London Blue

Tough on Mori and Davis as I though they deserved a start, especially Mori, why change a back 4 that kept a clean sheet? I wonder if Deulofeu not in the squad means he is defiantly going in Jan?

I think we will buy him, Koeman has said he likes him, we have the money, and we know that Lennon, Jerry and Mirallas are not the solutions out wide.

He would be a great mentor for Ross and some of the younger players.

I think the Koeman way is starting to have an effect on the team, the honeymoon is over, some players have had a strop, but there is no doubt who is in charge at the club. I think we saw with the win at Leicester the "just win" philosophy coming to the fore. I think we will win by a couple.

I agree he is best playing in a midfield 3 where his defensive duties are light. If we have Gana and Schniderlin in midfield next to him given time I believe he would excel.

He does give his all for the team, to say otherwise is just plain wrong and I would suggest biased. He is inconsistent and as I and others have said will get better when he has better players around him. Koeman will get the best out of him, he just needs time and our support, he is very much a confidence player.

What would he learn from another manager that he can't learn better under Koeman?

Barkley plaid well, but he is not a holding or defensive midfielder, and once McCarthy went off we lost drive, mobility and defensive cover in midfield. The keeper getting injured robbed us of the chance to replace a tiring Valencia and Lennon. Barry was not mobile enough to offer cover and we lost the midfield, git pushed back and lost the match. He has been a great servant to us but when we get a replacement we will be allot better off.

When we lost McCarthy we lost his mobility and work, and we ceded the initiative to them. Loosing our keeper as well meant we couldn't make changes we needed to freshen up tired legs later on. Second half we played well enough considering we were holding on. Defense played well on the whole. Williams looks a real player after the Arsenal performance, and Mori worked well with him, although is long range passing is poor. Barkley played well when he had the opportunity to, and put in a real shift. Gana was his usual self Mr reliable. Overall despite the loss I am optimistic, if we get Shneiderlin, Memphis and Gabiadini then I think we will be a different team, with more quality out wide and mobility in midfield.

Been said before but I will say it again, we cant judge him till he has better players ahead of him. I agree tho, no player is more important than the team, but we are along way away from having to write off a player with so much talent and love for the club.

No, we will be glad we never did.

4 -4 in the FA Cup in 1991.

Barkley plays better when he has good players ahead of him, if there is nobody making runs, or finding space there is not much he can do. When we have those players we will see him blossom.

Crikey this thread has taken a bizarre twist. Barkley has tremendous talent. He needs Koeman to help bring it out, I think the fact he has been a top international player will help with this. He needs to have players ahead of him moving into space, he also needs to have confidence in his team mates. When he does not have the above two then he holds on to the ball looking for an option and loses possession, or he tries to score a worldy and loses possession. Koeman is building a new squad, once he has done this we can see where Barkley fits into this and how he performs, then make a decision. If you put him in a team with good wingers and attackers he will be the player we want him to be. That's not to say he is not above criticism, he is not, but it needs to be constructive and fair, not just slating him for being an attacking player who made a mistake. This has nothing to with service people who have made sacrifices for this country or those who have overcome great personal challenges. To try and link the two is in my opinion a disservice to the above groups. Oh and those who say Ross is not one of us, an Everton fan, you are wrong, he is.

Time for him to move on - really? Lets face the facts he is, a quality younger player still only 22, created the most assists for us last season, on his day is a very dangerous player. On top of that he loves the club and is one of us. If we sell him how much will we have to spend to replace him, and what sort of message does that send out to the other academy players, that they will never get a chance even if they are as talented as Ross? Ross is the type of player that makes a good team better, its not easy to make incisive passes or create chances if there is no movement ahead of you which there has not been as confidence has been low for the last month. We need to see how Koeman develops his squad after another couple of transfer windows and see how Ross fits in then before we start calling for him to be sold.

Koeman is managing an Everton squad in need of major overhall. Until he has had the chance to get the players in he wants and train them in is tactics we cannot fairly judge him.

Agree, but if a Spurs, Arsenal or Chelsea come calling they will join them as they already have champions league games

Unless you're playing us.

Defence is a joke, and not a funny one.

Come on you blues, let's have a good performance and some swagger and a win!

Need the performance we had 2 years ago. Must win and under Koeman I think we will win. He will know his old team and will definitely wont want to lose, so he should be able to come up with a plan to get us a win.

If they go its going to be CL teams, especially Payet given his performances for France.

He needs to be dropped, until he gets his mojo back he is a liability and spreads fear and uncertainty throughout the team.

If we can get better players to play around him that would help. I don't think he has confidence in the players around him, therefore he tries harder to make up for it. As you rightly say a confident Barkley playing on instinct and not over thinking things is a sight to see, and makes us a much better team.

Not from what I have seen, but a run in the side will give him the chance to prove himself. I think he is an ideal Koeman player, good technical ability, aggressive, looks to close down, can pass.