The Future is Bright

[Aidan]

I went to sleep last night the happiest I have been in a long time. I was thinking about the squad we now have and how I can see our season turning around from this point on. The game last night was fantastic, the whole squad put in a shift (well in the second half anyway, although we weren't too bad in the first half either).

 

Lots of things were running through my head last night. Players, positions, formations. After a long think I think this would be our strongest squad (as of when Donovan leaves):

 

Heitinga, Neville and Hibbo (although I think this is Nevilles last season as a first team player for us) can all fill in gaps in defence as well as Young Duffy who has proved that he's going to be a big hit here at Goodison.

 

We now have Pienaar back in midfield who I'm really excited to see put on a blue shirt again. Him and Baines have one of the best partnerships in the Premier League for me. We no longer have to watch Bily play shit again and again. I also think Gueye is going to come along well too, he seems to have something about him what I like, definitely one to watch and additional cover to the wings and front line.

 

Rodwell and Fellaini are both tanks in midfield and take a lot of pressure off out defence game in game out. Gibson and Osman can try to provide some creativity in centre park for us now, which is what we have been lacking this season. With addition to this musn't we forget about Caill. Barkely needs to be given a few more starts this half of the season as we progress him into the first team (hes going to be a cracking player).

 

As for strikers, this is a tricky one. I think its safe to say that we expect Jelly to be our main striker, but along with this we have Stracq who has an outstanding work rate and is a brilliant target man and Anichebe who has started to pick up a little bit of form lately which is rare therefore we need to have him play to see if his potential can flourish. If we are playing 1 man up front its going to be difficult for Anichebe to get any starts for the squad. Maybe he could have one against Blackpool if we go out 4-4-2? Who knows? I just hope that he can get on the pitch as much as possible.

 

Can I also ask you lot how many goals do you think Jelly can get until the end of the season? I know we havnt seen him play for us as of yet and he does need time to gel, but i'll be happy if he gets 6 or 7.

[Lowensda]

Agree with 99% of that

[jonno]

Yep to all of that. I would also like to add that I'm quite moist with anticipation

[StevO]

I hope to see Strac and Jelavic play together soon. That would please me, a lot.

[adziom]

I'm not sure I'd like to see much experimenting going on in the FA Cup. We should be aiming to win it, not take our opposition for granted, put our strongest team out and play like we did last night. Anichebe will always provide good cover up front though, perhaps as an impact sub, and I agree with everything else you've written

[Aidan]

I hope to see Strac and Jelavic play together soon. That would please me, a lot.

 

Yeah I dont think it will happen soon though, you know what Moyes is like, whatever the faithful think is best usually happens 6 months after we wanted it to...

 

I'm not sure I'd like to see much experimenting going on in the FA Cup. We should be aiming to win it, not take our opposition for granted, put our strongest team out and play like we did last night.

 

Good point, I cant see us losing at home to Blackpool no matter what squad we put out though... but it happens!

[Noble Savage]

I'm a little worried about the summer after Drenthe and Denis leave . Also worried about retaining our best players. However the OP is such a joyful thing to behold its hard not to let it warm the cockles. Great post.

[Aidan]

I'm a little worried about the summer after Drenthe and Denis leave . Also worried about retaining our best players. However the OP is such a joyful thing to behold its hard not to let it warm the cockles. Great post.

 

I wonder how much Real Madrid and Tigre will want for the two? I can't see us spending anything at all in the summer to be honest, maybe a couple more loan signings but unless someone worth a penny or two leaves such as Rodwell, Barkely, Jags or Baines then I can't see Kenwright dipping into his pockets.

[MikeO]

Drenthe will be available for free.

[Aidan]

Drenthe will be available for free.

 

Moyesy sign him up!

[EFC-Paul]

I like Straq I think He's a very solid unit who has plenty of graft about him and will cause defenders problems.

 

He seems strong as an ox and imo think will do very well as a link up man as said could be a very good foil for a player like Jelly..

 

I do think if some of the younger lads get a chance and Moyes was more positive from now on with his tactics and selection we could field a very threatening 11

 

If the lad's on loan were permanent signings I'd be very happy with our squad

[Mogsy]

yeah would like to see the straq in cahills role, see how he gets on there

Edited February 1, 2012 by mogsy

[Bailey]

Good post and I was exactly the same last night.

 

Thinking about the rest of the season, we actually have a lot of options. Even when Donovon goes back, we will more than likely have Pienaar starting on the left with a choice of Drenthe, Gueye or Coleman all on the right (I personally believe that is the best position for the first 2). If we need to be defensive we can play Coleman, if we want to open teams up we can go with Drenthe or Gueye.

 

With regards to the strikers, I would still lead the line with Straq. He was brilliant last night because he gave absolutely everything, but he does get tired (my one gripe with Moyes is that he should have come off 5-10mins earlier along with Cahill) so there are definitely options for Jelavic to find his way in the Prem, as well as games for Vic to close out (which he does well imo).

 

As last night showed though, we can talk about players & formations etc etc but at the end of the day it comes down to who wants it more and if we show that type of attitude we will have a very productive end of the season.

[Finn balor]

Really really excited and optimistic for the second half of season. I think Peanuts can play in centre of park until Landon goes giving us some invention and Felli sitting. Then he can move to the left next to Leighton, Drenthe or Maggie on right with either Gibbo,Ossie,or Rodders and eventually Ross in the centre. The count is going to improve game by game and him and Jelavic up front could be the way to go. With Velios and Vic as back up we have got options. Good to see Jose get on last night and with Mcaleny,Garbutt etc waiting in the wings next season lets have it!!!!

[marcus jones]

I went to sleep last night the happiest I have been in a long time. I was thinking about the squad we now have and how I can see our season turning around from this point on. The game last night was fantastic, the whole squad put in a shift (well in the second half anyway, although we weren't too bad in the first half either).

 

Lots of things were running through my head last night. Players, positions, formations. After a long think I think this would be our strongest squad (as of when Donovan leaves):

 

Heitinga, Neville and Hibbo (although I think this is Nevilles last season as a first team player for us) can all fill in gaps in defence as well as Young Duffy who has proved that he's going to be a big hit here at Goodison.

 

We now have Pienaar back in midfield who I'm really excited to see put on a blue shirt again. Him and Baines have one of the best partnerships in the Premier League for me. We no longer have to watch Bily play shit again and again. I also think Gueye is going to come along well too, he seems to have something about him what I like, definitely one to watch and additional cover to the wings and front line.

 

Rodwell and Fellaini are both tanks in midfield and take a lot of pressure off out defence game in game out. Gibson and Osman can try to provide some creativity in centre park for us now, which is what we have been lacking this season. With addition to this musn't we forget about Caill. Barkely needs to be given a few more starts this half of the season as we progress him into the first team (hes going to be a cracking player).

 

As for strikers, this is a tricky one. I think its safe to say that we expect Jelly to be our main striker, but along with this we have Stracq who has an outstanding work rate and is a brilliant target man and Anichebe who has started to pick up a little bit of form lately which is rare therefore we need to have him play to see if his potential can flourish. If we are playing 1 man up front its going to be difficult for Anichebe to get any starts for the squad. Maybe he could have one against Blackpool if we go out 4-4-2? Who knows? I just hope that he can get on the pitch as much as possible.

 

Can I also ask you lot how many goals do you think Jelly can get until the end of the season? I know we havnt seen him play for us as of yet and he does need time to gel, but i'll be happy if he gets 6 or 7.

One Swallow does not a summer make! One good game and our season is on again? Not being negative but why is it only now the players feel the need to hunt and press in three's, play fast attacking football and to defend in numbers? Why is this not the format from the first minute of the season? Great game, that is the reason the prem is world famous! Long may it continue but I'm not holding my breath. ( Does any one think Moyes thought '' Fuck it I'm having a right go at them'')

[Mogsy]

One Swallow does not a summer make! One good game and our season is on again? Not being negative but why is it only now the players feel the need to hunt and press in three's, play fast attacking football and to defend in numbers? Why is this not the format from the first minute of the season? Great game, that is the reason the prem is world famous! Long may it continue but I'm not holding my breath. ( Does any one think Moyes thought '' Fuck it I'm having a right go at them'')

 

You should know by now that we can't do bugger all in terms of results until the second half of the season!!!

[chicagoblue]

yeah would like to see the straq in cahills role, see how he gets on there

 

Think this could be very interesting. I think he has pretty much all of Cahill's quality's except perhaps his leap. Whether he has the nous to play in the hole though, that I'm not sure. Fairly certain he's always been a leading target man, but if he could play a link up roll when needed that could make us very dynamic.

[StevO]

One Swallow does not a summer make! One good game and our season is on again? Not being negative but why is it only now the players feel the need to hunt and press in three's, play fast attacking football and to defend in numbers? Why is this not the format from the first minute of the season? Great game, that is the reason the prem is world famous! Long may it continue but I'm not holding my breath. ( Does any one think Moyes thought '' Fuck it I'm having a right go at them'')

 

Yeah I agree Jona. We have had a great result against City, you would expect us to go and give Wigan a roasting on Saturday. But experience tells me we may struggle to scrape a win.

We get fired up against the big teams, and often get a result. Its the small teams we struggle against. The seasons we have finished high in the table are when we have got the results against the small teams on a regular basis. If Moyes can work out how to get the players motivated for the small teams, from the first day of the season we could be flying.

[marcus jones]

Yeah I agree Jona. We have had a great result against City, you would expect us to go and give Wigan a roasting on Saturday. But experience tells me we may struggle to scrape a win.

We get fired up against the big teams, and often get a result. Its the small teams we struggle against. The seasons we have finished high in the table are when we have got the results against the small teams on a regular basis. If Moyes can work out how to get the players motivated for the small teams, from the first day of the season we could be flying.

Swansea smashed Arsenal all over the pitch, don't mean they are gonna win the league!

[StevO]

Swansea smashed Arsenal all over the pitch, don't mean they are gonna win the league!

 

True, but we can beat the big teams. I mean if we could get the same performances against the small teams we would be much higher up the league, obviously (more points and all that).

[Dalziel Kane]

I missed them but well done to all concerned for getting that surprise win over City the other day, in true Everton fashion, an outstanding result with players getting recognition against a formidable outfit is usually followed by a frustrating inability to beat some much smaller opposition and a let down in performances. I still think a Euro berth this year could be a long shot but still in contention, ideally the best way to success would be down the FA cup route, it's going to be interesting

[Whitey]

I wouldn't be sad to see Drenthe go, I don't think he is disciplined enough for us.

[Dalziel Kane]

Well we've had some characters down the years such as that who invariably turned out as something of crowd favorites you'll recall

[Steve_E]

What are we expecting of the summer window? I'm a bit worried about the large amount of players who are out of contract or only here on loan deals. If we want to reinforce the squad, we'll probably have to raise the money by selling. But our squad has already been skimmed off some of its best players in recent years. I've got too much time on my hands so I have analysed our squad: in which position I think we need reinforcements and who I'd sell.

 

Keepers: Tim Howard, Marcus Hahnemann, Jan Mucha -

I'd sell Mucha if there's any interest. He has hardly played in the last two seasons and hasn't really impressed when he has, but maybe some teams remember his decent World Cup and think he's worth a punt. If he goes, we do need to extend Hahnemann's contract a year longer, because I think he's out in the summer. The keeper of the Reserves, Adam Davies, is perfectly capable of filling in as third choice goal keeper.

 

Centre backs: John Heitinga, Phil Jagielka, Sylvain Distin, Shane Duffy -

I suppose there'll be teams interested in Heitinga and Jagielka, but we shouldn't sell. I doubt they'll make us enough money to adequately replace themselves, let alone reinforce us in other positions as well. Distin's contract is out in the summer and I'd let him go. He's 34 now so he doesn't have a lot of future. Instead I'd make Duffy our third choice and get another young centre back in. Ideally it would be someone that would make a good partner to Duffy (on paper at least): someone with pace, someone comfortable on the ball, with a good cross pass even. Manolas probably won't be coming in the summer as he's already turned us down in january. I remember we were linked with James Chester as well. Maybe he could do the job.

 

Full backs: Tony Hibbert, Phil Neville, Leighton Baines -

I think Tony Hibbert and Phil Neville are disrupting influences in our build-up play so I'd go for another right back. Maybe Nathaniel Clyne: he's English, athletic, strong, fast, young... So we wouldn't have to waste any money on a backup for Baines, one of the right backs can just fill in for him. And if we've really got that many injuries, we could also get Luke Garbutt back from a loan spell.

 

Central midfielders: Marouane Fellaini, Jack Rodwell, Darron Gibson, Leon Osman, Tim Cahill, Ross Barkley, Jose Baxter:

I think we've got a lot of options here, so here is where I'd be looking to sell. Given his nationality, Rodwell would probably fetch us the most money. But given performances, I suppose there'll be more interest in Fellaini. So he's who I'd sell. I hope he'd make us about 20 million pounds. I'd sell Cahill as well, if there's any interest. A legend like him doesn't deserve to become a scapegoat to disgruntled fans. If we could sign Pienaar on a permanent, I don't think we'd need any other replacements if Moyes changes his system a bit. If he keeps playing two defensive midfielders, we'd probably even need two. However, I'd play with Rodwell or Gibson as a holding midfielder. Pienaar as the left mid because I think he's much more of a playmaker rather than a typical wingman. Osman would be the right midfielder. Barkley and Baxter would be their backups.

 

Wingmen: Landon Donovan, Steven Pienaar, Royston Drenthe, Seamus Coleman, Magaye Gueye, James McFadden -

I think we'll need to invest a lot of money here. Donovan will already be gone in less than a month, I think. Pienaar and Drenthe are only here on loan. McFadden is out of contract in the summer and I hope we won't be extending it. That just leaves Coleman and Gueye as our wingmen and to be honest I don't particularly rate either. They're backups at best imo. So in my view we need at least a left winger and a right winger, but I'm hoping for two left wingers and two right wingers. For me, Drenthe can be one of the left wingers, but I doubt he'll be playing for Everton next season. Apparently, we've bid for Junior Hoilett and I'd certainly have him as a right winger. He's out of contract too so he'll probably end up at Newcastle or something like that. I like what I've been reading about Nathan Redmond as well. Anyway, I'd would really prefer left footed players for the left wing and right footed players on the right.

 

Strikers: Denis Stracqualursi, Nikica Jelavic, Victor Anichebe, Apostolos Vellios -

Stracqualursi's loan deal ends in the summer. I'm still on the fence, but to be honest, apart from the effort he put in against City, he really hasn't done much to convince me. That would leave us with Jelavic, Anichebe and Vellios. That's enough quantity, but is it enough quality?

 

Summary

OUT: Mucha, Distin, Fellaini, Cahill, Donovan, Pienaar, Drenthe, McFadden, Stracqualursi

IN: Centre back, right back, left (central) midfielder, left winger, right winger.

 

From the players going out, we'll only be getting money for Mucha, Fellaini and Cahill. I hope that would be about £25m? We'll be clearing a lot of money off the wage bill as well.

 

What would you guys do?

[Aidan]

I wouldn't be sad to see Drenthe go, I don't think he is disciplined enough for us.

 

I agree. I don't think he has the right personality to blend in with the rest of the squad. He'd be better off at city, he looks like he'd get on with Balotelli and Richards (wouldn't be good enough for the squad though!). He can be very sloppy and makes a lot of mistakes (I think he gave the ball away a couple of months ago which led to the opposition counter attacking and scoring + it was a VERY sloppy ball that he played) and I do like him but I don't think he'd listen to Moyes instructions, he wants a free role in the squad which he wouldnt be bad at if he made better decisions during games.

 

Don't get me wrong, If we got him on a free and he didnt want a lot of wages I'd love to see him at Everton. But dont sign him for 60+k/w, he's not worth it. Sign him up on a small contract for a few years and see if he develops.

[Aidan]

That just leaves Coleman and Gueye as our wingmen and to be honest I don't particularly rate either.

 

Couldn't disagree with you more mate. I think they both have a lot of potential.

 

Stracqualursi's loan deal ends in the summer. I'm still on the fence, but to be honest, apart from the effort he put in against City, he really hasn't done much to convince me. That would leave us with Jelavic, Anichebe and Vellios. That's enough quantity, but is it enough quality?

 

If Anichebe keeps on getting in those positions to score then I wouldn't mind him competing for Jellys starting spot when he gets it (assuming he gets it). He reminds me of a harder working Yakubu. Vellios is looking good too, hope he carrys on builind on his ability from his potential. We dont need another striker if we're going to play 1 up top, furthermore Baxter, Cahill and Fellaini can be cover for our frontline (Not ideal cover, but cover nevertheless),

 

I agree with your reply as an overall. Very good post mate. We are heading towards a crisis and I fear that were going to have to sell one of our biggest stars in the Summer for a region of around 15-25m.

[SimonButtle]

Couldn't disagree with you more mate. I think they both have a lot of potential.

 

 

 

If Anichebe keeps on getting in those positions to score then I wouldn't mind him competing for Jellys starting spot when he gets it (assuming he gets it). He reminds me of a harder working Yakubu. Vellios is looking good too, hope he carrys on builind on his ability from his potential. We dont need another striker if we're going to play 1 up top, furthermore Baxter, Cahill and Fellaini can be cover for our frontline (Not ideal cover, but cover nevertheless),

 

I agree with your reply as an overall. Very good post mate. We are heading towards a crisis and I fear that were going to have to sell one of our biggest stars in the Summer for a region of around 15-25m.

Gueye, yes he does have potential, but Coleman is shit imo, he is a headless chicken at the best of times, and defo not a winger, needs a go at RB i reckon, Baxter can play on the left as well i think, it's the right side that really needs looking at, Hoilett im not sure, he looks ok i suppose. I do think we need another striker though especially if Cahill leaves, a more drop-off kinda Suarez like but without the rat face and nazi attitude.

[Steve_E]

Couldn't disagree with you more mate. I think they both have a lot of potential.

 

90% of Coleman's crosses end up behind the goal or float over the box. He has got pace, but no dribble. And I remember a lot of times where he just miscontrols the ball, lets it slide over his foot out of the pitch. I'm more positive about Gueye but in the time he has been given he hasn't shown me a lot to suggest he's any better than squad filler for now.

[Blue4Ever]

Can I also ask you lot how many goals do you think Jelly can get until the end of the season? I know we havnt seen him play for us as of yet and he does need time to gel, but i'll be happy if he gets 6 or 7.

I think we will be lucky to see him play 6 or 7 games as moyes said to sky were not going to rush him (like we have ever rushed anyone under moyes) I think he will start victor or straq before him, even though before the city game I thought dennis was one of the worst strikers ive seen at goodison, he did have a good game and deserves a few chances to show it was no fluke.

 

 

90% of Coleman's crosses end up behind the goal or float over the box. He has got pace, but no dribble. And I remember a lot of times where he just miscontrols the ball, lets it slide over his foot out of the pitch. I'm more positive about Gueye but in the time he has been given he hasn't shown me a lot to suggest he's any better than squad filler for now.

 

couldnt disagree more coleman actually knows what to do when he gets the ball gueye hasnt a clue.

Edited February 9, 2012 by Blue4Ever

[Aidan]

Coleman is a winger imo, he cant anticipate a tackle so can be a RB and he's got great pace and I think he's a scoring threat and an assisting threat with a half decent cross. Gueye has a good cross but he looks naive.