Hafnia

That's for a team who played 90% of the season with a manager who doesn't really bring out the best in goalscorers too.... Its crazy really, the same level of criticisms that can be levelled at Lukaku are the ones that shoot Wellbeck down http://hereisthecity.com/en-gb/2014/04/25/opta-analysis-lukaku-vs-welbeck-which-everton-target-has/ As I have said, for the right money Wellbeck could be a very good signing for us. I think with consistent run of games you will see a very confident player who would suit our system. Quick head to head:- Finishing:- Lukaku, he knows where the net is, no doubt. Wellbeck is no slouch, I did see a couple of times where composure was lacking for united but he is adept. Lukaku wins this. Hold up and link up play:- Wellbeck is the better footballer for me - better touch and passing ability. Lukaku is poor in this regard Athleticism/Prescence:- You shouldn't really be able to top lukaku in this regard, but he could be better, he needs to use his size better and in the air for me I think he needs to spend time with Dunc . Welbeck is very quick, fit and lasts 90 minutes at a better level of work rate. Welbeck has superior stamina and presses the opposition very well. Both have their own attributes, Rom is more explosive whereas Welbeck is more gazelle like. Value:- If we can get welbeck for £10m it represents smart business and is at a level where we would improve our team and have money left for other purchases. I believe that there is a little bit more to come from Lukaku, but not to the level everyone seems to expect. Welbeck given a steady starting place could become a very good player indeed - for me he is technically sound, an athlete and a bloody hard working player. If we had daft money to blow £20-£25m Lukaku represents an exciting signing, realistically though the supposed more safe and boring option of Welbeck appeals to me more in terms of what we have financially. We need 2 good strikers to be bought to go along with Naismith and Kone - buy Lukaku and that can't happen.

I actually think De Gale will be a very good fighter, my mate is a boxing coach and had major money on him against Groves... his reasoning is that he feels he has all the attributes to go to the top. Clearly the wrong fight to make that bet!!! Froch I believe would get beaten by De Gale - Froch will slow down now and I think De Gale would be the wrong fight, he doesn't need him - go fight Ward in Vegas...

the question is: "why wouldn't mourinho give him a shot?" He has scored more goals in the past two season than his other strikers... He is young and supposedly going to improve... I think you look at the attributes of Mourinhos key strikers over the years and undertand why, Eto, Milito, Drogba, Higuin were favoured.

If fit yes, I'd sooner see Flanagan play than Johnson

This all day long. Moyes actually offered Baxter a contract - security and a place at the club he grew up at and he left as a free agent... that says it all to me. Moyes thought he was good enough to keep but clearly not good enough to play (or to have played). Was Baxter good enough? we will never know. Back in 2008 (6 years ago) he scored a pearler in a pre season friendly which screamed of "ability". Physically/Athletically he wasn't in the same league as Rooney or Barkley but they are freaks. Technically I have no doubts. So that brings me on to it, I stated about Wengers philosophy that if a player is pretty much technically where he will be at 17. For me I looked at Baxter and did see a very technically acomplished player, good with both feet, skilful, great balance, great passing and could strike a ball. That was at 17. From that age he basically stagnated - played in the reserves where he basically wasn't tested and brought along. Like anything in sport, if you play at a level within yourself you will not get better, play squash against an easy opponent and you will stay at the same level, pitch yourself against a better level and you will learn smarter tactics, new angles, strategies speed of thought in order to beat them. I feel he wasted that development time and in reality he has slipped down the ladder too much. Baxter must have irritated Moyes, for the very reason that fans knew about him and his qualities - Moyes was being pestered to give him a chance, the same way he was regarding Barkley. Now this is we get to where Moyes disgusted me.... Baxter: 2011, some 3 years after scoring his pre season beauty we were trailing 2-0 to Bolton in an awful team performance with Moyes sat slumped in his chair as if it had nothing at all to do with him. 78 minutes of hoof ball made Moyes realise that this Bolton side was more than capable in dealing with it with Gary Cahill having Anichebe and Fellaini comfortably dealt with. So what does Moyes do? Throws on Baxter for his 2nd appearance in 2 years... I remember feeling sick for the lad, there he was all eager and chomping at the bit and he was supposed to be changing the game when all the other players were trudging round. Moyes sat there unmoved for the remainder of the game. One thing stood out for me though, Arteta took a corner and instead of hitting it to near/far post - pinged it to Baxter who was lurking 25 yards out to hit on the volley. I took that at a massive statement - Arteta knew that Baxter had it in his locker to do something with it and he did get a good strike away that flew wide. Was it because he thought it was the best way to score, or because he knew that Baxter had something in him that deserved an opportuniuty? That game told me all I needed confirmed about Moyes, he was a bully to younger players, a flippant "don't care, go on, show me what you've got then mr superstar" Baxter made one more appearance before leaving the club. 7 appearances in total, a joke when you consider the amount of games where he could have had some time. Barkley:- MOTM against QPR, made one mistake against Blackburn and had the rug pulled out from under him - left in rerserves and to go to lower level clubs where his confidence was slowly eaten away. When he did get his chances they were the most ridiculous inclusions, started on the wing against Spurs, got the last 10 minutes previously in the same position against a physical Stoke side. Then when he had to play him instead of Osman away to Arsenal and he shined in his "correct position" Moyes churlishly compared his performance as "Okay" comparing it as better than his performance out of position against Spurs. The fact was It wasn't an okay performance - it was a very good performance where he bossed a very good midfield. The point is, Barkley and Baxter are the two big hopes who Everton fans kept on their radar... we wanted to see them and Moyes knew this. What about the poor sods who weren't so richly touted that we knew nothing about??? Who maybe the likes of sheedy believed deserved a chance.... Hence Sheedy:- ‘In my seven years Moyes showed no interest in our youth team.’ - coincided with the night that Adam Forshaw won player of the year. Its all very well saying that "Forshaw was not going to be good enough" - you only know if you give them a chance at the higher level.

Must be the fact that he hasn't played in months and Ivory Coast aren't exactly shy on strikers with Drogba, Bony, Gervinho, etc. It was his injury as to why he wasn't taken by all accounts.

Im not certain we are linked with him but.... He's taking his chance after making a stupid mistake - for me its a low risk potentially very high reward gamble at £4m. He has ability no question and has all the attributes you want and he has hit 20 goals two seasons on the bounce. Chip paper news story for me, but I wouldn't be so quick to write this lad off, clearly knows where the net is and should be playing at a higher level than he is. Is he for us? Probably not. Would not be surprised if someone like Leicester came in for him.

Aguero for me - if he stays free of injury, I expect Argentina to do well, semis at least. Got a funny feeling about England, there seems to be a better spirit and togetherness around the squad, I don't see the massive cliques that I used to - Neville's and Beckham, Gerrard and Carragher, Lampard, Cole and Terry. Too many chiefs and not enough Indians and there always seemed to be a bit of a leadership battle. I know for a fact that Gerrard did not like Terry - at all. I think it is clear that we have one leader now - Gerrard. I actually like the way he conducts himself as England Captain, he lets the others bring toi the table what they can do, there is no clash of ego's and othewr alpha males rising against him. Lampard is waste of a place for me. In that heat his legs will be nothing, Gerrard at least is sitting in front of the back 4. My biggest concern is Johnson at right back.

There's the good... I would be a bit disappointed with keeper but yeah nice goal. £30m? I'm in!

Moyes is full of shit. The only thing he enjoyed at old trafford was playing Billy Big Bollocks at the start, after that he looked lost. He's coming out now trying to make out he had a plan etc etc - he had no such thing. Be interested in knowing which clubs are interested, will not get to manage a club our size again.

No I know, I'm being satirical about the money these players are on. It's like £25k is the breadline now. The madness is he could demand treble that and be justified. Fuck, why couldn't I have been a pro footballer. I'll be honest, I would need some seriously big slaps off my brothers to get grounded. After which I would cherish every single opportunity to play.

Blimey Everton are going to be seriously loaded when we sell Barkley to Man City, Stones to Chelsea, McCarthy to Man United, Coleman to Arsenal.... Wow £130m... Probably still be considered paupers who will need to sell Ledson and Green to pay the eleccy Bill. Maybe these players will look at each other and the manager and think "eh up, I'm actually a part of a very good team here, £50k a week is plenty for me and I'm getting international recognition" That's just me thinking that Everton are actually a big club and aren't a subservient feeder club for sides like Chelsea and city who have less titles than us.

Poor bastard, probably has to get the bus to training. He's probably reading this story whilst having his summer break in bognor Regis.

Lol, so good even a chef could manage him. I agree, he's got all the ingredients to be world class. Sorry....

Groves will be better for that fight, he's a better boxer than froch, just not as strong. Would like to see him fight degale next and knock him all over the ring. Really can't stand that arrogant prick. He will win a world title I'm sure.

The way I see it is this. If he was the "£20m is worth it for him as he is going to get better" - mourinho would keep him. No question at all. Missed development? Yes. Again I repeat after his formative football years his first touch is not going to improve a massive deal. I remember Roy wegerle years ago saying that any kids wanting to be a good striker should have someone kick the ball at them and learn to kill the ball with any body part. He may get a little better in this regard and yes he is going to be a good solid player. I do not think he is going to be world class though. If we pay £20m for him it will be a good thing for the club in some ways - attract other players etc as he will be seen as somewhat of a marquee signing. But I think we will have spent our budget on him.

I thought groves was level with froch, froch was throwing the majority of punches but they weren't scoring. To me groves plan was working, it just so happened he got caught by a peach of a punch. Jim watt came across as an old prick who just feels he needs to be right all the time.

No I just think that lukaku "gets away" with many of his weaknesses because of his size. A big compensation.

If we went and spent £20m on him then for me it's similar to the £15m we spent on felli, actually probably less risk in reality. However when we went and spent £15m on felli it was an absurd risk that never nearly paid off. The reality was with fellaini he was the towering midfielder who bossed Gerrard in the European fixture against Liverpool. Is lukaku a £20m player?, yes he is because people have paid a lot more for shite. Lukaku isn't shite, far from it. He isn't great either though - for me £20m should mean a fully rounded footballer. He's got weaknesses but his strengths in this days market will see clubs pay a daft sum for him. I've got a major beef with this whole lukaku love fest, he's great at doing things many a natural player would never be able to do, therefore it seems he's been able to neglect the fundamentals. If shit like this isn't addressed then the days of seeing an Alan Ball, George Best, type "you aren't big enough son" beat all odds because of technical, 2 footed brilliance will be gone. The saying goes "a good bigun beats a good littleun" and yes that's the case, but for me I look at lukaku and see missed development, and a player too used to getting his own way. Was zidane a great footballer because of his size? No, he was technically brilliant, but was he more technically brilliant than iniesta? For me no. If iniesta had zidanes size and athleticism he would be the best player the world had seen.

That is one seriously awesome squad of players. Maybe they just need that class striker in his prime. Other than that, outstanding talent.

Victor and lukaku are very similar in stature, pace, lukaku has more of a goalscorers instinct and intelligence. Their technical flaws are very similar. Vic when he had his head on it was great, he scored some great goals rolling his man and finding the bottom corner.

I think it's a great model. It shows that unlike moyes, he will be keen to give the Jose baxters, Adam forshaws, proper game time and the ability for the club to classify them with a transfer fee, so that way if they are championship quality or lower prem having proven such in games then we can get a fee in for them. I understand sheedys frustration under moyes, it must be great to know that his hard work with the youth has its rewards under Martinez. I'm hearing very good things about what's happening at finch farm, each young player has a specific map according to development needs all with a view of making first team. Of course not all will make it but they know the interim goals they need to aim for. Looking forward to seeing ledson, Kenny, browning, long all make their next steps.

If we could get welbeck for £10m I would be happy with that. I think what he has in terms of development needs is mental, , physically a great athlete, I believe with consistent games he will score goals. He is not a 20 goal a season man but will get us 15 plus link up very well.

I think back to Reid and bracewell, they were like a pair of bouncers. But they could play, remember bracewells ball over the shoulder to Steven vs Sunderland after they dared to score. Leathered them, one of my favorite games that. I was a kid then too.

Lukaku could make me look like a Tit by being a beast one game and bagging 4 goals and a genius the next game for looking shite. What makes him look good is not in doubt, when he has his tail up and fancies it he can be a handful. What makes him look shite is the stuff that makes him hide and withdrawn. Is he a flat track bully???