ForeverBlue92
Player Valuation: £80m
Sadly there are 20 clubs in the league not 1 mate.
You can argue the squads of most teams are stronger than last season.
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Sadly there are 20 clubs in the league not 1 mate.
You can argue the squads of most teams are stronger than last season.
UptheTofees
Player Valuation: £20m
making excuses for Rafita that you wouldn’t make for Carlo
what a nice way to live
So it is a win win for Benitez no matter what happens.
Okay, but going off the perceived impact at the time, it helped boost Everton's online presence, helped garner new support/following/media attention in Colombia/across South America.
So maybe 'commercial' was the wrong term to use? I definitely didn't mean it that his wages would be recouped!
Which teams who you would say we would be competing with have strengthened and improved more than us? West Ham probably yes, who else? and it's a genuine question mate and not a pop at you.
But you're obsessed with the first IX mate?
Not many squads of the teams around us have a player of James' quality. In fact, none of them do.
I'd say Villa have made good signings but they're recovering from the loss of a player who was their everything so it'll take time.
Our major, major failing this window has been the right-back.
Shifting James would have been good for the books and it might have allowed us to get another player in, though it looks like unless it had been Diaz it'd have been nobody.
So he's here now and stays for the time being. We've got an alright squad, right-back and now left-back aside.
Hates the squad as well lad. Something something morale
Pace is great, but, without skill through the middle you are left with wingers flying down the flanks, throwing balls into the box where two dirty big grock defenders are happy to rough up your centre forward and nod the ball away.
This will pretty much be the story against most of the bottom half teams at Goodison. You need a degree of finesse in these situations. Not saying it has to be James to supply this, but, he's here, we're paying him and its what he does.
The one where he's a bad influence on the changing room and Benitez has to be careful because James will start plotting and turning players against him. lol
Egil Olsen
Player Valuation: £8m
Ok, results do not always tell the whole story, and I'm not sure his results are as mediocre as you should have them. However, Benitez is a highly respected and recognized manager, he has his faults, but he knows the subject and is extremely detail-oriented. I probably do not completely agree with his whole football philosophy, but I respect him anyway.
I think what many Everton supporters are now happy about is that we see a team, a unit that works for each other. May it continue like this. We are good at doing the basics. Pressure, cover and balance. This creates an imbalance in the opponent, and instead of centering the ball backwards and sideways, we take advantage of this imbalance much more directly than before.
It is a simple recipe, but if you do this well you will go a long way. As this foundation has settled, you can build on it. After many years where we have seen Everton players almost not pressure the opponent, barely won the ball back, and attack at a snail's pace, it is incredibly nice to see an Everton team that manages to do the basics properly. Rafael is good at this.
The binman chronicles
Player Valuation: £80m
It would be a crying shame if Benitez does not use James now he is here. Get him in against QPR and hopefully he can force his way into the squad playing in way that keeps the manager happy.
Spadge Vernacular
Player Valuation: £70m
That does ignore the signings that he has inherited from Ancelotti. Abdoulaye Doucoure - £19.89m, Allan - £22.5m, Ben Godfrey - £20 million, James Rodriguez - free but on a million a week. He also has Silva's signings in Digne Richarlison and Mina as well the more rounded talent that appeared under Ancelotti in Calvert Lewin. I do believe Benitez spotted an opportunity to improve upon Ancelotti last season, who was challenging for fourth with a few weeks to go before we collapsed. There was an issue of a part-time culture under Carlo from what I hear, with players and staff not being around training after 13:00/14:00. Even under those conditions, the expectation on Ancelotti last season from the board was Europe and in my opinion, Benitez has improved our options in Gray and Townsend. If he finds a way to work with these players, including James without the injury issues we suffered last year I would expect us to be challenging again.
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