Zouma looking forward to full Blues debut

I have a feeling that he is going to be a big hit, not only on the pitch, but with the fans as well.

Hopefully with a changed side we can carry the momentum on and get into the next round.

Maybe you've confused the yellow card suspensions being competition specific? If so, good news this is Richarlison's first suspended game.

Note Jagielka's suspension ends after tomorrow and Richarlison's starts tomorrow.

Stoke didn't work out but he is at a better club with better management, training facilities, players and fans.

Good luck sir, make us proud.

Stekelenburg
Kenny
Holgate
Zouma
Digne
Davies
Gueye
Bernard
Lookman
Walcott
Tosun

Subs: Niasse, Calvert-Lewin, Dowell, Sandro, Coleman, Pennington, Pickford.

Shame on the officials and the Football league! The whole process stinks.

It's being reported that he said “He is looking forward to going back and playing for Chelsea.” If that's his desire then fine, but he shouldn't publicly announce it. Very unprofessional.

Rant over.

I don't think there's anything between them in ability and I don't see the point in regularly playing someone who won't be here next season.

Of course, if Zouma was much better, but I don't think he is. Here's more reason to hope Keane comes back soon and picks up his form from where he left off.

As for Zuma, let's hope he can defend crosses.

That's not surprising or particularly important if he gives his all whilst ‘on loan' at our club.

If things go particularly well he may ultimately decide he'd prefer to move permanently. If he was implying that already I'd wonder about his ambition and decision making process.

Still to be convinced myself.

What do you want him to say?

"He doesn't want to go back to Chelsea cos he likes it so much at Everton"? And then what if Everton don't want him permanently???

He is not going to burn his bridges (no pun intended).

You beat me to it, well said Sir. If any of the players we have loaned out in the recent past had have said "I can't wait to get away – I love it here (insert name of club)" – fans would be up in arms.

If he puts on an Everton shirt and gives 100% then that's fine by me, nobody knows what will happen between now and the end of his loan period, but he is an Everton player for that time and as such he should get our full support whenever he plays for Everton FC.

As for Zouma, if he wants to impress the Chelsea brass, he needs to have a monster season, which is good for us.

He's, at first glance, a very likable looking person. Superficial as hell, but hey, whatcha gonna do?

I hope he does well.

Who cares if he wants to impress the folks back at Chelsea. He's on loan, they own him.

Probably 75% of our current players wouldn't mind impressing the folks at Chelsea, Man Utd, Man City, etc. They might get a raise!

I hope he learns to bleed for the shirt. Until that time, I don't give a flying fuck what his motivations are, as long as he gives 100%.

We've dropped points, we're entering a tournament we should target, I want laser-like focus from whomever's number gets called. Hell, Man Utd are floundering around like a fish out of water, Arsenal are a mess, Chelsea I'm not convinced, etc.

We've an opportunity this year. If Zouma The Destroyer of Villages helps us succeed, super.

Pickford
Kenny
Holgate
Zouma
Digne
Davies
Gueye
Bernard
Sigurdsson
Lookman
Calvert-Lewin

I think Bernard needs a run-out out wide rather than playing him as a No 10 as he'll be playing out wide on Saturday and for the next couple of games after that at least during Richarlison's suspension.

Once everyone is fit and ready, we may see Richarlison playing down the centre instead of Tosun, with Sigurdsson at No 10 and Bernard on the left. Having said that, I think Tosun plays an important role, but lacks that air of danger about him.

An important game to win.

My team for the League Cup:

Stekelenburg
Kenny Holgate Zouma Digne
Davies Schneiderlin
Bernard Sigurdsson Lookman
Tosun

Let Tosun play so he gets an opportunity to get on the score sheet and boost his confidence ahead of sterner tests. Not sure if Schneiderlin would be fit, but if he is not, then I would pull Siggy back alongside Davies and play Dowell in the advanced role.

ps: We continue to have some unbelievably horrid luck on injuries. Bolasie, Coleman, McCarthy, Keane all with pretty nasty injuries.

It follows some very poor luck we had with key players in the past – Jags and Arteta in their prime suffered terrible injuries (both missing our only cup final since 1995), whilst Anichebe was a victim of Nolan's shithousery. I think he too missed the same final.

After getting relegated with Stoke last season, he should concentrate on proving he is good enough for us. We are paying his wages so he should forget about Chelsea for a season. They have treated him like a second-class citizen so he should be keeping all his options open and not shitting on his own doorstep.

If he is set on a career at Chelsea, that is his prerogative but I reckon stating it openly will not help him to get minutes at Everton; unless I guess he proves to be definitively better than our other centre-backs. If it's a marginal thing (and it usually is) then I'd rather develop players who might prove the foundation for an Everton team moving forwards.

Thanks, mate, for clearing that up. I was totally confused as I had read that Richarlison would only miss league games.

On the subject of Zouma and Chelsea, we cannot have double standards over Zouma and Lookman. Zouma is a Chelsea player, so his loyalty is to them, not some side he's played 10 minutes for. Let's be honest though, I doubt Zouma has a big future at Chelsea, they use younger players than him in the middle (Christensen) already. So if he does well, we can sign him, and he probably would want to come.

Echoing Sam H's comments, as I did on TDD, with no option to buy Zouma after his loan expires, where does that leave EFC?

Zouma is unimpressive and next May we go, cheers mate see you later. Chelksi then look for his next loan deal.

Zouma is decent and we would like to buy, Chelski says "His price has gone up. Pay up, muppets!"

Zouma is immense and becomes an ever present and is our rock at the back. Chelksi goes "Thanks guys, you have developed a great player. Oh!! just one other thing, FECK OFF!"

None of my imagined scenarios has Everton coming out winners. Of course, there is another one: Zouma is decent and we would like to buy, Chelski says "His price is reasonable and we would love to do business with you lovely people." Errmmm possibly, maybe

I agree on Zouma. It would be totally unprofessional of him to say anything negative about his current employers. He may or may not decide he wants to stay here, we may or not want him to. But for now he has to have loyalty to the club he is contracted to.

He is a Chelsea player; what's wrong with coming out with an honest statement? I hope he proves, firstly, he is a very good player. That won't do us any harm if he does, then it's up to Chelsea as he's their player. If they want him, they will keep him; if not to it's up to us.

How much do we want him? If it comes to that, it means we have had a very good season out of him. Suits me; each to his own way of thinking.

So did Yakubu with his ruptured achilles.

Okay here goes:if Zouma plays well and if that leads to players like Keane, Holgate & Mina getting less game time, then how does that benefit Everton, if he goes back to Chelski?

This time next year we are in the same place as now re centre-backs

[I'm aware that is a lot of 'ifs'.]

I think it feels like bad luck because you're looking at it from just an Everton perspective. The Jags/Yak thing was almost a decade ago. I think most clubs have similar injuries over time.

Arsenal, for example, have got used to Walcott, Wilshere, Ramsey, Gibbs, missing 6 months per year every year not to mention that French bloke who just came back last year after about 3 years out, similar story with Cazorla.

Interesting tactical analysis, especially about Tosun's role in the team, here

And losing Jags, Mikky and Yak too (forgot about him) for our only cup final in yonks still rankles. Worse, all 3 came back having very clearly lost a yard of pace which made them less effective.

I will agree the Yak/Arteta/Jags cup final was incredibly unlucky. It ripped the heart out of the team.