James McCarthy

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I'd like to find a formation where he sits in front of the defence and his only job is to protect them, get the ball and pass it to our new midfield playmaker. No bombing forward, no drifting out wide, just sit in the hole and get the ball, then give it to a team mate.

Goalie
Back 4
McCarthy
Two wingers and two central midfielders
Lukaku
 

evertonfootballclub said:
I'd like to find a formation where he sits in front of the defence and his only job is to protect them, get the ball and pass it to our new midfield playmaker. No bombing forward, no drifting out wide, just sit in the hole and get the ball, then give it to a team mate.

Goalie
Back 4
McCarthy
Two wingers and two central midfielders
Lukaku
Click to expand...

Aye, so a 4-1-4-1 or a 4-3-3, with McCarthy the central player.

If you watch Real, Casemiro does a much similar job for them as in he literally breaks up play, gets it and gives it. McCarthy can do that superbly.

He's also decent when allowed to make darting runs forward as a third-man runner, but he gets rather lost when given a role which is neither.

People have extremely short memories on here, and others just seem to expect that every midfielder has Pirlo's range and vision.
 
Stephenlloyd said:
The end of day, if the rumours are right regarding Schneirderlin. And we seen how Martinez played McCarthy every game when fit. RK will play schneirderlin in front of the back 4 every week.

And he will want much better in the number 8 role than what McCarthy can offer, wouldn't be surprised if he's sold this summer
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What is "the number 8 role"?
 
BlueToff said:
Aye, so a 4-1-4-1 or a 4-3-3, with McCarthy the central player.

If you watch Real, Casemiro does a much similar job for them as in he literally breaks up play, gets it and gives it. McCarthy can do that superbly.

He's also decent when allowed to make darting runs forward as a third-man runner, but he gets rather lost when given a role which is neither.

People have extremely short memories on here, and others just seem to expect that every midfielder has Pirlo's range and vision.
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I blow hot and cold with McCarthy.

I don't (personally) think he is disciplined enough for the holding midfield role, he certainly isn't great going forward and i do sometimes suspect his tackling ability. Interceptions, great, tackles am not 100% convinced. His passing leaves a lot to be desired sometimes too.

I said it though the last couple of seasons, he offers high energy. Thats even been a issue for him though, don't know if it was injury or just the general fitness of the squad. Absolutely loved his work rate and pressing when he first came, but even that has disappeared from his game - the amount of times i have fumed because he stands off a player and lets them come onto him has done my head in.

Could we get someone in who would improve on what he offers, yes i think we could. I just don't see him as a holding enforcer.

Just my two pence worth like.
 

Have to agree with Chazzle Dazzle - I remember McCarthy at his best in Europe covering every blade of grass but think that element of his game was lost last season. I thought McCarthy was excellent in his first season but I think he has gone stale and think that it may be best for himself and for us if he were to move on. We need someone who can break up play and also play a positive forward pass. It isnt enough to win the ball, turning the ball over should be the start of a counter attack and too often when James wins the ball he then gives that momentum up by playing a negative pass or giving the ball straight back. He has become a crab and has been stifled by Martinez. After a goalkeeper and presuming we keep our current players McCarthys postion would be the first position I would strengthen, along with getting a sports psychologist in to try and cure Ross of his tackling fears in the hope that he can become a deep-lying playmaker. I dont really know who I would replace McCarthy with, ill leave that to the fifa and cm players who have the worldwide scouting knowledge but if there is a modern day edgar davids knocking round who can harry and play thats what I see as being an upgrade and would seriously help this team get forward momentum
 
Think the Italian midfield was average last night. It was s second string line up which considering their first team has Giaccherini a player who couldn't make the Sunderland team in it doesn't exactly smack of quality. Had it been Pirlo De Rossi Gattuso and Marchisio all in their primes I would give him credit. That's the level we need to be at though. We know McCarthy does this, turns up on occasion when you're under the cosh and is everywhere. Sadly when the shoe is on the other foot he doesn't have that side to his game to help break teams down. Just not good enough for me, I hope Koeman is looking to replace him either internally or with a replacement.
 
chazzle_dazzle said:
I blow hot and cold with McCarthy.

I don't (personally) think he is disciplined enough for the holding midfield role, he certainly isn't great going forward and i do sometimes suspect his tackling ability. Interceptions, great, tackles am not 100% convinced. His passing leaves a lot to be desired sometimes too.

I said it though the last couple of seasons, he offers high energy. Thats even been a issue for him though, don't know if it was injury or just the general fitness of the squad. Absolutely loved his work rate and pressing when he first came, but even that has disappeared from his game - the amount of times i have fumed because he stands off a player and lets them come onto him has done my head in.

Could we get someone in who would improve on what he offers, yes i think we could. I just don't see him as a holding enforcer.

Just my two pence worth like.
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I see him a bit like that as well mate. I'm not saying he's the complete package, but he's very good at doing what he did yesterday.

Our issue in the past has been we've had him alongside Barry (very good player) and neither are exactly 'creative'. Barry keeps the tempo ticking over but isn't one for an incisive pass, and McCarthy is somebody adept at breaking up the play.

He needs to get his pressing game back, but a fully fit/on form McCarthy gives the entire side a lift because of his energy.

He also gets an undue amount os stick for his forward play as well. Yes, it could certainly improve, but when he gets in forward areas he's not bad (see some of his assists and goals for us) - but they all come from well-timed third man runs.

It's not like he's a player who can skip past two or three defenders or pick out a 50 yard throughball - that's not his game - and we shouldn't expect it to be. If he's played right he's a great asset for us.
 

Saint Domingo said:
Think the Italian midfield was average last night. It was s second string line up which considering their first team has Giaccherini a player who couldn't make the Sunderland team in it doesn't exactly smack of quality. Had it been Pirlo De Rossi Gattuso and Marchisio all in their primes I would give him credit. That's the level we need to be at though. We know McCarthy does this, turns up on occasion when you're under the cosh and is everywhere. Sadly when the shoe is on the other foot he doesn't have that side to his game to help break teams down. Just not good enough for me, I hope Koeman is looking to replace him either internally or with a replacement.
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Well it depends. RK is very good when it comes to changing the team for certain games.

In games last season at Saints when they played away, he was generally very conservative with his midfielders - preferring high energy players to supplement a three-man attack on the counter.

At home he was a bit different and wanted more 'creative' players in as they looked to play an open game.

Horses for courses.
 
BlueToff said:
Well it depends. RK is very good when it comes to changing the team for certain games.

In games last season at Saints when they played away, he was generally very conservative with his midfielders - preferring high energy players to supplement a three-man attack on the counter.

At home he was a bit different and wanted more 'creative' players in as they looked to play an open game.

Horses for courses.
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This is all I ask for from a good manager. You've got to have an exceptional team to just play the same way home and away against 18 different teams yet so many managers including our most recent two do exactly this. Same line up same formation every single week.
 
Saint Domingo said:
This is all I ask for from a good manager. You've got to have an exceptional team to just play the same way home and away against 18 different teams yet so many managers including our most recent two do exactly this. Same line up same formation every single week.
Click to expand...

Koeman doesn't do this mate. It's sometimes the same personnel, but often he'll tweak the system/formation slightly to accommodate the opposition's strengths and exploit their weaknesses.

If the team is winning, mind, he won't change it - but he's very much a game-by-game manager from what I gathered watching Saints last year.
 

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