Atsu fit again but heading to AFCoN

, 2 January, 38comments  |  Jump to most recent
Christian Atsu marked his recovery from a hamstring injury by being named on the substitute's bench for the match at Hull yesterday and should be fit for Ghana this month.

The 22 year-old was an un-used sub by Roberto Martinez but he will be hoping for game time with his country in the Africa Cup of Nations now that he is fit again.

Atsu strained his hamstring early in the home game against FK Krasnodar last month, an occasion he was hoping to use to press his first-team claims at Goodison Park.

He has asked for more time to regain full fitness and therefore won't travel to Accra to link up with his compatriots but will join them in Spain instead where they will be based until 15th January before flying to host nation Equatorial Guinea.  



Reader Comments (38)

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Steve Chesters
1 Posted 02/01/2015 at 07:42:19
What a great piece of business that was ...... Well done Roberto.
Colin Glassar
2 Posted 02/01/2015 at 08:05:14
Well done Jose more like it.
Dick Fearon
3 Posted 02/01/2015 at 08:07:03
Management of this club has entered the realms of farce.
Sean Kelly
4 Posted 02/01/2015 at 08:53:06
This deal is a joke. How come he can recover from a hammy so quickly and our permanents like Mirallas and Macca can’t?
Helen Mallon
5 Posted 02/01/2015 at 09:15:54
JOKE
Jim Bennings
6 Posted 02/01/2015 at 09:19:40
And the point of this to Everton is???

Kevin Gillen
7 Posted 02/01/2015 at 09:25:55
Terrible news I can feel the impact on the productivity of the whole club from here.
Jim Bennings
8 Posted 02/01/2015 at 09:40:01
When you look back in hindsight and you think that during the summer we lost Deulofeu who was a very good cameo player from the bench, we spent over 30 million pounds but the best we can do for wide players is Christian Atsu and Aidan "bloody " McGeady.

The fact we spent so much money and this season we have been playing Barkley or Naismith again on the flanks is desperately disappointing.

We could have tried to sign a one proven wide player in the Premier League with that cash but instead we get Atsu, a lad who has never played for Chelsea in the league for obvious reason's and McGeady who's level should be back in Scotland with Celtic.

Mat Smith
9 Posted 02/01/2015 at 10:27:07
Makes me laugh that people are having a go at Martinez because Atsu has falied here. Yeah I agree his loan should be terminated and he should be sent back, but before we signed him people posted all over ToffeeWeb saying we should sign him and what a great signing he would be, we got him and people were really happy.

Now Atsu is proving he is not ready for the prem it's all Martinez's fault and he's rubbish in the transfer market.

Andrew Hawes
10 Posted 02/01/2015 at 09:39:05
For a club on a limited budget we are paying out some wages for dead wood... Traore at the end of last season played maybe half a game yet we paid his wages for months??
Jim Bennings
11 Posted 02/01/2015 at 10:52:39
Mat

I don't really know who or why people thought Atsu was going to be a great signing at the time.

Maybe we could see the appeal of a so-called pacy wide player on loan and there was a big spread in the Echo about him being a far mire complete player than Deulofeu, but let's be brutally honest, Atsu has not had anywhere neat the impact than Deulofeu had.

Atsu we have seem is not up to the Premier League level, at his age he's hardly likely to be any better now either, he will go to a league more suited to his strength.

I said at the time we could have attempted to get Routledge, Nathan Dyer or Bolasie.

Each of which all more than useful players, each of which nay all have their flaws but they are all better options than we have had out wide this season.

We won't get Bolasie now but I'd like to think one of the others would still be attainable.

Steavey Buckley
12 Posted 02/01/2015 at 11:18:50
Everton went backwards with the signing of Atsu, who is not the Deulofeu that Everton really need. To pay Atsu wages to sit on the bench all matches is an insult to other Everton young players who can't make the bench.
Ray Roche
13 Posted 02/01/2015 at 11:28:50
Correct, Steavey, the impact that deal must have had on our younger players is more than the impact Atsu has had on the pitch.
Getting shafted by Mourhino over Lukaku was bad enough but Atsu? Christ on a bike....
Ian Jones
14 Posted 02/01/2015 at 11:32:08
Isn't Atsu supposed to favour the left wing as he is a left footer. I am one of those who thinks good players should be comfortable using both feet so can play anywhere up to a point but it would still be great to see Atsu play on the left wing or close to it before passing judgement on his ability.

Having said that there is no point taking a player on loan if you are not going to use them. Its a waste of a loan. Last year we had Barry and Lukaku and they were used all the time when available. Deulofeu not so much but had a promising run of games before getting injured. He was a bit infuriating at times but showed promise with some of his crosses . Pity no one on the end of them!

Ian Burns
15 Posted 02/01/2015 at 11:41:04
Traore; Atsu; McGeady; Alcaraz; Robles; Wigan back room staff - I want to weep.
Jim Bennings
16 Posted 02/01/2015 at 11:51:31
Ian

You could even add the insane pursuit of David Henen to that list (remember him guys!) doesn't matter if you don't because we signed a the lad on loan for a year just to play reserve football before he leaves again for Olympiakos.

You could even add the incredible THREE YEAR DEAL that we handed out to Barry coupled with the fee we paid to take him, that despite just paying 4 million pound weeks earlier for a defensive midfielder named Muhammed Besic..

Ian Burns
17 Posted 02/01/2015 at 12:02:46
Jim, yes I could have gone on and on - you are right.

However, right now the only name I want to see is a replacement manager!

60 years supporting EFC through good and bad and at times the bad has been pretty horrendous but we have always pulled through! However, this time it has a sense of the inevitable about it and I am constantly on TW trying to rid myself of the frustration!

Jim Bennings
18 Posted 02/01/2015 at 12:31:26
Who would you like to see come in if you had the choice Ian?

I think if Martinez leaves I'd like to see either someone who has really made a name for himself abroad in a top league or somebody who is used to the Premier League and what's required in English football.

I'd love Jurgen Klopp but we can forget that, I believe he's Wenger's ready made replacement in the summer.

I often wonder in hindsight hoe that Ralf Rangnick would have fared with his "autobahn football" apparently he blew Kenwright away, although I doubt it takes much to do that.

Or Victor Pereira? The bloke we spoke to at Porto.

Of course it's all hindsight, and Martinez is still here but I suppose things must change if we don't improve, the question is, if we do go down or finish 16th this season what do we do then?

We won't be much of a attractive proposition to many top managers then, we'd be looking at the likes of Mark Hughes, although to be fair he knows the British game.

We surely couldn't stick with the same managerial staff and group of players though that's for sure.

Kieran Kinsella
19 Posted 02/01/2015 at 12:55:42
Why have him on the bench yesterday when he's gone next week anyway? What happened to Garbutt? Was it something he said?
Jim Bennings
20 Posted 02/01/2015 at 13:39:21
Too many questions without answers Kieran I'm afraid.

Who knows what happened to Garbutt yesterday, who knows why Martinez opted for Barry at centre half rather than give Browning a go. Was Browning injured?

It was all the more baffling with McCarthy being out because Martinez has continually told us of Gareth Barry's steadying influence in holding midfield (not anymore for me but then I'm not our manager)

To put Barry in the centre of defence next to Jags and Alcaraz was insane, not one of them has a turn of foot and can run hardly these days, Jaguar fared the best of a bad sorry bunch that Hernandez and Jelavic totally ran ragged.

Jim Bennings
21 Posted 02/01/2015 at 13:46:42
Jaguar by the way lads is not some fantastic new signing with blistering pace – just a nickname for our old Jagielka.
Ian Burns
22 Posted 02/01/2015 at 15:13:37
Jim, who would I choose to replace RM?

RM is learning his trade at EFC - so in that respect I am in full agreement that we need somebody who has got the CV to go with this great club of ours.

However, I am so concerned about the state of play at this moment in time I would be happy with a Mark Hughes type of manager who can get rid of this playing about at the back inviting pressure onto a defence completely incapable of playing this type of football. Anybody who can recognise we are falling like a brick and the change is required without delay to a system which suits the players are our disposal.

Jim Bennings
23 Posted 02/01/2015 at 15:59:37
It's a hard one Ian

To be honest I just want to see Everton get back to what we used to be pretty good at, Sid foundation at the back and look something like a decent team going forward.

This season, it's not like Martinez has even turned us into a great attacking side, our attack is so pedestrian and slow, we can't even say we are conceding goals but winning the odd game 4-2 to get us out of jail.
Our attack has been almost as tepid as our defending.

I want to see a manager that will see what's available at his disposal and start getting the best out of this bunch, get them playing with gusto, with tempo and finally but most importantly a bit of bloody passion.

Mark Hughes, Tony Pulis, Jurgen Klopp, bandy as many names as we want but as a fan I just want to see a Everton team showing the same hunger and desire that I have seen from the likes of Burnley lately, that's a start.

Jim Bennings
24 Posted 02/01/2015 at 16:10:05
#solid foundations at the back sorry for typo.
Ian Burns
25 Posted 02/01/2015 at 17:03:35
Well said, Jim.
James Marshall
26 Posted 02/01/2015 at 17:14:43
When are people going to realise that "this great club of ours" that they talk about, is actually not that great any more? Nobody in football today remembers the great teams of the past when they think of Everton – jeez, most of today's players were still little kids the last time we won anything.

Nobody apart from Evertonians thinks about us in that vain any more so when you talk about managers like Klopp coming to Everton, that's pure fantasy.

Mark Hughes? Really? Mediocre at best.

Pulis just joined West Brom by the way.

We're stuck with the Spanish clown – BK won't sack him because he doesn't have the balls and he'll look like an idiot if he has to fire him – Bill has signed up for the Martinez mantra and that's that.

Ian Burns
27 Posted 02/01/2015 at 17:24:20
James, you may not think that "this great club of ours" is not so great any more but more than 60 years in the top division (soon to end I fear); 9 English titles; FA Cups; European trophy - yes it is all in the past and younger supporters won't remember, but it is our history and unfortunately the only thing we can boast during these days of thin return. But it doesn't make us any less a great club and one which would still attract top managers, if not THE top managers.

We just need to find one now, today - please!

Al Reddish
29 Posted 02/01/2015 at 18:05:37
Some of these signings are ludicrous. Look at Traore last season, injured after a few minutes football (probably unfit to start with), and decide to keep him in the hope he gets fit, when we had the option to send him back. Then when he does get fit at the end of the season, we never played him. How much did that cost us? Then the Atsu loan which looks like going the same way. In the meantime, we sign Barry on an incredible 3 year deal for £75k a week and he is already 73 years old. Bobby's transfer dealings have so far been terrible. One success...McCarthy, one decent player...Besic, and a bucket load of shit who would even fail to grace our poor 90's sides...McGeady, Robles, Alcaraz Atsu etc.
Peter Murray
30 Posted 02/01/2015 at 21:55:37
Jim Bennings #8 — "...we lost Delofeu." No, we didn’t. He had made such progress with us that Barça called the loan deal in. Now he has regressed.

Jim Bennings #18 — Klopp? Rangnick? Pereira?Mark Hughes??? How about Hickey the Firebobby?

Danny Broderick
31 Posted 02/01/2015 at 22:28:19
I don't want rid of the manager yet. I want to give him a chance to sort it, in the hope that a new signing in January can kick start something, a bit like Andy Gray, Big Dunc, Kevin Campbell or Landon Donovan did.

But if things don't improve by, say, March, Martin O'Neill is the man...

Mark Wilson
32 Posted 02/01/2015 at 22:25:28
I'd forgotten just how bad things are then I read this thread and remembered. Cheers ! But whilst I'm here.....how can anyone defend the Atsu loan deal ? He cost Chelsea decent money didn't he ? Arrived here with a decent rep for pace and crossing ability didnt he ? But as ever it's taken half a season for Roberto to even hint at using him and then he's injured, recovers, and politely asks to be allowed to carry on getting fit at our expense so he can bugger off as planned from day1 to the ACN on 15th Jan. If he's good enough he should have been good enough from the get go. Instead, like the Barca boy but nowhere near as good he's being schooled at our expense so Chelsea can recover some money when they sell him. The crazy thing is that he may well have bloody surprised us and actually been half decent, able run and cross or....incredibly....take a corner that beats the first man.

But....no....Roberto wants to take his time even tho we have been playing like dead men walking all season, with no spark, no guile, not an ounce of real creativity. What is the point of loan deals when your "unsure" that the guy can make a difference? Deulofeu did show something even if it was only in flashes but he got a chance earlier and yes he was injured as well but truth is he had impact from the bench. Traore was another nonsense....we loaned him when he was clearly injured and it had to be a massive gamble in the Jan window. Martinez isn't getting it all wrong, McCarthy is worth every penny of 13m when fit but even that deal is starting to look dodgy given the serious injury problem the lad obviously has.....

It's a mess but sadly it is just a reflection on a preseason gone horribly wrong and a transfer strategy dominated by spending £28m on one guy when whatever the merits of that deal we were a club with a squad desperately in need of three quality players for that £28m. We needed depth and have paid the price for RL's arrival ever since.

Phil Sammon
33 Posted 02/01/2015 at 23:06:23
Please, fellow Evertonians, can we not throw Mark Hughes' name into this melting pot. A roaring failure as a manager and probably the most arrogant man in football. Not befitting of our great club...not by a long shot.
Sean Kelly
34 Posted 02/01/2015 at 23:33:17
Martinez has brought some right turds to our club: Alcaraz, Traore, Atsu, McGeady and fucking Robles. That alone is a sackable offence. No wonder we are shite.

Time to act Billy for the club not your fucking ego. Also the money spent on Lukaku £28m for a striker (joke) that can’t trap a ball and his second touch is a tackle. We are being taken for mugs folks enough is enough.

Jim Bennings
35 Posted 03/01/2015 at 01:07:06
Peter

Who should our next manager be then mate?

If you read my mail thoroughly it was Kenwright who interviewed Rangnick, I'd never even heard of the fella.

Andy Meighan
37 Posted 03/01/2015 at 09:30:04
Mat (#9) – I can’t remember people all over here saying we should sign Atsu. Most of us knew nothing about him. It’s a gamble that’s failed miserably and Martinez is to blame for that.
Liam Reilly
38 Posted 03/01/2015 at 19:26:40
Christ;
Who'd be in the trenches with you lot. So RM's made some mistakes; but for fuck sake; give him until the seasons end.

This is the same guy who achieved our highest points total ever in the Premier league and I'd be happy to stake anyone that we won't be relegated.

Mike Hughes
39 Posted 03/01/2015 at 19:37:54
Liam

Being confident we won’t get relegated - you’ve lowered your expectations I take it?

The point is would you be happy to stake anyone that we’ll make Europe via the league? They were the expectations for this season and the previous 10.

That’s the issue.

Regarding the trench analogy, EFC are cannon fodder at the moment don’t you think?

Ian Riley
40 Posted 04/01/2015 at 17:12:29
What was the point?

The money wasted is out of order! The most worrying aspect is the team lacks pace and width with awful performances and still never got chance! The chairman must be a little worried whether to give the manager money. Does he understand the financial situation at the club. If Barkley is sold for £40 million plus, can we trust the manager with it?

I thought the manager might sign a few gems from Europe on the cheap, how wrong I was. Started to think he manages our club like I play Championship Manager!


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