So what was the plan?
Maybe someone could have told Aznou himself this plan as evidently he's not happy.
He left Bayern to play.
ToffeeScot
Player Valuation: £25m
I would have no problem with him going full Barry on the social media front.
I would be very, very, surprised if the plan was for him not to play a single minute of football in the PL this season. That just wouldn't really have made sense on any level for any party.
pfim
Player Valuation: £50m
Develop, loan. His fee and age tell you he probably would be on the fringes of the first team.
But I don't think he wants either of those things. If he did, he would have stayed at Bayern and taken another loan.
He probably thought Everton was a big step down, enough that he would be certain to get playing time. In the most physical league in the world.
To be fair to him, he probably does if we don't get bounced in the cups.
Someone will say "he can't be worse than Mykolenko." But yes, yes he can be.
And he's not getting time at wing. We've brought in too many players there for him to be an option.
Dibling, Rohl, George, Alcaraz, O'Brien, Armstrong can all feel hard done by, or at the very least their pedigrees and fees would have dictated a different approach. This guy was brought in as a project and that's what he still is.
pfim
Player Valuation: £50m
I think you'd hope he'd force his way in by this point, but he hasn't. He's clearly the fourth choice LB (when all are healthy), and has been since the beginning of the season. We've been playing Keane at LCB, and while he's done well I don't think it's smart to throw an underdeveloped teenager next to him.
There are plenty of things to hammer Moyes over, I'm just not sure this is one of them.
How have we developed him?
He hasn't gone out on loan in 2 transfer windows, has he?
He's a full international.
He's not on the fringes of the first team, when the only left back infront of him has been injured/unavailable, he still hasn't been selected.
He's not making match day squads.
I'd be very surprised if he doesn't leave in a few months.
So, this plan, of which was always the plan - included hiding it from the player?
He's the same age/older than some on your list there.
Some plan, this. I hope we don't repeat this type of plan this summer.
The frustrating thing, and I'll caveat it by saying we don't see him in training, but the one opportunity he did play, he looked like he could offer us pace and directness in our attack - which we have struggled with all year.
Since that point Moyes has said "we didn't sign him to play there" and the constructive feedback of "improve" when asked what he and others youngsters needed to do for more playing time.
If he's not in the plans for the first team, why are we keeping him around?
To be honest after the Roma pre-season game, and just how out of water he looked and his build/age and knowing Moyes - I didn't expect the lad to get a sniff.
He could be terrible, he could be nowhere near the Prem - but you then have to ask why on earth we signed him.
No way that signing is going to plan - the lad is clearly not happy/I'm sure he'd leave tomorrow if he could.
JLW
Player Valuation: £70m
Why not? McNeil is and he offers from zero to nothing.
Or we playing attacking players for their defensive duties, Sean Dyche style.
pfim
Player Valuation: £50m
I obviously don't know what was said and agreed to, so I can't answer most of this. I don't know how many teenage defenders who cost 6 million are getting significant playing time in the PL, I would venture a guess that there are not many, that is where my assumption comes from (as well as the evidence in the very few minutes we've seen him).
Not every player is the same at the same age. In no way am I saying he's a bust.
But all I see is a young kid who got impatient at Bayern, got relegated in Spain on a squad that gave up 90 goals, and got a few starts against (checks notes) Lesotho so he's tied to Morocco. We saw him against Roma and not only was he awful, he was clueless. As of January, Moyes stated he's not physically ready for the PL. And while his views on young players are to be taken with a grain of salt, I think we've seen that even with his cameo at Sunderland at wing.
But if you take that as the qualifier for playing time (physically ready), certainly all of the players I listed above are physically ready for the PL, with the possible exception of Armstrong who has actually gone out on loan to the lower leagues and improved. That's where the focus should be, on those players and why they are not getting time.
