I just read a very interesting article by Jen Chang at SI.com regarding the use of analytics to prepare for matches. Everton's extensive use of analytics might not be news to some fans of the Blues, but I had no idea how vital it was to Moyes' game strategy planning.

We have seen many times across many sports that the effective use of analytics can give one team an advantage over its opponent by being better prepared to anticipate their strategies and tactics, most famously in baseball with Bill James' Sabermetrics. I'm wondering, though, if this isn't a contributory part of the reason the Toffees have typically started so slowly and then come on strong at the end of the season under Moyes.

Certainly, there is a limited set of data from which to draw early in the season, which could theoretically give a less accurate prediction of teams' tendencies (especially since rosters tend to change significantly in the offseason), leading to the use of less effective tactics in a match environment. Conversely, as the season marches on, the sample size grows ever larger, which would presumably provide a much more accurate prediction of a given team's tendencies.

I'm not faulting Moyes or Everton for using analytics at all... quite the opposite, in fact. If this is his secret behind "doing more with less," I think it's a magnificent use of technology to get more out of the game, and I'd love to know if more players besides just Landon Donovan and Tim Howard have been extensively using the information available to their advantage. Now, if we could just figure out how to make it through the first 10 or 15 weeks of lean data... then we'd really be on to something!

We first looked back at the Fulham victory against Wigan last Saturday. We were then joined by Zach Woosley who is a writer for SBNation.com soccer. Finally, we did our preview of match on Saturday for Fulham against Everton at Goodison Park. Co-hosting with me was Lorcan O'Connor and Chris Gilbertson of Hammyend.com. Please do take a listen to the latest edition of Cottage Talk.

I live in the northern suburbs of Dallas, so I've had a great opportunity to watch the Everton U-19 team compete in this weeks' Dallas Cup, arguably the most prestigious youth football tournament in the word.

The Everton squad features Ross Barkley, who has of course already played several games at the EPL level this year. On several occasions watching Barkley this week, I marveled at the skills of one who truly seemed to be a man amongst boys.

I can't really provide too much of an in-depth analysis of the players I saw this week, as I'm just a silly Yank and since I had my two-year-old with me one game (which meant my eyes were just as frequently on him as the game) and, as evidenced below, I had my camera with me for the other, as, being a professional photographer, I wanted to take advantage of the incredible access -- the same as one would have at any youth soccer game -- to these amazing athletes.

I have a gallery of some of my favorite images from today's (Wednesday's) game, in which Everton defeated Club Bolivar (of Bolivia) 6-0. Unfortunately, it appears as though I can't insert images directly into a FanPost, so I'll link directly to a few in particular below to share with my fellow RBM readers.

Ross Barkley battles the Bolivian keeper.

Hallam Hope prepares to pass to Barkley, who scores.

Hope, again.

Conor Grant takes a corner.

Anton Forrester (also very impressive today) battles for the ball.

And, finally, an unhappy Barkley reacts to being fouled.

Enjoy!

(And as a nice PS, it appears that Everton FC will be using some of my photos on its website!)

As if the majority didnt know it already, the 'statement' from the Blue Union on the 9th March finally confirmed they are a complete non entity amongst the majority of Evertonians.

At no stage during their mouthing off have they claimed that the protests had anything to do with on field activity yet we find ourselves looking at a statement which quite clearly is the opposite of that. To now claim they are not protesting against Spurs because the team is now playing well smacks of hypocrisy amongst the deluded ranks of the Blue Union and suggests they were indeed trying to ride on the back of a typical disappointing start from the team. 6 months on from when they have started they have gained little support, even relocating from a prominent city centre pub for the meetings to a back street dockers pub, this hardly smack on a continued confidence in their ability to gain support.

From the ill fated 'taped' meeting to the ludricous clown with a cake in their 1st protest, the Blue Union have showed time and again they are incompetent in gaining any support or to make a significant impact against the board. What little support they did have will truly disappear after they have showed a total lack of backbone with this decision, knowing full well their numbers are dwindling to the deluded few idiots who think its professional to shout through a gate at the chairmen. Time to go lads, its been fun watching the train wreck that is the Blue Union but like all comedy you got to know when it gets beyond a joke, THE TIME IS NOW!

Disclaimer: this could be a very subjective post

Seeing some people complaining about the work of David Moyes has not been pleasant and has made me want to put up a post dedicated to how this team is only what it is due to his efforts. What irks me most is how people seem to complain that our team's lack of goals stems from how he plays a 4-5-1 formation instead of a 4-4-2(mainly seen in comments on the everton fb page). Well, a 4-4-2 with an extra striker does not guarantee more goals and i think everton is more fluid when playing the 4-5-1(except for the last match against man city where we mainly just cleared high balls away and an extra striker might have helped collected those). Moreover, the 4-5-1 formation we play involves both the central midfielders(now Fellaini and Gibson) advancing forward, which can arguably be said to be better than a 4-4-2 where there could be 2 defensive midfielders left behind. The only gripe i can have of our tactics is that there is a lack of initiative on counter attacks, when the players are content to slowly work the ball up. Credit to Moyes for everything else.

Another point in Moyes favour is his record in players. Players he identified and developed like Baines, Lescott and arguably Arteta have contributed a lot(both to our finances and results). He also has a great track record in recruiting players, namely Distin, Howard and Jagielka. The recruitment of Distin has been particularly rewarding in my opinion. Bilyaletdinov might be one exception though and i haven't been particularly convinced by Gibson despite his goal. And for strikers. Beckford seemed to be a good buy(at least i liked him) and we'll see about Jelavic.The biggest value i think Moyes gives us though, is his ability to get through to the players. Just look at the team spirit he forged in the team. Or look at Fellaini(whom i really think is appreciated for his heading but his tackling is even more awesome). Last season he was basically a liability despite his obvious abilities, with him being liable to attack other players any time and get sent off. Obviously Moyes got through to him, and he has not been so tempermental(look at him not beating up Dzeko yesterday despite lookng like me really want to).

So, to all those who's saying Moyes has taken us the furthest we can go, we need him and he's as good as any other manager and we'll be able to move up only with him.

If you go one the various Everton forums, there is one topic of conversation which dominates the discussion nowadays and it’s not which player we are signing (we don’t make that many of them anyway!). It’s unfortunately what I would describe as that little bit of shit on your shoe you just can’t get rid of no matter how hard you scrub, yes ladies and gentleman we are talking about everyone’s super supporters group the Blue Union.

Now from the off let me say, I and the majority of blues know we need change, we know Bill just doesn’t have the finances to compete nowadays and we know he needs to sell, Bill knows this as well but apparently this isn’t good enough for a bunch of blues who have took it upon themselves to pretend they know better than a guy who has built up a small fortune in a highly competitive business. A question, how many shares do the BU leaders own between them? A pertinent question given the guy they think is incompetent has managed to somehow through his incompetence and mismanagement acquired 25% of the clubs shares. Not bad for an alleged idiot if you ask me!

So what exactly are we supporting if we join the band of merry men that is Blue Union, free cake is the obvious and goes without saying. The chance to go to various bars around the city centre and sit cramped with a bunch of sweaty men, you may even get the chance to listen to a guy who compares Everton to Spurs, a London based, billionaire owned club with 120 boxes compared to our 6. Not what I would call a fair comparison but eh it keeps him off the street while his mate runs Blue Union.

So what have the BU brought to the table? Answer nothing. They have ruined what little communication fans had when they shit on the club through taping a conversation with Mr Kenwright then have the cheek and stupidity to say the club don’t talk to them. They are so professional they organised a private meeting at the clubs Park End parking lot and asked the Chairman some great questions like “How much you selling for Bill?”, do you mean to tell me he hasn’t told a bunch of scallies shouting through a gate how much the club is going for? What is the business world coming to when we can’t conduct private company information through a steel fence…shocking!

Which brings me on to my final point, apparently if you don’t kiss their arse and think everything BU does then you get subjected to a level of abuse normally only reserved for that lot across the park, as far as am concerned were all Everton fans, and this type of abuse will never win them support. The Blue Union have brought nothing positive to the table and never will, mainly due to being run by a bunch of wannabee media whores and 2nd because they have attracted little support from the match going Everton fans who don’t want to hear an amateur clueless organisation pipe up every time the club release an official statement.

Blue Union either bring something positive to the table or crawl back under the rock you emerged from, either way you’re getting tiresome.

(A troubled Blue)

If you wish to see some good football, a player with close dribbling skills, the ability to turn quickly, and also a great header of the ball, have a gander at Kipper Mac. He lives in Cleveland Ohio and has been training for fouryears. I come home as often as possible to catch a couple of games; however, the transport costs kill me!

Kipper Mac the Dog Playing Football

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SBrtaM_6Txo

Adrian Heath, who contributed to the great Everton teams of the mid-1980s, talked to Everton TV in a video released yesterday. He reminisced a bit about the Boys of '85 and touring the newer facilities, talked about Landon Donovan's return, but ended up saying a mouthful about the team he is currently managing, U.S. third-tier club Orlando City.

He said the team's move from Austin to Orlando was necessary for the owner's ambition to own a team in Major League Soccer. The result in Orlando was the highest attendance for a minor-league soccer team in the U.S. Orlando is receiving a meeting from MLS officials in late February (they are holding a classic at Walt Disney World around that time, too), and Adrian made it clear that Orlando City desires to be playing in MLS in 2014. This would most likely mean they want to be team #20.

This could certainly make 2012 an interesting year.

Reports in the Spanish media here and here - found by Everton forum Grand Old Team - are suggesting that Spanish side Atletico Madrid are keen on appointing David Moyes as their manager next season.

Spanish journalist Josep Pedrerol claims the club have contacted Moyes about the position, with current manager Gregorio Manzano under severe pressure following a stuttering start to the season.

The side are currently 10th in La Liga but fans and board alike showed their displeasure following a recent defeat to Espanyol, and Atletico sporting director Jose Luis Perez Caminero admits Manzano's position will be reviewed during the winter break.

What do we think of that? It is certainly a bit left-field to say the least, would Moyes want to manage in Spain? would Madrid want a manager like David Moyes? And what the heck are we going to do if he goes and there is no investment forthcoming???

This season is getting worse and worse!!

LA Galaxy striker Landon Donovan sent Everton fans into a minor frenzy on Thursday when he suggested - cyptically - that a move back to Merseyside could be on.

The US international striker, Tweeted "Once a Toffee, always a Toffee."

Now, this could mean that a move is not going ahead but that he remains fond of Everton. Or it could be that a second loan agreement could be on the cards - Evertonians across the world have got their fingers crossed that it is the latter!!

Donovan is something of a cult figure with Everton fans following his previous three-month spell with the club in early 2010 and his return would be a welcome boost given their struggles in front of goal so far this season.

We will keep you posted!!