Vranny

You don’t have to convince me of Martial’s class. I was another that wanted him as a Lukaku replacement when he was out of favour last season. And I’ve always found Barkley to be particularly lazy for a midfielder. The difference between he and Siggy’s pressing and tracking back is night and day for me.

I really don’t like this view. We’re not talking about top attacking players like Ronaldo and Messi, we’re talking about Martial ffs! If Lukaku isn’t talented enough to avoid criticism for being lazy, than neither is Martial. I feel like this was also your excuse for Barkley avoiding criticism for his laziness under us (and the opposite applies for Walcott). Oh the kid is lazy and lacks a bit of end product/game smarts, but look at his first touch! I’d rather just look critically at all of these players relevent deficiencies, and not just ignore them when they’re a “pretty player”.

18/30. Not bad for someone only supporting Everton since ‘06.

That was the freekick routine that Walcott scored from. We’ve also had Richarlison score his first goal from a freekick scramble and Keane scored a header too. Don’t think we’ve actually scored one from a corner yet, but the deliveries haven’t been too bad recently, it’s the finishing that’s been the problem.

I don’t really understand the shouts about his attitude. He’s an aggressive winger who’s asked to use his pace to get in behind and stretch defences quite often during a game; of course he’s not always going to be able to get back to help out in defence, but he still does his fair share. My bigger issue with him is always going to be his lack of technique and, to a lesser extent, his finishing/final ball. But I still think the positives definitely out balance the negatives and, worst comes to worst, he’s still an excellent impact sub off the bench.

Can’t stand her personally because of this. Still whinging in her press conference about not being able to express her emotions on the court. When those “emotions” have included threatening linesmen in the past, I’m glad a chair umpire has finally stood up to her.

I think if Mina settles well and we can sign Zouma on a perm, it’d probably be time to move Jags on (or into coaching) anyway due to numbers.

To me it’d be like saying we should avoiding finishing in the top 4, as champions league games would provide a distraction from winning the league...

Still think we need him for cover, unless Silva sees Richarlison or Walcott as striker options. Handy to have him on the bench regardless.

This. With Gomes arriving injured it’s only taken Schneiderlin going down for us to need him as a starter. If he’s struggling to get games once Gomes and Bernard bed in loan him off in Jan, but it’d be crazy to get rid of him now.

So what you’re saying Mike is that AEK is an acronym, rather than an initialism

Take out the red card situation and I imagine Digne would’ve subbed in for Baines around 70-80 mins. I imagine that’s probably what will happen in our next game as we ease him into the fold.

As it stands, with Holgate injured and Zouma not a confirmed arrival yet, I'd still be starting Jags over Keane. A pairing of Mina and Keane against any fleet footed player is just asking for trouble with their turning circles.

I think that’s a bit harsh on Jags. If the Zouma signing doesn’t go through I’d expect him and Mina to be our main CB pairing this season. Think they’d complement each other well tbh.

Or just Schneiderlein in his prime Don't know what's happened to the guy, but there's obviously a good player in there based on his time at Southhampton, United and his first 6 months with us.

Doubt Bernard has had much of a preseason being out of contract. Reckon he’ll be eased in off the bench, then we’ll actually have an impact sub for once based on who doesn’t impress behind Tosan.

It's just that the main things I've heard about him are his aerial presence and how he's very much the modern defender in how good he is on the ball and with his passing My main concerns over him are whether he'd be able to adapt to a more physical, high-tempo league and that (from all reports) he's quite an aggressive, pressing defender who'll probably need a calmer head next to him in defense to keep him in check. Edit: forgot that this is in the Zouma thread, but I am talking about Mina above

Are you trying to say that Mina is good or bad on the ball? Because there's a reason a team like Barcelona bought him initially.

I get the feeling he hasn't been the same since his injury in the 15-16 season. Still managed to play the majority of games for Stoke last season while on loan, but they did get relegated Loan to buy might be the best option for him.

Your partners all just sound like cliche English tourists to me

Completely different players. A good, old fashioned box-to-box midfielder vs a number 10. Would love to have him here, but realistically if Chelsea are looking to bring him in, we should be all over Loftus-Cheek.

I'm still having Schneiderlin ones. For related and unrelated reasons

Inspired by the wine thread opening I was wondering if there are any other beer drinks on here that use a beer reviewing app called Untappd? I’m curious if anyone else can compete with my fairly extensive checklist of beer tastings

If that’s correct (or close enough to) that’s really damning of Walsh’s signings and our last few managers. Pretty embarrassing that the 11th most expensive team in Europe are currently a shite, mid-table club.

I'm with Dunc on this one. I was way more worried about relegation under Koeman and Unsworth than I am now. The above post regarding points of the relegation spots backs that up. Now if we're talking style of play and our future beyond this season however...