SpartyBlue

He did also play a sublime ball in for Gray late that he couldn’t convert. Really does have a bit of magic dust on that left foot.

Pretty clear process going on. Strengthen the spine and make us harder to score on, which all but guarantees we won’t be in a relegation fight. Now look to add some more firepower at the top end.

I think overall we won’t miss Patterson too much. They are on about the same level for me in this moment in time. Two ships passing in the night as Seamus winds down his career at this level and Nathan ascends. You’d always want to play the kid so he can develop but for this season we have solid cover there. I assume you look for a solid RB in the summer. Obviously this is why we wanted to keep Kenny, though I don’t blame him for declining.

His willingness to get into the box has been nice to see. Can’t help but look 2-3 years into the future to the player he could become.

Was mixed. He had a couple of mistakes but was otherwise his normal tackling self.

He has a great left foot. Unfortunately that’s about all he seems to have as far as being a top player.

I agree that we will likely be better off with players like Gray and McNeil on the bench. I also agree it’s great to have some match winners to sub on. I’m not sure we have another player who would have finished that chance.

Our squad will be a lot better when guys like Gray and McNeil aren’t starting. They have the ability to win a match but are too anonymous too often. Gray in particular was very poor yesterday. Too often there is a simple pass that would further our attack and he instead tries to do a trick or beat two men. He strikes me as a player who is trying to be a star rather than just playing good, effective football and letting those moments of individual skill happen more naturally.

I thought his second opinion was Tuesday?

It's been a lot longer than that. He was better for at least the last 10-15 games of last season as well. That he picked right back up in the new season and that his rise in form coincided with Frank's arrival strongly suggests it's not temporary.

Always thought DCL would be better in a front 2 where they can’t just bracket him so much, particularly with a striker like Maupay who can play a pass. No idea how that would look as far a formation though. Can’t see us going to a back 3. Maybe in a specific spot where we are chasing a game or something.

That’s a goal DCL doesn’t score imo. They are two sides of a coin. One needs it to his feet. Crafty and technical with a good shot and an eye for a pass. The other is a leaper, very athletic and a fox in the box but not a player who is very good with the ball at his feet. We should look into the viability of fusing two human beings for footballing purposes.

Patterson is going to be a superstar if his judgement improves. He has it all but he’s raw as you’d expect from a player with so little experience at this level. Same with Onana. They just need to take their lumps and learn. In 2-3 years they can be incredible.

Iwobi, Gray, Maupay, Gueye all had good games. Iwobi nudges it for me for how smart he was those final minutes and for continually looking to play forward balls. Gueye is always going to be a little underrated but his ability to break up play and provide a willing outlet for the back 4 is immense for us. A player who really understands his role and does it well.

Right, it gave him the idea that he was going to walk in here and start.

Kean was an attempt at this but he came with the idea he’d walk into bring #1 it seemed and through a fit when he wasn’t. Another advantage of the biggest clubs is young talents are happy to come to sit on their benches.

Yea the concern is once the genie is out of the bottle he has better offers than Everton. Or Ajax just keeps him longterm.

I agree with most of your points here. I guess what I’m asking is who could we get to come here and be #2 this window who would provide more? Diaz isn’t clearly better as someone with far less experience. As mentioned, Maupay scored 25 at that level before they came up. I just don’t see how we would sell Everton to someone above Maupay’s level. Would have to be a younger player we take a bit of a gamble on who develops into better.

Why is it a gamble? He’s been a solid striker in the league for years and is a good age. It’s less of a gamble than anyone since Naismith.

Who could we get to come to us and be a backup that would score more? Per 90 he’s somewhere around 1 in 3 with decent assist numbers. The only realistic option we seemed to have is Diaz who has zero experience in the league. Looks a decent prospect after scoring 22 in the championship. Guess what, Maupay scored 25 down there. It’s been a long time since we’ve had a second option better than Maupay. I would say he’s comparable to Naismith.

Indeed. It’s hard to see someone coming to be our 3rd who isn’t a young player at this point (like Diaz). No 10+ goal premier league striker is coming to us to be a 2/3 in my opinion.

We do have some issues there now once players come back. Are Mina and Godfrey just riding the pine? Docoure?

I’m not sure why you say that. He’s got very good CF experience in the league at 26 and has been solid. He’s just a different type of striker. We don’t have another target man if that’s what you mean but not so long to January if we decide that’s needed.

I would say 45 points is a decent target given the slow start and the development that still needs to happen. We can do better than that but should mean surviving comfortably and then pushing on. For me, the next couple windows will be about our attack. Winger, 3rd striker (very likely a young talent) and then a creative midfielder like we tried to get in Kudus. Iwobi is solid as a creater but I see him as more box to box. It would be nice to have an option that can really pull the strings and play the right passes in the key moments. After next summer Frank should basically have the sort of team he wants and I we should rightfully be able to raise our expectations.

We are in full “Trust the Process” mode as Frank has mentioned. In some ways we started from scratch. Will take time but it’s nice to see a clear plan and to see that plan starting to take shape on the field. The overwhelming sense under Frank for me is that, Win or lose, we are a team rather than a collection of individuals. The commitment has been noticeable.