James McCarthy

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No denying he's been disappointing for a while. However, is it possible some of us have judged harshly, given his injuries and being played out of position occassionaly? When at his best he's a very effective player.
 
I have long since felt and advocated a move to a 4-3-3 and probably said as much on here. Quite central to that is that it benefits many of our players, none more so than McCarthy.

Make no bones about it this lad can play a bit, can pass, beat a man and shoot. His best attribute though is his fitness alongside his ability to press. I think sitting him in a 2 man pivot and increasingly confusing the role by having him cover Coleman has meant he's lost much of what he is best at. I can only hope the switch of formation, and the switch of role for him will continue as he has the potential to excel in that role.

He had something similar against Norwich under Unsworth where he had more license and looked a lot better player for it. They say the Derby for Fergusan ignited and saved his career and I wonder if that Arsenal game will do the same for McCarthy. In a way I hope he puts in a similar shift against Liverpool for a victorious Everton team and that could be a massive turning point for him. If you were thinking of leaving, two back to back wins under lights will provide emotions few grounds can match and may well shift his view. I hope so as when he's at his best he's a very good central midfield player.

I can't praise him enough today. However I hope it's not a flash in the pan as we will need him at his best to win the midfield battle next week.
 

Last night McCarthy epitomised a lot that has been lacking in our displays lately - aggression. He can be limited with the ball and sometimes dawdles with it but that fire in the belly is just what we need. McCarthy still doesn't look fully fit but showed that he is prepared to battle for the cause. Roll on Monday and that same fighting spirit will be needed in abundance.
 
He was excellent last night, but we know he can be in games like that. I think he was probably our best player in the Goodison derby last year, and he's shown it a number of other times for both us and Ireland. When you just ask him to run round like a terrier and snap into tackles he's ideal, but too often he just disappears in the more mundane games, or ones where he's tasked with a bit more than just being like the Tasmanian Devil.

If he can start to show that there's more to his game than just charging round at 100mph i'll be made up, he could save a load of money and the hassle of getting someone else in, but last night didn't tell me anything about him that we didn't already know.
 
catcherintherye said:
I have long since felt and advocated a move to a 4-3-3 and probably said as much on here. Quite central to that is that it benefits many of our players, none more so than McCarthy.

Make no bones about it this lad can play a bit, can pass, beat a man and shoot. His best attribute though is his fitness alongside his ability to press. I think sitting him in a 2 man pivot and increasingly confusing the role by having him cover Coleman has meant he's lost much of what he is best at. I can only hope the switch of formation, and the switch of role for him will continue as he has the potential to excel in that role.

He had something similar against Norwich under Unsworth where he had more license and looked a lot better player for it. They say the Derby for Fergusan ignited and saved his career and I wonder if that Arsenal game will do the same for McCarthy. In a way I hope he puts in a similar shift against Liverpool for a victorious Everton team and that could be a massive turning point for him. If you were thinking of leaving, two back to back wins under lights will provide emotions few grounds can match and may well shift his view. I hope so as when he's at his best he's a very good central midfield player.

I can't praise him enough today. However I hope it's not a flash in the pan as we will need him at his best to win the midfield battle next week.
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He played that little bit further forward at Watford and it didn't really work, but last night it did.

His breaking up of the Arsenal much closer to the half way line was key, and it provided more ball for the others including Lukaku to work better higher up the field.

When he sits deeper, his tendency is to play safety-first football, hence the sideways and backwards passing that RK was clearly unhappy with earlier in the season and to a degree (early on) last night as well. Once Jimmy Mac moved up and started to bite into tackles, the tide began to turn... and he looked much the better player it too !!

Rom, looked cream-crackered late on - I think he possibly ran around as much last night as he has done in the last two seasons - still needs to be more fluid for me, but with Jimmy Mac that much closer to him, he will surely appreciate the more opportunities to come his way.
 

Lanolin said:
He was excellent last night, but we know he can be in games like that. I think he was probably our best player in the Goodison derby last year, and he's shown it a number of other times for both us and Ireland. When you just ask him to run round like a terrier and snap into tackles he's ideal, but too often he just disappears in the more mundane games, or ones where he's tasked with a bit more than just being like the Tasmanian Devil.

If he can start to show that there's more to his game than just charging round at 100mph i'll be made up, he could save a load of money and the hassle of getting someone else in, but last night didn't tell me anything about him that we didn't already know.
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It's a fair point. Your position is essentially that his game is around stopping better players, and when we face inferior teams what will his role be?

My answer I suppose is that you always need a lad like that whoever you are playing. He can also help us press higher up the pitch and put poorer teams under more pressure at Goodison. It does my head in to see sides like Swansea, West Ham who are low on confidence getting to ease their way into the game at Goodison.

I also think he has ability on the ball. He's no Barkley by any stretch, but he can carry the ball, pick a pass and I believe get some goals. I think more than anyone he has struggled with the notion of playing two sitting midfield players. He's not clever enough on the ball to sit and pick passes like say a Carrick or a Barry. I think a change of system, and having him play like what say Wijnaldum does for Liverpool will help him and help Barkley. For me, he should be targeted with scoring 6-7 goals a season as well.

We'll never know if it's been the system or the lad himself that has prevented him doing this. However following last night you'd imagine he will be a nailed on starter over the next 3-4 games in the role he played last night (he should be!). He can have no excuses now, it is time to deliver a run of performances like last night and put the question to bed. If he doesn't then I suspect he will be moved on.
 
AndyC said:
He played that little bit further forward at Watford and it didn't really work, but last night it did.

His breaking up of the Arsenal much closer to the half way line was key, and it provided more ball for the others including Lukaku to work better higher up the field.

When he sits deeper, his tendency is to play safety-first football, hence the sideways and backwards passing that RK was clearly unhappy with earlier in the season and to a degree (early on) last night as well. Once Jimmy Mac moved up and started to bite into tackles, the tide began to turn... and he looked much the better player it too !!

Rom, looked cream-crackered late on - I think he possibly ran around as much last night as he has done in the last two seasons - still needs to be more fluid for me, but with Jimmy Mac that much closer to him, he will surely appreciate the more opportunities to come his way.
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I agree with all of that. I think there are two points to note on this though. Firstly the lads in wide positions were far better at pressing last night than against Watford. Valencia also got involved with Lukaku more. Perhaps more importantly is the Barkley factor. Him pressing further forward allowed Barkley to have more space and play a little deeper. Unlike Barry, Barkley can also carry the ball forward. As you've said it helps Rom but also it helps Barkley. I don't think the system works with Barry as I just don't think he has the legs or dribbling ability to compliment McCarthy.

As for the rest I agree wholeheartedly.
 
My hope for McCarthy is that from now until he moves on sometime in january (which i believe he will push for and the club will not be that bothered about him going) that he keeps sticking those levels of performance in - he does that then he will be welcomed back fondly and on top we will get a much biggers transferfee for him - as he's shown he still has the ability to play at that level of performance.

Not gonna jump the gun and declare him the answer to our midfield problems, but what he has shown is if you throw a high energy player into a midfield 3 instead of Barry then Ross can play there without any worries at all.

Hopefully we stick with the 3 centre mids for the forseeable and bring in another 1-2 players who can play at the intensity of a 'on form' McCarthy but with more overall quality

Played really well last night though has to be said.
 
Even though he didn't have the best game at Watford, he was one of the only players still trying to get stuck in and win the ball back, and that helped us in the last 10 minutes of that game. That also coincided with Valencia and Lennon working hard, and we obviously got one back in the final 10 minutes.

He carried that on in to last night and I reckon he was the catalyst for the turnaround in our fortunes last night. We've all complained about not having a 'snide' in the team and he was that man last night. But also got stuck in fairly and got forward well to win freekicks and close them down. Excellent performance from him and I hope he can keep it up.
 

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