Everton Without Fellaini.

[JTStanley1]

Now that Fellaini's ban has been confirmed, he misses all 3 games over Christmas. This leaves Moyes with a selection dilemma in terms of both formation and personnel. I think if he sticks to 4-2-3-1 He should move Naismith into the central role, playing off Jelavic and bring in Oviedo on the right. An alternative is to switch to a 4-4-2/4-2-4 formation and bring in Vellios to play alongside Jelavic with Pienaar and Naismith/Oviedo as attacking wingers.

[MikeO]

Now that Fellaini's ban has been confirmed, he misses all 3 games over Christmas. This leaves Moyes with a selection dilemma in terms of both formation and personnel. I think if he sticks to 4-2-3-1 He should move Naismith into the central role, playing off Jelavic and bring in Oviedo on the right.

 

Wouldn't argue with that....but I'd rather Mirallas on the right if he can get back for a game or two. Possibly Oviedo on the left (where he's looked much better) and switch Pienaar to the right.

[Blue4Ever]

Wouldn't argue with that....but I'd rather Mirallas on the right if he can get back for a game or two. Possibly Oviedo on the left (where he's looked much better) and switch Pienaar to the right.

even though pienaar would be needed elsewhere, to split him and baines up would be foolish. i like the look of oviedo on the left but dont think he should be played out of position when he's hardly played yet

[MikeO]

even though pienaar would be needed elsewhere, to split him and baines up would be foolish. i like the look of oviedo on the left but dont think he should be played out of position when he's hardly played yet

 

Oviedo was MOTM v Norwich when he started on the left....against Arsenal when he had half an hour on the right he was awful.

 

Maybe Pienaar will go behind Jelavic (as against Norwich) with Naismith on the right (assuming Mirallas out)?

[Romey 1878]

I'd rather Naismith played behind Jelavic (he's clearly not suited to playing out wide) and Oviedo brought in.

[Guest]

Naismith behind, Ossie on right and Barkley in centre for me

[SimonButtle]

even though pienaar would be needed elsewhere, to split him and baines up would be foolish. i like the look of oviedo on the left but dont think he should be played out of position when he's hardly played yet

Why would it? we need alternatives and the Pienaar/Baines partnership has been missing in most of the games so for this season, Pienaar in particular has had some horrible games this season.We need to try these things, find new options/ideas.

[Romey 1878]

Ossie on right

 

[Memmaclub]

We should put Vellios next to jelly in a target man position

[Peter H]

 

Pienaar. Osman. Gibson. Oviedo

 

Barkley/naismith

 

Jelavic

 

 

[Guest]

Why not? Granted its not his best position but he is a clever footballer. He reads the game, got quick feet and is quite creative. I said put him on the right so it would allow us to shoehorn in Ross in the centre of the park. Granted you could play Peanuts on the right and Oviedo on the left or Oviedo on the right cutting in but i think Ossie is dependable and wont let us down. Sorry for expressing my opinion hee hee

[Romey 1878]

Why not? Granted its not his best position but he is a clever footballer. He reads the game, got quick feet and is quite creative. I said put him on the right so it would allow us to shoehorn in Ross in the centre of the park. Granted you could play Peanuts on the right and Oviedo on the left or Oviedo on the right cutting in but i think Ossie is dependable and wont let us down. Sorry for expressing my opinion hee hee

 

Because Osman has proven time and time again how awful he is out wide.

[pete0]

Seriously, Oviedo right wing? . He's a left back who can do a job on the wing, a la Coleman. Like Coleman he shouldn't be played on the other flank.

[JTStanley1]

Seriously, Oviedo right wing? . He's a left back who can do a job on the wing, a la Coleman. Like Coleman he shouldn't be played on the other flank.

 

I'd say he was more of a left winger at the moment, from the one game he's played at left back he doesn't look good/experienced enough to play there yet but he does have the attacking capabilities to play well on the wing.

[Hafnia]

Given Fellaini has been playing behind the striker I would put Barkley in there - don't think Barkley is a midfielder yet in the same sense Cahill wasn't. For me Barkley can follow the route taken by Paul Scholes - seriously. Both have great range of passing and can strike a ball but as a midfield general not experienced enough.

 

Scholes started up front for united - just behind the striker. As his experience grew he influenced the centre of the park and was not known for his ball winning skills but more for his ability to dicta\te the tempo and direction of play - and I think that is where Ross will become a class player.

 

For now though, lets deploy him where his talent can shine and his weakness be less costly. He will lose the ball trying the odd ambitious pass or trick, but he needs to get that out of his system - more importantly he can provide that edge/vision/flair that we need up there without Mirallas. To get better he needs to play against better players - lets do it.

[EFC-Paul]

 

---------------Gibson

 

Pienaar------------------------Oviedo

 

----------------Barkley

 

---------Naismith

---------------------Jelavic

 

 

There's a few options really but I'd like to think His suspension will give Barkley a chance to be introduced from the off. The right is abit of a shitter for us really without Mirallas. I know Naismith has been used prior but would like to see Him sat behind Jelavic where from their Rangers day's had a great understanding.

 

 

[Sideliner]

we need someone to play with Jelavic - something which Fellaini could not do very successfully because he received the ball with his back to Jelavic most of the time ending up in playing the ball backwards more than forwards towards Jelavic -

i would gamble with Velios with/behind Jelavic and bring on Naismith to replace the worst one of them after the break -

i would even give Anichebe another chance to help us get out of the rut of draws we have fallen in to -

Fellaini did some magic things for us but between the goals he also made his fair share of mistakes - nobody is irreplaceable

[Aidan]

Leave Pienaar on the left, play naismith behind jelly and put ossie on the right. Agreed, ossie is shite on the right flank, but lets face it, im better than naismith on the wing and i have no legs.

[Hafnia]

Naismith is further away from a regular starting position than Barkley is - given Moyes has said he will not be fit till next year is the same as saying Ross will not have his rough edges improved till he gets more games.

 

The answer is that we have more to gain by playing Barkley now than we do Naismith - even if it's on the right hand side. The reality is that we are due to see a greater improvement from Barkley than we are Naismith, it's not as if Naismiths poor first touch or squiffy passing is going to improve as he gets fitter - he's been working with a ball for a while now and his touch should be there.

 

In short - Barkley is the answer and is a greater investment in the minutes given by fellis absence.

[Mirallas]

Fellaini gone means money. Problem is what choices EFC make to do with this. I think EFC could do with a young central defender such as Alderweireld or Shawcross, but also maybe a holding midfielder, a winger and maybe another striker. EFC probably has too many debts to be able to tinance this, so the question remains, can you postpone the search for a younger CB for another year? Does our current selection of holding midfielders and strikers fit the bill?

 

Here's what I suggest: Everton have now bought Oviedo and Hitzlsperger, plus Barkley is already 19. I think that is enough help for Gibson and Neville on the holding midfield. Don't give a negative message to your midfield squad by buying another reinforcement. Keep the focus there internally and train them, so they learn the Everton way and adopt automatisms. So no midfield reinforcements.

 

On the forward wings you got Mirallas. And that's about the only player who can play a perfect game on the wing. But you have other options such as Coleman and Oviedo, who are sort of floating between being fullbacks and wingers. Pienaar is capable of something on the wings as well. I'd say it's not a full cover that EFC has on the wings, but it's not exactly Everton's style to be "wingstrong" (I'm not talking about upcoming fullbacks, I mean the forward wings). I'd say yes, it's safer to buy another Mirallas style wing forward, cause I got the feeling it will make EFC a lot stronger. Definitely worth the investment

 

Everton's central defence is old. You got Jagielka, he's still good, Heitinga, still alright, and Distin. Distin is really old. This really needs to be looked after. I don't want another game with Neville playing as a CB, cause we ran out of fullbacks and Jags had to play there. Everton must take a look at this, definitely cause you're overly dependant on the good form of your few CB's. I'd prefer Shawcross, he is class, he's young enough and he knows the league. Alderweireld is also young and very good, but he might be a little expensive. 7 mil pounds I'd estimate. But there's plenty of options in the world. So go get a young CB!

 

We got Velios and Anichebe to back up for Jelavic and off course, Mirallas can do that as well. But Velios and Anichebe are not really material to be a 1st striker for Everton at this point. If you really want to challenge Jela, i'd suggest you for instance get Lukaku on loan from Chelsea as a compensation for selling Fellaini.

 

Conclusion?

1. Buy a winger forward
    
   
2. Buy a young CB
    
   
3. Get a good striker on loan.
   

Edited December 23, 2012 by Mirallas

[Peter H]

1. Yes I agree

2. We have plenty of young cb's eith a promising future. Duffy being the first. Theres also a guy called Johan Hammar coming up through the ranks that looks really promising.

3. We dont need to loan a striker, we need to buy one. It is however not that urgent imo. Jelavic is brilliant, we all know that. He just needs to find his form. Anichebe is looking good, we have Vellios, we have others to.

 

We definatly need more cover in cm. Thats where you go horribly wrong. You mention Gibson and Neville but fail to mention Osman.

Neville should be playing his last few seasons right now. Possibly his last. That leaves Gibson and Osman. Hitzl is on a short term contract that is about to go out. (or have I missed something?) Barkley isnt ready. If Fellaini goes we absolutely need to replace him. We need a tough player with good feet and a knack for the through ball. (another Gibson type player but with a bit more flair)

 

 

[Mirallas]

We definatly need more cover in cm. Thats where you go horribly wrong. You mention Gibson and Neville but fail to mention Osman.

 

 

I didn't, Osman is more of an attacking midfielder, not really a holding one I believe. I make a clear distinction between these 2 kinds.

 

 

Why do I want a striker on loan? Because it's much cheaper, it keeps Jelavic sharp and after the season, you can still decide if Velios is up for it or if you need to buy someone else. It doesn't even need to be the striker you got on loan, cause you're not tied to him.

Edited December 23, 2012 by Mirallas