Good heavens, Moyes has taken some responsibility at long last!
He admitted that he had failed to come up with right formula for the Bournemouth game ..which I suppose is one way of putting it.
He added the team played poorly and looked leggy but for once in his life managed to take some responsibility so wonders will never cease.
Having gifted them the first goal via a combination of Zouma and Phillips errors, we got an equaliser via a piece of magic from Mo Kudus.
But even he was told by the manager that he had taken a bit of time for him to find his level which was entirely unnecessary.
Having fallen behind to Dominic Solanke’s goal within three minutes and, with players absent, returning from international duty and Kalvin Phillips making his debut, we never found any real rhythm.
So to point out that Kudus wasn’t on his game for a while seems a bit desperate – it was his run which brought the penalty and he was the only player to make a difference!
That’s Moyes for you though!
The Scot switched his attacking players around in search of a winning formula, but on the night he simply could not find one to get the better of an in-form Bournemouth.
Speaking at the post match presser he said: “We couldn’t come up with the right formula.”
“Let’s be fair, we gave them a leg up, right from the start. We gave them an opportunity to get a goal in front, which put us under a bit more pressure to show what we can do.
Look, we didn’t do that much. We had a couple of opportunities, but not great ones, our play wasn’t good. Our set-up wasn’t good and I take responsibility for that.
Even Mo coming back from the Africa Cup of Nations, it took a bit of time for him to find his level. He got us a penalty kick later on.
It just a few looked as if we’d had ten days without a game, which is something we’ve not had very often.”
THIS FROM A MAN WHO HAS BEEN CLAIMING WE HAVE NOT HAD ENOUGH REST BETWEEN GAMES!
I’ve got to say we looked a bit leggy and we didn’t play well enough, whether we had set up well or whether we hadn’t. The side still didn’t play individually as well as it should have done.
People will see what my words were [when I said] Kalvin might be okay, he might not be.
He’s not probably as sharp and will need a little bit to get going again. Let’s be fair, we could have helped him a lot more tonight – the players who have been here and doing a job because we just put ourselves under so much pressure right from the start, and didn’t play well enough with what we had after that.
I was thrilled with a draw in the end.
Obviously I was hoping we could nick a winner at the end, but the game became a bit of a basketball game, which I didn’t like, because our structure didn’t look strong enough. That’s something we’re normally good at.
We allowed them quite a few counter attacks and we gave the ball away quite cheaply in so many different areas tonight, which was costly.
It’s really important we try to get back to where we were.
We sort of broke up when we were in good form, a good mindset and in a great position. Whether it would be the Africa Cup of Nations, a few injuries we’ve picked up, the transfer window, all those things. They’ve meant that January has been a bit disrupted.
We got knocked out of the FA Cup after a replay too, which was all to do with us not winning here.
We’re just not quite looking like we’re scoring the goals we have been. Defensively, I don’t think we’ve done awfully well, but we’re not conceding lots at the moment.
We just don’t look as if we’re really scoring at the moment, so that’s a bit of a concern to me.eaking at the post match presser
We must not let the euphoria of winning a competition cloud the problems with our club.
Last night we started with no idea, and continued with no idea for a large part of the match. Never before have so many strangers – supporters shared their displeasure with me. In the seats near me, in the loo, in the concourse while waiting for friends to go home. On the train platforms, on the trains, on the bus.
Our manager played Soucek – a player best at arriving late into the opponents penalty area – at Centre Forward. More surprisingly, Kudus – a whippet of a player – breaking from the half way line to speed past the last defender in Midfield.
I left the Everton game with 20 minutes left – I was not watching a football team. Bristol City at home we take the lead then play ‘attack versus defence ‘ for the rest of the game. Sheffield United – did anyone actually ‘enjoy’ that **** ?
Every time our team walk onto the pitch, their body language shows they are already defeated. Is our manager so anxious his demeanour has already killed any belief in his players ? I feel if we play ‘ attack v defence at Old Trafford on Sunday the score will be humiliating.