Everton Transfer Thread - Summer 2020

[riddick]

We sign loads of players I've never seen kick a ball. Mina, Kean etc but with Iwobi, I saw him play loads at Arsenal and I just see him as exactly the same as I saw him at Arsenal. Looks great in moments, but for me, he lacks the composure to be a very top player, and he has even less time/opportunity here.

If you don't score goals at Arsenal, it seems very odd to me to expect (or demand at his press conference...) him to start scoring at Everton.

I'd absolutely love to be proven wrong next season but the crux of it for me is Iwobi is never going to threaten to score double figures in a Premier League season and for me, you don't spend £35-£40m on a winger/behind the striker unless they're scoring goals or making assists. Brands saw goals and assists in his game, I don't and to be fair to Silva, he seemingly didn't hence the "He needs to score some goals" after signing him.

I could see the guy making loads of assists and 3-5 goals a year being his ceiling. He does have a decent eye but we already have a player that pulls out of challenges and looks labored whilst running pretending to be a 10.

 

[NeilA1878]

Just on Iwobi...

That West Ham game earlier in the season sticks out as one of his better performances and that was when he was occupying Sigurdsson's position on the pitch. He had Walcott to the right, Bernard to the left, Gomes behind, and Richarlison ahead of him. Linked up well with all four and really should've scored himself when he was through one-on-one with the keeper. His positional awareness that day was encouraging.

Declan Rice completely bottling two 50-50´s against Richarlison and Kean for Sigurdsson´s goal

 

[Amw79]

Just on Iwobi...

That West Ham game earlier in the season sticks out as one of his better performances and that was when he was occupying Sigurdsson's position on the pitch. He had Walcott to the right, Bernard to the left, Gomes behind, and Richarlison ahead of him. Linked up well with all four and really should've scored himself when he was through one-on-one with the keeper. His positional awareness that day was encouraging.

Should have won that game about 5-0.

That corner the ref gave to WH around 6:30 was an utter disgrace. Sidibe didn’t touch the ball, got fouled, should have been a yellow card. Corner to WH which they nearly scored from.

I remember going ballistic about that at the time.

 

[bicycleheader]

I do get what you're saying however it seems like you're prepared to skirt over the fact he's massively inconsistent.

Norwich we played 442 and he played on the right. I thought he was excellent.

He then followed it up with another spate of bang average performances.

So if he can only play the positions you suggest, why did he do so well against Norwich in the position you say he can't play.

And just in case the answer is "it was Norwich", loads of our other players were crap Vs Norwich.

I think Iwobi is a decent player but I don't see where he consistently gets a place, regardless of his positional preferences and regardless of what system we play. Wherever it's been this season, he hasn't played well enough consistently enough.

I think it’s more that he is not a mentally strong leader type and has come into a club/team tas been an absolute mess where he is surrounded by other players that are likewise not mentally strong and definitely not leaders.

Some players just have the drive to rise above the crap around them and take it on themselves to make a difference. A big problem for us is we have maybe one or two and even they have their off days.

improve the squad in key areas with players that have the right attitude and skill level and we will find players like Iwobi will start to contribute more, and other players will get exposed completely as the wasters we knew they were.

I think if you trust that Ancelotti will ensure for next season, that we have more quality in the first team and more structure, then you can trust that if we keep players like Iwobi they will start to contribute in parts to the overall season occasionally even doing well enough to be a starter in spells.

We can slate these players for being weak minded and needing to be in a team doing well to shine, but honestly I think this sort is more the norm in the football world. The exceptions are the ones that cost big money

 

[Tin-Tin]

I see. Given that is your view, I'm surprised you disagree with my view that "Iwobi makes me worry about Brands"

I mean, Brands and Silva signed him primarily for his versatility and both were very clear they saw him as a winger. Quotes below.

Brands: "In our eyes, a boy that can play in different positions. Play from the side, also behind the striker. He's 23-years-old, already quite experienced and the most important thing: he has goals and assists in his game".

Silva: "The position we see him in is clear, coming from the left," said Silva. "He can also play behind the striker really well. He can even play on the right.

"He has goals and assists in his game" - He never has, IMO. And certainly not enough to warrant the money we spent at the last second of the window.

"Can even play on the right" is like saying Calvert Lewin can play on the right and Holgate can play RB.

Just because someone is a bit more versitile and can play another position, doesnt mean they do it very well.

As far as ive seen Iwobi on the appearances he made for Arsenal, I cant remember him once playing as a right winger so im not sure why we would be signing him and putting him on right.

I think he was played there as there was no other option in some games and because he didnt pull up trees, he's getting criticism.

I actually think he's played his best games here as a no 10 and although im not a fan of Walcott, they seem to link up well.

If Ancelotti doesnt see him as a starting LW or an option at no 10 then he may as well sell him if he can.

 

[caliblue]

I see. Given that is your view, I'm surprised you disagree with my view that "Iwobi makes me worry about Brands"

I mean, Brands and Silva signed him primarily for his versatility and both were very clear they saw him as a winger. Quotes below.

Brands: "In our eyes, a boy that can play in different positions. Play from the side, also behind the striker. He's 23-years-old, already quite experienced and the most important thing: he has goals and assists in his game".

Silva: "The position we see him in is clear, coming from the left," said Silva. "He can also play behind the striker really well. He can even play on the right.

"He has goals and assists in his game" - He never has, IMO. And certainly not enough to warrant the money we spent at the last second of the window.

All this is about expectations. Iwobi came in with massive expectations because of his price tag. By fans he was supposed to be a starter that would improve the team from day one.

While what Brands purchased was a young versatile player with a great potential. A player that could compete with Bernard and also offer much needed cover for Gylfi as a number 10.

His underlying statistics at Arsenal were great. He was their by far most creative player. Lots of "second assists". A player that is naturally gifted but needs to be further developed.

Even in his poor season for Everton he scores a lot better than teammates when it comes to progressive passing and number of successful passing into the box. In a team that desperately needed more than "give the ball to Digne and pray he can make a decent cross".

Chelsea gave up on a 23 year old De Bruyne and a 24 year old Salah. The fact that a player does not shine his first season does not mean that they should not have been purchased. That is not how the world works. But the reality is boring compared to looking for scapegoats...

 

[BainesontoastNEW]

Fresh links to Denis Bouanga of St. Etienne. He's predominantly a left winger.

 

[Hogwild]

Fresh links to Denis Bouanga of St. Etienne. He's predominantly a left winger.

THANK YOU! Anything to drag us away from a morning of Iwobi and Matty Longstaff.....talk about depressing.

 

[Simon Buttle]

Fresh links to Denis Bouanga of St. Etienne. He's predominantly a left winger.

Most of the wingers we have been linked with so far have been left wingers

 

[Furey1878]

Should have won that game about 5-0.

That corner the ref gave to WH around 6:30 was an utter disgrace. Sidibe didn’t touch the ball, got fouled, should have been a yellow card. Corner to WH which they nearly scored from.

I remember going ballistic about that at the time.

Not to mention the corner we scored from that was literally disallowed for no reason at all.

 

[GrandOldTeam]

All this is about expectations.

No doubt.

1 goal and 0 assists for a player who "the most important thing: he has goals and assists in his game".

Let's see next season, expectations can't be any lower.

 

[Blue Shoes]

All this is about expectations. Iwobi came in with massive expectations because of his price tag. By fans he was supposed to be a starter that would improve the team from day one.

While what Brands purchased was a young versatile player with a great potential. A player that could compete with Bernard and also offer much needed cover for Gylfi as a number 10.

His underlying statistics at Arsenal were great. He was their by far most creative player. Lots of "second assists". A player that is naturally gifted but needs to be further developed.

Even in his poor season for Everton he scores a lot better than teammates when it comes to progressive passing and number of successful passing into the box. In a team that desperately needed more than "give the ball to Digne and pray he can make a decent cross".

Chelsea gave up on a 23 year old De Bruyne and a 24 year old Salah. The fact that a player does not shine his first season does not mean that they should not have been purchased. That is not how the world works. But the reality is boring compared to looking for scapegoats...

The reality is, us fans use our eyes instead of looking at stats. It's not really writing him off after one season, it's writing him off because we've seen him do this all the same at arsenal.

Iwobi is so so far away from de bryune and salah, they were more a case of not being given a chancw rather than written off.

The thing is, when we buy the new players in the summer, he doesn't even get on the bench. Say if we buy a centre mid and a right winger. We either play 4-4-2 with gordon and bernard as the options on the left and new RW + walcott as the options on the right.

If we go 4-3-3 we have richarlison on the left with gordon/Bernard as backup and then the new RW and walcott on the right. He's 3rd or 4th choice in the pecking order either side.

You'll probably argue he should be ahead of gordon and bernard no doubt, but i dont see what he offers more than them.

If we actually buy two attackers this summer iwobi is fighting it out for a starting spot in the u23s. His fee and wages are way too high for that and i know a lot of our fans knew this would be the case, none of us were confident he'd be a nailed on starter.

 

[Amw79]

Not to mention the corner we scored from that was literally disallowed for no reason at all.

Yep. Ref couldn’t blow the whistle quick enough.

 

[caliblue]

The reality is, us fans use our eyes instead of looking at stats. It's not really writing him off after one season, it's writing him off because we've seen him do this all the same at arsenal.

The reality is that every single successful club out there rely heavily on stats and ignore input from their fans. That is why they are successful.

Not my intention to compare Iwobi with De Bruyne or Salah. Just used them as an example of why you should never judge young players on one single season alone. Liverpool fired DoF Comolli for failing when he got them Henderson.

You might not like the idea of getting in young players with potential, but it is not like we had a great success when Gylfi, Tosun, Bernard and Walcott came in earning twice as much as Iwobi.

Also.The strategy might not be entirely down to Brands. To quote Moshiri from the AGM January 2019:

“...infrastructure is important and to comply with financial fair play you need to go for younger players on low wages. You might have to pay big fees but you've got to keep the wages down and that is the challenge.” - Echo

 

[Arteta10]

The reality is, us fans use our eyes instead of looking at stats. It's not really writing him off after one season, it's writing him off because we've seen him do this all the same at arsenal.

Iwobi is so so far away from de bryune and salah, they were more a case of not being given a chancw rather than written off.

The thing is, when we buy the new players in the summer, he doesn't even get on the bench. Say if we buy a centre mid and a right winger. We either play 4-4-2 with gordon and bernard as the options on the left and new RW + walcott as the options on the right.

If we go 4-3-3 we have richarlison on the left with gordon/Bernard as backup and then the new RW and walcott on the right. He's 3rd or 4th choice in the pecking order either side.

You'll probably argue he should be ahead of gordon and bernard no doubt, but i dont see what he offers more than them.

If we actually buy two attackers this summer iwobi is fighting it out for a starting spot in the u23s. His fee and wages are way too high for that and i know a lot of our fans knew this would be the case, none of us were confident he'd be a nailed on starter.

This is spot on. For years he was average at best at Arsenal. Their fans were happy to see the back of him.

I was hoping it was a case that he would be better when you watch him every week but he's every bit the player i thought he was