Fabian Delph

[Romey 1878]

10 minutes ago, Wiggytop said:

Biggest problem we have with Delph is that no one will want to buy him, he’s permanently crocked, never mind being rubbish on the pitch. All the calls ( me included) in the last window suggesting Leeds would love him are so deluded, he’s the opposite of a Leeds type of player, they have players who can run and play a forward pass.

He's another player that we'll only be shut of once his contract expires. It's quite a long list.

[Btay]

2 minutes ago, Romey 1878 said:

He's another player that we'll only be shut of once his contract expires. It's quite a long list.

Horrible bit of business. He’s not even a calm head out there, has the least composure of our players. Davies, who has struggled the last 18 months, looks more of a player than Delph.

[Romey 1878]

16 minutes ago, Btay said:

Horrible bit of business. He’s not even a calm head out there, has the least composure of our players. Davies, who has struggled the last 18 months, looks more of a player than Delph.

I wish I'd been wrong about him, I really do. In fact, he's probably been even worse than I imagined.

[Hafnia]

Funny isn't it....

Years ago we had one player singled out - Alex nyarko.  Fan ran on pitch and basically told him to get his shirt off for the non effort..

Some of these players are lucky that fans aren't in the stadium. We have had a good few high earning passengers over the past few years and they need firing.

I wonder if Delph, Siggy and Gomes are in a whattsapp group with Schneiderlein, niasse, mirallas? 

We bought Delph to replace Gana..... Worst business. 

[London Blue]

4 hours ago, Hafnia said:

Funny isn't it....

Years ago we had one player singled out - Alex nyarko.  Fan ran on pitch and basically told him to get his shirt off for the non effort..

Some of these players are lucky that fans aren't in the stadium. We have had a good few high earning passengers over the past few years and they need firing.

I wonder if Delph, Siggy and Gomes are in a whattsapp group with Schneiderlein, niasse, mirallas? 

We bought Delph to replace Gana..... Worst business. 

Gomes played well when he came on against Burnley, and he has shown nothing but respect to the club and its fans. You maybe want to take the hating glass's off before you go cross eyed....

[StevO]

8 hours ago, Hafnia said:

Funny isn't it....

Years ago we had one player singled out - Alex nyarko.  Fan ran on pitch and basically told him to get his shirt off for the non effort..

Some of these players are lucky that fans aren't in the stadium. We have had a good few high earning passengers over the past few years and they need firing.

I wonder if Delph, Siggy and Gomes are in a whattsapp group with Schneiderlein, niasse, mirallas? 

We bought Delph to replace Gana..... Worst business. 

No issue with Gylfi, Gomes, Schneiderlin or Mirallas personally. They all contributed from time to time. We’ve had many worse players in the past and still do now. 
Gomes is still in our best 11 when everyone is fit for me. 

[Hafnia]

4 hours ago, London Blue said:

Gomes played well when he came on against Burnley, and he has shown nothing but respect to the club and its fans. You maybe want to take the hating glass's off before you go cross eyed....

Oh shit I'm sorry mate.  Forgot about your slight obsession with him 

I do think he's lovely and all that and he's a gifted footballer and he is a PR dream and signs autographs and stuff but I am looking for players with desire and character. 

[Hafnia]

48 minutes ago, StevO said:

No issue with Gylfi, Gomes, Schneiderlin or Mirallas personally. They all contributed from time to time. We’ve had many worse players in the past and still do now. 
Gomes is still in our best 11 when everyone is fit for me. 

"time to time"...spot on.  We are experts at collecting "time to time" footballers.  

Get enough of them in a club and you get a piss weak mentality. 

Gomes being good enough to be in our first 11 when everyone is fit is exactly the reason why we need to buy more players.

I'll ask you this.... When was the last time you seen him play consistently good football?  I'm going back a long time ... When he was on loan. 

I'm not expecting his derby performance week in week out.  But he alternates between decent and poor.  His floor level is too low and too often. 

 

[StevO]

1 hour ago, Hafnia said:

"time to time"...spot on.  We are experts at collecting "time to time" footballers.  

Get enough of them in a club and you get a piss weak mentality. 

Gomes being good enough to be in our first 11 when everyone is fit is exactly the reason why we need to buy more players.

I'll ask you this.... When was the last time you seen him play consistently good football?  I'm going back a long time ... When he was on loan. 

I'm not expecting his derby performance week in week out.  But he alternates between decent and poor.  His floor level is too low and too often. 

 

We only have two better midfielders in Allan and Doucoure. Until we’ve got maybe four better midfielders than him he’ll have my full support and I’ll look forward to seeing him in the team. 
Im more concerned that we have no fullbacks than worrying about Gomes. 

[London Blue]

3 hours ago, Hafnia said:

Oh shit I'm sorry mate.  Forgot about your slight obsession with him 

I do think he's lovely and all that and he's a gifted footballer and he is a PR dream and signs autographs and stuff but I am looking for players with desire and character. 

I think coming back from that injury shows his desire and character to be honest.

I'm not obsessed, I just call out BS when I read it, and in certain threads you do keep me busy.

[Hafnia]

2 hours ago, StevO said:

We only have two better midfielders in Allan and Doucoure. Until we’ve got maybe four better midfielders than him he’ll have my full support and I’ll look forward to seeing him in the team. 
Im more concerned that we have no fullbacks than worrying about Gomes. 

I know we have only 2 better midfielders....and prior to the transfer window he was part of the worst midfiekd I've seen at everton.  That was my point, which is why I said we need to buy more.  Hoijberg looks like he would have been ideal.....

Does the fact that we have no fullbacks mean we cant discuss midfield? 

[Hafnia]

1 hour ago, London Blue said:

I think coming back from that injury shows his desire and character to be honest.

I'm not obsessed, I just call out BS when I read it, and in certain threads you do keep me busy.

You'll have to forgive me for judging a players lack of desire and bottle by them passing backwards and sideways and dangling out a foot to stop a pass rather than make a tackle.

Yes... We know he got injured and came back.  I recall Coleman doing the same and it not impacting his courage. 

He is lovely though is Gomes, if I wasnt judging him on his football performances I'd deffo have a crush on him too, there was a period of a few games where he did make me want to learn Portuguese just in the hope I could serenade him..... The moments gone though. He's all all yours. 

[StevO]

10 minutes ago, Hafnia said:

I know we have only 2 better midfielders....and prior to the transfer window he was part of the worst midfiekd I've seen at everton.  That was my point, which is why I said we need to buy more.  Hoijberg looks like he would have been ideal.....

Does the fact that we have no fullbacks mean we cant discuss midfield? 

A midfield of Hoijberg, Allan and Doucoure sounds awful to me. Sounds like one of the most defensive midfield trios I could imagine. 
 

It doesn’t mean we can’t talk midfield, but there’s not many who think Gomes is as bad as you do. But the midfield doesn’t bother me, so I’m not too interested in discussing it. I only see one issue in the team that I’d want to get involved in discussion over. Gomes isn’t one of them. 

That’s why I came into the Delph thread, because he played full back.

[Hafnia]

5 minutes ago, StevO said:

A midfield of Hoijberg, Allan and Doucoure sounds awful to me. Sounds like one of the most defensive midfield trios I could imagine. 
 

It doesn’t mean we can’t talk midfield, but there’s not many who think Gomes is as bad as you do. But the midfield doesn’t bother me, so I’m not too interested in discussing it. I only see one issue in the team that I’d want to get involved in discussion over. Gomes isn’t one of them. 

That’s why I came into the Delph thread, because he played full back.

I think we need a sitter who isn't Allan, Allan and hoijberg with Doucoure would be effective. 

Allan is great in transition despite no pace. 

That's why I'm discussing Gomes in the Delph thread.... Cos he's not good enough ....

[London Blue]

1 hour ago, Hafnia said:

I know we have only 2 better midfielders....and prior to the transfer window he was part of the worst midfiekd I've seen at everton.  That was my point, which is why I said we need to buy more.  Hoijberg looks like he would have been ideal.....

Does the fact that we have no fullbacks mean we cant discuss midfield? 

And then we would have such a defensive midfield we would be decrying the lack of creativity.

As for worst Everton midfield, you must have forgotten the Walter Smith era.

59 minutes ago, Hafnia said:

You'll have to forgive me for judging a players lack of desire and bottle by them passing backwards and sideways and dangling out a foot to stop a pass rather than make a tackle.

Yes... We know he got injured and came back.  I recall Coleman doing the same and it not impacting his courage. 

He is lovely though is Gomes, if I wasnt judging him on his football performances I'd deffo have a crush on him too, there was a period of a few games where he did make me want to learn Portuguese just in the hope I could serenade him..... The moments gone though. He's all all yours. 

[pete0]

The midfield is struggling as we're playing the centre backs flat at the back. Most teams who play three at the back have one push up into midfield, or when the wing back pushes up the side midfielders move to the middle. Yet we don't, so for the benefit of having the extra centre back we're selling the midfield short, also not helped by James and Richarlison being forward thinking which ends up with a lot of 4 v 2 situations in midfield, the midfield being overrun then unsettles the back 5. Really don't get why Ancelotti is trying to force the system on the players.

[Hafnia]

5 hours ago, London Blue said:

And then we would have such a defensive midfield we would be decrying the lack of creativity.

As for worst Everton midfield, you must have forgotten the Walter Smith era.

When I say worst midfield... I'm talking about relative to the opposition... Not about their ability as footballers.  Smith's midfield was shocking but could compete to some level. 

A midfield of Gylfi, Gomes and Davies is the worst I have seen. I felt sorry for Tom Davies, because he had to play with 2 pedestrian "technicians" who when they did get on the ball played safe for someone else to lose it 

I have never seen an Everton side so lacking in midfield as we were before the window.

[Bailey]

13 hours ago, pete0 said:

The midfield is struggling as we're playing the centre backs flat at the back. Most teams who play three at the back have one push up into midfield, or when the wing back pushes up the side midfielders move to the middle. Yet we don't, so for the benefit of having the extra centre back we're selling the midfield short, also not helped by James and Richarlison being forward thinking which ends up with a lot of 4 v 2 situations in midfield, the midfield being overrun then unsettles the back 5. Really don't get why Ancelotti is trying to force the system on the players.

I agree with the midfield being overrun. Even from a defensive point of view, the centre backs and full backs aren't pushing up onto the attackers either and even Burnley were able to play easy triangles around Allan and Doucoure.

It doesn't matter what system you play if you can't get tight to your man when he is in your zone. We have been so far off teams recently it has been unreal and that was even before the 5 at the back. The whole side needs another mentality shift. I think Allan and Mina are the only two that enjoy going anywhere near an opposition player.

[Palfy]

We are playing the 3 at back system wrong for us, we would be better with 3 at the back 2 wing backs 3 in the middle and 2 up front, when James and Richarlison don’t work back it forces Doucoure and Allan to leave the middle and help cover the players they should be tracking, then we have no cover in front of the CBS. 

[c1982]

21 hours ago, StevO said:

A midfield of Hoijberg, Allan and Doucoure sounds awful to me. Sounds like one of the most defensive midfield trios I could imagine. 

20 hours ago, London Blue said:

And then we would have such a defensive midfield we would be decrying the lack of creativity.

We could be seeing a midfield trio of Allan, Doucoure and Gbamin soon (hopefully) so that would be ‘defensive’ on paper but I actually think it will give us more freedom. Allan doesn’t have the pace to do the all-action pressure and I like what I’ve seen when he gets a bit higher up the pitch. Doucoure has plenty going forward too. Having a solid 3 can make so many other areas stronger. Look at Liverpool’s central midfield options from the past 2 seasons - Fabinho, Henderson, Milner, Wijnaldum, Keita - not exactly attacking midfielders but sadly, they usually dominate oppositions and give the front 3 and full-backs freedom to attack.

I think another ‘defensive’ midfielder (I see it as a dominant midfielder rather than defensive) - hopefully Gbamin (would have loved Hojberg) will make us a much better team.

[London Blue]

20 hours ago, c1982 said:

We could be seeing a midfield trio of Allan, Doucoure and Gbamin soon (hopefully) so that would be ‘defensive’ on paper but I actually think it will give us more freedom. Allan doesn’t have the pace to do the all-action pressure and I like what I’ve seen when he gets a bit higher up the pitch. Doucoure has plenty going forward too. Having a solid 3 can make so many other areas stronger. Look at Liverpool’s central midfield options from the past 2 seasons - Fabinho, Henderson, Milner, Wijnaldum, Keita - not exactly attacking midfielders but sadly, they usually dominate oppositions and give the front 3 and full-backs freedom to attack.

I think another ‘defensive’ midfielder (I see it as a dominant midfielder rather than defensive) - hopefully Gbamin (would have loved Hojberg) will make us a much better team.

Having a second defensive midfielder sounds nice, in theory it makes us more secure, the trouble is we tried this before and it just does not work for us (see Schneiderline and Gana).

We lack players who can get forward and support attacks well, or provide attacking threat themselves. We become too defensive, opposing teams can push us back, and then the two defensive midfielders end up getting in each others way.

We have played our best football with a balanced midfield / maybe slightly more attacking not defensive. 

[Bailey]

Even if Gbamin can stay fit and can remember how to kick a ball, the bits I have seen of him in an Everton shirt and on videos suggest he is more of a holding player. I think he was another that was touted as being as good at CB and as LB says, I think we would be more suited to another player that can go box-to-box. 

If anything, I think the best we can hope from for Gbamin is that he can dovetail with Allan when needed and ensure Delph never sees needs to play for us again.

[London Blue]

Gambin will be excellent cover and competition for Allan, he can also play as a centre back, so could play in a back 3 and be more at home at stepping into midfield.

Who knows his return may be what's prompting Carlo to try 3 at the back?

And if he ensures that Delph never plays for our club again, then that alone is worth his fee we paid for him.

[Btay]

8 minutes ago, Bailey said:

Even if Gbamin can stay fit and can remember how to kick a ball, the bits I have seen of him in an Everton shirt and on videos suggest he is more of a holding player. I think he was another that was touted as being as good at CB and as LB says, I think we would be more suited to another player that can go box-to-box. 

If anything, I think the best we can hope from for Gbamin is that he can dovetail with Allan when needed and ensure Delph never sees needs to play for us again.

He’s certainly athletic enough but I think he’s better on the ball than some may think. I think he’s going to complete our midfield, I really think before injuries he could have been some player so I really hope there’s no long term damage to him. Allan isn’t a sitter - he’s all energy and along with Doucoure they need to hassle opponents into surrendering the ball.

We really can’t rush him and need Gomes to step up.

[Bailey]

Just now, Btay said:

He’s certainly athletic enough but I think he’s better on the ball than some may think. I think he’s going to complete our midfield, I really think before injuries he could have been some player so I really hope there’s no long term damage to him. Allan isn’t a sitter - he’s all energy and along with Doucoure they need to hassle opponents into surrendering the ball.

We really can’t rush him and need Gomes to step up.

From what I remember he was good breaking with the ball and using his energy to advance up the pitch but there is a massive question mark over the quality of his passing. 

Allan is the epitome of a holding midfielder. It doesn't mean he doesn't use his energy as he reacts and snuffs out attacks by reading the game and snapping into tackles. You don't want him breaking into the box and needing to be too creative. He can play good passes but not in congested areas.

In my opinion a top defensive midfielder should be making as many short sharp sprints as any other player on the pitch and the last thing his little legs need is to be covering too much ground!

[Btay]

42 minutes ago, Bailey said:

From what I remember he was good breaking with the ball and using his energy to advance up the pitch but there is a massive question mark over the quality of his passing. 

Allan is the epitome of a holding midfielder. It doesn't mean he doesn't use his energy as he reacts and snuffs out attacks by reading the game and snapping into tackles. You don't want him breaking into the box and needing to be too creative. He can play good passes but not in congested areas.

In my opinion a top defensive midfielder should be making as many short sharp sprints as any other player on the pitch and the last thing his little legs need is to be covering too much ground!

He got caught on the ball a few times but he’s definitely capable of spreading the play. I’m just hoping he will add another physical presence, with himself, Allan and Doucoure I can’t think of many more physical and athletic midfields.

I don’t think Allan is a holding midfielder so much, he’s just an all action, high energy player. His heat map would be literally everywhere, similar to the Kante/Gana even Ndidi types. He breaks up so much play but he doesn’t just sit in front the of the back looking at horizontal lines. I think if he played on that manner he wouldn’t be as effective. 
 

I agree with that but I wouldn’t be surprised if Allan covers the most area each game. Absolute workhorse - epitomises Everton in my opinion!

[Bailey]

15 hours ago, Btay said:

He got caught on the ball a few times but he’s definitely capable of spreading the play. I’m just hoping he will add another physical presence, with himself, Allan and Doucoure I can’t think of many more physical and athletic midfields.

I don’t think Allan is a holding midfielder so much, he’s just an all action, high energy player. His heat map would be literally everywhere, similar to the Kante/Gana even Ndidi types. He breaks up so much play but he doesn’t just sit in front the of the back looking at horizontal lines. I think if he played on that manner he wouldn’t be as effective. 
 

I agree with that but I wouldn’t be surprised if Allan covers the most area each game. Absolute workhorse - epitomises Everton in my opinion!

I definitely agree with the last bit!

[Palfy]

3 hours ago, Bailey said:

I definitely agree with the last bit!

He’s more like Kante because he’s good in possession and makes great runs upfield with the ball and rarely losses possession, plus his passing is generally spot on and offensive in it’s direction, none of the above could I contribute to Gona. 

[Matt]

15 hours ago, Palfy said:

He’s more like Kante because he’s good in possession and makes great runs upfield with the ball and rarely losses possession, plus his passing is generally spot on and offensive in it’s direction, none of the above could I contribute to Gona. 

You pretty much described Gana though  

[Palfy]

9 hours ago, Matt said:

You pretty much described Gana though  

Walked into that one