Nikica Jelavic

[toffeejack]

I think it's interesting though that a player like Saha who was a lot more reluctant to do the leg work that Moyes tries to get his strikers to do was actually one of our most successful.

I often see a lot of shouts that Saha was lazy, and perhaps they're right. But i'd take a lazy striker who scores 1 in 3 over a striker who runs the channels and never puts the ball in the net.

i reckon it was purely down to fitness and prolonging his career. wherever he's played he worked hard and scored goals at a good rate, but also git injured. Finally when we got a whole season out of him, he only scored about 2 or 3 goals. Still one of the best all round strikers i've seen in the prem in the last 10 years

 

[Foot Long Hot Dog]

Lad, it's like 1 out of 20 that's bucked the trend.

There's more than one lad.

 

[Foot Long Hot Dog]

No. I simply stated that a fair few of our strikers have followed a similar pattern and that we've gone through a load of strikers in 10 years and barely any of them have been a success.

That's because the majority of them have been average to ****e.

Yakubu was an exception & pre his injury delivered.

Proven top quality PL strikers cost big money, most of our signings have either been gambles or 2nd bests.

 

[Seamus Colemole]

If you're gonna use a striker the way Moyes does you need your midfielders to chip in with goals.

Obviously Cahill used to get plenty, and Fellaini started off this season doing well but outside of that i don't believe we've ever really had a highscoring midfielder.

Osman and Pienaar in particular, espeically this season aren't making up for Jelavics lack of goals and benefitting from his wide play so we either need to add more goals from midfield if thats how we're going to play or play to our strikers strengths.

But Moyes aint gonna change the way he plays so until we can get midfielders who score we're always gonna see strikers suffering because of how they're asked to play.

 

[toffeejack]

If you're gonna use a striker the way Moyes does you need your midfielders to chip in with goals.

Obviously Cahill used to get plenty, and Fellaini started off this season doing well but outside of that i don't believe we've ever really had a highscoring midfielder.

Osman and Pienaar in particular, espeically this season aren't making up for Jelavics lack of goals and benefitting from his wide play so we either need to add more goals from midfield if thats how we're going to play or play to our strikers strengths.

But Moyes aint gonna change the way he plays so until we can get midfielders who score we're always gonna see strikers suffering because of how they're asked to play.

Think most people's tallies are higher than previously, but yeah. If we play one up top, we need a lampard type player chipping in with 15ish goals along with a 15 goal striker if we're going to be serious about top 4. We've scored well this season, but one lapse in concentration in defence and we're back at 1-1 most the time.

 

[Brennan]

That's because the majority of them have been average to ****e.

Yakubu was an exception & pre his injury delivered.

Proven top quality PL strikers cost big money, most of our signings have either been gambles or 2nd bests.

So then most of the strikers Moyes has bought have been average to s***e, despite spending close to £30m in total. That's not very good is it ?

 

[Foot Long Hot Dog]

So then most of the strikers Moyes has bought have been average to s***e, despite spending close to £30m in total. That's not very good is it ?

Nearly 2/3 rds of that total was the Yak & AJ.

Those 2 aside, he's been largely shopping in Aldi. We got 4th with Marcus Bent leading the line ffs.

Andy Carroll & Borini cost £46M to give that comment some context btw......

 

[Brennan]

Nearly 2/3 rds of that total was the Yak & AJ.

Those 2 aside, he's been largely shopping in Aldi. We got 4th with Marcus Bent leading the line ffs.

Andy Carroll & Borini cost £46M to give that comment some context btw......

Yeah but Moyes is good at buying players for cheap.

How is it that he's managed to buy good players for cheap in every position except striker consistently ?

Or perhaps the answer is that he buys strikers with potential but forces them all to play one style which doesn't suit some of them. (That's the right answer btw)

 

[davek]

Yeah but Moyes is good at buying players for cheap.

How is it that he's managed to buy good players for cheap in every position except striker consistently ?

Or perhaps the answer is that he buys strikers with potential but forces them all to play one style which doesn't suit some of them. (That's the right answer btw)

Here's the question though: if Moyes buys Jelavic last January and he tears PL defences apart getting 11 goals in 10 games playing to his strengths; where's Moyes' motivation to play him in a drastically different way this season? Doesn't make sense unless you think Moyes has a death wish.

I'm not saying it's exactly the same as last season, but I think it's mainly the partner Jelavic has beside him most often that's the crux of it rather than any greater workload running channels. He needs to find a way of playing with who Moyes put alongside him is all. If he cant do that and prosper then he's pretty limited in his adaptability.

 

[Little Ralphy]

Those 2 aside, he's been largely shopping in Aldi. We got 4th with Marcus Bent leading the line ffs.

That should tell you all you need to know about this subject. Bent was a work horse, who ran and ran, closing down chasing lost causes. He had next to no footballing mentality for being a striker and getting in to goal scoring positions etc. It was all about defending from the front and chasing hopeful balls. The goals were actually coming from midfield that year, with Gravesen in outstanding form. We barely did anything once he went to Madrid.

Moyes seems to have replaced the creative 'free role' Gravesen had with a deep target man, while expecting a forward to put the work Marcus Bent put in, but also score goals. Whenever we hit a bad run of form it always seems to fall on the striker's shoulder for not scoring enough.

 

[Moomin]

Beattie was a modern day Dixie Dean according to someone at Everton.

 

[Foot Long Hot Dog]

That should tell you all you need to know about this subject. Bent was a work horse, who ran and ran, closing down chasing lost causes. He had next to no footballing mentality for being a striker and getting in to goal scoring positions etc. It was all about defending from the front and chasing hopeful balls. The goals were actually coming from midfield that year, with Gravesen in outstanding form. We barely did anything once he went to Madrid.

Moyes seems to have replaced the creative 'free role' Gravesen had with a deep target man, while expecting a forward to put the work Marcus Bent put in, but also score goals. Whenever we hit a bad run of form it always seems to fall on the striker's shoulder for not scoring enough.

To compare the Everton side of 2004/5 in terms of quality & the style of play, with the current crop is ridiculous imo.

It's always been horses for courses, Bent did a job for a side that was skint & who's sole tactic was to defend deep & look to grab a goal from a set piece, as we simply weren't good enough to stand toe to toe with quality PL sides.

 

[Norwegian Cow]

When Jela was hammering them in last season, what was our formation ?

or to specify, who was Jelavic having up front / behind him when he was slotting them in ?

 

[zirc]

When Jela was hammering them in last season, what was our formation ?

or to specify, who was Jelavic having up front / behind him when he was slotting them in ?

Not exactly sure but I think Fellaini was sitting deeper and Cahill was still playing behind Jelavic a lot. But I do recall Fellaini playing off him a few times as well, 4-4 at Old Trafford for instance.

 

[FTY]

When Jela was hammering them in last season, what was our formation ?

or to specify, who was Jelavic having up front / behind him when he was slotting them in ?

Cahill, so Jelavic clearly plays better on his own.