Yes, King was very good today. The BBC has him down as " the most accurate player on the pitch, completing 96% of his 45 passes". I thought apart from one mix up with Ulloa when the both went for the same ball, and a ludicrous dive, pretty much everything he tried came good today.
Have to say, I thought Ulloa and especially Nugent pressed superbly well from the front. I can recall 3 or 4 occasion where Everton tried to play it out from the goalkeeper but they were pressured by the front 2 into giving the ball away or looking vulnerable or kicking it out of play, just because of the pressure our front 2 put on them. One in particular where Ulloa actually got there ahead of Howard but Howard managed to gather it up before Ulloa could get a 2nd touch.
Everton clearly had superior quality, but our fitness levels, energy and pressing is what put us on an even keel despite lacking the same technical quality.
It was a far cry from the days of Jermaine Beckford refusing to press defenders 3 yards away from him and barely looking willing to jog. Superb stuff.
Good stuff all round.
Special shouts to Moore, Mahrez, Morgan & King. Fantastic atmosphere generated by the crowd. Everton decent as expected. Hope Drinky's is short-term injury.
It's strange as I am generally a King fan and I definitely seem outvoted today. But quite a few people around me had him down as the first person to be substituted.
I'll leave the managing to Pearson!!
It's strange as I am generally a King fan and I definitely seem outvoted today. But quite a few people around me had him down as the first person to be substituted.
I'll leave the managing to Pearson!!
King and Nugent did a lot of 'grunt' work today that unless you are watching for it can be easily missed.
As others have said Everton had more class than us today but I thought we played very well second half and although we worked very hard this should not detract from the fact that we played the ball around very well against a top six side.
We looked better on the sky rerun than at the game!
A great point considering everything from James being unfit through DD's hamstring and a first half where we looked a bit lost. ( did we freeze a bit?)
Fwiw, I thought Hammond came on and showed some experience in the midfield by slowing us down a bit and keeping hold of the ball a bit more. It helped that they tired badly last twenty but we expected that.
It's strange as I am generally a King fan and I definitely seem outvoted today. But quite a few people around me had him down as the first person to be substituted.
I'll leave the managing to Pearson!!
I agree, and I think the reason for this is because the Premier League is less physical than in the Championship, and King is clearly not a physical player
King had a great game, and Hammond was sound as well. I think our fullbacks needed a bit more support from midfield as both Marez and Knockheart are not so effective in defending as going forward.
So many injuries are a bit worrying, but sound minor. Maybe Knockheart was not yet match fit yet.
Just watching again on MOTD (feels good to see us on there!) and Everton's first was a cracking finish from McGeady. The defence should've done better in the build up, but top quality finish. Perfect
Coolest customer on the pitch at all times, made Barry look embarrassingly off the pace. Hammond deserves a lot of praise too, it must have been tough coming off the bench so unexpectedly but he really steadied the ship for us.
Moore and Morgan were magnificent, I noticed them slapping each other on the back whenever they got the better of Lukaku which was quite sweet.
I agree. I watched him play in the Bremen game and he was a different player than the one we saw last season. He did enough that day to get into my starting line up irrespective of James's injury. Sometimes a players' form dips one year and then he comes again the following season. King had been playing a lot of matches for us from a young age and taking a back seat last year may have helped him to develop.
It was a huge blow to lose James this week as I'm convinced NP intended to play King in the advanced midfield role where I think he could be very influential on this form. James for Knockaert yesterday and we could well have won.
If we have three central midfielders fit to play against Chelsea (and that's a big if at the moment), King should definitely be one of them.
I agree, and I think the reason for this is because the Premier League is less physical than in the Championship, and King is clearly not a physical player
Absolutely right. It really winds me up when people say the Premier League is less physical. The other nonsense statement is that you get more time on the ball.
The Premier League is full of big, strong and quick players. There is more physical contact and each game is much more draining physically than anything in the Championship. Players need to be fitter and stronger to compete at the top level.
You know you've got a good Premier League player when he 'looks' as though he's got more time on the ball. Both King and Mahrez showed this characteristic yesterday and that bodes well for them both. It's nothing to do with time and space though, just technical ability and fitness.
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