toffeestillidie
Player Valuation: £35m
So obviously I'm as made up as the rest of you that we've managed to bring him back on a permanent deal (especially just after securing Barkley's future at the club), and now that he's officially an Everton Player, I think it's worth discussing whether he truly has the attributes to lead the line.
Don't get me wrong, there is no denying whatsoever that he is an immense talent, my only question is whether we actually get the most out of him by playing him the furthest up the pitch.
The times when he went missing last season, based on my observation, were times when he was forced to mostly play with his back to goal, as he struggled to get good shots off after shooting, and his touch would often let him down in these situations.
Contrastingly, he was absolutely deadly when he was able to run onto the end of a through-balls, or when he got the ball deeper and was able to dribble at defenders, or when the ball was played between him and the goal from the goal line.
Don't these attributes make him seem more likea number 10 a player suited to play in the hole just behind a centre-forward, than an out-and-out target man striker?
Based on the above, I think two things could happen, either:
1.) He's young and has yet to develop the aspects of his game that would make him a deadly target man, and over time his ability to buy space to shoot when his back is to goal will improve, meaning his future at the club is as anumber 9. centre forward.
2.) We use a formation that allows us to play him and Barkley directly behind a target man striker (Naismith or Kone?) who can knocked down headers or lay off passes for Barkley and Lukaku to run onto.
Don't get me wrong, there is no denying whatsoever that he is an immense talent, my only question is whether we actually get the most out of him by playing him the furthest up the pitch.
The times when he went missing last season, based on my observation, were times when he was forced to mostly play with his back to goal, as he struggled to get good shots off after shooting, and his touch would often let him down in these situations.
Contrastingly, he was absolutely deadly when he was able to run onto the end of a through-balls, or when he got the ball deeper and was able to dribble at defenders, or when the ball was played between him and the goal from the goal line.
Don't these attributes make him seem more like
Based on the above, I think two things could happen, either:
1.) He's young and has yet to develop the aspects of his game that would make him a deadly target man, and over time his ability to buy space to shoot when his back is to goal will improve, meaning his future at the club is as a
2.) We use a formation that allows us to play him and Barkley directly behind a target man striker (Naismith or Kone?) who can knocked down headers or lay off passes for Barkley and Lukaku to run onto.
Last edited: