Fellaini CM

[Tubey]

That's the thing though, if you don't play Fellaini there, who gets the nod? Are any of Osman, Naismith or Barkley going to be better than him? I'd say only Barkley really has the potential to be really good there and that's a bit iffy.

The solution really is to be more flexible in formation to avoid having that position at all, but that's clearly very unlikely to happen under DMo.

It's not about being better than him, it's about improving the overall effectiveness of the team. Osman wouldn't do the same job Fellaini does as the ball would be put into his feet instead.

It'd allow Jelavic to play an all round game and play on the ground more. As it stands he's been a poor man's Fellaini, trying to back into defenders and make the ball stick because we're pumping the ball direct to the big Belgian at the edge of the penalty box. Jelavic doesn't work off that sort of delivery; he prefers to play on the shoulder, or move into half a yard of space to fire away the shot.

Barkley, Naismith or Osman would be fine, but on balance I'd like to see Barkley given the trust to actually make something of himself in the Everton side in his preferred position. Mirallas is out injured, so we have to keep Naismith on the right really, and Osman alongside Gibson is a good combo that I wouldn't disrupt.

 

[Royal Blue Jersey]

Im gonna come out and say it.

I think this was Fellaini's last game for us. out for 3 games

West Ham, Wigan, Chelsea. sold in January.

Please dont be to hard on me, its almost christmas.

That would be the best Christmas present ever, personally.

 

[Brownie]

It's not about being better than him, it's about improving the overall effectiveness of the team. Osman wouldn't do the same job Fellaini does as the ball would be put into his feet instead.

It'd allow Jelavic to play an all round game and play on the ground more. As it stands he's been a poor man's Fellaini, trying to back into defenders and make the ball stick because we're pumping the ball direct to the big Belgian at the edge of the penalty box. Jelavic doesn't work off that sort of delivery; he prefers to play on the shoulder, or move into half a yard of space to fire away the shot.

Barkley, Naismith or Osman would be fine, but on balance I'd like to see Barkley given the trust to actually make something of himself in the Everton side in his preferred position. Mirallas is out injured, so we have to keep Naismith on the right really, and Osman alongside Gibson is a good combo that I wouldn't disrupt.

When we're playing well it goes into Fellaini's feet plenty of times, even when it's in the air to him we usually get the second ball and attack quickly from there. It's not like it's smashed up and we look for the flick on, that's really quite rare to see.

I'm not sure about Jelavic playing on the shoulder and looking for through balls either. He might prefer playing that way, but I'm not sure he's scored too many goals doing that, he's not particularly fast and he doesn't really have the technique to make half a yard for a shot himself. The majority of his goals I've seen come from sniffing out loose balls and cutbacks, with the emphasis greatly on the former.

The one thing I'd accept about Fellaini being up there is that he takes up positions that Jelavic would otherwise be in, he gets in the way a bit. If he does get suspended, it'll be interesting to see if it does have a positive effect on our attacking play.

 

[GwladysBlue]

I've just thought if we drag this out then one of the games he misses will be Cheltenham hopefully!