Everton FC - The View From My Seat
Everton FC - Transfer Window & Squad Review
The transfer window has slammed shut and Roberto Martinez insists Everton's goal after each window is to exit stronger than they arrived. Let's review our squad and have a look and see if we are stronger now than when we started the season.
This January we've brought in 3 players and lost only the 1 permanently. Matthew Foulds is one for the future, Shani Tarashaj again won't be in our first team plans anytime soon as he's back at Grasshoppers on loan and Oumar Niasse arrives with big expectations after £13.5M was splashed out on him. Steven Naismith has left to join Norwich, a great move for him I think and good business by the club. A shame he's left before the likes of McGeady and Kone but the £8.5M we received is very good business for a squad player. Aiden McGeady has joined Sheffield Wednesday on loan, I don't think he'll be missed and really I'd have liked his wages off the books altogether.
This January transfer window has then left us with only Niasse to get excited about. A little difficult to get too excited because if 99% of Evertonians are honest they will admit they've never even heard of the Senegalese striker. Niasse arrives with impressive stats, 12 goals and 10 assists already this season however that doesn't mean quite as much being in the Russian League. The Premier League in England is a completely different animal. However I like to be positive and you can only play who's in front of you. Looking at Niasse, his stats and a few YouTube videos he does look like he can play and let's face it, surely he's a better alternative to Arouna Kone. Kone had a decent spell early in the season but that now seems a very distant memory, another £40K a week we could do with moving on in the summer. Martinez likes to play with a right winger and on the left a roaming playmaker type. Niasse seems a perfect fit, he can play out wide and come inside to score and create goals. For the money we've spent I'd be putting him straight in depending on fitness levels against Newcastle United on Wednesday night.
Not too much to talk about this January then so I thought I'd take a look at our squad and see how we can move forward during the rest of the campaign.
Goalkeepers..... Tim Howard has been a major talking point pretty much all season. Apparently he's taken a knock in training this week and will need assessing before the Newcastle match. He's also destined for a return to the US in the summer, his Everton days are numbered for certain. With this in mind, whether he passes a late fitness test or not, I'd be saying to Joel Robles, "Listen Joel, you've improved dramatically over the last 12 months, you're going in goal as No.1 for the remainder of the season. I want you to prove you can be a Premier League No.1 and decide for me whether I'm shopping for a new No.1 in the summer or a back up for you". It is for me the perfect opportunity to give Joel this chance. Howard isn't playing well, he's made a number of mistakes that are unlike the Howard from previous seasons. He's going to be leaving in the summer so now is the time for Robles to be given his chance. I think it would be bad management to continue as we are and wait until next season to give Robles his chance to then be in a similar situation come January 2017 and having to scramble around for a new goalkeeper. Personally I don't believe Robles is the answer but will admit that he is 100% better than he was 12 months ago.
Our defence is baffling! Say the names out loud to yourself now..... Coleman. Arguably the best right back in the league. Baines. Again, probably the best left back in the league. Stones. Chased by Chelsea and others for £50M plus. Jagielka. Great out and out defender and fantastic leader. Funes Mori, proving a quality acquisition at £9.5M, decent ball player and good in the air. Even our back up youngsters, Galloway, Browning and then add Oviedo. There are a lot worse in the division. Our first team defenders are top class and would individually walk into I'd say any team in the league. So why are we so dreadful at defending? I believe it's all about the tactics. Players are being asked to play a style they aren't comfortable with. Since Jagielka has been back from injury it seems to me he's decided enough is enough. He's rarely been playing around with the ball when under pressure and I've not seen him lump the ball up the field as much before as he has the last couple of games. John Stones is only young and is being asked to be a ball playing defender, which he is very good and capable of doing, however Martinez needs to teach him there's a time and place.
Coleman and Baines like to play that ball directly inside either to Barry, McCarthy or a little more directly into Lukaku before making their moves down the flanks. Roberto seems to prefer the ball going short inside to Barry or McCarthy, but, Baines loves that direct fast paced ball fizzed directly up to Lukaku, he's does this often and I think it's a much better pass. It moves us up the field quicker and we can play from there rather than around the back four. All these things mixed with a clear low confidence in Howard's recent form means we're defending very deep and trying to defend space rather than attacking players. I've seen tonnes of examples of defending space rather than players and it leads to the majority of our goals conceded. The opposition get the ball down the sides and almost every ball from wide into our box you will see our defenders right on top of Howard and defending the 6-yard box and the opposition hold their run and end up with a free header or strike on goal after the ball is pulled back for them. Many of the goals we've conceded, our defenders have been there, but defending their areas of space as opposed to the attacking player. I've never seen space score a goal!!!
So a few slight tweaks and I think this can be rectified. Defending the attackers as opposed to space, playing the ball further forward quicker and playing our passing game further up the field rather than deep in our own half. Roberto Martinez needs to show he can make these tweaks, his job for me relies on making some form of tactical changes to get us winning more games!
Midfield is an area where we are strong. Barry is proving that age is really only a number. He's been simply fantastic this season. We all know he has zero pace but that's why we have a McCarthy or a Besic sat in there with him. They dove tail perfectly. These players mentioned added with Cleverly and Barkley make us pretty strong in the centre of the park. Cleverly had a lot to prove for me when he arrived, I wasn't convinced but, his work rate has been excellent and now he's started passing the ball forward more often he's proving a decent squad member. Besic and McCarthy will be the main two I think when Barry does finally tire! McCarthy breaks down play better than most and Besic who also has this ability adds that extra bit where he can pick a pass and also has a trick or two also, he's been extremely impressive in my opinion, just needs to try and stay fit.
Barkley is class. 12 months ago he dwelled on the ball more often than not, he made the wrong decision when in possession more often than not and he lost the ball a little too regularly. But had that magic and natural ability. Now however, when he dwells he does so with the strength of an Ox, he waits to make the right decision, he doesn't lose the ball as often at all and he sets up goals and now scores them regularly. Oh and he still has that magic and natural ability. For me, Ross Barkley is improving immensely and at the rate we should expect for a 22 year old. Yes please remember, he's 22. He has another few years before he should be at the peak of his powers and he's already this good!! Let's not spoil him, now is the time for making mistakes and learning. We can allow that in return for what he already gives us.
Lennon, Deulofeu and Mirallas out wide are great attacking options. Lennon puts in a real shift going forward and tracking back. Mirallas can pull out a goal from nowhere and deserves more playing time than he's had this season. Gerard Deulofeu, he's magic you know! When Geri came back to us on a permanent deal I said he could be our Gareth Bale. By this I mean in previous years when we've been on par with Spurs but they've achieved that bit more, it was down to having a special player that in games was the sole difference. Spurs had Bale, we didn't have anyone. I really believe now however that Deulofeu is our star man. He's getting better and better, week by week. The amount of chances he creates and the fear he puts into the opposition is a great advantage to us. He needs to find the net a little more but isn't exactly doing bad in that department either. Again he's only a young player!
Others in our midfield area such as Osman, Gibson, Pienaar and McGeady are at the end for me. Osman has been the most under-rated player in the Premier League for years, along with Mark Noble from West Ham. But he's finished now. Gibson is injured far too often and is taking up a wage we could re-invest into the squad and McGeady who is out on loan hasn't hit the ground running, he's a non-starter. Pienaar again like Osman has been a good servant to the club but doesn't quite cut it anymore and I'd have a couple ahead of him in the first 11.
Up top Lukaku is proving every bit a £28M striker, nothing else needs saying here. Niasse, we've already discussed and are hopeful he can add to the team via goals and assists. That leaves us with Kone. Another that needs moving on in the summer. Leandro Rodriguez was brought in and has played a lot of development squad games but is yet to be near the first team squad despite being older than Lukaku! Interesting one he is, at his age you'd think he would be appearing here and there but hasn't....?
So come the summer I'd be looking at quite a few to be on the departure list opening up spaces for a couple of prospects and several new signings. January is rarely the exciting window, I suppose we should mention the fact we have kept all of our star players this window, that's a positive! In the summer though I'm not even nearly as confident we will be saying the same thing. Let's hope by the summer there has been a takeover that appears imminent, that then attracts a better manager, should Martinez continue with only a Plan A, maybe Pellegrini? A Takeover may convince Stones, Lukaku, Barkley etc to stay and the transfer market could become a completely different place with a bit of financial backing from the possible new owners.
Lots to discuss, many avenues Everton could go down in the next 6 months but for now let's be honest, we don't have a bad squad and a few tweaks and we could go on a great run and finish up the table and another cup run!
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