what we desperately need. Can't believe Lowe and Marrow are still playing in the same team, it's one or the other, and from what I saw at Rochdale, it should be Marrow!!

Bannan is exactly the type we need! Someone who can get the ball down and pass. A midfield of rochina, bannan, judge, and Williamson would be a decent midfield. Plus a strike force of best and Rhodes.

A midfield of judge, marrow, Taylor and Lowe is very poor and it showed today.

[LDRover]

If Jason Lowe plays in the majority of games this season, not only have we no chance of promotion, there's a huge possibility we'll go down.

I cannot believe this glaring hole in the team hasn't been addressed yet.

[Jamesw1982]

McEachran on loan and bannan and id be pretty happy with centre mid

[SoldierMo]

That's two words

Haha RUBENNNN

[Tom]

Wonder if GB can learn from this

It sounds like we play more to our strengths with some flair on the pitch

[The Rover of Finland]

If Lowe or Marrow will be regular choices we really should prepare to relegation fight. I am hopeful Henley would be left back but not sure is he ever fit. Sorting out midfield could mean which end we are pushing for on standings. Right now it´s last season alla over again.

[JAL]

Depressing stuff from Rovers if you cant create A single chance to score then how on earth can you even begin to think about winning a game of football.

To Mani that Chris Taylor is rubbish but hes not on his own as hes in good company along with the likes of Lowe and Marrow all of them looked every bit league one players. You'd be very lucky to see if these players could create at least two chances in any given game.

Its pretty obvious that whoever is behind the club now, by having forty plus players on the books havent got a clue what the standard should be as they simply con the Rovers public.

Jake Kean for me was the only one stand out player for Rovers. Suppose thats a good start for someone new to come in by having a good goalie to rely on.

[Roverthechimp]

Wonder if GB can learn from this

It sounds like we play more to our strengths with some flair on the pitch

Couldn't agree more

Not sure about Taylor - he looked tidy enough when he got forward but that wasn't very often and he seemed to end up in a "nothing" role somewhere between midfield and defence.

[rovers11]

Couldn't agree more

Not sure about Taylor - he looked tidy enough when he got forward but that wasn't very often and he seemed to end up in a "nothing" role somewhere between midfield and defence.

I think Taylor will be decent with the right CM feeding him. He looks like an old fashioned winger who will work his socks off, do nothing fancy but put some decent crosses into the box.

So much of our bad play comes from the CM being technically woeful and just passing backwards all of the time. This leads to the defence just lumping it forward.

[Hekla]

Maybe time to give Rosado a chance this season.

[JAL]

I think Taylor will be decent with the right CM feeding him. He looks like an old fashioned winger who will work his socks off, do nothing fancy but put some decent crosses into the box.

No point if the crosses are absolutely nowhere near anyone in a Rovers shirt though. He looks like another from the long long line of poor signings made recently. Cant see Rovers doing anything with this lad in the team.

[patrickvalery]

Is it not horses for courses? There will be times in the Championship when we will need to scrap to get points from a game. In those instances maybe a midfield two of Marrow and Lowe might grind out points we'd otherwise lose. There will be other times when getting the ball down and playing a bit will also be required. In those matches maybe Rosado, Rochina, Judge and maybe Bannan can really shine. Personally speaking, i felt especially under Berg we lacked options in terms of muscle and under Appleton we lacked options in terms of technical and passing ability. If we can trim the masses of midfield options we have but still have enough to tinker between the two styles then thats not all bad. What is essential is the Gary Bowyer can spot which games require each approach. Was it best to go into todays game with two defensive players in the middle, or two technical players or one of each? Thats what he gets paid to decide. The encouraging thing is he spotted the floors in his original gameplan and he made changes.

I would also say that many voices have piped up saying we need championship experience to move forward. Well, we have signed a few with championship experience and then people moan that we got out passed and out thought by a very very good PL side. The fact is Everton have a much higher calibre of player in every department.

[savage90]

One word RUBEN ROCHINA did more in his 20min cameo than the rest did all game

That's two words

That's actually 14 words...

[T.J.Newton]

I'm sure many have already said it but, Lowe and Marrow are woeful in every aspect(Marrow prob slightly the better, but still poor, Lowe was is just obscenely bad at everything), Without D Jones And Williamson in the centre we are right back to square 1, complete push overs defensively and non existent going forward(until Rochina came on and Judge dropped deeper)

Best looked good and played the target man role well in his short time on the pitch(personally I think we play better as a team without Rhodes, personally id cash in on him play best upfront and use the money to sign a quality centre midfielder, a left back and a cheapNcheerful striker)

Rosado put some good crosses in from the left and looked reasonable enough.

[JAL]

From the kick off from Evertons second goal. Rovers take the kick, ball comes back to Jason Lowe and he kicks it high in the air to a position of where the eighteen yard line meets the goal line with the ball going out for a goal kick and then bemoans Josh King the left winger for not trying.

[Bing]

Alex Marrow looks like a pub player. Cannot fathom how we thought it would be beneficial to sign the likes of him and Taylor over David Jones. Him and Lowe are not 'solid' and will not 'help us keep it tight' or any of those cliches. They were nowhere to be seen as Everton passed it around at will and stuck the ball in our net three times. Simply very, very poor footballers and nowhere near good enough even for Championship level.

Hopefully the moderate impact made by the substitutes will influence team selection for next week.

[rovers11]

No point if the crosses are absolutely nowhere near anyone in a Rovers shirt though. He looks like another from the long long line of poor signings made recently. Cant see Rovers doing anything with this lad in the team.

His crosses were decent but we only had Rhodes in the box most of the time so they were easily cleared by Everton. I'd have him on the wing over king, Olsson, Formica and Pedersen.

Reminds me a little of Jason Wilcox. Think he'll turn out to be a fans fave.

[RockinRover]

Just got back from the game and here's my review of the players.

Kean - Made some great saves today but wasn't helped by his defenders.

Kane - Brilliant going forward, great and tackling further up the pitch but struggled against Everton's pace.

Dann - Made some decent tackles but disappears far too easily when the pressure's on. Certainly not a leader.

Hanley - Was quite solid and strong but suffered from his inability to turn faster than a tank.

Kilgallon - Started off well, made some decent tackles to deny Everton entering the box but then let them through far too easily.

King - This guy has amazing pace, some good skill but failed to produce anything from it.

Lowe - Showed good energy, didn't tackle, didn't pass forwards, needs to gain a lot more confidence.

Marrow - Similar to Lowe but a little more willing to put a foot in. Both him and Lowe run away from the ball far too much though.

Taylor - Bar an early header on goal was very quiet.

Judge - A lot of effort. Reminds me a lot of Dunn but not as skilled. Tries hard, makes some good passes, can't tackle and perhaps didn't use the ball well enough.

Rhodes - Disappointed to see he once again had to fed off scraps. We really need to work out a way to get the ball to him better.

Morris - Was fairly solid at left back. Good going forward, made a few decent tackles but got shoved off the ball a little easily.

Rochina - Changed the game when he came on and gave us a little more control over the ball. Still tries to do too much and still doesn't look for the final ball enough.

Formica - Helped change the game, put in some decent crosses but didn't do too much spectacular.

Rosado - Doesn't come across as a winger to me. Seems to want to put a tackle in and pass the ball. Would be far better in the centre especially since he keeps the ball well.

Best - Missed an absolute sitter. Think we have a poor man's Roberts on our hands. Still could be useful.

Pedersen - Did absolutely nothing bar a good throw in. The usual.

O'Sullivan - This guy surprised me when he came on. Very willing to pass forwards and track back. Could be a good back up box to box midfielder if we get someone in.

It was clear to me today that there's no way we can play Marrow and Lowe together.

They're the same player but I'd say Marrow is more willing to tackle than Lowe is.

We need to play Marrow and maybe a more box to box midfielder like O'Sullivan. (If we don't sign anyone else)

Rochina should definitely be starting in the role behind Rhodes and I think Judge and someone else should be on the wings.

After today for the Derby game I'd be starting with a team like this..

Kean

Kane, Kilgallon, Hanley, Morris

Judge, Marrow, O'Sullivan, Taylor

Rochina

Rhodes

[rovers11]

I'm sure many have already said it but, Lowe and Marrow are woeful in every aspect(Marrow prob slightly the better, but still poor, Lowe was is just obscenely bad at everything), Without D Jones And Williamson in the centre we are right back to square 1, complete push overs defensively and non existent going forward(until Rochina came on and Judge dropped deeper)

Best looked good and played the target man role well in his short time on the pitch(personally I think we play better as a team without Rhodes, personally id cash in on him play best upfront and use the money to sign a quality centre midfielder, a left back and a cheapNcheerful striker)

Rosado put some good crosses in from the left and looked reasonable enough.

To be fair, if we sign bannan then he is better than Dave Jones so we'd actually have a better CM that last season.

Very impressed with Judge again. He's been our best player in pre-season. Could be a really important player for us next season.

Wasn't good today but there are reasons to be hopeful as was proved with the substitutions we made.