Devil's Advocate

[Ian C]

 

 

Okay so everyone knows I love Landon as much as the next guy. He's a fantastic professional, came over here and worked his butt off and built a lasting rapport with everyone involved at Everton.

 

There's no denying his loan spell was a success. He brought a balance and directness to the side that we often lack and showed Moyes what could be done when both flanks of your team can attack.

 

But...

 

 

Landon Donovan is 28. His game is built around his pace. He was easily the fastest player in our team when he was with us.

 

What else does he really have?

 

He's good with ball to feet, but Pienaar, Arteta, Ossie and Billy are all better than him.

He's creative and flairful, but again the above players are better than he is here.

He's got a decent finish (His miss at Spurs nothwithstanding! ) but nothing we haven't seen from any of our forwards or midfielders.

He tracks back well, but that's really down to his pace.

 

As much as I loved having his pace in the side, do we have to take the fact that Landon might have only 2-3 good seasons with us? Can we afford to take on an £8m-£12m investment with no return?

 

Topic for encouraging debate, all angry messages to milky71.

[MikeO]

Topic for encouraging debate, all angry messages to milky71.

Milky's history . You take full responsibility for this .

[Ian C]

Milky's history . You take full responsibility for this .

 

I'm just a humble poster. I know naught of what you modgod's do in your secret forums!

[jcrawfor]

Yes, Landon could be worth the investment. We need pace on the right and at the moment if we brought in someone who was on par (or close to it) with Mikky, Peanuts, Bily and Rodders for 12mil I'd be estatic. Sure he wouldn't be an improvement on oneof our CM players, but that's not why we'd be buying him. I don't think we can go around comparing players of different positions. Clearly Donovan is better than Ossie and Vic on the right; playing him (or someone similar) also allows us to play Ossie and Vic in their best positions, which makes our TEAM even better. I'd say Landon is a shoe in for players I'd pursue for that reason and one other: he took 0 games to "settle." His first game was as good as his last. I think that alone is worth 2-3 million.

 

Who would we bring in instead? (we NEED a right winger)

[Ian C]

I do agree that we need a right-winger. But can we do better than Landon for the money being bandied around? It's quite a lot of money for a player who would be getting his last 'big' pay-cheque.

[MikeO]

Where does the £8-12m figure come from? Thought the figure talked about was less than that, though I can't remember exactly.

[Ian C]

Where does the £8-12m figure come from? Thought the figure talked about was less than that, though I can't remember exactly.

 

Isn't that the general figure being used? I know I saw some rumours of Chelsea planning a £10m bid to replace J. Cole.

 

He has just signed a new contract, he's a massive ambassador for the MLS and the USMNT. They won't let him go too cheaply.

[Bailey]

While I thought Donovan was very good while on loan with us I still think there was some scope for improvement.

 

For me his biggest plus' were that he is rapid, very direct and has a real ability to pick a pass and to also finish a chance. Some of the passes he played through to Saha were simply exquisite and was something we are lacking if Pienaar or Arteta are having an off day.

 

However, while I wouldnt say he didnt work hard, you could see that at times he was trying to look like he was doing work rather than actually doing anything useful. Sometimes he would run up next to some player and instead of closing him down properly, or using his pace to make a challenge. I also think he went anonymous in some games, which I certainly wouldnt say was all his fault (mostly Neville's ) he still could have tried to get on the ball a bit more and make himself available.

 

When you look at the amount he would cost and whether we could get another player in for that much of that quality then Im not quite sure. IMO we could only afford a player like that if we bought him young and gave him a couple of years to really settle down (maybe this new Silva fella?!).

 

If Donovan cost around 6mil then I would definately say yes, otherwise I would probably settle for another loan spell, hopefully for a bit longer this time though!

[Matt]

if he helped us into the top 4, your return is made. If he could help the team achieve this in his 2-3 years, the return might even be a new player or two from the prize money, one of whom could be a replacement for him. I dont think he will slow down that much, i would sign him on a 4-5 year contract, his work rate wont disappate as quickly as his pace. His back-tracking is down to stamina more than speed, and that should last longer too.

 

Just a comparison - Pienaar is only 28, would you buy him for the money youre talking about? Other teams like Spurs (even Utd mentioned yesterday i think) are willing to.

 

sorry dude, this one is a no-brainer!

[marcopaulo]

i heard 6 million and personally would pay upto 10..he is far quicker than anyone we have already fits in the team and already loves and is loved by the fans...that is something that could take another player 3-4 months and we dont have that kind of time next season to wait around..agree with the above it is a no-brainer

[Ian C]

if he helped us into the top 4, your return is made. If he could help the team achieve this in his 2-3 years, the return might even be a new player or two from the prize money, one of whom could be a replacement for him. I dont think he will slow down that much, i would sign him on a 4-5 year contract, his work rate wont disappate as quickly as his pace. His back-tracking is down to stamina more than speed, and that should last longer too.

 

Just a comparison - Pienaar is only 28, would you buy him for the money youre talking about? Other teams like Spurs (even Utd mentioned yesterday i think) are willing to.

 

sorry dude, this one is a no-brainer!

 

But we're not Spurs or United, we can't kid ourselves.

 

We don't have their money. Without serious investment we'll be struggling to qualify for Europe again next season, let alone compete for the top 4.

 

The question is, can we find someone younger and hopefully cheaper?

 

And of course I'd be willing to buy Pienaar for £10m. But that's because he's a better player than Landon. Tied down to a contract Pienaar would be worth ~£15-£18m. If Landon only had a year left on contract we could be looking at a fee of £4-£6m max. Lest we forget how good Pienaar is with ball to feet, Pienaar will be able to play at a top level longer than Donovan, no question.

[Romey 1878]

We could spend the money on someone else who is younger than Landon but there is no guarantee that they would settle in for a while, or ever, whereas with Landon we know he'd come in and make an impact straight away and maybe help us to finish in a better position come next summer.

 

We don't have the luxury of being able to wait and see.

[BrotherEstapol]

I really think he'd be worth the supposed 6mil pounds that was being brandied about ealrier this year...hell I reckon we'd at least be in Europe if he'd stayed this season.

[rubecula]

My own opinion is that Landon would be great for us and bring something to the side to help us create money. (ie shirt sales in USA, and a possible joust at European competition)

 

If we signed him for 2 to 3 seasons he would more than pay for himself in that time.

 

Yes we should go for him.

[Wall Writer]

My personal opinion is that, when (what did the post starter call him??, oh yeah!) Landycakes was playing for us, we looked a much more balanced side. We were able to launch dangerous looking attacks down both wings, and looked much more formidable. It's OK having that great Baines-Pienaar parntership on the left, and don't get me wrong that is a good partnership we've got going on down there. However, we do look a bit one sided at times, and if you think about the right hand side, we are much weaker.

 

We either have Hibbert or Neville overlapping someone like Osman or Anichebe. The latter two not really effective right-wingers, and the former two , whilst hard-working, are not the best deliverers of the ball. I know there are many Coleman lovers here, so imagine, Seamus and Landycakes attacking down the right, with Baines/Peinaar down the left, (not to mention a spine of Arteta, Fellaini and Heitinga)<< that line up makes me shiver with excitement.

 

I didn't think of this before, but I also have to agree with Rebecula, about the shirt sales thing. It seems Donovan is immensely popular over there, and we saw for ourselves here how many new members were coming on the site just because he'd signed with us. Don't know how much of an effect this would have in real terms but, I think 6million would be a steal, 8 would be good business and 10 a bit of a push, but justifiable.

 

I'd love to see him here permanently, however, I'm not sure it's gonna happen this summer. We may see him here on another loan spell though, which I suppose is better than nothing.

Edited May 4, 2010 by wallwriter

[BrotherEstapol]

Forgot about the Jersey thing...the club would make a killing!

Hell, I'm in Australia and one of my mates has US heritage and the first thing he said when I told him Landycakes(lol!) was potentially coming in on a loan, was that if it was true, he'd buy an Everton shirt.

 

And this guy's a Blackburn supporter!

 

 

In other news, I am now considering buying a no.9 jersey with LANDYCAKES on the back!

[Wall Writer]

In other news, I am now considering buying a no.9 jersey with LANDYCAKES on the back!

 

If he does sign for us, I'll certainly buy one of them.

[Lowensda]

My own opinion is that Landon would be great for us and bring something to the side to help us create money. (ie shirt sales in USA, and a possible joust at European competition)

If we signed him for 2 to 3 seasons he would more than pay for himself in that time.

 

Yes we should go for him.

 

Spot on, we'd make his fee back just in shirt sales. I say, its a great move on Evertons behalf, low end wages, good ability and determined attitude. If we can get three seasons out of him, hell yeah!!

 

I understand your points Ian, i think we could buy a better technical player but i think Landon adds the fan base to his name.

[StevO]

if £6m is the fee, no brainer!

[The Beard]

Answer to get the money is simple.

 

Get rid of Yobo, Distin, Neville, Jagielka and Hibbert. Put Coleman right back, Heittings and Rodwell at centre halves, keep Baines. Duffy for cover for centre halves and any youngsters/ wide players can cover for the full backs. Simples

 

p.s Am I on the right thread?

[Lowensda]

Answer to get the money is simple.

 

Get rid of Yobo, Distin, Neville, Jagielka and Hibbert. Put Coleman right back, Heittings and Rodwell at centre halves, keep Baines. Duffy for cover for centre halves and any youngsters/ wide players can cover for the full backs. Simples

 

p.s Am I on the right thread?

 

He's only stays in the same thread...he'll never see it!

[craigb]

if he helped us into the top 4, your return is made. If he could help the team achieve this in his 2-3 years, the return might even be a new player or two from the prize money, one of whom could be a replacement for him. I dont think he will slow down that much, i would sign him on a 4-5 year contract, his work rate wont disappate as quickly as his pace. His back-tracking is down to stamina more than speed, and that should last longer too.

 

Just a comparison - Pienaar is only 28, would you buy him for the money youre talking about? Other teams like Spurs (even Utd mentioned yesterday i think) are willing to.

 

sorry dude, this one is a no-brainer!

 

 

I havn't read any other replies below this one, as i believe your comments nail the matter on the head mate... Everything written there is what i also believe...

 

Plus, we know how he plays in our team, so thats gotta be a plus, i mean, say we bought some random winger and it didnt work out? At least we know that Landon fits right in, and has a general desire to succeed in our team

[milky71]

i am happy to accept the blame if donovan does return.

[milky71]

Milky's history . You take full responsibility for this .

sorry mike0

[MikeO]

sorry mike0

You're back because Louis made a mistake tidying up in the admin conrtol panel. He merged your four user accounts into one, which happened to be one that wasn't banned. So you get another chance. There won't be any more.

[milky71]

You're back because Louis made a mistake tidying up in the admin conrtol panel. He merged your four user accounts into one, which happened to be one that wasn't banned. So you get another chance. There won't be any more.

so was i banned incorrectly then

[MikeO]

so was i banned incorrectly then

No....you were unbanned incorrectly.

[rubecula]

I suspect reading this now Milky that you were UNbanned by mistake. If I can be so bold to comment mate, I would suggest you take the lesson (whatever it is) to heart. I know from being admin on another place myself that banning people is not a nice thing to have to do, and I am sure the admin here would prefer never to have to do it.

[milky71]

I suspect reading this now Milky that you were UNbanned by mistake. If I can be so bold to comment mate, I would suggest you take the lesson (whatever it is) to heart. I know from being admin on another place myself that banning people is not a nice thing to have to do, and I am sure the admin here would prefer never to have to do it.

 

it seemed tome that louis agreed that certain mods had over reacted as i believe he unbanned me twice.

 

not sure but i trust louis to get things right.

 

if i upset anyone then i apologise.

[milky71]

I suspect reading this now Milky that you were UNbanned by mistake. If I can be so bold to comment mate, I would suggest you take the lesson (whatever it is) to heart. I know from being admin on another place myself that banning people is not a nice thing to have to do, and I am sure the admin here would prefer never to have to do it.

if you look at secondpost in this thread i think you'll see that mike enjoys banning me

Edited May 7, 2010 by milky71