His distribution is horrific but thought he didn't do too bad today.
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Personally thought he should have handled N'Gog without having to thump it out for the corner from which they scored.
My preference for centre halfs; Jagielka, Heitinga, Yobo, Senderos, Duffy, Hibbert, Moyes, Distin.
My preference for centre halfs; Jagielka, Heitinga, Yobo, Senderos, Duffy, Hibbert, Moyes, Distin.
Seamus Colemole
Previously deathbyropeandglass
GhostOfDixie
Player Valuation: £70m
TippEverton
Player Valuation: £35m
Definitely one of the the poorest centre halves iv seen play for the club and i pray hes not in the first xi when everyones fit. Im aware some players are one footed but this guy takes the biscuit as a centre half there will come times when you have to put your weaker foot through the ball but this guy just will not use his right leg. If he wnt with his right leg to clear before ngog got his shot away they would never have had a corner but as i said he will not use this leg, crazy for a centre half. Another example of his inability to go with his right leg should have resulted in kenwynne jones scoring at goodison which would have made it a lot more nervy second half, too many costly errors his cross field ball in the first half would have resulted in a goal against better opposition. I watched pompey against the [Poor language removed] last year and could remember thinkin this guy was a poor centre half from what iv seen of him this year my opinion hasnt changed.
kenada_blue
Welcome to Barcelonaton FC
This.
He should've easily have been abled to knock him away, get the ball, pass it.
But no, he lost it to him and had to defend.
You can say what you want about Senderos....but that wouldnt have happened.
Tennessee Blue Mike
Player Valuation: £50m
The answer may not be Distin or Senderos. I won't be surprised if Jags slots right in and neither one of these will ever see the light of day again.
Nothing to base this on but i have a gut feeling he could prove to be a very good first team player next season:
Sylvain Distin has built a fine reputation as a reliable, top-class centre half in England – albeit one who tends to get itchy feet after a while with each club.
The 32-year-old defender has played for five sides, including Paris St Germain, Newcastle United and Manchester City.
He even lifted the FA Cup during a happy spell on the South coast with Portsmouth.
But now the amiable Frenchman finally feels like ending his wandering days at Everton.
The towering and athletic defensive lynchpin joined Everton in August 2009 as a replacement for Joleon Lescott. He made his debut in a 2–1 victory over Wigan Athletic, and scored his first goal for the Toffees the following month during a Europa League clash with AEK Athens.
But despite a mixed start to his Everton career, Distin has flourished and believes he has found his footballing home at Goodison Park. “It makes my other clubs look bad to say I have found my roots now because I’ve only played one year here.
“But I’ve learned so much and altogether it’s the best club I’ve been to. That’s a big thing to say because I’ve been to some great clubs.
“Newcastle was my first club in England and I can’t forget that. It had a great atmosphere and great fan-base. I had great players around me, and for me to go there and play every day with men like Alan Shearer, it was like ‘wow!’
“I remember I even went to him and told him one year I was watching him on TV and now I was playing alongside him. He was a really great guy, composed and calm.
“City is the club I was at the longest and I had a lot of ups and downs. I have a lot of love for them, and at Portsmouth I won the FA Cup and then everything went downhill very quickly.
“I enjoy going back there. But I feel like Everton is the club which has suited me the best. It’s a family club. I need that and love that.
“Everyone thinks the same way and everyone works hard.”
It is that quota of hard work, demanded by his perfectionist manager, that has given Distin a new outlook on his lifestyle as a professional footballer.
It is only day three of Everton’s pre-season training camp in Sydney, and already the players are being asked to push themselves hard.
“It is totally different here. I worked hard at other clubs but this is something different. It’s another step,” he says. “It’s about mental toughness and the manager’s personality and getting us used to pressure and the maximum of our limits.
“By doing that, and people might not like this, but for the first time I’m not ashamed about playing football and earning the money we earn. I feel like, today, that I deserve it.
“I feel completely relaxed about it and I do not hide it, whereas before I would apologise for it. Right now, I have no problem. I earn what I earn and I can challenge anybody to come and try it. It’s tough.
“I can learn mentally here – not necessarily football technique wise. It’s the way you can focus on your own job.
“My first few months at Everton were difficult physically because I wasn’t used to that intensity.
“I struggled a bit and on the Friday I didn’t feel fresh for the Saturday game and I sometimes wondered how I was going to get through that.
“But then I got injured and when I came back I felt like I came back stronger. I had a second wind.
“I feel like I am playing better now. I don’t know what it looks like to the outside world but I feel that.
“Everyone has a job to do and you stick to that. It works. You have less to do and the less you do, means you can do it better.”
As he bedded in at Goodison, Distin admits there were times when he got crossed-wires with central defensive partner Phil Jagielka on the pitch.
“There was one game I recall. I played with three or four centre halves last season and some you need a lot of talking with and others you don’t because there’s just chemistry and an understanding.
“Me and Jags didn’t need to talk too much. But I remember one game the ball bounced between us and it went towards the keeper. I think he said something to me like “Get it home” or “Kick it home”, and I was ready to do something. But then I thought “what does he mean?” The three of us were stopping in the middle but Tim got the ball in the end so it was OK.
“I said to Jags, ‘What did you mean my friend? I don’t get it.’ It was a fun moment and we laughed about it for two or three minutes during the game.
“I’ve been in England for quite a while but it was the kind of phrase I didn’t understand.”
Distin is being modest about his English though. In fact, it is fluent and he has already taken new £1m signing from Strasbourg, 20-year-old Magaye Gueye under his wing.
“He is doing well,” he says. “He is going to learn quickly because he is trying. I can see him sometimes with the English guys and I’m on the side and he is still trying to speak.
“He comes and asks me questions and it reminds me of when I arrived in England. I can’t just leave him on his own, that’s not my personality.
“I don’t protect him because he doesn’t need that but I help him settle in and feel part of the team.
“Everything is new. He never flew first class before we came to Australia. He was in France playing in a lower division and at the moment he has to contend with the language barrier and the level of training which is totally different.
“What I have seen football-wise, he has got the talent so if he keeps his feet on the ground he can do well.”
As a French footballer, Distin is already resigned to having to field a token question about his country’s self-destruction at the World Cup. The questions rankle, especially as Distin has been unfairly overlooked by Les Bleus for most of his career.
But with the national team in such a shambles, would anyone even want to represent them anyway?
“You always want to play for your country and I’d be really proud to play for France,” he says. “But there was a time two years ago when they picked two teams. An A team and a B team. Nearly 60 players, and I wasn’t on that list.
“So from that day I just didn’t expect it to happen. I had just had a great season with Portsmouth and I’d been injury free so what more could I do?
“From that time I realised there was no point waiting on it. Now I have a completely different feeling. I feel good where I am and I’m enjoying it.
“When I think about it I’m happy with the career I’ve had and I’ve done that without international football. If it comes great, I’ll take it gladly – but if it doesn’t I’m not going to let it bother me too much.
“The only thing I’ll have is the question why? That’s the only little thing that bothers me. If they said ‘We don’t pick you because of this,’ then at least I’d know. But they have never talked to me or explained anything.
“On the whole though I’m cool. I’m happy.”
Considering that post was made in February mate it seems a tad bit outdated now?
He did well second half of the season, pairing up with Jags.
He did well second half of the season, pairing up with Jags.
Considering that post was made in February mate it seems a tad bit outdated now?
He did well second half of the season, pairing up with Jags.
He did well second half of the season, pairing up with Jags.
Was it, hes talking about the new French Kid in it!
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