CobblestoneBoulevard

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.express.co.uk/sport/football/971859/Manchester-United-transfer-news-Marcus-Rashford-Everton-Newcastle-Leicester-gossip/amp I don’t see any reason why MU would loosen their grip on this kid given his loads of talents, but wouldn’t this be something to add to our offensive regiment! Stellar foil to Tosun and an excellent addition to our attacking width too. Tosun, DCL, Lookman, Walcott, Lozano* & Rashford...that’s a seriously comfortable set of options!

http://outsideoftheboot.com/2017/10/06/tactical-philosophy-eddie-howe/ In reading through a “rough” description of his leadership style and tactic preference, Howe’s managerial approach seems to positively highlight what many fans see as “what’s wrong with Everton these days”. Possession-friendly and pacey offensive front-foot; technically-gifted and one-on-one confident wingers with supportive fullbacks; aggressive striker support both centrally and wide; healthy work ethics in the midfield to play quality football at both ends of the pitch; and a cohesive and ball playing defensive line (albeit with a less-than-stellar goals scored against record in the PL)...all tightly wrapped together with an extraordinary sense of team comradery and chemistry. Sure his reputation is staked on a short period of success with a small club, but that success is in a tough English football upbringing and demonstrates commitment to see through to the top both deservedly and with confortable class. Frankly, Howe deserves an opportunity to be more than just a mid-table manager and Everton are hungry to prove they they shouldn’t be considered a mid-table club with ambitions too lofty to meet. Between Brands, Howe, and a well-rounded managerial staff, I think we can place ourselves in a 2-3 year reach of CL football (oh and with quite a bit of stupid faith and dumb luck haha).

http://www.hitc.com/en-gb/2018/05/25/bournemouths-eddie-howe-emerges-as-new-second-favourite-to-be-Everton/ In terms of young, modern managers, I find the idea of Howe managing Everton more comforting than Silva...thoughts?

I’ve seen a lot of lineups using Gana and I’m not entirely sure why. The lad is a wildcard tackling winner of the ball and breaks up opposition plays well. Possession of the ball is not his strongest suit though. I think we could fair better offensively, in a match that we should HOPEFULLY control the ball, with the obvious, but somewhat currently controversial, Schneiderlin. Pickford Kenny - Holgate - Williams - Cuco Schniederlin Davies - Siggurdson Walcott - Tosun - Bolasie Offensively optimistic, mobile centrally and wide, provides access to Tosun, and is the same ol leaky defense because let’s be honest...that’s just what we have!

Rafinha would be a stellar upgrade for our central midfield in terms of ball retention and creativity. That said, I think Schneiderlin is still a very capable player stuck in a confidence-struggling midfield with limited quick, short passing options. Placed alongside Rafinha and Siggy would alleviate the pressures of a heavily-focused reliance on long balls and square/reverse ball movement. I could see a resurgence of last season’s Schneiderlin success in that make up. Offloading Besic and McCarthy is a healthy LT decision so long as we hold on to Davies, Gana, and Roony for rotation/injury coverage. While I too want to see Lookman and Vlasic get minutes on the pitch, I probably would avoid playing them through the central pitch as they are clearly wide players. They will do well to play under and rotate with Bolasie and Walcott. All in all, this could potentially be a season-changing and, more significantly, a positive team-developing transfer...even considering a bias to see any changes as improvements during these dim days!

As the JTW opens shortly and debates of which positions require strengthening run rampant, I’d like to hear out opinions on which available/target LB should be brought in the upcoming month. This topic unfortunately does in fact suggest Cuco Martina is not our solution to the weakness in this position...a sure surprise for many of you! Personally, I think a younger, left-footed, PL-tried player would be ideal to inherit. Thus Luke Shaw comes to mind as either a loan-to-buy or buy deal. Names such as Bertrand and Van Aanholt have their benefits as well though. I’m not well-acquainted with other European choices, but I know plenty of squads looking to offload excess players and players looking to gather minutes or time in a better league. Last note, bringing in ANY good LB doesn’t imply simple success. How these players will fit in defensively and, more importantly these days, offensively is important to consider. Any player brought in should mesh well with Siggy and be mightily capable on the cross (two aspects we clearly don’t have presently). Enjoy all!

Right on, I'm glad you don't see them as wingers either! Using Baines and Holgate as our only wide players leaves us with the main issue witnessed in the Tot match though. Any opppsing squad with offensive-minded fullbacks can overload the wings. Either one/two of our center players gets inappropriately drawn out into a wide position and opening up room for a creative CAM (Dele Alli) in the center of our defensive third or we sit center and fight off crosses all match hoping Any decent CF such as Kane doesn't get his beautifully gifted feat on the end of one of them. Either way, we are in trouble against any high-quality opponent with a four-back and no additional wide coverage. We don't possess the offensive talent to play with a front three that would provide wide def coverage and still fully support our CF options. That leaves us considering a back three/five and, as such, now Davies and Gana are areguably rather unlikely to both make the starting XI. True claim to wrap that up though, hence all of us wantabe managers confidently throwing the next greatest line-up around like chimps throw shite!

Creative, but maybe misplaced a bit as Davies and Gana are not true wingers. they both are known for positional awareness mistakes as well and this aspect of their gameplay may call into concerns regarding a well-organized midfield. I'd rather have an issue in the attacking third than the middle third of the pitch! See what you can come up with that would make use of our naturally gifted wide players (Baines, Kenny, Lookman, Mirallas, Vlasic, Siggy maybe) without pulling centered players just because we love them on the pitch. I mean who wouldn't want to put Gana and Davies in EVERY line-up though?!? Haha This is the conundrum though, maybe our best XI doesn't always include their presence.

Koeman is not dumb though so I'm not entirely sold on that being our focused argument. His style of play calls for a CF and I do believe these top-six matches are merely highlighting the ineffective nature of lining up in such a manner. We were well-off in preseason, held our own against Stoke, and somewhat handled our Europa playoff matches with ease; all incorporating a CF style offensive front. Its when we need to drop our "wide" players a bit deeper against heavy-hitting offensive units like MC, Chelsea, and Tot that lacking an out-and-out CF really presents itself as an issue. A two-striker set-up may give us a little more bite up too without sacrificing too much defensive coverage. If anything, at least holding possession for longer periods of play against powerhouse squads would eliminate a fraction of pressure placed on our CMs and Back Line!

While we are only four matches into League Season, our last three matches have provided a rather toothless offensive front. I, for one, am a patient fan, but am at a loss for which idea/concept best suits the adjustments necessary to continue considering our stake as a club looking to break into the top six. I forsee a number of plausible options, but our vast collective knowledge may yield a truly better choice. Personally, Koeman should be considering a two-striker front with wingbacks as wide options/cover and a midfield three (two Def, One Off or Def, B-to-B, Off). Sandro, DCL, Rooney, Lookman, even Naisse are all better played within a front duo rather than as a lone CF imo. Baines and Holgate/Kenny (lord behold his much welcomed first team inclusion) would service our wide options (boy are we missing Coleman right now). Schneiderlin, Gana, Klassen, Davies, and a centralized Siggy would serve well as a cyclic midfield three with much more appropriate offensive options ahead of them. All in all, does a change need to be enacted and if so, is there a better option than the one suggested above?

This!

No chance at any of those targets pal; positive optimism though! A striker is absolutely required. A left-sided CB/FB cover is probably a good idea. IMHO, bringing in a CDM to cover/split time with Morgan should be a priority [yes, we have plenty of middies, but that position in particular is horrendously vulnerable to injury and recovery availability]. Who, if not Giroud or Benteke, would you see filling that Striker roll to best fit our squad's talents and style of play? Honest curiosity ?

If we offload McCarthy, then that leaves us with Barry as our best cover for Schneiderlin, which resulted in a horrendous drop in form for the whole squad during the latter 16/17 season. Selling both of these players would pay for a new arrival and eliminate one team position as well! Matuidi can not only easily cover any injuries or required rest at DCM, but can do the same for Gana (if not actually take over the starting #8 that is). Addition of another experienced trophy-winning mentality and an incredibly intelligent futbol-mind in the squad is only add-on bonus too. Pluuuuus, another high-profile, world-class transfer coup for EFC? I say let's cement that rising power status!

Would y'all be keen on acquiring both Giroud AND Josh King? The latter would provide a more direct playing style and speed-based # 9 alternative to Giroud when required, as well as acting as either starting winger or wide coverage. He may also play a rather complementary foil to both Giroud and DCL in a front two when considering formation changes. Maybe (definitely) bring in Blaise Matuidi to strengthen the #6/#8 availabilities over the course of Europa, League, and Cups (if we can pull off that miracle that is) and a Bruno Martins Indi -type to slot and cover CB/LB options (I'll-convinced on Besic & Holgate needs developmental time at CB before being truly depedended upon). The only questionable situation would be which #10 (Barkley, Sigurdsson, Viera, unknown) fits the bill for the surrounding squad. That would cover the weak links in both offensive and defensive chains, at least for this season! We should offload an equalivalent number of non-essential players if this is the case. That said though, any objections to the aforementioned ideas above? Far too optimistic? Too unrealistic?