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BoroBlue

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Everything posted by BoroBlue

  1. Played well on his debut for Cardiff according to the forums. Played 80mins at the tip of a midfield diamond and looked lively. If he can stay injury free and find some good form at Cardiff he could become a useful addition to the squad next season.
  2. At least we are starting to show some consistency
  3. The biggest thing that is going wrong for me is the lack of consistency of team selection and the insistence on playing players out of position. A team is made up of partnerships which get better with experience of playing together and knowledge of each others game as well as their own, yet players are being asked to play in unfamiliar positions surrounded by others who are out of position or who they are not used to playing with. Use Leighton Baines as an example as he seems to have come in for some stick recently. How many different players have played in the left midfield role in front of him so far this season (Pienaar, Barkley, Mirallas, Osman, McGeady, Atsu, Eto-o, Lukaku, Naismith, McAlaney, Kone, Oviedo). Use Ross Barkley as another example as he is another one getting stick at the moment. How many different positions has he played so far this season (defensive mid, attacking mid, left wing, right wing). Compare this with the current league leaders Chelsea, who have played the same amount of games as us. I know we have been hit with injuries this season but it doesn't account for the difference in consistency.
  4. We signed Tim Howard at 27 and he has been first choice for the past 8 seasons, 28 is a good age for a goalkeeper and at 4 million would be a very good buy imo
  5. Agreed, probably doubled his value already though
  6. One problem for me is that all our wingers or wide forwards or whatever you want to call them are right footed barring Atsu who seems to be deemed not good enough. Someone left footed of a similar quality to Mirallas would add a whole other dimension to the team. Bobby seems to like his forwards to rotate position but I think this tactic would be made more effective with a left footer and a right footer on the wings (possibly what drove him to play likely on the wing). Having 2 inside forwards would also provide more space for the fullbacks to exploit and imo we have the best 2 in the league. Just to throw a name in the hat Yarmalenko is apparently in the last year of his contract, he would be perfect but may have his sights set a little higher.
  7. I agree that last season was a transitional one and in theory this season the players should be more comfortable playing in Roberto's system, what concerns me is the number of defensive errors and lapses in concentration we are seeing. I am not for one moment suggesting that last year the players were ignoring Robertos instructions, what I am suggesting is that perhaps the defensive side of the game is being neglected in training under the current regime and this is why we are now starting to see a decline in that area. Martinez has his side playing the best football I have seen at Goodison in a long time and I am certainly not longing for a return to the negative tactics employed by his predecessor, however, I would like to see us retain the defensive solidity we have become accustomed to, and perhaps the way to do that is for Martinez to bring in a strong defensive coach to help him in that area.
  8. Do we need a top quality defensive coach to work alongside Roberto? hate to say it but someone in the David Moyes mould? A bit early to be drawing any conclusions just yet but the idea that last seasons defensive record was a remnant of the Moyes era is looking increasingly plausible.
  9. With Martinez suggesting he wants to add just one more and the Atsu signing expected to be announced this week, do people think we have the numbers required to compete in 4 competitions this year? What do people think is the perfect squad size? I would like to see 2 players in every position with an extra defender and an extra forward to allow us to go 3 at the back or 2 up top when the occasion calls for it without stretching the squad. Any more than that could have a negative effect on the squad by unsettling players who are not getting enough playing time and blocking the route to the first team for young players coming through. With that in mind, I think purely in terms of numbers we have the perfect squad size now, Where we need to improve is the quality of some of the squad players. Of the players currently on the books how many are good enough for a team wanting to sustain a top 4 challenge?
  10. Would love to see a video montage of every touch Naismith had during the game because I must be missing something, In the game I watched yesterday he looked awful, as he has every time I have seen him yet he seems to be getting mainly positive reviews on here. The main positive seems to be his effort, and I admit he is a tryer, but in terms of footballing ability I just don't see any, his touch is awful, decision making poor, creativity non-existent, lacks pace and/or power and has no skill with the ball at his feet. Like I say I would genuinely like to know what I a missing, because he can't be that bad if the manager continues to pick him, the fans largely seem to be happy with his contribution and even the match commentators yesterday were very complimentary about his performance. P.s. McCarthy Motm for me, tidy and effective without being spectacular and no-one else really stood out.
  11. If Felliani is on his way out with McCarthy already lined up as his replacement, as the papers this morning are suggesting, how would people feel about Barkley moving back to play alongside McCarthy in the middle? The McCarthy rumour seems to have been met with a lot of negativity among Everton fans, with many feeling he would be a step backwards from Fellaini, this may be true if he is viewed as a direct replacement, but he isn't. The 2 players skill sets are very different. Felliani is a dominant, box-to-box midfielder who carries a real goal threat when in the box. McCarthy is a deep lying midfielder with good ball retention and passing ability. What we lose then is the goals that Felliani brings to the side (although this seems to be less this season with Fellaini moved deeper) and a dominant driving force in the middle, what we gain is a player well versed in Martinez style of play who is able to get the ball moving. Moving Barkley back in to the 'no8' role alongside McCarthy would give us a real driving force in the middle, someone able to take the ball forward and make something happen to complement McCarthys more simple and disciplined game, it would also leave a vacancy in the side for a genuine no10 to play in front of these 2 which is where I believe we would get the goals back. I have always been an advocate of Barkley playing in that no10 role while he cuts the mistakes out of his game, but have always felt he would eventually end up playing in the middle. Due to his rate of development already this season and due to circumstance it may be best to accelerate him in to this position. If the figures reported are correct this would leave us 12million to find a top class no10 who would bring creativity and goals to the side. I genuinely believe this would give us a more balanced and creative midfield. We would also have more options with the injury-prone Gibson and tired looking Osman not so heavily relied on. All in my opinion of course and based on rumour but I am interested to hear your thoughts.
  12. http://myevertonnews.com/stubbs-lundstram-was-the-most-exceptional-player-on-the-pitch-against-betis/ http://www.evertonfc.com/match/report/1314/real-betis-b-v-everton-under-21 Had a bit of a stormer last night for the under 21s against Betis B apparently.
  13. Getting rave reviews on one of the donny rovers forums, apperently bossed the game last night: http://www.drfc-vsc....?topic=237765.0 "Was at the game tonight, he started off pretty nervy, first 10 minutes he gave it away a bit and looked a bit wayward but he was always in space, which is good - it shows even when he's playing badly he'll offer us something. After that he grew into the game and in the 2nd half completely ran the show in midfield, he was everywhere. He is that Richie Wellens type midfielder who we've been crying for, he has it all. Some of his passing was out of this world, purely world class stuff that nobody else in the squad can do, diagonal balls from halfway, cross field balls, through passes down the middle. No fecking way will he be in L1 next season, even at this early stage in his career his technique is unreal."
  14. BoroBlue

    Reading

    http://blog.emiratesstadium.info/archives/24246 This article tells you everything you need to know about Martin Atkinson, how he is ever allowed near an Everton game is beyond me, if only Moyes had the same influence over the FA as old whiskey nose!
  15. Seen a rumour on a couple of sites that Spurs are interested, 9mil plus caulker, sounds utter boll*cks to me but I wouldn't say no to that, throw in Livermore and Naughton too and we have a deal
  16. My team for tomorrow: Mucha Coleman Heitinga Duffy Garbutt Neville Junior Mirallas Barkley Gueye Vellios team for the weekend: Howard Hibbert Jags Distin Baines Gibson Osman Naismith Felli Pienaar Jelavic
  17. Not a rumour but anyone else think we missed a trick with Henri Lansbury, moved to Forrest for 1m today. Seen him play a few times for U21s and West Ham and looks a tidy player to me, would have been a good squad player at a good age on relatively low wages and would much rather see him in the middle than Neville or Heitinga.
  18. Well I am slightly concerned that Moysie might take his eye off the ball next season if he is running a school too, honestly the selfish bar stewards wasteing time on charity when they should be concentrating on football.
  19. Out of interest who do people think have been the best centreback paring under Moyes? How do the current crop compare against the old guard?
  20. We could have signed Peter Schmeichal for 510k in 1991, but we didn't, and hindsight is a wonderful thing. All in all I think we should be pretty impressed with Moyes signings, especially when you look across the park and see the shower of shite our neighbours spent 100million on last year
  21. I wonder if Man City fans are angry with Mancini for selling a proper winger like Shaun Wright-Phillips and using central midfielders like David Silva and Samir Nasri in the wide positions?
  22. I think it is old style wingers Moyes is against and I completely agree with him, the old fashioned pacey winger whos only thought is to get his head down and get to the byline to get a cross in. I thought our style of play in the second half of the season was excellent, with Pienaar and Osman playing in the wide positions with the freedom to drift inside, and the width provided from the fullback positions. I hope Moyes keeps the same formation and style of play next season and any players he brings in fit in to that system.
  23. Just watched the extended highlights on the official site, well worth a watch for anyone who hasn't seen it and decent quality picture too. Really likeing the look of Barkley and Baxter, seem to play very well together. Browning and Lundstram both impressed me aswell and still got high hopes for Vellios, allthough he seems to have gone backwards abit to me since the start of the season.
  24. Everyone has their price, everyone, just look at Ronaldo. The question is what is Felliani's price and is anyone willing to pay it. I would say he is worth 25-30m in the current market (based on age, contract length, ability and other recent transfers). If anyone comes in with a bid that big for him I would be gutted to lose him but would completey understand why the club has to accept it, It would give us enough money to bring in a replacement, appease the banks and strengthen the squad elsewhere. I don't see this as a lack of ambition, just the way it is, football is a business.
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