Steve_E

let me guess...you don't rate him either? what a shock

Dempsey is older and will never score as much goals as last season again. He doesn't do much else either whereas Llorente is a strong lad who can keep the ball up. Dempsey also won't even fit in their team I'd say. If you have Lucas, Allen and Sahin in the middle there's no more room for him. He could play on the left I guess. (Depsey scored a league goal every 195 minutes last season btw, Llorente one every 132 minutes).

Sam Matterface:
 
Rumours of Jack Butland to Everton #EFC is nonsense. #BCFC
 
 
more inclined to believe this to be honest

DONE DEAL!
 

 
IT'S OVER!

Man.United have signed RVP too if you missed that!

Behave
 
Fixed
 

He already said to the press here he was sad to leave Copenhagen but when an opportunity like Everton came he obviously had to go, so he knows.
 
Also the reported fee mentioned before did turn out to be way overblown, probably covers his wage too, it's about 2 mil pounds. Take care of him, love the guy and his wife (a mrs. Costa Rica) is really fucking hot.

I think Real Madrid won 2 Champions Leagues in the mid to late nineties and in that time period they bought Roberto Carlos (from Inter), Christian Panucci (from Milan), Christian Karembeu and Clarence Seedorf (both from Sampdoria), Fernando Morientes (from Zaragoza), Peja Mijatovic (from Valencia), Davor Suker (from Sevilla after Euro 96), Nicolas Anelka (from Arsenal), Steve McManaman (from Liverpool), etc. They always have been a top side and they always will be.
 
Also, Modric is one of the best deep lying playmakers around so seems a reasonable move and reasonable money (if you look at the money paid for mediocre players) to me.

His defensive duties has always been what he lacked, he has however improved a lot and has actually become really solid back there. He's still often used as a winger in our 442 though. Instead of that other match against FCM posted above watch this, he's heavily involved in the comeback and really all the 3 last goals (starting from 2:45), even scores the 3-2 goal and has a great tackle for the last goal that breaks up the play and then the assist.
 


 
Think the 5 mil reported is BS. You have been reported to have bid one mil before and he only got 1 year left of his contract... Maybe the 5 mil is for the contract and other stuff too?

Well, that was probably the most enjoyable match for me so far this season. That was because we were never under any sort of threat at all, we completely controlled the game and went about the victory in a totally professional way with minimal fuss. We may have only been playing Leyton Orient but doing that against a side like Orient has always been a problem for us, but we put that to bed last night and I couldn't have been happier. We didn't give them a sniff and destroyed any confidence they may have had nice and early and squished them like a bug. We were ruthless for the most part. Job done.
 
The defence and goalkeeper had pretty much fuck all to do all night, and whenever they did get near our goal their chances were mostly snuffed out quickly. It was the midfield that was the star of the show. I felt that we were lacking a bit without Fellaini and Gibson but the rest of them really stood up. Where Fellaini and Gibson, and Pienaar to a certain extent, stand out for what they individually bring to the table, last night the midfield banded together and it was a real collective effort. The fluidity and inter-play they showed in working together when they won't have played together much was brilliant.
 
 
Mucha - Fortunately we kept the ball as far away as possible from this balloon for most of the game. I could well imagine him throwing the ball into his own net if we'd let him get near it too often.
 
 
Coleman - I thought he was superb, probably even better than when he burst onto the scene for us tbh. He was the same energetic Forest Gump but he got his head up to see what was around him and he has definitely been working hard on his crossing, that ball for Gueye was magic. One criticism I have is that, at least at the beginning of the game, he was giving the Orient wide players too much room.
 
Heitinga and Jags - Untroubled.
 
Baines - Absolutely shit my pants when he took a knock very early on and wanted him to go off there and then. Fortunately he seemed to recover and went on to have a strong half. He looked to have more confidence in Maggie, where in the past you've visibly seen his reluctance to give him the ball. But last night they linked up well together while Baines was on the pitch.
 
 
Naismith - If not for Mirallas he'd have got my MOTM vote hands down. He was absolutely superb. I knew he'd be a good signing for us but even I'm surprised at just how well he's settled in already. You wouldn't think he'd only been here a few months, the way he works in tandem with our other players is brilliant. It's totally fluid. For example, I loved how, in the second half, he'd swapped with Vic and was playing upfront with Vic switching to the right. He also showed some lovely touches to create openings and to drive the ball forward. One highlight was the ball for Coleman which led to Gueye's goal. It was gold. Like Coleman, though, one criticism is that he didn't get tight enough to the wide men at the beginning of the game.
 
Osman - Really stepped up to the plate in the absence of Fellaini and Gibson to lead our midfield in attack. He dropped back well to receive the ball off the defence and was always taking the ball forward to get us going. He did a cracking job of being a box to box midfielder and even capped it all with a goal. Also, it was good to see him linking up very well with the new boy, Mirallas, already.
 
Neville - Shielded the defence well so not much actually got to them.
 
Gueye - I've seen that some think he had a poor game but I thought he looked much improved myself. Yes, he gave the ball away a few times but he's young, that will happen. He showed more strength on the ball than I've seen, he got his head up more and played his left-sided partner in a few times. And he scored a cracking goal too. Overall, I was very pleased.
 
 
Mirallas - Two goals and two assists. That is a MOTM performance if ever there was one, I couldn't possibly give it to any one else. In that first half he was absolutely brilliant. Yes, he faded in the second half but that was to be expected really. I think giving him a free role behind the striker was a masterstroke by Moyes. Seeing as he's getting used to playing for us and in a new league letting him roam without too much responsibility was the right move. And roam he did. He popped up everywhere; left of midfield, right of midfield, central midfield, upfront. Because of this he found so much space. Often, he was completely on his own. It was only against Leyton Orient but all the signs point to us having a quality player on our hands.
 
 
Anichebe - Another player I've seen getting a lot of stick about his performance but I didn't think he was that bad in all honesty, and I am no fan of Vic by any stretch of the imagination! I thought he ran a lot more and at least tried to use his strength a bit. An he got himself on the scoresheet. He was just a bit wasteful in possession when he could have played others in which frustrated me. He tired horribly towards the end of the game though and it made me wish we hadn't used all of our subs so we could get him off.
 
 
Just a word on the three youngsters we brought on. Duffy and Garbutt looked very good. Duffy, in particular, slotted right in. Barkley, apart from maybe one or two occasions, was a bit disappointing. He was trying too hard, IMO.

*Cough Cough"

Some great insight in here. I really do hope Belgium get it together on the International stage as they could have a really good mix of flair and steel. Players like Vermaelen, Felli, Lukaku & Kompany playing alongside Mirallas and Hazard.

There can never be too much football, not being personal here DK but just lighten up, it's only football. Try to enjoy it once in a while it'll do you good.

Give a young lad a chance to sign for Everton or Milan...it was a no brainer. Sorry.
 
Being an Evertonian, I'd have jumped at the chance but he's not and given the two, I don't blame him. Will it be good for his development? Who knows. Best of luck to him. Maybe we'll get him on loan next year or something

It might be easier for a manager to do it as it is perceived to be less risky, but there's no objective reason not to put in a young midfielder or centre back if he has the talent. Vincent Kompany became a regular starter for Anderlecht when he was 17. Of course, that was in a lesser league, but he was also a stand out performer in their Champions League games against Bayern, Inter, Valencia and the likes at a very young age.
 
To be honest, I was a bit disappointed when Barkley didn't get too play against Villa. If you can't give him a go when you're 3-0 up against ten men, when can you? I highly doubt Heitinga appreciates having to come on for a couple of minutes to waste time at the end of games too, so I would have just used that third sub to get Barkley on 60-70 minutes in.

Good.

Far too much read into his apparant singing. It's a catchy tune.

Thats true... Seemed to have caught the Vic falling over and complaining disease.

Impressed with Naismith so far.

Naismith looking very lively.

The Belgian clubs who have really invested in their youth programs are Standard and Genk. They've really invested in infrastructure. At Standard, even the young boys (like the U9's) have indoor training facilities and the likes. State of the art stuff. They and Genk have really modernised their training methods as well. They're in contact with clubs and experts in France, Holland and Germany and they've really got a new emphasis on the technical ability of their players and the transition between all of the age groups and eventually into the first team.
 
Anderlecht have invested in their youth program as well in recent years, but of course it's too early to expect immediate results. Of course they'll also simply attract the best young talent as they're the biggest club in Belgium. That Dennis Praet lad Mirallas just mentioned actually got his training at Genk, but then just screwed Genk and signed his first pro contract for Anderlecht when he turned 16 after being courted by them, Arsenal and Real Madrid. Of course, Genk and Standard do the same thing with smaller clubs. And all of the Belgian teams lose a big part of their best players to foreign clubs (mainly the Dutch big three PSV, Feyenoord and Ajax and the French clubs in the border area, like Lille and Lens; but to a lot of English clubs as well of late) which is probably the most frustrating thing about the youth program. You invest a lot of money in it, but you can't seem to keep the best ones.

i'd be delighted with a scrappy 1-0..winnin this match could really set the stalls out for the season..losing it kills all optimism and momentum gained from utd

I didn't realize Fetfatzidis (Fetfa) was on the menu as well. I have to say I'm surprised. IMO he's in no way ready for EPL and honestly never will be. Not because of his potential, but because players like him are better suited for the Primera and Serie A. Diminutive and agile, with great technique, dribbling skills and passing ability (short balls and ground game - NOT long high balls) vision, but does not have explosiveness, speed, shot power and strength (although he's worked on it and has gotten better - doesn't get knocked around as much).
 
The problem with this kid (not just him, but any other greek kid with apparent super talent and potential) is that the greek sports (rubish) media (which are ridiculously extensive - over 150 sports tabloids and websites for a 9 million person nation), by virtue of a 5 minute appearance and one nutmeg (dribble) ala Zidane "baptize" him as the NEXT "greek Mesi", the "greek Maradona", the "greek this and that", and as a result either a) overinflate a young man's head so that he believes he is the shit or b.) put enormous pressure on a fragile young man's confidence that he must live up to those expectations/headlines.
 
As it stands right now with Ioannis/Yiannis/Giannis/John (yes, same name) he is a diamond in the rough, but HE needs to put in a LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT of work to achieve his potential. He is not even a starter at Olympiacos. He appears not to be able to shoulder the hype. It is crushing him. A few glimpses of WOW and then he vanishes. He needs to work on his game. Practice, practice, practice. Kevin did it on his own for 2 hours before practice, he needs to do it for 4 hours. He can fix, strength, he can fix shot power, he can improve speed, but I don't know how he can fix sustained explosiveness. You are either born with that or you are not. However, you can disguise it with another attribute. Positional awareness and creating open space for yourself.
 
Like I said. A lot of work. Not to mention that at Olympiacos there are NO coaches that work on player skill and game improvement. You need to have what the coaches (who have tremendous pressure on them to win every game by a 5-0 margin)need or you sit on the bench and get few chances. Players (especially young ones) have to fend for the themselves and hope a skilled veteran on the team takes them under their wing and "mentors" them.
 
The "cut" from the Napoli friendly was not a potential transfer protection move it was a freakin wake up call by the coach.
 
In closing I will mention that he plays both wings, more effectively on the "opposite" foot as he cuts inside, but in my opinion (and disappointment that Olympiacos have not tried to play him there) he would be a fantastic AMC.
 
PS. I ain't no freakin Toffee Lady

But then you're giving it to the player who has the most outstanding individual games (even if he plays shite forty times) rather than the bloke who's been reliable and consistent every game over the year.
 
Not sure that's right.
 
 
As is it the votes naturally weight themselves so that if someone wins with a standout performance in a win over a big club they get a lot of points because there's a lot of interest.
 
Average performance we get fewer people on so the winner gets fewer votes; shit performance nobody can be arsed.
 
I still think it's the fairest and best reflection of performances over a season.

I would prefer Gibson and Osman playing in front of the defense, but I won't be calling for Moyes's head if he puts Neville in there with Gibson from time to time. Especially against the top teams, where Nev tends to play at his best imo. I think we'll see plenty of both partnerships.