brisbaneblue

Would be surprised if he didn't tweak the midfield 3 and yank Tosun. Expecting something along the lines of this: Pickford Kenny Zouma Mina Digne Gueye Sigurdsson Bernard Walcott Richarlison Calvert-Lewin Bench: Stekelenburg, Holgate, Baines, Schneiderlin, Lookman, Niasse, Tosun Personally, I'd keep the faith with Tosun for one more match. The combination of Walcott, Tosun and Richarlison looked good up until Richarlison's red card.

I thought letting Sandro go out on loan was a mistake. We've only got 2 natural wingers remaining in the squad outside of the starting XI and if Lookman leaves as well then we are down to just Bernard. It's going to pain me when Calvert-Lewin or Dowell inevitably gets subbed on as a winger at some point.

I'd take Sandro as a winger over Dowell as a winger any day of the week. Can't bring any players in until January..

It's maths - we don't have enough players to let Sandro or Lookman go. We only have 5 wingers in the senior squad now - Walcott, Richarlison, Lookman, Bernard and Sandro. In Silva's 4-3-3, we need 2 in the starting XI and 1 or 2 on the bench for every game, can't see how we'd survive until January with only 4 (if one of them goes) or 3 (if they both go) wingers in the entire squad. Richarlison is suspended for the next 3 and injuries are inevitable.

I respect jags but I can't see him starting ahead of Mina, Holgate, Keane or Zouma when they are all fully fit, he turns 36 next week and I don't see them renewing his contract at the end of the season either. The Mina-Jags pairing might make sense if you're thinking of it as a youngster paired with an experienced head, but tactically they don't compliment each other - Mina is 6ft 5in and built solid, he's strong, slightly pacey with his extremely long legs over short distances when running forward but is particularly slow on the turn, he'd be better served pairing with a faster more mobile defender who can sweep behind when he challenges for headers or when we're caught on the counter. I'd be scared ever pairing the two.

Holgate out for at least one more week, probably needs an additional one or two after that to get back to full fitness. Gomes most likely out until at least mid-Septmeber . Can't see Bernard, Mina or Zouma? starting so shortly after their arrivals. Haven't heard anything about Bernard's fitness given he hasn't trained with a club since May. Mina was still in Barcelona as of Thursday night so I don't imagine Silva would chuck him straight into the matchday squad by Saturday afternoon. Silva is going to play a 4-3-3 so I'd say the starting XI will be: Pickford Coleman Keane Jagielka Digne Gueye Schneiderlin Sigurdsson Walcott Tosun Richarlison Bench: Stekelenbeburg, Baines, Pennington, Davies, Lookman, Calvert-Lewin, Niasse I'd put on a £20 bet that this will be the last league game that Jagielka ever starts for Everton. Wolves were already far and away the best team in the Championship last season, they kept 24 clean sheets in 46 matches. Very well coached. Have been shocked by some of the players they have managed to sign. Moutinho, Jiminez and signing Jota permanently were are all class additions to a team that was already full of talented players. I can't see us dominating this game, and we might struggle defensively given that were going to have to put out the two weakest CB's we have. First game of the season is always a crapshoot so i'll fence sit and say draw.

Squad Depth Happy to be corrected but based on pre-season and Silva's comments I'd say at this moment our squad depth looks something like this: GK: Pickford, Stekelenburg, Virginia RB: Coleman, Kenny, Holgate, Martina, Zouma?, Browning CB: Mina, Zouma?, Holgate, Keane, Jagielka, Pennington, Browning, Galloway LB: Digne, Baines, Galloway, Martina DM/CM: Gueye, Gomes, Schneiderlin, Davies, Besic, McCarthy, Dowell, Baningime, J. Williams RW: Walcott, Richarlison, Ramirez, Bernard, Bolasie, Calvert-Lewin, Vlasic ACM: Sigurdsson, Bernard, Vlasic, Dowell, Lookman LW: Richarlison, Lookman, Bernard, Bolasie, Sigurdsson, Vlasic ST: Tosun, Niasse, Calvert-Lewin, Ramirez Players to Leave: The squad is still way too big so i'd say there is probably going to be at least 6 outs. Probably Gone: Martina, Besic, Bolasie, Vlasic (Loan?), Galloway(Loan?), Pennington(Loan?), Browning(Loan?), J. Williams (Loan) Possibly Gone: Ramirez, Baningime (Loan), Dowell (Loan) We're going to need to keep one of Bolasie/Vlasic/Ramirez otherwise we will have no first team wingers outside of the matchday squad as you will see below. If Zouma's deal falls through I'd say we'd need to keep Pennington at the club as CB cover. Starting XI Silva has already said he'll play a 4-3-3 this season saying last month “Depending the profile of my No. 6, I can play one and two or I can play two and one behind the striker depending on the profile of our No. 6. If we play Schneiderlin, he is a player who likes to play more alone which gives more freedom to the other two midfielders and this is the system I use more”. I think Gomes will eventually be the No. 6 in this system, relegating Schneiderlin to the bench. With Gomes (or Schneiderlin) sitting behind Gylfi I think it's going to work more like a 4-2-3-1 in possession but then a 4-3-3 behind the ball and counter attacking. So I think our full strength starting XI will eventually look like this: Apart from the CB pairing, I think the rest of the starting XI picks itself. I'd be surprised if Mina is paired with Keane or Jagielka. Given his height, size and lack of pace I think Mina will need to be paired with a more mobile defender who can track back in counter attacks (in the same way that Mertesacker was always paired with Hummels or Friedrich for Germany or Koscielny for Arsenal) which will either be Zouma, the 9th fastest player in the premier league, or Holgate who also has an impressive recovery pace. Thoughts blues?

Could not agree more. Some of the contracts signed this season have been questionable to say the least: - a 1 year extension for 36 year old Gareth Barry who plays in a position where we already have Gueye, Schneiderlin, Davies, McCarthy and Besic. - Matthew Pennington getting a new 2 year deal, when next season he's going to be 24 years old and probably the 7th choice CB. - Dominic Calvert-Lewin signing a new 5 year deal when he was already on a 4 year deal and hadn't really done anything too impressive since making his debut. - Seamus Coleman, who still had 2 years left on his deal, signing a new 5 year contract weeks after suffering a double leg break with no return date. - Kevin Mirallas getting this new 3 year deal after 2 consecutive underwhelming seasons. I can't see how any of these are even transfer market-minded contract renewals. I thought Steve Walsh would help us make better decisions in the transfer/contracts market but my fear is that we still don't have a capable board and management making these decisions. To transform the club, half of it has to be on the field and the other half has to be off it.

A new keeper would be nice and we probably will buy one, but this should be like the 5th or 6th priority in terms of signings. Robles is a B to B+ keeper. Someone list me the occasions where we dropped points because of Robles this season? And then give me the list of the available A-quality goalkeepers who are realistic transfers? IMO if you want to increase efficiency in this squad, the priority of signings should look like this: 1. a quicker, ball-playing central defender to partner Williams 2. a quick tall target-man striker to either replace or supplement Lukaku 3. a right winger who can get 8+ goals and alleviate the goalscoring responsibilities 4. a creative attacking play maker to either replace or supplement Barkley 5. a new goalkeeper 6. a designated right back who has greater crossing accuracy than Mason Holgate 7. a backup left back

Mirallas has been ineffectual as a sub this season so I don't know if I buy into the argument that he'll be a handy squad player next season. Valencia has looked much better coming off the bench than Mirallas, but I doubt he'll be signed permanently next season. Sample size is too small as Valencia has only started in 4 league games, but I think most people's opinion would be that Mirallas is a better player than Valencia - but IMO i'd rather have Valencia on the bench than Mirallas..

Looking back at why we didn't crack the top 6 this year, it comes down to the 10 game stretch between Late-September and Mid-December where we dropped 23 points from an available 30: Bournemouth L 1-0 Crystal Palace D 0-0 Manchester City D 1-1 Burnley L 2-1 West Ham W 2-0 Chelsea L 5-0 Swansea D 1-1 Southampton L 1-0 Man U D 1-1 Watford L 3-2 Kevin Mirallas was poor in all 10 of those games, and especially so against Bournemouth, Swansea and Watford in particular. If you took the 11 most used players in the squad and averaged their performances over the course of the season, I'd say Mirallas would be last barring maybe Funes Mori. I think Mirallas falls into the Deulofeu category of player - high max, low mean..

I don't even care that we've conceded two, this has been great to watch

I can see us getting around 5 new players: one or two bargain buys from relegated teams such as Gylfi Sigurðsson or Jordan Pickford, two players around the £25-30m mark, like Virgil Van Dijk, Xherdan Shaqiri or similar, and then a couple of Steve Walsh gems. If Lukaku goes, then I can see us using that money on a couple of high-profile strikers, I think one will be Wayne Rooney and the other will be someone much younger but I'm struggling to come up with a name of one that's realistic..

I think Galloway will have to go out on loan again if you don't leave that backup LB spot open for him. I think the same could go for Holgate and the backup RB position if we sign another CB and don't sell Funes Mori or Jags. I don't think Galloway and Holgate will be content being 4th and 5th choice CBs and 3rd choice fullbacks.. I've always thought it's better that your backup RB and LB's are equally adept at playing CB as it means you can have an extra attacking player on the bench and also it means that those players get more opportunities - Oviedo and Hibbert would go for months at a time without a minute of first team action and then would suddenly be thrust into the start XI.

The hamstring injury where he missed 6 months between July 2016 and January 2017 is the only major one, but somebody please correct me if I am wrong. He started 4 games last season (in which we conceded 9 goals while he was on the pitch), he's got another two games this season so far and with Williams suspended he'll probably start against Leicester. I think by the end of the season I could say he's had enough chances - I mean guys like Ryan Ledson and Shkodran Mustafi didn't even get a single minute in the premier league before we let them go. I think Kenny and Foulds deserve a chance more than Pennington

Pennington turns 23 this year, I'd say if he can't show a lot more promise in the last 7 games of the season then he has no future at the club. He still has another 12 months left on his contract and his weekly wage is only £3,000 so surely some league 1 club would be willing to snap him up for nominal fee. I think when Galloway returns next season he can take up Pennington's position in CB pecking order but can also cover as backup LB.

7 games left with very little to win or lose, I'd say it's time to play the kids. I'd like to see Pennington and Lookman start the majority of games and Kenny, Walsh, J Williams, Robinson and Dowell get some minutes from the bench.

Assuming McCarthy and Schneirderlin are joining Coleman and Funes Mori on the sidelines, I think Koeman will probably go one of two ways: 4-3-3 Robles Holgate Jagielka Williams Baines Gueye Barry Davies Barkley Lukaku Mirallas 3-5-2 Robles Holgate Jagielka Williams Kenny Gueye Barry Davies Baines Barkley Lukaku Koeman's lineups have been unpredictable of late so perhaps Valencia or Calvert-Lewin would play in place of Mirallas in a 4-3-3 but I don't think there are too many alternative options in defence or midfield than what I have listed. I can't say I've seen Kenny play a whole lot so maybe someone can fill me in on whether he would be more of an attacking or defensive minded RWB? When we were playing with 3 at the back in the middle of the season Coleman was getting forward a lot allowing Baines to stay back and Holgate to drift right and I thought that worked well in not leaving Rom and Barkley isolated but also in breaking up counter attacks but I don't know if Kenny is more like Coleman or like Baines.

I think the MOTM poll is a dodgy metric for judging player performance - e.g. Tom Cleverley has more votes than Baines this season, and then Jags has almost triple the amount of votes as both of them. Aggregate player ratings seem more logical to me.

Has got to go in the off season. I think it's likely that Koeman will buy another centre back - he's going to buy new players and we certainly don't need DMs or full backs AND even if we play 3 at the back regularly, Holgate can slip in. It'll be the season leading into a world cup and Funes Mori will want to be the starting CB for Argentina at the tournament. It's the best option for all parties.

How would you fit him in with Gueye coming back into the starting XI? I don't agree with those on Twitter who say there is an argument to 'rest' Gueye against Bournemouth, he's had 4 more days since his last game compared to the rest of the team. I also don't think that Koeman would drop Davies or Schneiderlin to the bench. I'd be shocked to see us start with 5 at the back and 3 defensive midfielders so I don't see any other way around switching to 4 at the back. You could make the argument that Holgate could partner Williams in a central defensive pairing but IMO while I think Holgate is a better player than Funes Mori, I think Funes Mori better compliments Williams - Mori is left footed and Baines provides more/better defensive cover on the left side than Coleman would on the right if Holgate started (Holgate would play on William's right). Koeman also experimented with a Holgate-Williams CB pairing earlier in the season against Norwich in the LC and it didn't really work out too well. Overall, I think there is a better argument to drop Holgate for Gueye as you could see in the difference between the first and second half against Stoke that we were more dominant once we had an extra body in the midfield. Everybody knows how good of a player Holgate can be and he will get his chances to bounce back but IMO I'd rather put him on the bench rather than give Eddie Howe the opportunity to target his defensive vulnerabilities just like Mark Hughes did (via Arnautovic) which would probably have an even more devastating effect on him. I could be wrong..

Whoops posted this in the Stoke thread by accident: Today Holgate defended quite poorly (he'll learn from this hopefully) but I am unsure whether that means that we should throw out the 3-5-2 formation that has served us so well over the past month - but on the other hand I don't know how you could leave one of Davies, Schneiderlin or Gueye out of the starting XI. For this reason I think Koeman will go with a 4-3-1-2 with Gueye playing just in front of the back 4 and from Koeman's post match comments I think he will start Lookman in place of Mirallas who was largely ineffectual today. Joel Coleman Williams Funes Mori Baines Davies Gueye Schneiderlin Barkley Lookman Lukaku Regardless of the formation Bournemouth aren't in the best form and have only won 2 games from 11 away from home this season so we should dominate the majority of the game.

Today Holgate defended quite poorly (he'll learn from this hopefully) but I am unsure whether that means that we should throw out the 3-5-2 formation that has served us so well over the past month - but on the other hand I don't know how you could leave one of Davies, Schneiderlin or Gueye out of the starting XI. For this reason I think Koeman will go with a 4-3-1-2 with Gueye playing just in front of the back 4 and from Koeman's post match comments I think he will start Lookman in place of Mirallas who was largely ineffectual today. Joel Coleman Williams Funes Mori Baines Davies Gueye Schneiderlin Barkley Lookman Lukaku Regardless of the formation Bournemouth aren't in the best form and have only won 2 games from 11 away from home this season so we should dominate the majority of the game.

Connolly is playing RB at Wigan but you might remember he made his Everton debut last season against Southampton as a LB. He also started a handful of games for the U21/23's this season and last at LB. Unsworth has praised his versatility saying that he's equally comfortable at LB, CB, RB and DM. He posses the natural traits and skills to fit all of those positions - he's two footed, 183cm tall, has good heading ability, a goal scoring threat on set pieces, a solid tackler and can cross a ball (but could do with improving). It's quite rare these days to develop players to play three or more positions but you can see how handy it is having a versatile player like that in your squad - think James Milner, Daley Blind, Philipp Lahm and David Alaba.

What is the situation with Garbutt?? Wasn't in the U-23 squad against man u today and looks like he hasn't played for them since his return from loan.. Is he out injured? or not playing because of some other restriction? With Connolly out on loan and Garbutt seemingly unavailable, I'm struggling to think of who Koeman means when he says there are young players who can fill in as backup LWB/LB with Oviedo's departure.