ToffeeWeb - Season 2007-08

The Mail Bag

Do we really have the players?

Do we really have the playerswe need? We do not have yet the midfield to compete with the best! We need to get hold of decent midfielders. Who in our current team are on the shopping list of any succesful club? Not even Arteta. We had Atletico Madrid interested in him and they are hardly close to the pinnacle of footballing glory. Who of our midfielders can expect a place in Arsenal, Liverpool, Man U, Barca, Real, Inter, AC etc. Until we have a creative midfield, one that is not dependant on Nev or Jags, maybe then Moyes can play the attractive football we all crave. Tommy G is a step in the right direction but I am not convinced he is the answer to our prayers.

Yakubu? £11M? A joke. If we had a halfway decent midfielder (Gerrard, Deco, Scholes, Lampard, you get the drift) Beattie would not have been a flop at Everton. Stop spending £11M on a striker like Yakubu and get a goddamn midfielder. BTW I think that Manny would have been too similar to Cahill who is a good attacking midfielder but hardly Scholes.

I think is the crux of the matter. We punched above our weight the last couple of seasons but we are going to come down hard this season.

Just for the record. I am 30 odd year old South African who has been at Goodison twice in my life (in the late 90's with Everton playing shite and losing). I have supported Everton since I can remember in a family who is mostly red (extended family of maybe 30 football supporters split between Man Utd and the other red club) and I always hope and dream of the DAY when we will challenge again but I'm also trying to be realistic.
Morne van der Merwe, Shanghai, China Posted 22/09/2007 at 13:25:51

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Michael Kenrick

Morne, we have the players that we have. The transfer window is CLOSED! We have half a season before any changes can happen, and even then we know from past experience, any changes will be minor; Moyes does not like the January window. Making the best use of the players we have now is what it should be all about.

To Miller
1 Posted 22/09/2007 at 15:57:25

Despite my recent rants I do still believe we have a few players who other teams and I mean top teams would have.

In our defence we have Yobo, Lescott and now Baines who will perform at the top level, in addition Howard has re captured his form that first attracted whiskey nose.

In midfield Arteta and Cahill are players that other top teams will want.

I am not saying that they would walk into the first team but when you look at the squads of these teams you have named they are as good if not better than many.

We are only threadbare when it comes to quality and it does not take much to set us back. If however we can have these 6 playing regularyt on form with the right tactics we will give most teams a run.

we may have others who will step up such as the 4 up front, however this will only happen if we play to their strengths rather than playing to the weakness of others i.e hoofball Neville,Hibbert etc.

We have not punched above our weight we have played as a team, individual players can make a difference however Chelsea of late have been playing poor quality football albeit they are scraping wins. They have so called superstars in their side.

In addition these teams you name have players such as Dacourt, Fletcher,Walcott they are not all world class.

Moyes needs to get the tactics sorted will he I hope so. I will not hold my breath on this but if it happens great.

MARTIN BERRY
2 Posted 22/09/2007 at 16:34:38

When tommy is not available for selection, it may well be the only solution to this midfield problem is to try Arteta back in the middle, there is a good arguement that playing him on the right allows him more space and creativity, however with a midfielder protector this could allow him his space to play his game. Thoughts for who could play on the right ? could McFadden be a whipper in of crosses, could Jags do a job there, is Pienaars right as good as his left ? You see the importance now of not signing Vogel, a massive mistake for our midfield whatever reason this did not happen, he does things that Carsley and Neville dont do, ie give the ball away, breaks up opposition play.Enough said on that as it goes into the realms of who Moyes can sign in January. Personally i think Tommy and Mikki will play some great stuff off one another when both are in the team

Ben Jones
3 Posted 22/09/2007 at 19:06:44

that’s a bit harsh.. isnt it? Yakubu a joke for his price when he’s only played 3 games. I might disagree with ya.. because we do have Gravesen! He’s only played half an hour.. and ure already saying we need another midfielder. And what about Cahill? We’ll be fine once Arteta and Grav is back.. and then Cahill will be like a new signing.

John Andrews
4 Posted 23/09/2007 at 01:18:39

Ben, the reason Yakubu looks so bad is because we are whacking the ball upfield at every opportunity and at varying heights and speeds. Neither Johnson nor Yakubu are going to hold the ball up whilst they have six foot something centre backs breathing down their necks !
The ball they both require should be played ON THE GROUND !! And preferably not aimed at the corner flag.
Without Arteta we lose all guile and skill and resort to hoofing the ball upfield in the vain hope that one of our strikers will manage to get it. This is not the way to play football but it seems to be the way we play it.
The buck stops with the manager and if that is what he is telling them to do then he should take a long hard look at himself and, hopefully realise that he is destroying any chance we have of success this, or any, season.