2020/21 Anthony Gordon

[TheBigIguana]

I don’t get this “ it’s/ if his attitude is a problem” that’s said about the likes ofGordon and Nkounkou somehow because they are young and not playing. I’m baffled that people think that one of the most experienced managers in world football can’t handle a 19 year old and a 20 year old and therefore choses against his footballing judgement to not play them.

Lookman and Vlasic before them. Kean too. Somehow never the manager or club at the time.

 

[Goat]

Lookman and Vlasic before them. Kean too. Somehow never the manager or club at the time.

Not like any of them are good players.

 

[TheBigIguana]

Not like any of them are good players.

I really like bringing Tosun and Bernard on to chase games too.

 

[Goat]

I really like bringing Tosun and Bernard on to chase games too.

Both have scored more goals for us then the crappers you named.

 

[TheBigIguana]

Both have scored more goals for us then the crappers you named.

You may have noticed but Everton Football Club isn't exactly the only place that good players score goals.

On a serious note the way to always not have squad depth is to give minutes to bad players at the expense of even decent ones. We kind of need to figure that out sometime.

 

[catcherintherye]

Me too. He’ll be needed over the festive period no doubt and in this season injuries are always going to play a part.

I don’t understand the reaction to his handling though. Too often in the past we’ve played young lads who have shone brightly at first but then regressed in form massively but not only have we had to keep playing them but they’ve actually had to carry huge responsibility in the team.

Barkley in 14/15 basically tasked with the entire team’s creativity, similarly Stones becoming the leader of the defence. As soon as bad form hit there was nowhere to turn to apart from two 20 year olds with one season of senior football under their belt. Fast forward to Davies DCL and Holgate coming into the team, by the 17/18 season they were pretty much the spine of a team now battling relegation even though they were only 19 and 20 year olds.

Im not saying these players weren’t good players or didn’t deserve to play, but senior experienced internationals who let the whole team down were let off the hook and given a free pass whilst our youngsters were in the pressure cooker of having to get results for Everton even when they weren’t in form themselves.

Ancelotti seems to be challenging these senior players now. He’s not given Iwobi a free pass, or Bernard, he’s looked at it and gone ‘that 19 year old lad isn’t looking too sharp in training, time for other players to finally step up whilst he gets back to some form away from the limelight’.

That’s a far far better position to be in than the position we’ve been in over the last few seasons. Gordon could have played against Newcastle and Southampton and might have looked utterly abysmal and then the fans are on top of him and his confidence is shot. Sometimes the manager just has to be trusted.

I mean we dont know, but I do wonder if certain players are being thrown to the Wolves a bit, and he wants to avoid that process for Gordon. Bernard, Tosun, to a degree Sigurdsson etc.

They have no long term future here. Why put Gordon in, to cover for their mistakes?

I'd imagine he is working on aspects of Gordon's game. There has been no mentions of him being unhappy with Gordon (quite the opposite). Hopefully he wants to put them in when they are ready to succeed. This is what top teams do as well. See what United, or Liverpool do (who generally develop players better than us 19 up to 23/4). They have minutes managed. We tend to play them loads, get over excited then really disappointed when they dont live up to unrealistic expectations that have built due to the exposure.

The acid test will be when he next gets a run if course. This could all be proven wrong. But the hope will be, when he comes in next he is above the level of Iwobi and hopefully close to Richarlinson offensively.

 

[Rooney_Tunes]

Thats cos he is.

You're either joking or you are not well.

 

[Goat]

You're either joking or you are not well.

Come back to me if Gordon ever scores double figure goals and gets International caps.

 

[bluejohn66]

Convinced Carlo must of caught him in the sack with Mrs Carlo !!!

 

[Neiler]

Lookman and Vlasic before them. Kean too. Somehow never the manager or club at the time.

Selling Lookman was a massive gaff in my opinion. Player trading Lookman Vs Iwobi, not good trading of a squad position in my opinion.

On young Tony, im a bit miffed, he hasnt been looked at, hes an impactful player, we play a system were crosses are crucial and hitting a target is key - this is what lets Iwobi down, no end product. I think Flash has it. I know hes obviously not in the team, because he cant protect fullbacks or rather is area for him to develop, but then neither can Bernard so that would be my beef.

 

[TheBigIguana]

Selling Lookman was a massive gaff in my opinion. Player trading Lookman Vs Iwobi, not good trading of a squad position in my opinion.

On young Tony, im a bit miffed, he hasnt been looked at, hes an impactful player, we play a system were crosses are crucial and hitting a target is key - this is what lets Iwobi down, no end product. I think Flash has it. I know hes obviously not in the team, because he cant protect fullbacks or rather is area for him to develop, but then neither can Bernard so that would be my beef.

There seems to be this old idea that playing a younger player means the team will automatically be worse defensively. I think that idea is wrong but it also seems to be universally accepted in English football and it makes it harder than it probably ought to be for players to break through.

I genuinely don't know what level of end product Gordon would bring but it feels like Carlo isn't interested in that because he's determined that we'll be worse off at the dirty work so to speak and I just personally think that's a poor approach. There is no real reason for Bernard to get minutes at this point and going back to Lookman there was no reason then for him to go on loan so that Bolasie could play. And Bolasie was horrific at tracking back the whole time.

The Lookman vs Iwobi thing is exactly the problem. At best they're similar level players but one cost 3x as much. Even if Lookman is nothing more than a squad option we still have that for relatively cheap and without having to waste money and time on a new player. I don't know I just think stuff like this matters when you're trying to compete with teams that have so much more money available and also can attract basically anyone they want.

 

[Neiler]

There seems to be this old idea that playing a younger player means the team will automatically be worse defensively. I think that idea is wrong but it also seems to be universally accepted in English football and it makes it harder than it probably ought to be for players to break through.

I genuinely don't know what level of end product Gordon would bring but it feels like Carlo isn't interested in that because he's determined that we'll be worse off at the dirty work so to speak and I just personally think that's a poor approach. There is no real reason for Bernard to get minutes at this point and going back to Lookman there was no reason then for him to go on loan so that Bolasie could play. And Bolasie was horrific at tracking back the whole time.

The Lookman vs Iwobi thing is exactly the problem. At best they're similar level players but one cost 3x as much. Even if Lookman is nothing more than a squad option we still have that for relatively cheap and without having to waste money and time on a new player. I don't know I just think stuff like this matters when you're trying to compete with teams that have so much more money available and also can attract basically anyone they want.

Great post mate, id agree with much of it.

I think you are spot on, on the points you make. Though I do think Flash is developing and he does need a bit of work on the balance of his game. Though i would suggest the arrival of Jamo hasnt helped Flash to start. For all Jamos quality you can get in behind him and get at a full back, maybe Carlo doesn't want that avenue on both sides, or perhaps a different balance.

 

[Osamabindiesel]

He must be loaned out because i can not see him getting much game time. If we do make signings in January he will be behind them. Or Bernard / Tosun stay and Carlo picks them before him.

Outlook hasn’t been great so far under Carlo. If he can’t get in ahead of Bernard and Tosun, he needs to be loaned.

Regardless of what is going on behind the scenes. If Carlo does indeed have a tiff with Gordon, great. Let him have that tiff and let Gordon force his way into the team by impressing on loan. If Antman doesn’t impress, Carlo is justified.

 

[BlueToff]

He should have come on for Iwobi with 15 to go the other day.

There's no reason for Tosun to be getting brought on in the 88th minute instead of Gordon 10/15 before when the game was there to be taken with a bit of impetus.

Not saying it would have worked, but we desperately needed a player to inject some energy into our play.

Fact remains if he was 2 or 3 years older he'd have played 10 games this season, at least.

That's on Carlo. We aren't in a position where our more experienced fringe players are actually any more reliable than our inexperienced ones.

 

[americanblue94]

Just realized Tony is 19! Had a feeling he was well in his 20's!