27 Nov 2025 11:05:21
I will continue to back Amorim, but his game management against Everton was beyond poor.
Six defensive minded players against 10-men is inexcusable. I can't and won't defend that. I hope Wilcox and co have a strong word in his ear - and we should never again have Dalot and Shaw playing together on the left! Ever! And don't get me started on Dorgu. He needs a prolonger peridot in the under-21s to gain some form as his is dire right now.
Yoro and Shaw had way too much possession. Passing was slow and ponderous, crossing was poor and the finishing non-existent. I come back to my previous comparison which is a great chef needs good ingredients. We don't have enough for Amorim to cook an omelette. Mainoo is not one of them and should be sold.
However, Everton was a blessing in disguise. We saw how poor our midfield and wing-back options are. We also lack a back up plan to Sesko (please let Zirkzee go) who I believe would have made a huge difference against Everton.
We remain at least 2 maybe 3 transfer windows away from being a competitive squad. Amorim has to remain in charge during that period. But, to expect top four this season when your centre midfield and wing back options are as bad as ours is laughable.
Keep the faith. and have a great Christmas Eds and all.
27 Nov 2025 12:08:26
What did you expect him to do?
Did you look at the bench?
At the start of the second half he took off Mazraoui and brought on Mount. That's an attacking substitution.
On 58 minutes he took off Casemiro and brought on Mainoo, again a more attacking substitution.
The other sub he made was to take off Dorgu who was having a poor game and replacing him with Dalot. A fairly like for like situation, although you could argue that Dorgu is typically better going forward than Dalot.
The unused options on the bench were Bayindir, Martinez, Malacia, Ugarte, Heaven and Shea Lacey.
A goalkeeper, three defenders, a defensive midfielder and a kid who hasn't made his debut yet.
The only option you could have an argument for is giving Lacey a chance, all the others are defensive options.
While to be fair chasing the game against a physical side like Everton is probably not the time to throw on a young lad like Lacey, who while talented, is fairly lightweight and could easily have got bullied in that game.
So what exactly did you expect him to do differently?
We had key forward players out injured, while the likes of Zirkzee and Mount were either making their first start or being eased back in after injury.
Also we had 25 shots on goal, we had more than enough chances to win that game but we either lacked quality when finishing or Pickford pulled out a great save.
It happens, despite the less than great performance, we'd probably have won that game 6 times out of ten and drawn 3 times given the balance of play. We just had the one time were we lost it.
27 Nov 2025 12:54:06
Shappy,
RA could have brought on Mainoo and Mount for Casemeiro and Dorgu at halg timr and played 4 at the back, with maz and Shaw being RB and LB.
Bruno could have played further up, in a number 10 or even alongside Zirkzee. Throwing Lacey on wouldn't have hurt either. Utd had nothing to lose. only 3 points!
27 Nov 2025 13:09:05
There were plenty of options Shappy - even though for the record I am defending him overall.
Taking a defender off and even giving Shea Lacey a chance would have been an upgrade on the 11 on the pitch.
27 Nov 2025 13:22:37
I would have started Bruno in Cunha's spot and started Mainoo alongside Casemiro. The Dorgu/Amad ploy on the left seemed really odd, especially when Amad and Mbuemo have been building an excellent partnership. The Zirkzee selection didn't work because Zirkzee isn't good enough. So not starting him at all probably would have worked better and bringing in Mount on the left instead.
It wasn't the subs that didn't work it was the starting line up. As Shappy points out there really were no options on the bench which does not augur well for AfCon. Before the self inflicted red card Everton looked the more dangerous team. Despite everything, in the end the loss was attributable to poor finishing 24 shots v 2 indicated total domination.
27 Nov 2025 13:43:27
My post was dumped on Match posts. Amorim did not act quickly enough after the sending off. He kept the same set up when he should have reacted and become more aggressive. Dorgu was terrible. Put Heaven at left CB push Shaw forward but he didn’t. What’s the point of putting Lacey on the bench if he isn’t under consideration?
People don’t like it but their goal came from Bruno being very weak indeed. He is not a CM.
Watch the balls being rolled to players so slowly the receiver had to wait for it to arrive.
Not good enough.
How can we have such little depth, such little option having spent so much? How have we only one CF? No midfield? It’s a disgrace quite honestly and it isn’t all on Amorim. Once we had 4 CF now one and a kid who seems to have taken a step back.
Years ago on here we had a poster “No midfield”, it hasn’t changed and it’s frankly a major embarrassment. Now we have no central midfield, no Striker options, no wing backs. Shambles. Utter shambles.
27 Nov 2025 14:54:08
I would argue we not even got a decent striker when Sesko is fit!
Come on Shappy get real don’t try hide behind the bench, it’s ridiculous, he got zero in game management skills, with the sending off any decent manager would have reacted but ours stayed exactly same game plan, slow ponderous walking football, the only decent combination we had is Amad and Mbuemo, so he changes that, we got ready made better forward false 9 call it what you will in Bruno and probably our best finisher does he push him forward…nope Dorgu who been awful since day one should have been sacrificed soon as the sending off, flat back 4 Mainoo on next to Cass Bruno forward or even if he likes the back 3 so much take of Dorgu and Mazzouri 1 Cb the other 2 who were spare all night cover left and Right put Mainoo and Mount on with Cass that midfield 3 would easily take control of the game, jeez these are all internationals that could have controlled the game and fed Mbuemo, Amad, Bruno, what does our boring as hell naive coach do nothing just as usual like for like substitutions then got audacity to say players don’t follow his instructions….
i wonder why, it’s negative boring football, yes we need more players but if Cass, Mount, Mainoo in midfield and Mbuemo, Amad Bruno up front can’t out score and play Everton we have a more serious problem.
27 Nov 2025 15:41:10
Ah he’s back, we lost.
27 Nov 2025 19:08:41
It’s also an indictment on the club/management that the bench is as lightweight/poor as it is.
27 Nov 2025 19:08:55
Lacey was on the bench as an option, but that doesn't mean throw him to the dogs. I'd imagine the plan was to get him used to being with the first team and maybe give him 10 minutes if the game is safe.
But you can't be throwing him in there when you're a goal down and the opposition are playing rough to keep it that way.
That just isn't the right way to introduce a youngster.
As for those people bemoaning not going to a back four, get over it. Football isn't just 4-4-bloody 2. Every time you complain about the formation you are just highlighting your own ignorance. You're making a damn fool of yourself.
As for not taking Casemiro off sooner? Have you seen our record with and without him this season?
Also only a manager who has zero trust in his system/players makes changes 20 minutes into a game due to something that has happened to the opposition.
Let's be honest do you really think the sending off seriously affected how Everton were going to play? Keep men behind the ball, two banks of four. That was always their plan both before and after the sending off.
We were going to have to break them down regardless.
In the end our managers tactics, and in game management enabled us to have 24 shots and limited Everton to 2.
That's about all you can ask of your manager. The problem doesn't lie with him. It lies with the players who conceded when they really shouldn't have, and because they couldn't hit a cows arse with a banjo.
Our problem was a lack of quality in forward areas, and there were no other options available to the manager. Suck it up. Until we get a stronger squad we will continue to struggle when missing a couple of key players, particularly in forward areas.
{Ed001's Note - why is it not the way to introduce a youngster? It is the exact right time, when they are under pressure to perform and they actually learn something from the experience. All this bollox about only bringing youngsters on when it is safe is why they fail. They need to play when it matters or they gain nothing.}
27 Nov 2025 20:08:00
What I find really telling about the defences of Amorim’s rigidity is that they talk about substitutions and game management as if the system/formation doesn’t exist.
He brought on Mount and Manioo, therefore he took a more attacking approach.
Yes, but within the same system that kept 3 central defenders on against 10 men when we were a goal behind.
As others have said, the obvious tactical change was to go to a back 4. Adding an extra midfielder to help us move the ball around quicker in the final third, or adding an actual striker. Yeah, the only striker on the bench was a young lad, but he might have actually caused their defenders some problems.
The glaring point is that Amorim’s system was working in this specific game. Everton were comfortable. Even being a man down. They just needed to stay compact and defend against crosses. Anyone watching could see that something different was needed, but Amorim kept the same system despite it clearly not working. That’s the point. Not that he didn’t try to make attacking changes. That these changes made zero difference because Everton were able to defend against the system without breaking a sweat.
28 Nov 2025 03:18:32
Bang on Ed.
We can dissect the Everton game until the cows come home, but not throwing Lacey in against 10men when we needed a goal or two was a bad decision. I suspect Lacey would have given more than others on the day!
28 Nov 2025 05:43:44
Youngsters learn more in these games then putting them on for a run out when 5-0 up, not that we will ever be 5-0 up… stop all this trying to defend RA joke, admit it he made a real mess of that game, stop defending the indefensible, you done it with Ole you done it with Ten….
28 Nov 2025 11:29:29
Ed001
Lacey isn’t 15 or 16, he is 18. At that age you think you can score the World Cup winning goal. Arsenal play Dowman at 15 yet we can’t give Lacey 18 time. If we were in a relegation battle I could understand it but what a filip for the kid put on and told go and get us or create a goal.
{Ed001's Note - even if you are in a relegation battle, it is those moments of pressure that shape diamonds. That is why lower league clubs on the verge of going out of business if they drop down can play kids and those kids do well. I hate this overly protective way of dealing with kids, it does not help them at all. Quite the opposite.}