Aside from our problems in midfield...

Discussion in 'Everton' started by Scouse, Oct 22, 2003.

  1. Scouse

    Scouse New Member

    Jun 17, 2002
    Manchester
    david moyes must now have a headache about his strikers..at the moment we have campbell, radzinski, ferguson, rooney, jeffers, mcfadden and chadwick all in contention for a starting place.

    granted, mcfadden seems to have been given a new role on the left flank and chadwick is still a little down the pecking order, but what about the others. realistically it's 5 people fighting for 2 spots.

    * campbell's just come back from injury and looked out of sorts when he made his return against Southampton. i hope his poor performance was down to his lack of match practice/fitness rather than any signs of what's to come. he hardly challenged for a header at the weekend and won nothing in the air.
    * radzinski's got the pace that's needed to scare defenders and put them on the back foot, but there's a feeling that he hasn't really done it for us this season. then there's increasing talk that he doesn't want to extend his contract and will be sold on in january. if that's the case, moyes may want to give him more of a substitute's role and try to establish a consistent strikeforce for the future.
    * ferguson's been great since he's recovered from his longterm injury, and has certainly susprised me with his performances. i have to confess i thought i'd never see him pull an everton shirt on again. having said that there's still the lingering doubts he could aggravate his well-known injuries again and be out for months. then there's his disciplinary problems.
    * rooney's obviously our preferred striker of the future, but on the evidence of this season, doesn't seem to be playing that well at the moment. it's definitely fair to say he's done better for england than for everton. i think moyes would prefer to going back to using him as a super-sub..no matter how strong the shouts from the crowd for his appearance when things aren't going well.
    * i welcomed jeffers back with open arms after his time at arsenal. a feeling that wasn't necessarily shared by everyone at Goodison. however, i wonder if the injuries have taken their toll on Frannie and blunted a side of his game. he doesn't seem nearly as sharp as before and has seemingly lost that extra yard of pace he used to possess. again tho, maybe his performances haven't seen him at his best...he's not long come back from injury himself.

    i can't possibly see how a club like everton can have 5 first-team strikers clambering for 2 spots in the lineup. someone's going to have to go, whether that's radzinski in january, or whether we send jeffers back to arsenal, i don't know. we also can't forget that campbell/ ferguson must be approaching their last couple of seasons of top-class football due to their age..
     
  2. Treetaliano

    Treetaliano Member

    Jun 29, 2002
    San Diego
    I've really liked him from what I've seen of him thusfar. At Motherwell the kid had lots of hype and I've heard that he was a terror in Scotland, leading the league in a few different stat categories, so I'm not surprised he's gotten off to a good start...however, time will tell if he keeps it up in England.

    Granted, I've not followed Everton as long as most probably, but I;ve really never been too impressed with Kev. He has gotten his share of goals obviously, but to me half the time he is invisible...as you mentoined he is getting up there in age, so saying we've seen the best of him wouldnt be that big a stretch to say...If I had to choose someone to grab the bench, it would be Kev.


    I've not heard that he doesn't want to extend the contract. :mad: if so, that would be a big blow and we'd be relly hurting without his speed out there. However I think that Radz is playing well, and is more of a problem of our midfield not giving him anything at all. That said, I pray we do figure out a way to keep him...if not...then...

    Agreed on your points. I'd have to put Dunc in the same boat with Kevin though. He's getting up there in age, and he is just a bent blade of grass away from his next 3-6 month injury. I'd say get him his minutes now while we can, and when/if he gets hurt again and/or loses his form then we look at other options. I still think he has something left, so let's see it now, not later...


    This is a bit a of thing for me. I don't like the super-sub thing at all. I think he definately needs to be out there from the get go. He has had some poor moments this season, but he has also been excellent. The Charlon match was All Rooney All the time. I don't put too much stock in his England perfomances as two of the opponents were really poor, but he's scored the goals, so it still shows he is on. If I was Moyes, I'd put him in the hole, and not up top.

    I haven't seen enough of him to make a good observation, howerver what I've seen of him so far this year, hasnt really impressed. I leave him on the bench

    Here's what I'd like to see...


    Watson.....................McFadden
    .............Rooney................
    ............. Radz .. Dunc .............

    I still am disappointed we didnt manage to solidify that Torrado signing rumored earlier, that would have been huge...for now though, whoever we plug in as DMid has not been too inspiring...

    Moyes needs to get someone in in January to help that midfield out,
     
  3. Scouse

    Scouse New Member

    Jun 17, 2002
    Manchester
    well, it's only a rumour at this stage. a lot of people seem to have "mates of mates' mates" that claim to have inside knowledge he'll be leaving, possibly in january. also, in a recent interview with Evertonian magazine, Clarke was asked about his preferred striking partnership for everton and he never even mentioned radzinski - all gives the doom-merchants something to play with.

    ...but, heart on the sleeve time, radzinski is my favourite everton player...i'd hate to see him go. people say he's lost an extra yard of pace, maybe he has, but he had 5 yards extra on top of everyone anyway...he's still by far and away our quickest forward and he still offers us a real alternative from
    a) hoofing it up to campbell/ ferguson or
    b) giving it to rooney 40 yards out and hoping he can beat 3 men and curl it top-corner.

    i'd absolutely love to see that, particularly rooney in the hole. granted i'd actually prefer him to play as an out-and-out centre-forward but it seems like it might be expedient to place him in that position cos
    a) we have enough options up front as it is...that's where the competition is
    b) we don't have enough competition for an attacking midfielder role (or in the midfield in general).

    playing rooney in the hold might be the perfect compromise.
     
  4. Treetaliano

    Treetaliano Member

    Jun 29, 2002
    San Diego
    That though has been the fault though of our "midfield". We have no link from the back at all. Our ball winning has been just junk, and if we win anything, then getting up to the guys who need it has been Pistone or Stubbs or Yobo or whoever just knocking the hell out hoping for someone to run on to it or win a header etc...really our problems lie there, and not with our forwards.

    That said, those guys need to be held accountable at some point for not tracking back, holding etc, but there is only so much they can do trying to win 30 - 70 balls against defenders 6 inches taller than him...

    Davis or Reyna would have been perfect for this role had either of those transfers panned out

    Hopefully though, someone will step up and get us out of this rough little stretch we're having here, and we can head into the transfer window with at least a UEFA place at least somewhat attainable. Question is...Who?
     
  5. TrooperBari

    TrooperBari Moderator
    Staff Member

    Apr 3, 2001
    Jakarta
    Trying to revive the old 2-3-5 formation, are you? ;)
     
  6. Treetaliano

    Treetaliano Member

    Jun 29, 2002
    San Diego
    Smartass :D

    Plug in a dmid of your choice, (as long as his name doesnt include the letters Li Tie), the back line and Wright.

    .............Wright/Martyn................
    ???.......????......????........???
    .............??????................
    Watson.....................McFadden
    .............Rooney................
    ............. Radz .. Dunc .............

    I'm interested to see what Moyes goes with today
     
  7. TrooperBari

    TrooperBari Moderator
    Staff Member

    Apr 3, 2001
    Jakarta
    Better to be the smartass than the dumbass.
     

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