08 Dec 2014 21:07:42
Under the UEL regulations, we can register 3 new players in our main squad (officially called List A) for the round-of-32 onwards.
At present, we have used all available 24 spots (we can't have the actual maximum of 25, as we can only name 3 of the required 4 'club-trained' players - Hibbert, Osman, and McAleny), so we'd have to drop players from the current squad to accomodate new ones. My understanding is that Stones will be eligible to drop down to our List B squad (that's players under 21 who've been with us for at least two years) after January, which at least frees up 1 spot. The likes of Galloway and Henen aren't yet eligible for List B - and, unlike Stones and Lukaku, weren't named in the original List A squad.
So, if you want to make the allowed three changes, which two other players would you drop (and probably transfer out of the club) and which three new players would you bring in? Getting rid of loads of players - while meeting our dissatisfaction with under-performing, aging, inadequate players - doesn't mean we can bring loads of players into our UEL List A squad - we're restricted to just three. I don't believe there are any such limitations as far as our EPL (Premier League) squad is concerned, but would you want to weaken (at least number-wise) our UEL List A squad or have it so different to our EPL squad?
Everton Banter Archive December 08 2014
Use our rumours form to send us everton transfer rumours.
08 Dec 2014 19:40:35
So, a home tie in the FA Cup third round against West Ham United. The outcome will depend - as always - on injuries, suspensions, players' form, referring decisions (!), and which team wants it more and performs on the day, but it'll be a proper test for us. Once we also get the UEL round-of-32 draw out of the way (that draw is next Monday - earlier in the day before we play QPR), we MUST put the cup matches to one side imho and concentrate on our Premier League fixtures, as we must do better (performances and results) and move up the table before the cup matches arrive.
In fact, once RM (and maybe the players) give an initial reaction (soundbite!) to these ties, I don't want them to mention the UEL or the FA Cup until the days immediately leading up to the matches. I can also do without the usual bo****ks from them about wanting to do well and go as far as we can and win those competitions - that's a given or why are we bothering!
:-)
Hate to say it but actually agree with Gary Neville last night. To much ticky tacky football with the moves starting out okay but then no players willing to make through runs like we did last season, instead as Neville says midfield is trying to run round defences instead of direct which served us well. Who else noticed Lukaku in the 86th minute pointing Hibbert to pass back to the defence whereas in the same position last season he was eager for the ball and waving his arms about in frustration. We need to get a grip because at this rate Roberto is turning us into Wigan.
08 Dec 2014 15:53:31
Another thread, against krasnodar, bar kone, he should play a lot of kids, I wonder, after that, what our strongest team is, first 11 wise.
Joel-must be given a run, please.
Coleman-not even debatable
Stones-same as coleman
Jagielka-still good
Oviedo-baines' corners are woeful, bryan adds more pace and is more direct, which suits us more
Mccarthy-our engine
Barry-still boss but needs a rest at the moment
Besic-will only get better, cross between macca and barry
Naismith-we look so much more organised and hard working when he plays
Mirallas-genius, I have something to mention about him, which I will leave for later as in clogging up the sites with posts.
Lukaku-naturally
Im thinking a 4-3-3 but with mirallas and naismith interchanging and supporting rom up front, besic and mccarthy covering the full backs (naismith and kev do it naturally anyway) and being the legs around barry. This is the formation I would play, pace (kev and rom), goals (all 3 of kev, naisy and rom) and is solid defensively (besic and mccarthy allowing the full backs to get forward, leaving us with 5 men attacking and 5 men defending a counter attack. Get ledson to learn the barry role, a midfield 3 of besic, mccarthy and ledson in 3 years time is mouthwatering. It also saves us having to use the likes of osman, pienaar, mcgeady, atsu, barkley, gibson (who could cover barry for now) and hibbert. i'm certainly no tactician but I like the look of that team.
Swan: I like the look of that team, but I'm unsure about the omission of Baines (I'm probably not being objective) and, although he might not be up to a full match, Eto'o deserves to play some part, as imho he's the one player who's really trying for the team at present AND has the skill, intelligence, and leadership to drive us. Other than making those (minor) observations, I can't fault your reasoning, mate. I especially like your 4-3-3 formation compared to our usual 4-2-3-1 setup.
09 Dec 2014 02:17:08
You do say Joel needs a run ahead of Howard and I agree, but as soon as he makes a single mistake you'll go back to berating him and saying 'why do we have him, get Howard back!' So either keeper will always disappoint you and all supporters, for now it has to be which one disappoints the least, until we can buy a new young strong keeper.
09 Dec 2014 09:02:32
I love eto and would have him starting cup games and europa league and coming in for either of the front 3 if they get injred. T, i'd stock joel in and even if he makes mistakes he's still young and can still learn, howard is past that stage by a long way. If joel knows he's getting a run he won't be as neevy and will makes less mistakes. joel from now on For me.
08 Dec 2014 15:25:19
Here's a "glass half empty" view on our fixtures up to the end of the year (the end of the UEL group stage and the halfway stage in the EPL).
Krasnodar (home) - play youngsters and 'fringe' players, get a disjointed performance, and maybe an uninspiring draw.
QPR (home) - the available first choice players come back, but some are clearly unfit, we take a first half lead, but let them back in for a draw in the second half.
Southampton (away) - they do a number on us tactically and we have no plan B to revert to, so we lose the match.
Stoke (home) - they play a solid defensive game that we can't break down, and they catch us on the counter attack, so we struggle to a draw.
Newcastle (away) - our players can't cope with another match so soon, and the opposition have more belief, so we lose quite comfortably in the end.
So, we enter the New Year in a precarious EPL position and with possibly difficult matches in the UEL and FA Cup to stretch our squad - AND a transfer window that we're unlikely to be busy in.
OK - now someone give me the "glass half full" view - and I do NOT mean just saying the exact opposite of the above!
It's such a roller coaster ride being an Everton supporter, isn't it?
:-
CS2, as I have previously mentioned. Watching and listening to Everton is tense and frustrating and your appraisal doesn't help. I am hoping you're so wrong
Dave882: I'm NOT saying that my "glass half empty" suggestions are what I think will actually happen - I'm just playing devil's advocate and asking for someone else to provide some positive banter to counter them.
Here is my arguement for glass half full. Arsenal v newcastle Manchester United v liverpool swansea v tottenham at weekend. We play qpr at home monday. At least 3 of the teams around us will drop points and we should get 3 points at home. If we get anything less than a win against qpr then my glass is not half empty but down to the dregs.
Sorry CS2. It wasn't meant to be critical. I'm probably not alone in being disappointed over several recent games and readingyour log I was thinking, I so hope you're wrong but if your not .
Dave882: I hope the "glass half full" fears are proved wrong, but like you I'm wondering "what if?" and it's not pleasant to contemplate where we might be in the Premier League table come the New Year :-(
Still, the old saying is surely true: one game at a time.
Strange opening post in my eyes why try and make a poor week worse
08 Dec 2014 12:14:08
Thinking about the size of the squad an all, here is who I would get rid of in the summer
Howard-too many misakes and won't improve.
Hibbert-against man city showed he is losing pace by the hour, finished.
Distin-can head the ball, can't use the ball and is starting to be beaten one on one too often.
Alcaraz-certainly offers more than distin but his contract is up in the summer, as is disin, I wonder, if he had to keep one, who, i'd keep antolin personally but both will end up gone.
Gibson-i like him, I really do but he is injured, AGAIN, wasting wage and Will never be fit for periods of time.
Pienaar-championship player at best now, too slow and weak.
Mcgeady-he can cross, but its like a lucky dip, they're either brilliant or awful, i'd keep him over atsu and pienaar but we can certainly improve on all 3, get rid.
Atsu-i remember a chelsea ed saying he would prove us all wrong, well, he hasnt, can't do anything and can't get a game for this very reason.
Barkley-gets no goals and no assists, hogs the ball, shoots from 50 yards into the stands and doesn't look like he will ever improve, get money while we can.
Kone-id like to Judge him when he gets a run, but if he gets injured one more time, he's out.
Junior-is he still alive?
Youngsters i'd like to see given a chance or who could step in
Browning
Griffiths
Pennington
Galloway
Garbutt
Ledson
Grant
Kennedy
Long
Mcaleny
Henen
I also wouldn't be shocked to see mirallas gone in the summer
Thoughts lads, this is purely opinion but I need a change of discussion from the crap we've been playing
08 Dec 2014 14:42:53
I agree swan all the players you have listed (bar Barkley-give him one more season to show his worth) and add osman to that list, are not good enough for Everton, we should have players that are top class this squad just looks poxy when you look at the expectations set by last season.
The obvious problem would be the finance to replace so man (awful) players, it would cost a fortune to replace all those with decent players good enough to get us into Europe. This leads to a second problem, Tottenham syndrome- I mean look at the players they have, so many top class individuals, but the problem is they have spent fortunes on players and don't have a team, which we could easily do if we sell our team and replace individual positions with loads of foreign talent that don't gel.
What I'm getting at is that I do want these players replaced and fast, it is just so hard for our club with our finance to do so and then still have a solid team with great chemistry. We are turning quickly into Wigan mark two, things must change!
08 Dec 2014 15:38:20
I can't believe I forgot leon 'the only reason people like me is because I've been here a while, and I've only been here a while is because no one would buy me because i'm so bad' osman, the slowest, weakest and most irritating player at the club.
Harsh !
What a ridiculous notion to get rid of all these players. You were probably saying Jags was past it in at the start of the season too.
This is exactly what higher expectations leads to, a bunch of know it all dismissive types who will try and force their opinions on people. You are probably a rank of taxi drivers.
You are completely wrong too. Howard is having a poor season but it's not his fault there is no competition. And coming off last season when he was definitely in the top 3 keepers in the league it's an incredibly short sighted opinion.
Barkley is struggling for fitness in my opinion. He will be a good premier league footballer and potentially a lot more. Are you people mad?
Pienaar is the man who makes Baines the best attacking left back in the league otherwise he's just a very good one. I'd think twice about splitting up that partnership
I can't believe there is anyone who truly believes that Alcaraz is better than Distin.
No wonder Newcastle just wanna finish mid table. Who could be bothered taking all this crap for being just outside where they want to be.
Get a grip lads. We'll finish top 8 and that's a fact. And next year without Europe we will have a good run at it again. And that's our lot until we can consolidate a Champions league place.
09 Dec 2014 16:00:33
Calm down mate, I said at the start of the season jags should be dropped (being awful first few games and all), didn't say get rid. Taxi drivers? What a silly comment mr bill gates, I can confirm, I am not a taxi driver, so that probably On your part is a bit silly. Its not howards fault there is no competition, no but it is his fault he's making mistakes, you're probably his wife (i can make silly assumptions too). Pienaar an baines haven't been good since 2011 when pienaar came here on loan, they backheel it to eachother at the corner flag, lose it, no one in the left back position so our centre backs get dragged out wide and we get countered, pienaar is finished, full stop. Alcaraz is a better footballer than distin (you know, passing, calmness and carrying the ball) and I don't think anyone can argue with that. Alcaraz also doesn't head the ball when its an inch off the ground, because distin has 2 left feet. Alcaraz can also play left or right centre back (again, because distin has 2 left feet). Alcaraz also hasn't cost us a goal this season (again, syl has). We will never get in the champions league and will be lucky to finish top 10 the way we are playing. So again, calm down, mate
Ye but Alcaraz plays 3 games then misses 10, maybe if our centre backs didn't spend so much of the game of the ball being forced into tricky desicions constantly they wouldn't lose it so much
08 Dec 2014 07:16:02
I can understand the fans' frustration over recent results and performances but what I cannot is the surprise. Everton had not played well the latter part of last season, Pre season and its carried on. Playing top sides early on, with Europe playing its part with a minimal squad all pointed to where we are now. When football is played the Martinez way it is often duck or no dinner. He did it with Wigan and that is the price you pay for possession football. Don't get me wrong, I prefer watching a Martinez side than a Moyes side, but there is a time and a place for both strategies. We will miss Mcarthy for breaking down play and quick release passes. I think we are in a deeper mess than most realise and we are not in a position to buy ourselves out of it. I have supported Everton for 50 years and God I hope I am wrong.
I agree smeggs, we all want what's best for our club course we do, sometimes we all have our blue tinted glasses on to see what's really happening - I said in summer when window opened we needed 7 or 8 new players minimum - I got some stick for it,, my defence was, we are fighting 2 fronts pl and europa - if we get injuries we just don't have the squad, we don't have the quality and I also said we have too many old players
alcaraz
osman
hibbert
pienaar
distin
howard-
gareth barry
kone (on the list purely because not seen enough)
im entitled to my opinion and there not good enough anymore that's 8 players - come next there going to be a year older and we will have the oldest squad in the prem - rm is the manager and I will stick by him but he needs to blood more youngsters now incase we don't have the finances to replace those 8 players next summer . might get mixed messages for this post but if the other everton fans are happy seeing osman hibbert distin and gaz baz in the team next season then there really is no hope, i'd like to see garbutt, ledson, galloway, browning, mcaleny, given some game time soon, could save us a lot of cash come next summer if there good enough there old enough
08 Dec 2014 11:57:19
Alcaraz is gone soon anyway, barry shouldn't be on the list though, he's not fit, 33 and is playing 3 times a week when still injured, he's not going to be at his best is he
Dazza, I think the players you have mentioned apart from Barry will be fazed out of the squad over the next 4 transer windows, as their contracts are all coming to an end in that time. We won't have the money to replace them all at once.
I'm a bit concerned over players like Mirallas saying that he wants champions league football and he will have to consider his options if that's not with everton.
In my opinion we still have a good set of players to build a great team around, we just need to get some of the older and injury proned players moved on (granted that's a few!) but it will have to be gradually done. We desperately need a creative centre mid and a left winger though. We need to create more chances for Lukaku because given the chance he will stick them away.
I to said at his appointment that he would turn us into Wigan. I like good football and respect Martinez style but it is more suited at a Club with the financial support and large Squad. Roberto's insistence on playing out from the back means that at times our build up is to slow, which gives Teams time to set-up. We have a big strong lad up front whose hold up play is not the best so sometimes it would be best to use the long direct ball.
Id like to see this team avaliable to us
joel
coleman stones jagielka baines
besic mccarthy
mirallas barkley naismith
lukaku
subs - etoo, ledson, garbutt mcgeady, browning, mcaleny, long, henan
besic and mccarthy gonne be a cracking pair for years to come really rate them both -
joel can't be any worse than howard and he's still only young, we have the core of team and u21 players to be a very decent side and something close to the Manchester United team of the 90's with all the british lads, optimistic but i'm a youth coach aswell and i'm all for promoting talented youths
08 Dec 2014 06:25:57
Been a bit of a downer on the site for everyone, even I'm sightly upset, but my mum always says: "Memories make us who we are, what ever we do and where ever we go, we will always be family".
For me that epitomizes Everton FC, so no matter how bad we do, I will always be behind the club. I was Raised a Blue and have always found commonality among fellow toffees. Even traveling up to Liverpool on match days, you meet some brilliant people.
Just thought I'd leave this video here, and hopefully we can kick on positively. COYB
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kFmSq26F4Fs