Idrissa Gueye

[BlueToff]

I hope it continues. I've ended up being drawn into criticising him more than I'd really want to, purely because of people's reactions to me not agreeing that he's Kante. I think he's a bit of a ball watcher and that he gave the ball away too cheaply, but he was perfectly decent overall.

The way he is playing right now - and has been for the last nine months or so - the Kante comparisons genuinely aren't far fetched.

Statistically he's better, but I agree Kante has, in the past, been a more rounded player. But at the moment Gueye is right up there.

Like I've said though I agree entirely that him not being here isn't the reason why we lost to Sheff Utd and Burnley.

 

[orly]

Ironically, he became a much better all round player under Marco Silva, especially second half of last season

 

[Wayno]

I think it’s just plainly obvious that the better the team , the more effective a player like Gueye is.

He didn’t look special at all in a Villa team that went down , he looked good for us at times but we still got a few batterings with him in the side and he’s looking great at PSG

A prime Claude Makelele wouldn’t grind us out wins at the moment because we are absolutely crap, never mind Gueye

 

[Osamabindiesel]

I think it’s just plainly obvious that the better the team , the more effective a player like Gueye is.

He didn’t look special at all in a Villa team that went down , he looked good for us at times but we still got a few batterings with him in the side and he’s looking great at PSG

A prime Claude Makelele wouldn’t grind us out wins at the moment because we are absolutely crap, never mind Gueye

He’s a great player, but he isn’t somebody that will carry teams to wins like a Hazard, Suarez, Messi, Ronaldo, etc. It was idiotic to blame him for our attacking woes last year though as some did. That isn’t his responsibility.

 

[YoboCopter]

I think it’s just plainly obvious that the better the team , the more effective a player like Gueye is.

He didn’t look special at all in a Villa team that went down , he looked good for us at times but we still got a few batterings with him in the side and he’s looking great at PSG

A prime Claude Makelele wouldn’t grind us out wins at the moment because we are absolutely crap, never mind Gueye

Yer summed up very well

 

[Blueclouds]

We sold him way under the Market value

 

[Disgruntledgoat]

I'm happy for him and pleased that he's now got the recognition he deserved but would rather he was playing his football on Merseyside rather than Paris.

Unfortunately, he would rather the other way around. So hats off to him, gave us 100% when he was here and I wish him all the best.

 

[Papa Shango]

For long periods, yes. The spell that saw Koeman sacked was littered with appalling results, and the one Silva endured last winter wasn't much better.

In regard to your other reply, I don't rate French football whatsoever, but I'm sure I'll catch a full PSG Champions League game at some point. I'm glad that things are going well for Gueye, but I still don't believe that Everton's situation would be any better if it were him in the team instead of Delph (same can't be said for Schneiderlin, obviously). It's great for him that he's found a place where his flaws are mitigated, though.

He has no flaws... I love him greatly.

 

[DRAGONZ_RULE]

In regard to your other reply, I don't rate French football whatsoever, but I'm sure I'll catch a full PSG Champions League game at some point. I'm glad that things are going well for Gueye, but I still don't believe that Everton's situation would be any better if it were him in the team instead of Delph (same can't be said for Schneiderlin, obviously). It's great for him that he's found a place where his flaws are mitigated, though.

I know you've said afterwards that you didn't mean to criticise him as much as you have in a sense, but the bold part of your message is quite loaded, I feel.

Put Lionel Messi at Tony Pulis-managed Stoke or West Brom and he would look decidedly average - so it's great for him that he found Barcelona where his inability to climb 8 foot in the air to head a cross is mitigated.

No player in the history of football has been perfect at every attribute required of a footballer. Every player has strengths and weaknesses, and that includes the Messi's, CR7's, Ronaldo's, Maradona's, Platini's, Beckenbauer's, Garincha's and Pele's of the world.

So if the best players the world has ever seen inherently have some sort of weakness in their game, be it aerial ability, pace, strength, finishing, crossing, positioning, whatever the case may be, then framing Gueye in terms of "finding a club where his flaws are mitigated" is not really a valid point.

Ultimately, Gueye was Everton's best player (or damn near close enough to it), and whilst the time was arguably right for him to depart given his desire to go to PSG combined with his age, it's undeniable that he leaves a huge hole in Everton's side and the team is far poorer for his absence.

 

[Papa Shango]

I think it’s just plainly obvious that the better the team , the more effective a player like Gueye is.

He didn’t look special at all in a Villa team that went down , he looked good for us at times but we still got a few batterings with him in the side and he’s looking great at PSG

A prime Claude Makelele wouldn’t grind us out wins at the moment because we are absolutely crap, never mind Gueye

He looked good for Villa whenever we played them. Looked really good in the Champions League for Lille too.

I like him because he is a pretty straightforward player. Loads of energy and does the simple things well like making space to take a pass, simple stuff that we simply don't do.

 

[Carlito]

I know you've said afterwards that you didn't mean to criticise him as much as you have in a sense, but the bold part of your message is quite loaded, I feel.

Put Lionel Messi at Tony Pulis-managed Stoke or West Brom and he would look decidedly average - so it's great for him that he found Barcelona where his inability to climb 8 foot in the air to head a cross is mitigated.

No player in the history of football has been perfect at every attribute required of a footballer. Every player has strengths and weaknesses, and that includes the Messi's, CR7's, Ronaldo's, Maradona's, Platini's, Beckenbauer's, Garincha's and Pele's of the world.

So if the best players the world has ever seen inherently have some sort of weakness in their game, be it aerial ability, pace, strength, finishing, crossing, positioning, whatever the case may be, then framing Gueye in terms of "finding a club where his flaws are mitigated" is not really a valid point.

Ultimately, Gueye was Everton's best player (or damn near close enough to it), and whilst the time was arguably right for him to depart given his desire to go to PSG combined with his age, it's undeniable that he leaves a huge hole in Everton's side and the team is far poorer for his absence.

I don't believe that Messi would look decidedly average at Stoke or West Brom. Talent will stand out wherever you put it, as it did when you had the likes of Le Tissier, di Canio, Carbone and Waddle playing for relegation-threatened/old Second Division teams back in the day.

To me, Gueye's situation is more comparable to Sissoko and Wijnaldum, who were heavily criticised for not being able to prevent Newcastle from going down, but have since managed to carve out niches for themselves performing specific, limited roles in better teams.