Season › 2014-15 › News
Deulofeu needs to impress at Everton
A frank assessment of the young Spaniard from Adam West
"He needs to start showing an attitude that heÂ’s willing to apply himself or else heÂ’s in danger of becoming another of those great talents who never fulfilled their potential."
With sources reporting that Gerard Deulofeu will sign for Everton next week, the Liverpool Echo carries a frank assessment by the BBC's Adam West of a player who was regarded as an emerging star of the new generation of Spanish talent.
BBC Sport's Barcelona-based football writer, Andy West, says of “The feeling here in Barcelona is one of great disappointment that Deulofeu hasn't developed how they'd have hoped. They expected him to be an important squad player by now but with Lionel Messi finding a new position for himself on the right wing, he's stuck.
“Maybe it will be good for him to be back with a manager who has confidence in him — not that a lack of confidence is the issue — but he'll be returning to an environment where he's enjoyed success.
“I don't think it's too strong to say that this could be his last chance. Everton are a good club and it's a good stage for him but no disrespect to Everton he should be doing the business at a team who are in the Champions League and he needs to start showing an attitude that he's willing to apply himself or else he's in danger of becoming another of those great talents who never fulfilled their potential.
“There have always been huge expectations over Gerard Deulofeu since he was in his mid teens. The Spanish football public have known about him as being their supposed next big star for a long time.
“He had a really good year with Barcelona's B team before he came to the Premier League for the first time so after enjoying a promising season on loan at Everton, Barça made a big thing about him coming back and he was paraded around the Camp Nou along with Rafinha, who'd been on loan at Celta Vigo, like they were new signings.
“Ultimately it was Luis Enrique's call and he didn't want Deulofeu. It just didn't happen for him at Sevilla. He started off playing regularly but by the end of the season he wasn't even in the squad.
“He just didn't do as well as others did at Sevilla. Aleix Vidal played better on the wing and has ironically signed for Barcelona while they got more out of Jose Antonio Reyes than they were expecting.
Unlike at Goodison where Roberto Martinez took his fellow Catalan under his wing, part of Deulofeu's problem at Sevilla seemed to be a breakdown in communications with his coach.
West said: “There's no doubting that Deulofeu underperformed last season. He's very confident and has a lot of belief in his own ability but the coach Unai Emery saw attitude problems.
“The tensions between the two surfaced when Deulofeu was left out of the squad for the Europa League tie against Zenit and Tweeted: “What doesn't kill you makes you stronger! Onwards!”
“After Sevilla had won the game without Deulofeu, Emery took to Twitter to remark: “You can have the stuff of champions, but it needs to be shaped with effort, hard work and humility. Forza SFC!”
“Basically he was telling Deulofeu that you can have all the talent in the world but you need to display work and commitment to be a successful footballer.”
Quotes sourced from Liverpool Echo
Reader Comments (40)
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2 Posted 21/06/2015 at 16:01:18
3 Posted 21/06/2015 at 16:02:24
4 Posted 21/06/2015 at 15:59:58
Yes, we do have a number of GD threads, but this could well be our biggest story for June! I thought his direct and "no punches pulled" assessment sounded pretty much on the ball, but the Echo (no doubt in the interests of Â’balanceÂ’ also carry this article that features comments from Sid Lowe that are perhaps more inclined to your positive disposition:
Gerard Deulofeu can be the player of his generation
Lowe said: "It’s curious really. Nobody really sees Deulofeu as a trouble-maker or suggests that he loves himself. He’s not overly arrogant considering his ability but he does things his way, on his terms.
"There’s a sense that he understands the game his way, which comes very naturally to him, but he still has a lot to learn in regards to competitive, collective football.
"Deulofeu is viewed here as having the potential to be genuinely brilliant but he still seems to lack football maturity."
Actually, theyÂ’re both really saying pretty much the same things... Sorry if it upsets you, Colin. It is the Echo, after all.
5 Posted 21/06/2015 at 16:30:12
6 Posted 21/06/2015 at 17:07:02
7 Posted 21/06/2015 at 17:07:13
I see him being a massive success at Everton and I also see a day when he will return to Barcelona to take his place as one of the greats. If we can get two or three years of his best football for very little outlay, then we will have bagged ourselves a real bargain.
Sure, we may not hold on to him in the long run if he fulfils his potential, but he may be the spark we need to propel us into a better position so that, when he returns home, we are able to replace him with and attract other young talent who will help us compensate for our lack of financial resources. I hope that, when we look back at the Martinez era, his capture will be seen as the stroke of genius that finally pushed us back into the big time.
8 Posted 21/06/2015 at 17:53:06
Plus he has a boss song.
" HeÂ’s magic, you knooooooow, Gerard Deulofeu"
9 Posted 21/06/2015 at 18:06:07
ItÂ’s as if all the good players need to be warehoused at the top four or five clubs and we are not supposed to recruit and develop decent players. Ask Jack Rodwell how that move to Man City went for him. He was warehoused and his career was set back. Instead of going to Brazil for England, he was picking splinters out of his bum and watching on TV.
10 Posted 21/06/2015 at 18:13:20
ItÂ’d be nice to see Alex come down and offer them both some coaching. If they could develop anything like the understanding Roy Vernon and himself had, weÂ’d be in for a treat of our lives.
We still need a Maestro in the team, to do the orchestrating (sounds like last night at the proms!) and if we get him, I think weÂ’ll not be far away from the top six but equally importantly, weÂ’ll get back to playing some of the football we saw the season before last.
11 Posted 21/06/2015 at 18:34:37
But he as time on his side to mature in terms of that side of his game. I donÂ’t think he will ever be a work horse of a winger that plays like a wing back and gets up and down the touch line all game.
But if we can get him to do his bit and help back when needed, but keep him in the areas where he can do damage more, then I think weÂ’ll all be more than happy at that!
With his pace and the way he could beat men and glide past em at ease, open things up and have us on the front foot, is something we seriously lacked last season when games were tight and teams sat deep and made things difficult for us!
IÂ’m one of those that will be delighted when he signs as heÂ’s a quality player and will get better. I actually think his style suits the pace of the Premier League as apposed to La liga and weÂ’ll get better out of him!
12 Posted 21/06/2015 at 19:27:09
13 Posted 21/06/2015 at 19:48:32
14 Posted 21/06/2015 at 19:52:07
15 Posted 21/06/2015 at 20:01:14
16 Posted 21/06/2015 at 20:00:06
This could go one of two ways but heÂ’s the type of signing I want to see. We certainly have some very gifted young players now. If they click and if they are managed well, we can be a match for anyone. Big if though.
17 Posted 21/06/2015 at 20:53:19
18 Posted 21/06/2015 at 21:03:40
19 Posted 21/06/2015 at 21:10:13
20 Posted 21/06/2015 at 22:35:04
21 Posted 22/06/2015 at 04:46:28
I would like him to play further inside just behind Rom, as I think he would do a lot more damage when he goes on a selfish run – he will lose the ball nearer the goal.
22 Posted 22/06/2015 at 05:15:12
You can add Besic to that and to some extent Tom – who I guarantee will surprise a lot of people on here. Have a look at his goal in practice for England last week.
23 Posted 22/06/2015 at 08:53:38
Robles
Coleman
Stones
Galloway
Garbutt
Besic
McCarthy
Cleverly
Deulofeu
Barkley
Lukaku
Not a bad outfit.
24 Posted 22/06/2015 at 10:02:45
The real strengths of players like Messi and Suarez is that they couple their individual talent with working their socks off for the team, so their less-able colleagues respect them so much more.
25 Posted 22/06/2015 at 10:32:14
26 Posted 22/06/2015 at 13:14:38
27 Posted 22/06/2015 at 14:29:27
https://twitter.com/vilchesmaye/status/612971328153456640
The location at the bottom...
It’s on...
28 Posted 22/06/2015 at 14:41:38
29 Posted 22/06/2015 at 14:54:22
30 Posted 22/06/2015 at 15:35:46
31 Posted 22/06/2015 at 15:40:25
32 Posted 22/06/2015 at 16:10:07
It still slows me down trying to decipher stuff like ADM, RSD, DLF and other assorted yoofimisms.
33 Posted 22/06/2015 at 16:39:21
PMSL!
34 Posted 22/06/2015 at 17:02:43
35 Posted 23/06/2015 at 20:46:03
Van Dijk at the back and we will just need Cabaye for the no 10 position...
36 Posted 23/06/2015 at 21:23:40
37 Posted 23/06/2015 at 21:33:00
38 Posted 23/06/2015 at 22:03:58
41 Posted 25/06/2015 at 14:24:28
Also I would like to see Lennon signed and a top class keeper ( every top team has a top goalkeeper).It’s no mistake that when we have fared well we have had a great keeper. West and Southall spring to mind although there have been other greats.
42 Posted 25/06/2015 at 14:35:59
So that's Tom and Geri already in the bag, who we buy next I haven't a Scooby-Doo, but if it all helps the team to score goals and gain points we will all be very happy.
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1 Posted 21/06/2015 at 15:43:02