Is this the best squad we've had since 84/85?

[Goat]

The top 4 will be :

City
Arse
Chelsea
Everton

Then

United
Spurs
Hull
RS

 

[maccavennie]

Only time will tell but we've yet to hit a crap patch. Then we'll find out how good they really are in how they respond to it.

We might not hit a crap patch though Chico! These next two games will be a big test, if we can muster 3-4 points the confidence will be sky high and set us up perfectly for 7 very winnable games ( on paper ). If we are in the mix though come end of December/early Jan it will be imperative to strengthen the squad with a couple of quality additions.

 

[lmurkder]

Yes.

Mcarthy has been the surprise package.

Think Roberto has some more surprises for us.

GUN TO A GUN FIGHT

 

[dholliday]

Yes.

Mcarthy has been the surprise package.

Think Roberto has some more surprises for us.

GUN TO A GUN FIGHT

Yes mate! Nicely put. An excellent motto in fact.


Everton: the Martinez Era.

FERENS A GUN GUN PUGNA!

 

[TX Bill]

Didn't follow Everton back then but I'll say it's close to being the best if not the best squad I've seen since I've been supporting Everton (1998)

 

[Megefc]

Certainly the best one I've seen in my relatively short life.. Deulofeu is the most exciting player I've seen in a blue shirt (that I can remember anyway)

 

[Garrick]

It's hard for me to even make a judgement on this until the end of the season. I'd rather judge squads by their results, not how they look on paper.

Also I almost always vote cheese on toast in polls on GOT because I find it amusing.

 

[deipnosophist]

The top 4 will be :

City
Arse
Chelsea
Everton

Then

United
Spurs
Hull
RS

I think you have mistakenly put Hull in there at seventh...

...they will be higher than that mate, more-like 5-6th

 

[deipnosophist]

We might not hit a crap patch though Chico! These next two games will be a big test, if we can muster 3-4 points the confidence will be sky high and set us up perfectly for 7 very winnable games ( on paper ). If we are in the mix though come end of December/early Jan it will be imperative to strengthen the squad with a couple of quality additions.

aye...that's the key 'quality'...in both playing ability and character

 

[MikeH72]

if we're including the borrowed players, then there's a decent argument we're fielding an 11 as strong as the 07/08, 04/05 or 95/06 teams. Squadwise, even with the loanees, we're a bit skinny on quality replacements.

The 04/05 squad was awful. Marcus Bent and James Beattie were our only strikers, the 07/08 squad was far better than 04/05. Not arsed what anyone says, we fluked 4th that year

 

[dholliday]

The 04/05 squad was awful. Marcus Bent and James Beattie were our only strikers, the 07/08 squad was far better than 04/05. Not arsed what anyone says, we fluked 4th that year

Did Dunc play in defence that season?

 

[dholliday]

We also had Timmy Cahill, an in-form McFadden & Yobo, Gravesen, Carsley, the loanee Arteta, Nigel Martyn and Kevin Zidane. Stubbs n Weir very solid at the back.


it wasn't a bad 11, mate...not bad at all.

 

[tim cahill]

The 04/05 squad was awful. Marcus Bent and James Beattie were our only strikers, the 07/08 squad was far better than 04/05. Not arsed what anyone says, we fluked 4th that year

We didn't fluke it, but the competition wasn't as strong as it is now. Remember that team being brilliant at defending 1 goal leads.

 

[tadpole]

The real judgement will come at the end of the season. To bear any kind of comparison with the great teams of the 80s, we'd need to have clocked up a top 4 place or an FA Cup final.

What I would say is in terms of raw ability the present team is a match for any of the teams of the 80s. The quickness of thought, speed of passing, dazzling runs - it's all there. The team has fantastic potential. Barkley, Stones and Deulofeu are 19 (Barkley turns 20 this week), Lukaku's 20 and McCarthy's 23. Yes, two of those are loanees, and who knows how long we'll be able to keep Barkley, but it's exciting to see how quickly these lads have been developing just in the last few weeks and there could be much more to come from them before the end of the season.

 

[steele]

On paper our squad in 2010/11was very promising, but didn't live up to our expectations.