The Mail Bag
Is Mikey's return the end of Jack Rodwell?
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So we are all excited with the prospect of our returning Spaniard, and hopefully he will back into the middle. Playing a 4-5-1 to incorporate him into the team is the best option for me, purely based on the fact that we do not have two strikers who are playing well. So for me it is:
Pienaar Mikey Felli Bily
Cahill
Even if we have the luxury of two decent strikers, the only difference will be is that Cahill gets dropped. So back to the title, where does this leave Jack Rodwell for the next few crucial years of his development? Or will Mikey go on the right, with Bily getting dropped and Pienaar reverting to the left?
With Osman also coming back to fitness, it is an interesting dilemma, but unfortunate for the one who will be left out in the cold...
Dan Brierley, Posted 21/01/2010 at 14:53:45
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We play 4-5-1 95% of the time anyway so we would not play that way to accommodate him.
Rodwell is a totally different player to Arteta who in time may revert to centre back as Moyes has likened him to Ferdinand. Players get injured and lose form as we well know and Rodwell will get his fair share of games.
You also forgot Donovan who will start on the right side as long as he is here. Osman and Bily will not get selected ahead of a fit Arteta.
We’ve still a hell of a lot of games to come this season so I’m sure Rodwell will get his share of games.
I also doubt Arteta will be playing too many full games for a while.
It will be interesting to see if Rodwell can contribute to the high-octane pressing game that Everton have been employing to such effect recently. I tend to see him as a player who rarely loses the ball and defends well. But I don’t see him as that explosive or quick-paced. Am I missing something?
Do you think they complain about this? Hell no, it just means that they have options, that when one is not performing or injured or tired that they can bring another in.
Rodwell is still only a kid anyway and I don’t think he is ready yet. I would just play him in the cups like Wenger does with the kids at Arsenal.
At least that's what I hope will happen.
I have another Evertonian pal who lives in Toulouse. Do you follow Stade Toulousaine at all? I’m also a Harlequins fan and was there for a cracker against Toulouse last year. I take my 6-year-old son to Quins. the difference in atmosphere, welcome and enjoyment for kids compared to the vitriol and bile of a big footy game is incredible. He’s an Evertonian, but may not get to Goodison until he’s 8 or 9.
Lyndon got the thread off to a bad start in his use of the term ’rotation’. This came into the game with the billionaires bank-rolling huge squads of expensive players who, highly paid as they might be for doing nothing, expected to play every week. Fatso across the park thought this perversion of total football - anyone can play anytime - would work. Shite theory, even worse in practice.
So we have what we need - a squad. It includes Jack Rodwell, a talented young man with experience beyond his years. He’s sat on the bench before, he’ll have to do it again. And his chance, and his time, will come.
If Fellaini stays fit then Rodwell will see his performances limited thus meaning he is not in the shop window and will keep learning with Everton.
DM said he wanted to play Jack about 20 games this season. I am pretty sure he managed that before his injury thus showing (especially in his later games where he struggled) that he was going beyond expectation.
The lad needed a rest and will now get a prolonged one which will set him up for next season nicely. He won’t be picked for the World Cup like some predicted so all is good as he might have been snapped up a la Rooney 2004.
Rodwell’s injury was a blessing in disguise because it sent him under the radar and allowed Fellaini to do his stuff.
I doubt they’ll all be 100% at any given time anyway so being able to rest players carrying knocks will be a blessing and hopefully, of itself, will ease the injury nightmare in that nobody will be forced to play with a minor injury and aggravate it to a major one eg Distin against Athens.
Roll on the days of difficult selection decisions I say.
If they all stay fit we could be great to watch for the last couple of months of the season, especialy if we still have a cup to chase after.
I see where you’re coming from, Keith, but I wasn’t advocating "rotation" in that sense.
Apart from the obvious injury/suspension issues which I mentioned, fit players shouldn’t be playing every League and Cup game in a season so there will be times when Moyes will move players in and out of the team to rest them.
Case in point: Moyes himself said that Rodwell played too many games in the first part of the season.
Besides, any toffeewebber worthy of the name should gratefully accept a free shot at the Ed Team whenever it presents itself, don’t you think?
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1 Posted 21/01/2010 at 20:38:04
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Players get injured, suspended, and tired, so I’m sure Rodwell will get plenty of opportunities.