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What is the problem?

Rodwell Is already a better player than Carsley barring experience. Just like when Rooney came on the scene, he was a million times better than Kevin Campbell. It's great youth are getting the chance.
Baines is going to get a run in the team this season and he's England's second choice left-back when playing to potential. This lad is a hell of a plyer if we get him playing his game. He's like a new signing.
We lost Andy Johnson who was useless anyway and was only good for us when we needed a player to consolidate us into a mid-table/top 6 team. That's why he's now at Fulham and no-one in the top half wanted him. Vaughan is back ? Vaughan is BETTER. If injury free, Vaughan will be our next Dunc, I can see it because he is Everton.
(An angry point...) Jagielka is the best centre-half at the club and I am disgusted that he has been thrown into a role that is no use to him or the team just because Lescott wants to play in the middle. I'm sorry, Moyes, you have to be strong you have to drop one of the centre halves or you play Jagielka and Lescott in central defence and put the more mobile, composed, agile and pacey Yobo in defensive mid.
It's not fair on Jagielka (our Cannavaro) to be dropped when he was our best centre-half last season. Lescott was at fault for 2 of the goals last week and should have been dropped for Jags..... not because I dont rate Lescott, but if Jagielka has had to sacrifice CD for Lescott and Lescott messes up, then what's going into Jags mind? Also ruining his England aspirations by looking like a crap player when he's arguably our best if playing CD. I feel for him as he would be the first name on my teamsheet in central defence. (Also if say Yobo/Lescott was on the bench, that immediately strengthens our bench, gives us fresh legs for all competitions and also prevents the risk of injury if all three play every week.)
Cahill coming back will be like another signing due to his injuries in the past seasons. Gravesen was good but I'd rather have Pienaar.
I'm not denying we're short on bodies to progress on all fronts but I do feel, barring injuries, we will be okay if we can make a few astute signings in January.
The below areas have been most talked about:
- I DON'T think we urgently need to buy a defensive midfielder (not a necessity as Rodwell is going to be a star and also Yobo can play there)
- We DON'T urgently need a striker (Yakubu, Vaughan, Anichebe, Cahill, Baxter)
- We DON'T need a creative midfielder.... why not? Because we have two creative central midfielders playing on the wings! These are Arteta and Pienaar/Osman.
We buy TWO wingers. I.e Lennon, Wright-Phillips, Joaquin, etc. Spend £20/30 million on 2 wingers that will get us 40 goals a season between them via goals themselves or assists. This is what we have been missing for as long as I remember being an Everton fan. Remember what Kanchelskis did for us and the difference he made? I think if we have two skillful/fast goal getting/creating wingers then we will be laughing.
The problems for us are on the wings, not centrally. I admit experience is key and we will be playing a lot of games, but let's not clog up or team with crap, let''s use this summer as turning point, or a new beginning where we get rid of the deadwood and freshen the place up.
I know 5 years ago we were relegation material and to call us that now is ridiculous. Look at our team and our youngsters and they are a lot better than you think. We have the best academy facilities in UK and I think a lot of fans don't have enough faith or belief in the team they support.
I'll watch Everton with a Youth team on the pitch; I've spent enough years watching a crap Everton team so I'm happy supporting the likes of Rodwell, Baxter, Vaughan and Anichebe, because these players are capable of turning into fantastic players ? unlike Branch, Cadamarteri, Jeffers etc.
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We need depth for midfield the most and then at other positions only in case of injuries. I like the players we have right now, they can be very exciting to watch. My only concern comes with the "what if so and so gets injured."
I?m keeping my fingers crossed for a couple of midfielders, wings would be nice (pity Manny F isn?t here, he added a nice dimension on the wing) and a more experienced defensive mid if possible, but who we have now will work with a bit of tweaking and such. Your idea of Yobo in dmid sounds very interesting... I really don?t like Jags there, it doesn?t seem the right fit, and he was so good for us last year. I thought Lescott played defensive-mid for us with Carsley last year, and was surprised to see jags there with Rodwell instead of Lescott.
It?s really nice to see people seeing what I see when I look at the players we have. This is going to be a nerve wracking season if we get any more injuries, but I believe we can make a really good run of things. It?s going to be that much sweeter this year if we get as far as we did last year with "less" players.
I’d love the youth to do well and I’ve no doubt some of them will but I see every match and we have struggled big time and over achieved in both games.
I will give 100% support to whoever steps up in an Everton shirt but will you and all the other apologists stop papering over the cracks (chasms!) in our plans to break into the big time FFS!!!
I hope we do well this season but it’ll be more by luck than judgement if we do and that’s not the way forward.
that was exactly my thought when I saw the breaking news.
That would leave Phil Neville free for midfield. God forbid.
Even if Jacobsen turned out to be a class right back and he does have some form, he played for Hamburg but was unlucky with injuries, I can’t see DM dropping his Captain....can you?
with this lack of insight I doubt they’ll be a future for you in football managment.
Get a grip eh fella !
Arteta, Pienaar, Cahill and Osman are all top quality at what they do, but need more support in the physical stature and presence when we play the likes of most decent prem teams. The likes of Paul Scharner would be a decent stop gap if we can’t get the quality of player we really need just now.
Top scorer in the qualifying stages.
How many important goals has he scored for us ? Obviously excluding the ONE he scored last season.
He has not won one penalty for us this season. I think we have only had ONE penalty this season.
Yes you certainly are talking about somebody else.
Since Rooney - the exception not the rule - too many people think a lads ready at 16-17, with very few exceptions, they’re not. how can they be ?
To say Rodwell is already better than Carsley is just unfair on the kid, he’s showing a great deal of promise, but Carsley had terrific positional sense, he was able to cut out danger in its early stages, that was a skill he developed over about 10 years .
Young Jacks been playing in the prem for 10 days, give the the lad a break
When saying Cahill would be like a new signig I almost gave up reading.
However, one area where I would agree with you is that DM should try and be more ruthless in choosing between Lescott, Jags and Joey more often, but moving them out of position is not the solution.
But sadly he has to. Because we haven?t bought anyone. And we already had too few senior players. And our kids havent enough experience to cope and wont for quite some time. And thats putting too much pressure on the senior players who are fit. And thats putting other top players off joining us. And that?s affecting morale....
....are you starting to see any of the problems yet?
you’re either on another planet or Kenwright’s press agent.
We cant even name a squad without a handful of teenagers in it.
I wish they were all budding Rooneys but they’re not.
I do agree however with your point on jags palying CB and Lescott NOT (playing CB).
I would put him at LB where he can go marauding up the pitch and weigh in with a few goals and I would pitch Baines in at LM while pienaar is out so we can make effective use of his crossing ability.
My main concern and that of many other blues is who were going to get to fill CM.
I wish we hadnt blown Manny out (again)and I hope this M’Bia comes although I dont see him being a long term solution with his attitude.
You don’t happen to be Everton’s club captain do you? If this is a serious attempt at football pragmatism I would suggest you keep clear of club management when you retire.
- Rodwell is a potentially good replacement for Carlsey
- Baines is like having a new player (maybe)
- Jags is out of position in midfield and shouldn?t be put there
- Cahill coming back is like getting a new player
- we could do with some width by signing a great winger or two
then I agree. However, we do need support in other areas - we can?t rely on Anichebe, Baxter or Vaughan (much as we?d like to think they are the future), and we need more creative options outside Osman, Cahill, Arteta and Pienaar.
Bottom line, everyone is pissed (including Moyesey) because we haven?t progressed by adding depth and quality. Maybe it's not a disaster (like the opening comment of the Match Preview for the West Brom game!), but we defo need new players in key areas.
Please, Moyesey, don?t play Neville in midfield.
Today's signing stinks of desperation and believe me by the weekend we are going to appear even more desperate. Prepare to be gobsmacked.
Back to Charlie?s original post, I?ve thought of an appropriate response but think it?s best left unsaid.
However, I do agree about a decent winger and I think James Vaughan will make a big impression if fit. It’s a big if at the moment though and the likes of Rodwell will not last a whole season without suffering burnout so we can’t expect too much of them.
Frankly, I think that most Evertonians would agree that this has been the worst close season ever. We may have had bad ones before, but not after coming 5th and looking so promising. It’s been a bloody disgrace and one year deals for injury prone B-list players don’t inspire much confidence.
If I was Moyes I’d insist that we pay the £19.7m for Moutinho’s buy out clause even if it meant no other cash transfers and all the others were loans and freebies. That one signing alone would actually put down a marke and show we mean business. If we have any more money then get M’Bia or Smith.
You said it yourself that barring injuries. we’d be okay with what we’ve got...well, we have started the new season with injuries to key players in Pienaar and Cahill not to mention Hibbo and VDM.
When I heard the ’Everton are about to make a signing’ last night, I was beside myself for a few minutes thinking that we had signed someone that I had at least heard of before.......
Apart from numbers we also need someone that will get the heart racing and restore some hope and pride for the faithful.
I have faith in DM but I’m struggling to see where we’re going this season.
As for Riera and MBia, I hope we don’t sign the kopite knob and the mercenary so and so. We want players that want to play for Everton don’t we?
Hmmmm, wonder what David Nugent is up to these days?
I believe the phrase is ’watch this space’........
Oh by the way is anyone else concerned that the arrival of a right back will signal the return of Phil "pip" neville to the centre of midfield? I hope for all our sakes this is NOT the case.
C O Y B
Id love to see SWP at our club, he?d probably chuck in about 6 / 7 goals a season, but its the supply we need!
While I agree that there is plenty of talent at the club and it is great to some promising youngsters coming through, I think you are getting a bit carried away mate. We absolutely need need a holding midfielder as our no. 1 priority. Jags or Yobo cannot play there and Rodwell is too young - it will take a few years for him to grow & develop into that role. In the games to date, it has been the centre of the park where most of the opposition penetration has started from.
Secondly, I believe that we do need a creative midfielder as a second priority. We need someone who can take the pressure of Arteta - most teams know that if they stop Arteta then our chances dry up. Similarly we need a creative option if Arteta is injured.
If you guys all recognise that a really good central midfielder is a must, then don?t you think the Manager does too. The proiblem is getting a really good player within our budget.
I read that people don?t want M?bIa now because he expressed the view that if Rennes paid him what Everton have intimated, he would rather stay with them.. Ffs so would I in his position. I bet most of these weird critics are people who would drop everything if their weekly wage could be increased by 10% should they be offered another job by another employer...
Whats going on here recently?? Have I just read someone comparing one of the modern great defenders, World Cup, Euro winner, Serie-a winner, Champions League winner with Phil Jagielka??
Can't believe we?re doing bad with Phil Cannavaro & Leon Maradona Osman in the team. Never mind Phil Cafu Neville!!!
No offence but I didn't read the rest after that as our opinions on football are obviously poles apart!!
Baines is a good attacking fullback and from what I have read about this new lad he is in the same mold. Any chance Moyes is considering 3 at the back with 2 wing backs? I think that it could work.
In Midfield Rodwell is promising, one for the future (but nothing more). I agree that a holding midfielder is our top priority. PN, Jags or Yobo are not the answer. We need to replace Carsley but lets be honest Carsley was not the world class player that some of you make him out to be. A good pro but zero creativity and another proponent of that hoofball game.
We need bodies in midfield because Arteta, Tim, Peanuts and Ossie are brittle and spend as much time injured as they are available.
Up front I agree that Vaughn has great potential but he too spends more time in the treatment room than on the pitch. For this reason we do need a good striker as priority 2.
On another note, any reason why we have not been linked with Appiah - he is a class act with proven ability (Juve & Ghana) and is on a free! Strange how he’s being linked with W.Ham and (surprisingly) not a mention of Everton. Whether he would come to us is another question.
You are spot on with your comments regarding our need for natural width...Arteta is not the answer out there...often ’frozen out’ and only becomes truly effective when he is allowed into the middle or at least allowed to drift in from the right...he is the man to make things happen in the middle and through the channels. With Yak, and Cahill our shape cries out for natural width and good delivery into the middle. The reluctance that some players had to push down the flanks instead turning back across the middle was, at times soul destroying, against both Blackburn and The Baggies. What price now an Andrei or even a Anders(shaun wright Phlips?)
We could do with another creative midfielder... Jacobsen and potentially Castillo and Obinna are good squad players... but Moutinho would have been great.
Dithering Dave and Bullshit Bill may surprise us... but don?t expect Moutinho, SWP, M?Bia or anyone expensive... Joe Ledley is more likely...
Get Cahill and Pienaar fit... QUICKLY please!
1 Posted 25/08/2008 at 14:50:10
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Both Yobo and Lescott are streets ahead of him. They both do have lapses of concentration occasionally but then again who doesn’t ?
Is this the same Anichebe who scored a massive ONE premier league goal for us last year ? In the first game of the season I believe. Off his shin if I remember it correctly.
Andy Johnson was made to look useless by having to chase bloody long balls, usually from Jagielka, and usually towards the corner flag !