Steve Walsh (Director of football)

[Aidan]

2 hours ago, Paddock said:

Walsh doesn't pick the team or the tactics, he has zero input on the training ground and has no involvement in the motivation of the players.

All of that falls firmly at Koemans door. Did anyone honestly expect him to come here and immediately buy 3 Kantes and a Mahrez for a portion of chips and a can of dandelion and burdock?

Pretty much, yeah, that's his job isn't it?

[Makis]

I was expecting him to build a balanced squad, not a totally lopsided one like it is now. He's had two-and-a-half transfer windows and we don't have a top quality striker and only one good CB. And still no cover for LB and preciously little pace in the side. But we do have about a gazillion attacking midfielders, none of whom look to be able to dominate a match.

[rubecula]

7 hours ago, Paddock said:

Walsh doesn't pick the team or the tactics, he has zero input on the training ground and has no involvement in the motivation of the players.

All of that falls firmly at Koemans door. Did anyone honestly expect him to come here and immediately buy 3 Kantes and a Mahrez for a portion of chips and a can of dandelion and burdock?

no but the dandelion and burdock had a bit more fizz in it.

[Paddock]

4 hours ago, Aidan Lewis said:

Pretty much, yeah, that's his job isn't it?

It's his job to identify and sign players, he can't work miracles- there's all sorts of factors that come in to play but in less than 12 months it's unrealistic to expect him to find all kinds of gems for next to nothing.

[markjazzbassist]

8 hours ago, Paddock said:

Walsh doesn't pick the team or the tactics, he has zero input on the training ground and has no involvement in the motivation of the players.

All of that falls firmly at Koemans door. Did anyone honestly expect him to come here and immediately buy 3 Kantes and a Mahrez for a portion of chips and a can of dandelion and burdock?

i expected quality signings and some "under the radar" kante, mahrez, vardy, etc types.  he's the director of football which we haven't had (ever?  or in a while?).  his job has made me think moyes and RM did just as well and they managed too.  Not sold on the DOF position unless you're Barca or something.

[StevO]

We’ve never had a director of football before, we don’t really know the ins and out of his job. 

[Hafnia]

On 09/10/2017 at 18:37, markjazzbassist said:

glad someone else is finally taking a hard look at him.  he needs it just as much as koeman does.

I don't recall any of us being particularly disappointed with his sales and acquisitions.....

I don't recall walshes job being involved in the consistently shite team selection and tactics.

A manager of any reasonable standard would have us playing far better than we are with the squad we have. 

We have a better squad now than we did under Martinez. 

[Bailey]

I'm actually more disappointed that we have paid big money for supposer big name established players worth half that. 

The under the radar players have been better IMO. Gana, DCL, Vlasic mainly. Schneiderlin was a fair price, as was Pickford but the rest are looking expensive and don't fit the mould of the team IMO. Although I think they have more to do with Koeman than Walsh as they didn't really need any scouting. They are more like players you pick when you first start up a game of football manager.

[markjazzbassist]

1 hour ago, hafnia said:

I don't recall any of us being particularly disappointed with his sales and acquisitions.....

I don't recall walshes job being involved in the consistently shite team selection and tactics.

A manager of any reasonable standard would have us playing far better than we are with the squad we have. 

We have a better squad now than we did under Martinez. 

no one was mad we didn't get a striker and LCB?  what are you smoking?  Pretty much the whole transfer thread was everyone in the whole forum mad we didn't replace Mori and Lukaku.  Koeman himself wanted those things as well.  

[duncanmckenzieismagic]

I don't recall any of us being particularly disappointed with his sales and acquisitions.....
I don't recall walshes job being involved in the consistently shite team selection and tactics.
A manager of any reasonable standard would have us playing far better than we are with the squad we have. 
We have a better squad now than we did under Martinez. 

Haf put your latest vendetta / obsession to one side for a moment because as usual you are letting it distort your memory . As I recall just about everyone was hugely disappointed that we never replaced Lukaku.
Walsh is supposed to be head of recruitment , including playing staff , so surely you can see Walsh is a part of that failure?
It’s not just Lukakus goals we are missing , he was the focal point of all our attacks , although you are probably still blind to that as well because of you previous obsession. So to not replace him is criminal , especially given the amount of time we had known he was going
He still had 2 years on his contract so we were holding all the cards , we should never have sold him if we didn’t have a replacement

[Hafnia]

Oh ffs no one on here looked our team without lukaku and mori and thought "oh shit!"....  Walsh has messed up. 

We have 4 centre halves in holgate, Keane, Williams and jags.  We bought Rooney and sandro as forwards. 

Yes I would have liked us to have got giroud - he came close but opted to sit on his arse in London.

 

So where have we gone wrong?  Have we missed a striker?  No.  Lukaku wouldn't have made any difference at all.  Unless he was going to drop into midfield, take the ball off our two defensive miss and dribble all the way to the oppone ts goal.  Defence?  Koeman has picked a struggling Williams over a reliable jags. 

 

We have a manager who is making shit decisions.  Alienating players. And generally making a complete fuck up of the job.

 

Ah.... yeah let's blame Walsh because he never managed to get a striker.  Let's blame Walsh because he sold a striker who had no intention of playing for us.  Even though the lack of a striker has had fuck all to do with our predicament.   Did walsh tell koeman to play our £45m record signing out of position too?

 

Fuck all to do with a vendetta dunc. Maybe you just dont see koeman for being completely clueless and out of his depth. . Fair play to you.... i wish i had the non vendetta type of patience that you have. 

[Haiku]

Have you watched Moneyball? That's how manager and sports director are supposed to work together. 

[Paddock]

1 hour ago, hafnia said:

Oh ffs no one on here looked our team without lukaku and mori and thought "oh shit!"....  Walsh has messed up. 

We have 4 centre halves in holgate, Keane, Williams and jags.  We bought Rooney and sandro as forwards. 

Yes I would have liked us to have got giroud - he came close but opted to sit on his arse in London.

 

So where have we gone wrong?  Have we missed a striker?  No.  Lukaku wouldn't have made any difference at all.  Unless he was going to drop into midfield, take the ball off our two defensive miss and dribble all the way to the oppone ts goal.  Defence?  Koeman has picked a struggling Williams over a reliable jags. 

 

We have a manager who is making shit decisions.  Alienating players. And generally making a complete fuck up of the job.

 

Ah.... yeah let's blame Walsh because he never managed to get a striker.  Let's blame Walsh because he sold a striker who had no intention of playing for us.  Even though the lack of a striker has had fuck all to do with our predicament.   Did walsh tell koeman to play our £45m record signing out of position too?

 

Fuck all to do with a vendetta dunc. Maybe you just dont see koeman for being completely clueless and out of his depth. . Fair play to you.... i wish i had the non vendetta type of patience that you have. 

Lukaku would make a massive difference to our team right now. I know you find that extremely hard to stomach but he would and to suggest otherwise is just ridiculous.

He improves practically every team on the planet.

[Hafnia]

24 minutes ago, Paddock said:

Lukaku would make a massive difference to our team right now. I know you find that extremely hard to stomach but he would and to suggest otherwise is just ridiculous.

He improves practically every team on the planet.

Massive difference? How???

We aren't creating chances so what is he going to offer us? 

All very well watching him over at old Trafford doing his usual and putting poorer teams to the sword when given chances on a plate.  As much as their fans love him at the moment there have been many articles on football 365 with cautionary notes tegarding his lack of movement and willing and wasting chances at critical moments but finishing when the game is a dead rubber. 

Our problems are much bigger than a striker or lack of one. 

[Makis]

Not sure Lukaku would have done that but Calwert-Levin just isn't good enough yet to start every game. A clinical finisher would have scored more goals. Main problem is it's very hard to come up with a lineup with the best players that makes sense. How do you cram Rooney, Sigurdsson, Klaassen (he was a big buy so we can't just throw him under the bus), Davies, Schneiderlin and Gana into the team? Never mind players like Vlasic and Bolasie (once he's fit).

We have four central defenders, sure, but it has been clear Koeman doesn't trust Holgate there. Williams was not a good signing and Jagielka's decline has been obvious. And Baines shouldn't be the only first team left-back at the club.

[Hafnia]

We have made the 7th most defensive errors.  The 7th least chances created....we lost the most duels.....

How is lukaku gonna address that?

 

He isn't.  Just another point scoring exercise. 

It all points to A) a substandard quality team....or  B.). a manager who can't get the best out of them.

At the moment it's B for me. 

 

 

 

[MikeO]

6 minutes ago, hafnia said:

We have made the 7th most defensive errors.  The 7th least chances created....we lost the most duels.....

How is lukaku gonna address that?

 

He isn't.  Just another point scoring exercise. 

It all points to A) a substandard quality team....or  B.). a manager who can't get the best out of them.

At the moment it's B for me. 

Our opposition would've been set up completely differently if we still had Lukaku because they'd be aware of the massive threat that he is. The fact that we're toothless up front gives them the confidence/freedom to be more expansive and attacking. Lukaku; or someone with his level of talent, would make a huge difference to us.

[Hafnia]

20 minutes ago, MikeO said:

Our opposition would've been set up completely differently if we still had Lukaku because they'd be aware of the massive threat that he is. The fact that we're toothless up front gives them the confidence/freedom to be more expansive and attacking. Lukaku; or someone with his level of talent, would make a huge difference to us.

Not for me. DCL has done a far better job at pressing the defence and stopping them advancing than lukaku ever has.

Compare DCL vs Man City to Lukaku vs Chelsea.  Absolute night and day difference. Lukaku forever let the defenders step out with the ball. 

 

The problem is k9eman hasn't used DCL well enough. 

[Makis]

It's not about pressing but about trying to deny Lukaku from getting a chance to run with the ball & shooting. If DCL gets the ball 30 yards from goal with space defenders aren't too concerned. If Lukaku does the same he is very much capable of creating a shooting chance.

And I don't know why you keep harping about Lukaku when it's far from the only issue in the squad. How about you try addressing them?

[Paddock]

I'm staggered anyone can genuinely believe DCL is doing a better job than Lukaku. 

That's not a slight on the lad- not many would do a better job but he's way beliw the level Lukaku is- even if he does hold it up better we're not scoring goals. We can have as much boss hold up play as we want, without putting the ball in the net it means absolutely nothing.

[Hafnia]

31 minutes ago, Makis said:

It's not about pressing but about trying to deny Lukaku from getting a chance to run with the ball & shooting. If DCL gets the ball 30 yards from goal with space defenders aren't too concerned. If Lukaku does the same he is very much capable of creating a shooting chance.

And I don't know why you keep harping about Lukaku when it's far from the only issue in the squad. How about you try addressing them?

Why not try to read the flow of the posts to understand that i never brought lukaku into it in the first place.  Which is why I said it's not about him. Ffs

[Hafnia]

11 minutes ago, Paddock said:

I'm staggered anyone can genuinely believe DCL is doing a better job than Lukaku. 

That's not a slight on the lad- not many would do a better job but he's way beliw the level Lukaku is- even if he does hold it up better we're not scoring goals. We can have as much boss hold up play as we want, without putting the ball in the net it means absolutely nothing.

Are we here again? Did I say DCL is doing a better job? Or did i say he is doing a better job "pressing" than he ever done?  Yep... the latter. 

[Paddock]

38 minutes ago, hafnia said:

Are we here again? Did I say DCL is doing a better job? Or did i say he is doing a better job "pressing" than he ever done?  Yep... the latter. 

So you'd still have Lukaku over him in the team like you said before yet you think he'd make no difference to us- so why have Lukaku over him of he'd make no difference at all and DCL is doing a better job than him of pressing.

[Hafnia]

12 minutes ago, Paddock said:

So you'd still have Lukaku over him in the team like you said before yet you think he'd make no difference to us- so why have Lukaku over him of he'd make no difference at all and DCL is doing a better job than him of pressing.

Put it this way - there ain't much in it!  A £90m player vs an inexperienced kid.  In terms of how shite koeman has us set up and the scarcity of opportunity for a striker to prosper it bears the question 'what use is a fox in the box.....

Yeah I would probably just about go lukaku and tell him the kid is ready to be brought on if he was gonna do his stand around and wait for the ball act and not work the backline. 

Let's not try and rewrite history here and make out that lukaku would be tearing up trees to get us out of this slump. DCL has been a shining light in a very very shit season so far. He has a lot to learn - fortunately he has the right attitude to do that. 

 

If we had a team that was producing chances and getting the ball I'm in dangerous places for a striker then it would be lukaku all day long.... but we aren't. 

[duncanmckenzieismagic]

Haf if Even if Lukaku was just the player you make him out to be he would still make a massive difference to this side because as Mike says teams would set up differently knowing the threat he carried
The truth is Lukaku offers a hell of a lot more than you give him credit for, I would have thought even you would have realised that by now
He was our focal point, without him we have no out ball, defenders are then having to try and play out from the back like they did in the Martinez era.
The likes of Williams and Jags are out of their comfort zone doing that and so mistakes creep in and confidence is crushed

And yes it was a mistake to sell him without getting in a replacement first, even if he did want to leave . Coutinho wanted to leave the shite but they held firm and so he’s still producing the goods for them
Lukaku would have done the same here

[seve]

I have been watching Everton since 1959, and Lukaku is in the top 3 strikers i have watched in that time, imo when we sold him that was the end of Everton improving on last year.

Even if we signed giroud (no pace) we would still be in the mire, Lukaku was or is a natural predator with pace we have not had one since the 80s.

I thought i was the one who was vindictive as regards Tim Howard ( still angers me to mention the name) but haf you have got me beat hands down if you think he would not make a difference to our currant one paced crew. I would give united £100 million tomorrow to have him back.

But i do agree with the general opinion that the defense in particular Williams is poor and disorganized.  

Just an old mans opinion.

[Bailey]

7 hours ago, MikeO said:

Our opposition would've been set up completely differently if we still had Lukaku because they'd be aware of the massive threat that he is. The fact that we're toothless up front gives them the confidence/freedom to be more expansive and attacking. Lukaku; or someone with his level of talent, would make a huge difference to us.

This is the main point. Koeman would start him every game, and we would automatically pin teams back a little more and create a bit more space between him and the defensive midfield. 

I think DCL can bring the same type of threat, it's just that he isn't as good at it and that Koeman doesn't start him up front in every game. We played really shit with Rom upfront last year too, so this isn't about Rom, it's about the fella on the touchline. 

Going back on point, from what I have heard Walsh did identify strikers however we didn't get them over the line and that isn't his domain. He identifies the talent, he doesnt come up with the package.

[Matt]

8 hours ago, hafnia said:

Not for me. DCL has done a far better job at pressing the defence and stopping them advancing than lukaku ever has.

Compare DCL vs Man City to Lukaku vs Chelsea.  Absolute night and day difference. Lukaku forever let the defenders step out with the ball. 

 

The problem is k9eman hasn't used DCL well enough. 

Hes not been clinical enough either. One thing the opposition knows when playing against him is that Rom will have a good chance of scoring. We currently have no one who has that fear factor. 

But yes, DCL is not being used correctly

[Guest]

1 hour ago, seve said:

I have been watching Everton since 1959, and Lukaku is in the top 3 strikers i have watched in that time, imo when we sold him that was the end of Everton improving on last year.

Even if we signed giroud (no pace) we would still be in the mire, Lukaku was or is a natural predator with pace we have not had one since the 80s.

I thought i was the one who was vindictive as regards Tim Howard ( still angers me to mention the name) but haf you have got me beat hands down if you think he would not make a difference to our currant one paced crew. I would give united £100 million tomorrow to have him back.

But i do agree with the general opinion that the defense in particular Williams is poor and disorganized.  

Just an old mans opinion.

Na, he's shit... He'll be found out once people start targeting him in there tactics. Early days at utd.

[rubecula]

I don't like the idea of a director of football.  Many years ago we had a coach, but it became important that the coach could have control of more than training.  So, we then got a manager.  Now we are telling the manager "do the job, but we don't trust you so you will have a superior looking over your shoulder."  It is not, nice, or good.  I have worked this way and I ended up dropping things etc.  So although I do not blame Mr Walsh for this situation, I think he should not be there.  If you employ a manager let him manage,  if he fucks up, get a new manager.  But don't hand tie him and then blame him.

 

If Walsh wants to get involved in the football, let him get his badges and become a manager, if not let him be a director of the club like any other.