Everton - Going up, not down!

[lukegraham1991]

GAME DAY 26 - PREMIER LEAGUE - AWAY VS BRIGHTON

After losing the last two games to top opponents to 2-0 scorelines in each, I was hoping to travel to Brighton with somewhat of a point to prove.

As usual we defended well, but again couldn't score - seems to be the story of our season - no consistency in attack.

 

This result makes it 3 games without scoring again which is becoming a problem now for us and our aims to even make a top half finish.

 

Notable poor performances: Alex Iwobi: 6.4 & Rafael Santos Borre: 6.4.

Standout performances: Jordan Pickford: 7.3, Demarai Gray: 7.1, Josip Sutalo: 7.1 & Ben Godfrey: 7.0.

[lukegraham1991]

GAME DAY 27 - PREMIER LEAGUE - AWAY VS NOTTINGHAM FOREST

We signed off February with a comfortable win and a clean sheet against relegation strugglers Nottingham Forest.

Dominic Calvert-Lewin doing his best to give me a headache now that Santos-Borre is back in the fold after his ban netting a brace to keep fellow striker on the bench.

 

I've also added the current league table after 25 games - another win with our game in hand puts us back to 10th place which is a minimum aim for me this season.

 

Notable poor performances: Idrissa Gueye: 6.5.

Standout performances: Dominic Calvert-Lewin: 8.4.

[lukegraham1991]

GAME DAY 28 - FA CUP - HOME VS LIVERPOOL

Huge tie for us in the 5th round of the FA Cup in a derby game against Liverpool.

 

Going one nil down early I thought we would be in for a long and rough day at the office but Calvert-Lewin immediately responded with a goal of his own.

Ben Godfrey then nodding in from a freekick perked us up somewhat going into the half time break with the narrow lead.

Only got Jota to score with just over 20 minutes remaining of the game, and after that we were keeping the opposition at bay until the final whistle.

Both teams had chances cleared off the line late on, Moukoko HAD to score his after rounding the keeper but a timid effort with no pace or power was cleared - a header from Nunez late on was cleared off our own line late on.

 

Penalty shoot out began and with our top scorer Santos Borre missing the opener, I couldn't have expected to win given our penalty taking ratings vs Liverpool's but we pulled it off with James Garner slotting home the winner!!!!!

 

Notable poor performances: Youssoufa Moukoko: 6.3.

Standout performances: Ben Godrey: 8.1, Demarai Gray: 7.9 & Jordan Pickford: 7.7.

[lukegraham1991]

GAME DAY 29 - PREMIER LEAGUE - HOME VS WOLVERHAMPTON WANDERERS

Back to Premier League action with this home tie against Wolves.

Taking a lead before the half after Ashley Young did very well to beat his man and deliver a ball to Santos Borre in a position that made it very difficult to miss.

 

Really poor defending shortly after gave Ruben Neves of all people a free shot on goal completely unchallenged to score (shockingly) his first goal of the season to equalise.

 

Despite our best effort to go more attacking, bringing a second striker on late in the game, a Neal Maupay goal got chalked off for offside and when that happened I think I knew we would only be taking a point maximum from this one.

 

Notable poor performances: Nathan Patterson: 6.4.

Standout performances: Ashley Young: 8.2.

[lukegraham1991]

GAME DAY 30 - PREMIER LEAGUE - AWAY VS LEEDS UNITED

Another game where a red card spoils what should have been a nailed on win.

We even scored a second goal without a reply but being down to 10 men for more than two thirds of the game was too much to ask unfortunately, with Gnonto scoring in the last minute of injury time.

 

Notable poor performances: Nicolas Dominguez: 6.3.

Standout performances: Dominic Calvert-Lewin: 8.6.

[lukegraham1991]

GAME DAY 31 - FA CUP - AWAY VS MIDDLESBROUGH

We had a kind draw for the FA Cup Quarter Final after knocking Liverpool out in the last round.

I made a few changes to our starting lineup to give some lads some minutes against lower league opposition in a big game but not too many as I want to win this to advance to the semi's.

 

We started well, with an early goal. But shortly after that, our goal scorer and in form striker Calvert-Lewin had to come off due to an injury which has now been confirmed as shin splints with a 4 week lay off.

We went 2-1 down through youngster Cameron Archer scoring a brace - the second coming early in extra time - but substitute and still the top scorer for the club this season Santos Borre equalised in the 105th minute.

We kept banging the drum for the winner but extra time ended all level, so we went on to another penalty shoot out - JAMES GARNER SCORING THE WINNING PENALTY AGAIN!!!

 

WE ADVANCE TO THE SEMI-FINAL OF THE FA CUP!

 

Notable poor performances: Tom Davies: 6.3 & Dwight McNeil: 6.3.

Standout performances: Rafael Santos Borre: 7.8, Nathan Patterson: 7.7, James Garner: 7.5 & Jordan Pickford: 7.5.

[lukegraham1991]

FA CUP SEMI-FINAL DRAW

We get a Wembley tie against Brentford for the semi-final draw of the FA Cup.

This could be a huge chance for us to reach a cup final in our first season in charge!

[lukegraham1991]

GAME DAY 32 - PREMIER LEAGUE - AWAY VS FULHAM

A really questionable performance in this one, sharing the spoils with a 19th placed Fulham fighting for their lives who haven't won since late December.

We were lucky to come away with a draw in the end with a late goal from Branthwaite.

 

Notable poor performances: Moussa Wague: 6.3, Josip Sutalo: 6.3, Jordan Pickford: 6.4, Vitaliy Mykolenko: 6.4, Rafael Santos Borre: 6.4 & Neal Maupay: 6.4.

Standout performances: Jarrad Branthwaite: 8.5.

[lukegraham1991]

GAME DAY 33 - PREMIER LEAGUE - HOME VS CRYSTAL PALACE

This performance has got to be one of the worst of the season, very little shots on goal, even less of those shots actually hit the target with an xG or 0.29.

Every highlight seemed to be Palace absolutely dominating possession and creating chances.

Deserved loss in this one unfortunately.

 

Notable poor performances: Ben Godfrey: 6.2, Jarrad Branthwaite: 6.2, Dwight McNeil: 6.2, Idrissa Gueye: 6.3, Nathan Patterson: 6.4 & Rafael Santos Borre: 6.4.

Standout performances: James Tarkowski: 7.0.

[lukegraham1991]

GAME DAY 34 - PREMIER LEAGUE - HOME VS BRENTFORD

After drawing this one, this now makes it 5 games without a win in the Premier League.

4 draws and 1 loss - which could be a lot worse, but is still worrying that we can't either hold onto a lead, or put the opposition to bed by scoring more goals when we're on top.

 

Notable poor performances: Rafael Santos Borre: 6.5.

Standout performances: Nathan Patterson: 7.3 & Dwight McNeil: 7.1.

[lukegraham1991]

GAME DAY 35 - PREMIER LEAGUE - HOME VS SOUTHAMPTON

There we have it! Our first win after 5 games without getting all 3 points in the Premier League.

A solid all around team performance against a team struggling against relegation but we can only beat what's put in front of us and clean sheets will only help things.

 

We face Liverpool next who are currently 4 points behind league leaders Man City.

We've already caused them an upset in the FA Cup but this one is at Anfield in the league which I know will be a difficult ask to come away with anything.

 

League update below after 31 league games have been played by ourselves.

The next one will be the final league update when it comes - hopefully we can claw our way back into the top half come the end of the season!

 

Notable poor performances: Neal Maupay: 6.4.

Standout performances: Josip Sutalo: 8.3 & Alex Iwobi: 8.3.

[lukegraham1991]

GAME DAY 36 - PREMIER LEAGUE - AWAY VS LIVERPOOL

Somewhat of a beating in this one, which was expected given the stakes and our recent form - plus the negative of the game being played at Anfield.

 

Up next we have a huge one with Brentford at Wembley in the semi-final of the FA Cup.

After that the league run in looks like this:

 

Aston Villa (A)

Arsenal (H)

Man Utd (H)

Bournemouth (A)

Tottenham (H)

West Ham (A)

 

Not the easiest run in and we still aren't top half of the league.

 

Notable poor performances: Rafael Santos Borre: 6.1, Alex Iwobi: 6.2, Vitaliy Mykolenko: 6.2, Dwight McNeil: 6.3, Josip Sutalo: 6.4 & Idrissa Gueye: 6.4.

Standout performances: Dominic Calvert-Lewin: 7.5 & Jordan Pickford: 7.0.

[lukegraham1991]

GAME DAY 37 - FA CUP - WEMBLEY VS BRENTFORD

While it would have been nice to reach a cup final in our first season, it simply wasn't to be.

I feared the worst when we were creating very little all game and then gave a poor penalty away to go behind on after Toney slotted home in the 64th minute.

 

Shortly after though, half time substitute Santos Borre gave us a lifeline but we couldn't improve for the win unfortunately.

 

We had gone to two penalty shoot outs, both of which had gone our way before this one but unfortunately, a Dominguez effort saved meant we came crashing out of the FA Cup at the final hurdle before the final itself.

 

Notable poor performances: Dwight McNeil: 6.2, Ashley Young: 6.3 & Youssoufa Moukoko: 6.4.

Standout performances: Rafael Santos Borre: 7.8.

[lukegraham1991]

GAME DAY 38 - PREMIER LEAGUE - AWAY VS ASTON VILLA

A win we needed here as we face Arsenal next in what will prove to be another difficult test for us.

Calvert-Lewin coming up with two massive goals for us as we continue to push for that top half target once the season ends.

 

Calvert-Lewin is now the joint top scorer for the team this season having caught up to Rafael Santos Borre on 12 goals each.

 

Notable poor performances: N/A

Standout performances: Dominic Calvert-Lewin: 9.0.

[lukegraham1991]

GAME DAY 39 - PREMIER LEAGUE - HOME VS ARSENAL

We took on the tough task of a tie against Arsenal, this wasn't a game I was overly expectant of a positive result in to be honest but to come away with a point is a huge result for us.

A clean sheet and holding onto the draw late on when we made things harder for them is more than I anticipated taking away from this game.

 

Anther tough test coming up now as Man Utd come to us as they are pushing to cement a top 4 finish.

 

Notable poor performances: Youssoufa Moukoko: 6.3 & Nathan Patterson: 6.4.

Standout performances: James Garner: 7.4, Jordan Pickford: 7.2 & Idrissa Gueye: 7.2.

Edited March 14, 2023 by lukegraham1991

[lukegraham1991]

GAME DAY 40 - PREMIER LEAGUE - HOME VS MANCHESTER UNITED

WE DID IT!

What a win vs Manchester United - a huge thanks to Fred for putting them down to 10 men after we were already 1-0 up.

I stuck with the same team that started the 0-0 against Arsenal and it proved the best practice after securing this one.

 

We tightened things up though and hit them on a couple of late counter attacks to secure a huge 3-0 win!

That's our first win vs any of the top 6 so far on this save as well, brilliant stuff!

 

Notable poor performances: Jarrad Branthwaite: 6.5.

Standout performances: Dominic Calvert-Lewin: 7.7, Jordan Pickford: 7.6 & Tom Davies: 7.5.

[lukegraham1991]

GAME DAY 41 - PREMIER LEAGUE - AWAY VS BOURNEMOUTH

Going from a draw against Arsenal and a win against Manchester United to losing in any manner to Bournemouth if a bit of a kick in the teeth.

Getting a red card and losing 3-0 though, is even more frustrating.

 

Spurs up next, yet another difficult test for us.

Hopefully, we can improve off the back of this otherwise we will have a tough result to take when Spurs come to Goodison Park next game.

 

Notable poor performances: Jordan Pickford: 6.0, Youssoufa Moukoko: 6.1, Vitaliy Mykolenko: 6.2, Nathan Patterson: 6.3 & Dwight McNeil: 6.3.

Standout performances: Josip Sutalo: 7.4.

[lukegraham1991]

GAME DAY 42 - PREMIER LEAGUE - HOME VS TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR

An early goal in the very first minute of the game - I thought this was going to be an absolute hammering.

But we battled back to take the lead & take a 2-1 lead into the half.

 

I tried to keep the lads out there that worked to get us in front but a lot of the squad were knackered so I had to make some changes.

Unfortunately, a late goal through Bissouma meant we shared the points on the day.

 

Final game of the season up next as we take on West Ham at London Stadium.

We're currently 11th while they are in 10th, goal difference is very close so the winner of this game could take 10th position in the final league table of the season.

 

Notable poor performances: Jordan Pickford: 6.3 & Tom Davies: 6.4.

Standout performances: Amadou Onana: 7.6, Dwight McNeil: 7.4 & Dominic Calvert-Lewin: 7.4.

Edited March 14, 2023 by lukegraham1991

[lukegraham1991]

GAME DAY 43 - PREMIER LEAGUE - AWAY VS WEST HAM UNITED

Last game of season 1.

We took on West Ham United at London Stadium and things started very well with Calvert-Lewin netting early on.

Unfortunately, the rest of the game was a bit of a stalemate and then a shocking challenge late on gifted Lanzini a chance to score from the spot & that he did.

 

Now the planning starts for next season, I will have some lads coming back from loan, some new signings coming in & some players on their way out of the club also.

I am planning on restructuring the coaching staff as I always do after season 1 - I give the initial staff a chance and now I will look at which current members I deem good enough to stay on and those that need replacing. I plan on doing this nice and early so we can tweak any tactics and formations ready for a grueling pre-season so we can improve again going into the 2023/24 campaign.

 

Notable poor performances: N/A

Standout performances: Nicolas Dominguez: 7.3 & Dominic Calvert-Lewin: 7.1.

[lukegraham1991]

SEASON 1 (2022/23) - PREMIER LEAGUE TABLE

Last league table update of the season.

We've narrowly missed out on the top half of the table.

 

Manchester City taking the league title by a 5 point margin.

Liverpool, Arsenal & Newcastle taking the champions league places.

Man Utd, Spurs & Chelsea taking the other european competition places.

With Fulham, Southampton & Nottingham Forest suffering relegation to the Championship.

Promoted from the Championship is Watford, Norwich and either Middlesbrough or Sunderland.

 

Stay tuned for player stats for the season...

[lukegraham1991]

SEASON 1 (2022/23) - PLAYER STATS

As we close out the season, I wanted to make a note of some of the player stats throughout the season.

 

Goals:

1. Dominic Calvert Lewin - 14 Goals

2. Rafael Santos Borre - 13 Goals

3. Neal Maupay & Dwight McNeil - 3 Goals

4. Youssoufa Moukoko, Reiss Nelson, Alex Iwobi - 2 Goals

5. Idrissa Gueye, Jarrad Branthwaite, Ben Godfrey, Demarai Gray, James Tarkowski, Tom Davies, Josip Sutalo - 1 Goal

 

Assists:

 

1. Demarai Gray & Alex Iwobi - 5 Assists

2. Nathan Patterson, Dwight McNeil & Tom Davies - 3 Assists

3. Idrissa Gueye, Rafael Santos Borre, James Garner, Josip Sutalo & Nicolas Dominguez - 2 Assists

4. Youssoufa Moukoko, Amadou Onana, Neal Maupay, Jarrad Branthwaite, Mason Holgate,

Dominic Calvert-Lewin, Reiss Nelson, Andros Townsend & Ashley Young - 1 Assist

 

Average Rating (Over 7.0):

 

1. Dominic Calvert-Lewin -  7.14 Average Rating

2. Josip Sutalo - 7.02 Average Rating

3. Jordan Pickford - 7.01 Average Rating

 

 

Clean sheets:

1. Jordan Pickford - 16 Clean Sheets in 44 games

 

 

Overall record throughout 2022/23 season:

Wins: 16

Draws: 13

Losses: 16

Goals scored: 48

Goals against: 51

Goal difference: -3

 

[lukegraham1991]

END OF SEASON REVIEW - 2022/23

[lukegraham1991]

TRANSFER OUT - ALEX IWOBI

Alex Iwobi came to us half way through the first season to tell us that he would be considering his options come the end of his current deal - which ran out at the end of the 2023/24 season coming up.

I've been trying to shift him to get as much money as I could while knowing that the player didn't want to be here.

 

We ended up taking a bit less than we wanted to but I'd rather it happen this way as now I've cut a chunk of wage out of the budget too and moved someone on that doesn't want to be at the club.

[lukegraham1991]

TRANSFER OUT - ABDOULAYE DOUCOURE

In a similar situation to the Alex Iwobi transfer, we've managed to get some money in for Doucoure as well as clearing out a player who doesn't want to be here and trimming down our wage bill for now.

A bit of a coincidence that Spartak Moscow wanted to take both players off our hands but I won't complain!

[lukegraham1991]

TRANSFERS IN - MOHAMMED DIOMANDE, THEO SANDER & VALENTIN GOMEZ

In our first few deals of the summer, these are all transfers that were sorted earlier in the season but I wanted them to continue playing regularly so I opted for the transfers to come through at the end of the 22/23 season.

Some good youthful additions, whether they will play here or elsewhere this season is yet to be seen though.

[Captain_T]

Did you use the tactic shown on page one during the complete season?

With two Wingers or did you sometimes change the roles to inside winger or inside forward?

[lukegraham1991]

53 minutes ago, Captain_T said:

Did you use the tactic shown on page one during the complete season?

With two Wingers or did you sometimes change the roles to inside winger or inside forward?

I only changed to inside forwards or inverted wingers when I had right footed players on the left or vice versa - I do like to have out and out wingers with right footed on the right and left footed on the left.

This only really changed when we had injuries 

[lukegraham1991]

TRANSFER IN - JAMES WARD-PROWSE

In our first major signing of the summer, we bring in a seasoned Premier League veteran in the form of James Ward-Prowse.

He gives us that extra threat from set pieces as well as being a well rounded player.

Southampton didn't do very well which meant he suffered relegation last season but this was simply a prompt for me to bring him in, and with the relatively small fee involved this one was a no brainer!

 

There have been a few ins and outs but nothing really major that we haven't already mentioned, I will list off the full ins and outs when the window closes and let you know about any major ins and outs as pre-season progresses.

[lukegraham1991]

TRANSFER IN - ANGELO

Our second big signing of the summer comes in the form of brazilian wonderkid Angelo.

One that will excite the fans and get at his man on the wing, Angelo will add a much needed attacking threat to our front line.

[lukegraham1991]

TRANSFER IN - JEREMY DOKU

Our third major signing comes in the form of winger/forward Jeremy Doku.

A player who possesses major pace which again will add to our attacking threat throughout the season and hopefully that will mean more goals and more wins this campaign!

[lukegraham1991]

SEASON TWO - 2023/24

Here we have it, all pre-seson friendlies done and dusted, minutes under belts, youngsters bought and loaned out for minutes.

A few marquee signings already, attacking options and we've also kept hold of a lot of players that did well for us last season and we've built upon our foundations.

 

Hopefully, we will reach a top half finish this time around and continue to build again come January & next summers transfer window!

[lukegraham1991]

2023/24 SEASON - GAME DAY 1 - PREMIER LEAGUE - HOME VS MANCHESTER UNITED

Unbelievable performance!

We smash Man Utd in the season opener after newcomer Angelo bags himself a hat-trick & Sutalo gets an early opener.

Antony being sent off after 30 minutes helped the situation, no doubt, but by the time he was sent off, we were already 1-0 up, and from that card, we dominated.

 

Disappointing to concede in the end which is mental to say in this fixture but we take a 4-1 win here all day!! UPPA TOFFEES!!!

 

Notable poor performances: N/A

Standout performances: Angelo: 9.7

[lukegraham1991]

2023/24 SEASON - GAME DAY 2 - PREMIER LEAGUE - AWAY VS ARSENAL

Not so much of a great performance!

But after those two fixtures in the opening two games, we take 3 points all day as I probably wasn't expecting to get much from Man Utd & Arsenal in the opening two games of the season.

 

Notable poor performances: Angelo: 6.2, Valentin Gomez: 6.3, Nathan Patterson: 6.3 & Dominic Calvert-Lewin: 6.3.

Standout performances: Jordan Pickford: 7.5, James Garner: 7.4 & Jeremy Doku: 7.1.

[lukegraham1991]

2023/24 SEASON - GAME DAY 3 - PREMIER LEAGUE - AWAY VS BRENTFORD

Much improved performance with a lot of 7+ ratings on the team this week.

Keeping a clean sheet and nabbing an away win to make it 6 points from a possible nine to start the season.

 

Notable poor performances: Nicolas Dominguez: 6.3.

Standout performances: Dominic Calvert-Lewin: 7.8 & Dwight McNeil: 7.8.

[lukegraham1991]

2023/24 SEASON - GAME DAY 4 - PREMIER LEAGUE - HOME VS WATFORD

A huge win vs newly promoted Watford as we put them to the sword, 4 different goal scorers is always a good sign of a solid team performance and the player ratings showed that too. Our second clean sheet in a row and second clean sheet of the season so far in 4 games, not too shabby!

 

Notable poor performances: N/A

Standout performances: Dominic Calvert-Lewin: 8.2, Josip Sutalo: 8.1 & Amadou Onana: 8.0.

[Captain_T]

Can you maybe show your tactic?

Season looks quite promising. 

[lukegraham1991]

10 minutes ago, Captain_T said:

Can you maybe show your tactic?

Season looks quite promising. 

Hey man, sure! 

All 3 options I have created from scratch are below

[lukegraham1991]

2023/24 SEASON - GAME DAY 5 - CARABAO CUP - AWAY VS BRIGHTON

Another early exit from the Carabao Cup which is disappointing given our recent good form.

A really poor game from both ourselves and Brighton, as you can see from our player ratings below, Brighton's were very similar, with their ratings shooting up defensively after going 1-0 up - which is understandable but still disappointing that we didn't create more.

 

On the plus side however, we can not switch our focus to a top half finish and try our luck in the FA Cup with some fresher legs than maybe what some of our opponents might have when the time comes!

 

Notable poor performances: Dwight McNeil: 6.5, Ben Godfrey: 6.6, Filippo Terracciano: 6.6, Dominic Calvert-Lewin: 6.6 & Angelo: 6.6

Standout performances: Valentin Gomez: 7.2 & Nicolas Dominguez: 7.0.

[lukegraham1991]

TRANSFERS - DEADLINE DAY SPECIAL!

First of all we managed to get rid of Tom Davies for a very decent figure.

 

I had a direct replacement in mind after seeing that Fred was released from his contract at Manchester United and that came through immediately after, so we've made 18m in that 'swap deal' basically.

 

With 4 hours remaining of the transfer window on deadline day, I started to filter through free agency looking for a veteran striker, someone that could both play right now, as well as using them as a mentor.

Not sure I could have found a better option that Zlatan Ibrahimovic so I moved quickly to get the deal over the line, and that is our transfer business done for the summer!

[lukegraham1991]

2023/24 SEASON - GAME DAY 6 - PREMIER LEAGUE - AWAY VS BOURNEMOUTH

With every win against a team like Manchester United, comes a loss vs a team like Bournemouth, the game always seems to have a way of evening these things out!

Very disappointing, our defence was poor in this one as you can see from the ratings, and given that this was our strongest point last season, I hope it is just a minor blip, however, 2 losses on the bounce in all competitions needs to be fixed, quickly!

 

Despite Calvert-Lewin's best efforts and scoring a brace, we couldn't keep the likes of Dominic Solanke at bay and deserved to lose the game unfortunately.

 

Notable poor performances: Jordan Pickford: 6.2, Nathan Patterson: 6.4 & Valentin Gomez: 6.4.

Standout performances: Dominic Calvert-Lewin: 8.2.

[lukegraham1991]

2023/24 SEASON - GAME DAY 7 - PREMIER LEAGUE - HOME VS MAN CITY

Another early season test - this time at Home vs Man City.

We held on for most of the game, but didn't really test them, so the best I could have hoped for was a draw here by defending well.

 

To concede so late on was a huge kick in the teeth but that's what you need to expect against a team as strong as Man City.

Next up we face Liverpool at Anfield which only adds to our rocky start after now losing our last 3 games in all competitions.

 

Notable poor performances: Vitaliy Mykolenko: 6.2.

Standout performances: Jordan Pickford: 7.4.

[lukegraham1991]

2023/24 SEASON - GAME DAY 8 - PREMIER LEAGUE - AWAY VS LIVERPOOL

A tough one to take this one, after conceding that second goal from Jota through a Branthwaite error, we crumbled from there.

Some really poor individual performances in this one which will never end well at Anfield.

 

Notable poor performances: Jarrad Branthwaite: 6.0, Zlatan Ibrahimovic: 6.3, Josip Sutalo: 6.4, Nathan Patterson: 6.4 & Dominic Calvert-Lewin: 6.4.

Standout performances: Vitaliy Mykolenko: 7.1 & Angelo 7.0.

[Captain_T]

It seems like Angelo was a good signing!

Which position and role is he playing?

Edited March 18, 2023 by Captain_T

[lukegraham1991]

2023/24 SEASON - GAME DAY 9 - PREMIER LEAGUE - HOME VS BRIGHTON

Brighton stood top of the league before this game and we were in 11th place.

This was a game I wanted to see a marked improvement in after losing to Brighton already this season in the Carabao Cup.

We went behind just before the half here - I thought it was going to be a long day after that.

 

Not long after the half, top scorer Dominic Calvert-Lewin equalised for us and the same man put us ahead with 10 minutes to go.

I changed to a more defensive setup and held out for the win!

 

Notable poor performances: Nathan Patterson: 6.5, Vitaliy Mykolenko: 6.5 & James Ward-Prowse: 6.5.

Standout performances: Dominic Calvert-Lewin: 8.7.

[lukegraham1991]

2023/24 SEASON - GAME DAY 10 - PREMIER LEAGUE - AWAY VS ASTON VILLA

Another poor performance, and losing to another late goal.

Think we are going to be lucky to finish top half at the moment despite the many positive additions I have made this season.

 

The attack is inconsistent and the defence has taken a step back since last season so far.

 

Notable poor performances: Jeremy Doku: 6.2, James Ward-Prowse: 6.4, Ernest Nuamah: 6.4 & Rafael Santos Borre: 6.4.

Standout performances: Jordan Pickford: 7.3.

[lukegraham1991]

2023/24 SEASON - GAME DAY 11 - PREMIER LEAGUE - HOME VS LEICESTER CITY

We took a relatively early lead here but shortly after, our goal scorer who was having a good game had to be subbed off due to injury.

We managed to cling onto the 1-0 lead throughout though and sured up the defensive side of the team late on to secure the three points.

 

A clean sheet is a plus as well here but we definitely could have done better on the attack again.

 

Notable poor performances: N/A

Standout performances: Dominic Calvert-Lewin: 7.9, Vitaliy Mykolenko: 7.8, Jordan Pickford: 7.4 & Jeremy Doku: 7.4.

[lukegraham1991]

2023/24 SEASON - PREMIER LEAGUE TABLE AFTER 10 GAMES

Not too shabby, we've had some results we should have won but we also had some results where we got points in the bag when maybe we weren't expected to.

All in all we are where we want to be if we keep things up but need to find more consistency to our performances.

[lukegraham1991]

2023/24 SEASON - GAME DAY 12 - PREMIER LEAGUE - AWAY VS WEST HAM UNITED

The game ended in our first draw of the season after crumbling from 2-0 up.

Really disappointing as West Ham ended up dominating the game in the second half - almost doubling our attempts on goal over the course of the game.

 

Notable poor performances: Jeremy Doku: 6.3, Jordan Pickford: 6.5, Nathan Patterson: 6.5, James Tarkowski: 6.5 & Amadou Onana: 6.5.

Standout performances: Ernest Nuamah: 8.1 & Dominic Calvert-Lewin: 7.9.

[lukegraham1991]

2023/24 SEASON - GAME DAY 13 - PREMIER LEAGUE - HOME VS MIDDLESBROUGH

A really poor performance.

1-0 up early, not playing particularly well after that, but to no be able to kick on after they opposition went down to 10 men with basically half the game to go is ridiculous. Then giving away a penalty to gift then a clear goalscoring opportunity - we didn't deserve to win despite my best efforts.

 

Notable poor performances: Rafael Santos Borre: 6.2, Josip Sutalo: 6.4 & Vitaliy Mykolenko: 6.4.

Standout performances: Dominic Calvert-Lewin: 7.9, Jeremy Doku: 7.6 & Vitalie Becker: 7.2.

[lukegraham1991]

2023/24 SEASON - GAME DAY 14 - PREMIER LEAGUE - AWAY VS CRYSTAL PALACE

This one was another strange performance, taking an early lead and giving that lead away in the 76th minute to a Palace equaliser.

However, the changes we made by bringing Santos Borre & Gray into this one made all of the difference with two late goals to seal the three points.

 

Notable poor performances: Valentin Gomez: 6.5 & Angelo: 6.5.

Standout performances: Amadou Onana: 8.1, Rafael Santos Borre: 7.6, James Ward-Prowse: 7.5, Dominic Calvert-Lewin: 7.4 & Demarai Gray: 7.3.