Column Yakubu Paul Houghton 05/10/2007 4comments | Jump to last There have been a number of articles on here recently talking about ?how poor Yakubu is? and ?what a waste of money? and ?Lazy this?, ?Lazy that? so I thought I?d add my thoughts. I?ll start by asking hands up any of you who are surprised that Yakubu doesn?t run about a lot like AJ? I would hope that there are no hands up at the moment, if there are I have to ask what planet have you been living on these last four years? I?ll admit that he does actually appear slower and lazier than I had envisaged but it hasn?t surprised me one bit. I?ll now ask you why did we buy him? I hope the answer coming back from most of you is ?to score goals because that?s what he has done at the two teams he previously played for in the Premier league also at a rate only second to someone who was considered as one of if not the best player in the world in Thierry Henry?. I?ll now ask my final question how did you think he was going to score his goals, I would hope again that most of you have answered ?like he used to at his previous two clubs?. After all that what I?m really trying to say is that no one should be surprised by his laziness and his overall workrate for the team because he was never going to be another AJ, and what does worry me more than anything else about this is not Yakubu?s ability but its why Moyes bought him (a proven goalscorer at Premier League level) and decided he wanted to change the way he plays by making him run around a lot (which I don?t think you could do no matter how hard you try or how many times you drop him for not running around), and by feeding him absolutely nothing which resembles the type of balls he feeds off i.e. all he appears to be getting on the way of service at the moment are balls which are going to give him a bad neck with all that looking in the air waiting for the ball to come back down. Even with that service he has scored 2 in 6. Only my thoughts and opinions on the Yakubu signing, some of you will obviously disagree, which is fair enough, but I would hope that he is given a little more leeway than he is at the moment especially when you consider AJ?s inability to put the ball in the net in recent months (yes its actually around 6 months since his last goal against Arsenal) and the lack of criticism he is getting. By the way I am not having a go at AJ either as I firmly believe that he is also suffering the same fate as Yakubu with a complete lack of service. My final comment is pointed at David Moyes please stop trying to change two proven goalscorers into players they are not just put them both up front and get the midfield to start giving them the service their talents deserve (Easier said than done I know), but at least try! Reader Comments Note: the following content is not moderated or vetted by the site owners at the time of submission. Comments are the responsibility of the poster. Disclaimer Adrian Williams 1 Posted 06/10/2007 at 10:29:21 Report abuse Spot on. Johnson and the yak need playing through with the ball on the ground,not just booted straight at them with their backs to goal. How many times has AJ had to get the ball from the corner flag ? Moyes’s tactics can kill a strikers career stone dead, just ask James Beattie johnny voodoo 2 Posted 06/10/2007 at 19:41:01 Report abuse i agree totally. give the yak chances and he will produce. AJ has suffered this year from having to do too much work down channels. we should have the midfield driving forward and wingers doing that work down the channels. Instead of just puting long balls out wide and expecting our strikers to put the crosses in. No wonder our topscorer is a defender Dawson Boyle 3 Posted 06/10/2007 at 20:43:09 Report abuse It was madness to buy Yakubu before we secured the central playmaker we needed. We could have spent the money on increasing the bid for Lucho, as an example.With an over reliance on Arteta and with Stubbs, Neville, Hibbert et al punting it into ’space’ at any given oportunity, Yakubu was never going to work out. We need hardworking strikers, who can chase the faint hopes (AJ, Vic) or creative forwards who come deep and create (Vaughan, Faddy) Yakubu is neither of these things. I’m not doubting his ability as a goalscorer. It’s just, if he doesn’t try harder, and he never will, he’ll never even see the ball.A stupid, desperate signing. John Mangan 4 Posted 06/10/2007 at 22:35:13 Report abuse The problem, as already mentioned by Paul is not Yakubu, but the tactics we play under Moyes, and the subsequent lack of service to the strikers. Watching the Metalist game on thursday, numerous Evertonians labelled Yakubu a ’fat lazy bastard’ simply because he doesn’t give the same work rate as Johnson, when he simply isn’t the same player. We need to play to Yakubu’s strengths, (and Johnson’s too) and hopefully with the return of Cahill and Gravesen, along with the input of Mikel Arteta, a more creative approach is on the cards, so long as Moyes doesn’t persist playing with high work rate, and little skill. © ToffeeWeb