The Mail Bag
Feed the Yak (lettuce leaves only)
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Following the completion of the African Nations Cup, I was expecting Yakubu to return to Goodison looking a hell of a lot sharper & more slimline than when he left. However, judging by his cameo appearance at Anfield where he proceeded to plod round the pich looking like a shaven headed Oprah Winfrey, it appears he is still nowhere near full match fitness.
I know he was out for a long time and returned ahead of schedule but he should surely have shed some of that excess beef by now. The guy is a professional footballer and should know how to keep his body in optimum condition. At the moment he looks anything but an athlete and more like Sherman Klump from the Nutty Professor. Eddie Murphy wore a monster fat suit & still had smaller moobs than the Yak.
The coaching staff need to hurry up & knock him back into shape again because he is the team's best finisher by a mile & we need him in the starting line-up, not sitting on the bench wondering how many family sized buckets of fried chicken he should order from KFC for his tea.
John Daley, Posted 09/02/2010 at 11:35:18
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The Yak is a proven goalscorer at the highest level and has just returned from 12 months out with a ruptured achilles something that leaves many people crippled for life and you expect him to be straight back to match fitness.
As Steve Hopkins said, very funny.
Haha Oprah, KFC, really? Do Africans even fry food a lot? Legit question.
Regardless he is bigger than he needs to be, and like you I’m confused as to why that hasn’t been both coaching staff’s priority (EFC and Nigeria). I’d really like to see the happy Yak that tore up Portsmouth on that solo counter attack 2 years ago. Those were the days! Gosh I’m tired of talking about nursing our strikers back to health, this squad simply deserves a marksman that truly enjoys being here. Not a mercenary.
Whatever, I still think he can do a better job than Beattie or Johnson, when he’s in form there’s no stopping the Yak, we just need to hope he gets his form back and stays fit.
Amokachi was 21 going on 30 and Rigobert Song was 22 but his 13-year-old daughter went to my kid's school.
Sorry, that was facile and childish. But probably just as valid as some of the rumours on here...
Anyway, the Yak. Now, he has always been a big lad and has used his strength in the past to bully opposition defenders or sometimes to roll them to get a shot off. The question is, has he come back more pumped up than before? The reason I ask this is because he may have had to revise his game due to the injury.
Alan Shearer, after several nasty injuries revised his role to more of a target man due to his lack of mobility. I am wondering if Yak’s injury has lead the medics, coaches (player himself?) etc to focus upon his attributes and change his playing style slightly? i.e. Much more bullying target man rather than the guy who could use a burst of pace and sharp turn to create a chance out of nothing?
Just a thought...
John D, I am not surprised that the coaching staff has done nothing about the Yak's weight. They cannot even get Baines or Arteta to beat the first defender from free kicks. Or teach Neville how to take quick throw-ins, or Tim Howard how to deal with corners, or Hibbo to cross the ball, or half dozen other technical flaws that infest other members of the team.
That these coaching experts continue to believe Osman is good enough for the PL sums them up for me.
The guy's a monster — always was... always will be.
Anyone who expects him to run about doesn’t understand what he was born to do... shoulder of the last defender. Done. Simple.
I saw the Yak bump Carragher out the touchline and was the only highlight of the afternoon. He’s not afraid to shoot at the Kop end too. Pussies the lot of them.
Also, I apologise if I caused any offence by lazily comparing the Yak to some obese Westerners, but unfortunately old Ayegbeni is the only fat Nigerian I’m familiar with or give a flying fuck about.
We have two very good strikers on their day, but it is typical of Everton fans to slam players who are short on confidence etc rather than backing them. Yak is more of a proven Everton goalscorer than anyone over probably the last 10 years+. Yak doesn't run round all game but that's him. It was him when he scored 21 goals the other year and it will be next year.
I'd rather have Yak's 21 goals and his gameplay rather than Johnson's 10 goals and workrate. No-one jumps on Saha despite him not playing well for a good few games now. Everton fans should also be supporting Bily, as everytime he puts a foot wrong, the fans jump on him.
Maccabi Tel Aviv 50
Portsmouth 68
Middlesboro 73
Everton 57
So he is due to move on soon... but would you get 50% of the £11M we paid out for him? I doubt it.
To be honest, I’d start him today and give Saha a break, see what happens.
Personally, I have never been a huge fan, for me on his day Saha is better.
The trouble with both is on their day they are good, so it's too much of a luxury to play both. It will always be one with Cahill.
Would love to see him give Coleman a game tonight though!
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1 Posted 09/02/2010 at 16:55:36
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I genuinely don’t think it’s a weight issue with the Yak, he’s a big muscular lad, I think that it’s a psychological thing with him. On past form he does seem to become bored (and lazy with it) which is how he engineered his exit from Middlesboro, I’m not suggesting he’s looking to leave but after a long spell out he may just need a good hard boot up the backside to get him back in gear. Even when he was scoring freely he still regularly looked very lazy and now we’re just not seeing the goals to go with it!