ClaphamFox

One more sleep until Ruud’s press conference 🥳

They have a much better defence than ours. I'd say we have better attacking options overall. I also think our bench will be stronger than theirs. The midfield battle will be key - Mangala will be a big miss for them. We need Soumare to continue climbing his redemption arc and put in a performance as good as the one he put in against Spurs. It will be a tough game, probably decided by a single goal. But let's have it right: we can absolutely beat them if RvN gets his tactics right and our players show up like they did on Sunday.

Rodgers' record against Moyes was particularly poor, if memory serves. Moyes always seemed to have his number. However, the second half against Spurs showed that RvN can get us to shithouse with the best of them. That may come in handy on Saturday.

A bit radical to close down the entire twitter rumour thread because of one duff link...

A bit harsh denying his humanity, mate. Echoes of Buffalo Bill in Silence of the Lambs: "It puts the ball in the goal or else it gets the hose again."

The experience of Ayew and Reid was a key factor in us getting the win on Saturday. Not a chance either will be dropped for Everton.

That rumour took out the reputations of several self-proclaimed ITKs in one fell swoop. It was a blood bath.

Which still makes it far more reliable than Footy Insider.

Is Tier 4 the lowest level source category? If so, we need to add another one below it labelled 'Footy Insider/Pete O'Rourke'.

Just heard his interview on the RL boot room. The fact that he sounds more like he’s from Groby or Kirby Muxloe than Poland always brings a smile to my face…

It will be a different kind of game, but let’s not get carried away. Everton are better defensively than Spurs (they’ve conceded nine fewer goals) but they’re nowhere near as good in attack (they’ve scored 27 fewer goals than Spurs this season) - and they’ll very likely be without DCL on Saturday. Nobody is suggesting this game will be easy, but it is very winnable.

You don’t like him because he’s Dutch?!

Amen

Yep. If we get a decent result against Everton, the recent groundswell of anger at the club will be replaced by growing optimism that we can survive and the will to protest will dissipate significantly. In fact, any protest will likely be regarded with hostility by those who see it as a threat to the team's survival prospects. That could get nasty. It's mad that a couple of results (assuming we even get one at Everton) could take the heat off the club to that extent, but that's the reality.

His rugby tackle on Archie Gray was a thing of beauty.

I don't think Maddison cried off. I think Ange cried him off.

You’re obviously right that yesterday’s win will not resolve the deep-rooted structural issues at our club. But in the context of this season, it really could change a lot. Whatever RvN has been saying to the players since the Fulham game, it clearly has had an effect. They needed to get something from yesterday and they did. It could have a major influence on how the rest of our season pans out. Then, whether we survive or go down, major changes will be required to the way the club is run.

The spine of their team will likely be weakened considerably by the absence of Calvert-Lewin and Mangala. If RvN gets his tactics right, this is a game we can win.

They’ve played two games at Goodison since he returned - one narrow loss against Villa (who we recently lost narrowly to away) and one narrow win against Spurs (who we narrowly beat away today).

Apologies if somebody has already posted…

Ruud to Ange (before the game): I don’t know what I’m doing wrong with my half-time team talks.We keep coming out half-asleep and concede within minutes… Ange: Hold my beer, mate…

Is it possible to read this without a subscription?

No he didn’t.

Can it be expressed in a sound? Or a scent?! Or through the medium of dance?