Mirallas needs to play through pain

I think it is quite unnecessary. He has made a real contribution to our season, often whilst half fit. I am a little sick of players like Osman and Neville being lauded for their physical attributes, but never criticised by the manager for their technical shortcomings but a player like Mirallas who has ability is seemingly fair game to be bullied by the manager because he doesn't quite have the physical attributes to finish the game.

By all means make this point behind closed doors, but what exactly does Moyes imagine will come from bringing this up in the media? deeply worrying.

What has the lad done wrong? He may well struggle after 70 minutes. So what? Osman struggles after 55 every week and still plays 90!

He isn't completely match fit - he did a hamstring which is an injury that stays with you physically and mentally. Particularly when you are a pacey player. I think he's done great and his ability has been the difference at times.

As Mark says, maybe the lad could do with a word behind closed doors, but this is totally uncalled for. I loathe today's modern, mollycoddled footballer...but the lad has come from a different country, barely speaks English, has had a nasty injury that you can't possibly 'run off' and more importantly he's been fucking brilliant for us!

And who the fuck is Moyes to question anyone else's commitment to the club?

In fact, it's very unlike Moyes in general, to publicly slate one of his players.

Looking beyond these quotes, does this mean Moyes is setting his stall out for next season?

Why bother unsettling a player in this way if you were leaving?

Moyes has praised the lad on a number of occasions, so I don't believe there is any animosity between player and manager.

Remember David Moyes never came out in the press and spoke publicly about the appalling behaviour of both Drenthe and Shandy who have both admitted that David Moyes was right not to play either of the despite many fans criticizing Moyes for not picking them. So I think we can trust him when it comes to man managing players.

Everton FC should not have players in the team who are regularly carrying injuries, the type of game we play requires a high-level of fitness so in DM's mind a player like Naismith is more reliable than a player like Mirallas, when clearly from a skill point of view, Mirallas can win a game in the twinkling of an eye and Naismith offers little.

Also the player should be aware of his own physical limitations and if he thinks he is ready to come off the manager should acknowledge him and not think of him as a lead swinger, it is in my opinion unwise to push him into possibly causing himself a longer term injury, which may well have happened in the earlier part of the season to Mriallas.

In many recent comments you start to wonder if DM is more interested in the future of David Moyes or in the future of Everton FC. Of course in his defence he may be telling the board that we can no longer expect to finish high up the league with the sparse resources at his disposal, however, using an individual player's shortcomings to highlight this is in my opinion the wrong way to go about it.

The one player in the side who can do that little something different.

Moyes should be telling Osman to stop waving his hands in the air if he gets knocked off the ball, Jags to stop hoofing the fuckin thing, Heitinga to start looking like a footballer again, Howard to command his area on crosses and Jelly to forget everything except the opposistions goal.

Very strange interview.

Moyes has just spent two weeks singing his praises and now he's said Mirallas should work on his attitude towards the physicality of the English game. Sounds all fine to me.

I first noticed a manger say this when Nevin played for us and I've heard the same thing said about Ronaldo, Bale, Lennon, Sterling, Downing, Ginola, Nani, Giggs, L. Sharp, Wright-Philips and many, many others.

Maybe Moyes just got asked an honest question and gave an honest answer. I'm not really stretching your imagination with that idea am I?

That's a bit more than challenging someone to work harder, don't you think?

Moyes is always measured in his quotes. That one is right of the ordinary for him.

You think Osman has 'physical attributes' but 'technical shortcomings'? Can I assume you've never seen him? If he had physical attributes he would be a truly wonderful footballer, as it is he's too lightweight and slow to be seen as such but he's technically excellent.

I think this has been obvious for some time. Moyes was visibly seething after the Bolton cup game when he took him off after 10 minutes as he said he'd been checked out and there was nothing wrong with him.

As has been said by others, if he wasn't playing well and asking to come off because he was a bit tired you'd be going ballistic, it doesn't make it any more acceptable just because he's talented. Also how many of the people questioning Moyes not being happy about it have criticised him for making the substitutions he obviously hasn't wanted to make?

It WAS Moyes fault for taking him in games but, now, It's NOT Moyes fault for taking him off in games. It's Moyes fault for telling us that Super Kev felt he needed to come off? Is that it? Can we also blame Moyes for the Chicago fire? Did he ever go to Dallas in the 60's?

BTW, if you don't like what I've just written... blame Moyes, you do for everything else.

Whilst it may seem odd to outsiders, Moyes does seem to single certain players out for criticism in the media. Drenthe springs to mind, maybe Anichebe too, he was a little underwhelming in his praise for Osman recently and in the past too, so Moyes has plenty of form for this sort of thing in the past.

Personally I can't see this being anything to do with trying to move Mirallas on. Instead this jibe is probably aimed at narking Mirallas, and getting him aiming to prove Moyes wrong by staying on for the full 90, thus falling into the cunning trap that Moyes has set for him etc...

I just questioned your statement that he's been praising him. Good rant, though.

I reckon that, in a backhanded way, he is bemoaning the fact that we have done no business during the past transfer window. Many of our players are carrying on with injuries and niggles which inevitably show up every season at the latter end. Teams like Man Utd, Man City, Arsenal, Chelsea and Spurs have all used far more players than we have and still we are right behind them and challenging for a European place despite this.

The fault for all the above rests with this miserable boardroom and DM is letting them know in his own way. Mirallas is certainly NOT the only player who is struggling to last 90 minutes but he is worth using for as long as he can in each game because he is a fan favourite and match winner.

I for one am happy to see him carry on and be subbed with 15 minutes to go so long as his playing time is productive. He is the only one with the pace to frighten opposing teams, let the drones play the supporting roles and keep our best players fit.

It's probably a shock to his hamstring to have to do the work of 3 players and, after 75 mins, is it any wonder he's done in? I'm not quite sure what there is to gain in going down the road if he wants more. It's his first season in the Prem and probably his first season doing 3 men's work.

Mike (865) I think you're right AND possibly wrong when you say he's a 'grown man'.

Right from an age point of view (obviously), but I have a feeling that many (most) players 'suffer' from (to coin a phrase) 'arrested development'.

Something that comes from constantly being part of a group, from constantly being with 'the lads' and/or 'one of the lads'.

I remember an interview with Andy King a few years back who said something along the lines of basically as a footballer you stay about 16 until you retire.

Someone pays your bills, someone cooks every meal, your clothes are laundered by someone, etc etc

He said he was 38 before he realised that he was going to have to find out how to do a LOT of stuff for himself.

He said he didn't have a clue how to pay a bill because they all went to the club (and remember, King wasn't earning a fraction of what these fellers are now).

I can remember Rodney Marsh (or maybe Stan Bowles) saying before an England trip, while waiting in the airport, one player got up to go for a slash and ten players went with him.

Basically, many of them don't really do thinking.

Today's footballers are like little Gods and when I see them interviewed, many come across like miserable surly teenagers.

Petulant, bored etc.

Frustrating for managers I'm sure (and often for supporters too) that they can't tell them "act your age you soft tart" without the player phoning his agent and or whining 'I'm off!" but....that's how it is.

I realise this thread could become a MOB - V - whatever the opposite is, but for me, no matter who the manager I'd always suggest 'say fuck-all!"

I keep meaning to start a record of Moyes insane public mutterings but I suspect I might lose the will to live.

This is right up there with knives and gunfights - whether it's accurate is incidental he just shouldn't say such stuff in public.

What a way to defend your substitutions although I note some have it as "motivation" (guffaw).

There is a clip on You-Tube with Walter Smith when he was first at Rangers and he absolutely slates the interviewer Chick Young in the tunnel and it's like being in a pub, he even shouts to one of his staff to get in with it. Classic it is, if Moyes did that at a boring pre/post match interview I would love it.

Back to the point, I just don't take any notice with the banal whitterings in these interviews

Agreed but..you think this should be public?

That informing the media could help get the best out of him?

If so, I'd be (genuinely) curious to know HOW you think this might work.

Also he (so Moyes NOT me) says..

“When you stay at Everton for a time it gets you used to it. Look at how Marouane Fellaini has recently played with injuries, look at Phil Jagielka and Tim Howard"

Now if he's right (and I'm SURE you think he is and I don't disagree) then why not just let it play itself out to it's logical conclusion - a Mirallas who at some stage in the near future is up to pace and can last the full 90.

Why does the media (or anyone else) have to be notified of this?

I think you're being over-sensitive to the 'criticism'.

You say "I am at a loss why most people get on Moyes back for the slightest thing"?

They're not getting 'on his back' (like he gives a shite about our rantings) the subject was raised on a Everton discussion forum.

Some think it was the wrong decision, some have no problem, that's it really.

His whole demeanour when questioned was usually one of barely concealed distain with a hint of possible violence should questions already answered be pursued.

Don't know what's happened in the last couple of weeks, he's suddenly become Parkinson.

(Michael, not Joe)

I must be even thicker than I thought. I took that to mean his fitness levels, not his ability. You have to remember, Moyes is Scottish. English is not his first language.

There — I've criticised David Moyes!

He also never takes Osman off even though he's never able to compete for 90 mins.

"Look at how Marouane Fellaini has recently played with injuries, look at Phil Jagielka and Tim Howard".

Mirallas has been our match winner and one of our best players recently, yet all Moyes can do is snipe(and publicly, too!!!).

I'd agree with those who've already said where is the criticism of Neville, Naismith and others? Those players come up short in almost every single game in terms what we expect from an Everton player. Those two players absolutely do NOT have what it takes to play in the premiership or at Everton.....but not a peep from the manager, and plenty of game time for the players.

Creating and scoring are the hardest and rarest skills in the game. No players should be playing with injuries(especially if they've just come back from a long injury). But creative and pacy forwards rely on being bang on form and in shape to do the business. You can probably get away with niggles at centre half or defensive mid or if you're a large player who can use your strength.

Someone like Mirallas who relies on pace, balance, acceleration isn't going to create and score if he's worried about his hams going every 2 minutes.

Regarding Naismith and Neville, I can't remember him ever criticising Neville's play although he did publicly slate him for diving. Moyes was however criticised for downplaying Naismith's performance when he scored that hat trick pre-season.

Someone said something about Moyes not criticising Anichebe, and I'm fairly sure he has done in the past on more than one occassion if memory serves. In fact the suspicion lingers he leaked that salary offer to the media, which is one of the reasons behind the less than whole hearted support Anichebe gets from the Everton faithful, and in fact led to his life being a bit of a nightmare for a while. Not that his falling over all the time helped.

I think this is him saying that those substitutions were forced upon him by an injured/malingering player who probably thought that he had given his £50ks worth of soccer for one week and was not prepared to put in any overtime.

Moyes would surely know, afterwards, whether the player was injured or not - or didn't have the cojones to last the 90 minutes.

The comparison with Osman should have been physically weak and technically good. The Osman comparison is more worrying as many have said If you criticise Mirallas then surely you must criticise Osman? Maybe it is easier to disguise in the centre of the park when the team are not relying on you for pace and penetration I suppose.

You can have a great work rate but if you don't have any talent it counts for very little. You have to combine the two to be a good player, the problem for me is Moyes puts too much emphasis on work rate while I would like to see talent made more of a priority.

The thing is that Mirallas does work, it might not come natural and he's never going to be a ball winner but he does get back to be an extra body.

I can imagine our witless manager recalling Ferguson digging out Beckham years ago and thinking "I'll have a go at that". I trust he's got a Ronaldo lined up as a replacement.

I thought Barkley did quite well considering his lack of opportunities. Neville is off because a new manager is not going to play him.

There was a knock on the door, and upon opening it it turned out to be his landlord.

'I'm looking for the rent.' said the landlord.

'No problem,' said Bowles, 'come in and we'll look for it together'.

:D

It's a quite simple statement that has been took the wrong way by these posters who are on the lookout to jump on any words said by Moyes.

This is a harsh article, the quotes are really from Moyes? Hard to believe after what KM just did on the pitch, maybe the journalist is a Red trying to play mind games.

I think the problem is the double standards as I've posted earlier. What he's basically saying is:

"Kevin needs to just get on with it" but where's the:

"It was a predictable moment of madness from Neville that cost us the game"?

"Ossie disappeared today for 20 mins and if it carries on he'll soon be out the team"??

"We're having to play with 10 men for 5 to 10 mins everytime Vic pretends he's injured"???

Pointless having a go at Ossie, what you see is what you get from him.

Mirallas can obviously give more and the kick up the arse worked, two great goals in two games.....more of the same, I say.

He's putting in good performances, but the arrogance and swagger of his time in Greece is missing, I would love to see some of that.

What we've needed, probably since Fernandes (though seen briefly with Drenthe) is someone to take all the opposition's attention, make them worried, who can take that level of attention and enjoy being the main man.

It gives confidence to the rest of the team and certainly helps with any inferiority complex against the big teams. Mirallas can do that, but he hasn't yet.

I'm not sure what Moyes is saying is true. I think i've seen Mirallas signal twice to the bench that he wants to come off but he's dragged off in nearly every game and looks disappointed when he is. I really have no idea what Moyes's intentions are by saying this, all I know is its very unusual for Moyes to single out a player in this way.

If they can both score in transient moments of magic, win us the game, and spend the remaining 86 minutes scratching their arses, I personally couldn’t give a toss. Let someone else do the running if that is their game. It’s not as if we have a team of ten Rodney Marshes.

Look how Messi spends most of the game walking and strolling around the outside of the box. He looks like he’s on a jaunt on a Sunday afternoon. Yet when he sees a chance he’s like a whippet. And of course he then has the energy to do what he does best. Imagine Messi at Everton, running up and down like Anichebe and tracking back for corners.

Its not a case of manning up - especially not with hamstring injuries. No wonder we get so many injuries each year when our management insists on playing players whilst injured.

When regarding Moyes, the two fragments of that sentence sort of cancel each other out or the second answers the first.

However... Mirallas has been fantastic of late, and I think the same message could have been achieved with more praise. And we need people like Mirallas... if we want to progress as a football club, we need the flair, and speed Mirallas brings, and to add to it with other players.

Managers try to change players sometimes... Mourinho famously tried to instill defensive abilities into his wingers (Robben/Cole)... sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't... sometimes a player responds to criticism, sometimes he doesn't.

But Moyes needs to tread carefully, as a fit Mirallas, used to the pace of the Premier League, could be our most valuable attacking player over the next few years. We just need to add a couple more of his class to the team.

Personally, I think Baines should have been rested early in the FA Cup, but as posts on here around the period demonstrated, that decision in itself would have engendered its own critic.

"Nice to see Moyes wants and demands his players give everything to the cause." Completely agree and it should be the bare minimal for a professional footballer.

It's not actually his physical attributes he's questioning but his mental ones, ie Osman hits the wall but keeps going, Mirallas feels a bit tired and wants to come off.

I read it as him saying he needs to realise that getting a bit of a kick to the shin is not seen as a good enough reason to come off in England.

Its quite another to publicly question whether he has the ability to play for the club or in the league.

If a manager personally questioned my ability to work for their company, even in private(never mind public), I'd tell them to shove their job up their arse and walk out then and there. It certainly wouldn't "inspire" me to do more for them because quite frankly I don't need to prove myself. Neither does Mirallas.

If he's giving 70% in games and perhaps needs to come off on 80 minutes then thats fine, provided he produces the goods when he's playing, which he has been. Moyes doesn't seem to recognise that we've got no one else at the club who can do what Mirallas does. The same as he didn't have a fucking clue how important Pienaar was to us, when he let him go to spurs. Of course he had to go back and give Pienaar the money he was asking for and luckily spurs were willing to sell him back to us.

Jim(088), on what basis are you saying that we can't rest our first team? I don't recall oviedo (or any of our subs for that matter) getting a run in the team that would lead you to come to that conclusion.

For example, 4 weeks ago I couldn't have told you if Mucha was the next Neville Southall or the next Richard Wright. Now we can see that he's actually a pretty decent keeper. On the basis of his last few games I'm more confident with him between the sticks than Howard, yet he's barely played at all for us in the time he's been here.

We've seen very little of Oviedo and even less of him at left back, so how you can make that judgement is beyond me.

Mirallas does need to prove himself if he wants to be a top player. There is no doubt in his ability but his manager is clearly saying he’s got to man up, psychologically this could be quite a clever move because he doesn’t do it routinely.

I’m glad that he has said this; even if he has no intention of staying at Everton he has shown, not for the first time, that he cares about the club.