2018/19 Idrissa Gueye

[BlueToff]

Point taken, but interest - whether it is as reported or elsewhere - wouldn’t come as a surprise given his abilities in what is often a difficult position to fill.

I’m sure you know as well as anyone that, other than being useful leverage in fee negotiations, contracts don’t usually mean an enormous amount if the player wants to leave. Realistically, I’d imagine the lad would want a crack at some silverware before he rides off into the sunset, before no doubt tackling the sun.

If PSG do come in for him, I've no doubt he'd probably want to test himself there.

But then again, he seemingly loves Everton, he's playing in the highest-profile league and is a consistent starter in a team looking to win silverware.

I doubt he'd push for a move and I honestly don't see PSG making a move for him. He doesn't seem a Tuchel type player for me - the guy is about as defensive-minded as Martinez.

 

[BlueToff]

Big fan of Gana but if we get a silly offer we should take it. His effectiveness is so dependant on fitness which in the medium term will possibly diminish so i wouldn't be trying to move him on but no huge drama either way. No need to get too bogged down looking for a carbon copy to replace him as i could see a slight tweek in the midfield structure with another powerful but more technical player brought in which i suspect was Silvas original plan, really think he was pleasantly surprised by Gana and rightly decided to fight more important fires in our squad for now.

He's honestly a key player for us though. We're half the team when he doesn't play.

 

[Charles Plastusz]

He's honestly a key player for us though. We're half the team when he doesn't play.

I see where you're coming from, wouldn't agree about the half a team without him shout though, i like him i just think all things weighed up with his age/style of play, what we paid/potential fee and the fact that for the first time in years we seem to have a plan regarding players coming in and leaving we'll be just fine if we lose a midfield water carrier that as i say in the medium term will probably start carrying less water and slower

 

[Brisan123]

Can someone post a gif of a man looking at a computer screen shaking his head in disbelief

 

[Frang]

Can someone post a gif of a man looking at a computer screen shaking his head in disbelief

Just take a vid of yourself mush

 

[Deulofeumygod]

lollollol

Mate its PSG, he will be out the door before they say bonjour.

We all know it but don't say it

 

[BlueToff]

I see where you're coming from, wouldn't agree about the half a team without him shout though, i like him i just think all things weighed up with his age/style of play, what we paid/potential fee and the fact that for the first time in years we seem to have a plan regarding players coming in and leaving we'll be just fine if we lose a midfield water carrier that as i say in the medium term will probably start carrying less water and slower

We were half the team when he didn't play against Huddersfield. We didn't play well without him in the League Cup game.

I'm not saying he HAS to play well for us to play well, or that he doesn't have bad games, but his pressing/aggression/energy is crucial to how Silva wants to play with the current set up.

He's not a midfield water carrier at all. He's the best tackler in the league by far this season and the stats back it up. We lose the ball - Gana is there to win it back.

 

[Lanolin]

I see where you're coming from, wouldn't agree about the half a team without him shout though, i like him i just think all things weighed up with his age/style of play, what we paid/potential fee and the fact that for the first time in years we seem to have a plan regarding players coming in and leaving we'll be just fine if we lose a midfield water carrier that as i say in the medium term will probably start carrying less water and slower

The thing is though, in this style of play, the water carrier role is a hugely important one. Gueye's ability to cover ground and win the ball back up high up the pitch is key to the whole system, take it out and it will affect everybody's performances. The same applies to Sigurdsson, which is why I just can't imagine people are right when they say Dowell would be first in line to replace him. Sigurdsson's workrate and upper body strength have been a big aspect of our play so far, replacing him with somebody who is almost the exact opposite of him in those areas would make absolutely no sense to me.

 

[Brett Angell Delight]

If PSG do come in for him, I've no doubt he'd probably want to test himself there.

But then again, he seemingly loves Everton, he's playing in the highest-profile league and is a consistent starter in a team looking to win silverware.

I doubt he'd push for a move and I honestly don't see PSG making a move for him. He doesn't seem a Tuchel type player for me - the guy is about as defensive-minded as Martinez.

I’d be more than happy for you to be spot on, on this one. Fingers crossed!

 

[Charles Plastusz]

We were half the team when he didn't play against Huddersfield. We didn't play well without him in the League Cup game.

I'm not saying he HAS to play well for us to play well, or that he doesn't have bad games, but his pressing/aggression/energy is crucial to how Silva wants to play with the current set up.

He's not a midfield water carrier at all. He's the best tackler in the league by far this season and the stats back it up. We lose the ball - Gana is there to win it back.

You just described a water carrier. Again i take your point but i would imagine this isn't by any means a set style of Silvas, I'll be pleased if it's all tabloid nonsense but I'm not going to lose sleep at the prospect of losing a player like Gana. We will lose players it's ok, the most important thing is a smart recruitment strategy and I'm cautiously optimistic we now have that

 

[Brisan123]

You just described a water carrier. Again i take your point but i would imagine this isn't by any means a set style of Silvas, I'll be pleased if it's all tabloid nonsense but I'm not going to lose sleep at the prospect of losing a player like Gana. We will lose players it's ok, the most important thing is a smart recruitment strategy and I'm cautiously optimistic we now have that

The smartest recruitment strategy is to keep your best players and replace the weaker ones in your first 11
At the moment Gana is one of our best players

 

[Charles Plastusz]

The thing is though, in this style of play, the water carrier role is a hugely important one. Gueye's ability to cover ground and win the ball back up high up the pitch is key to the whole system, take it out and it will affect everybody's performances. The same applies to Sigurdsson, which is why I just can't imagine people are right when they say Dowell would be first in line to replace him. Sigurdsson's workrate and upper body strength have been a big aspect of our play so far, replacing him with somebody who is almost the exact opposite of him in those areas would make absolutely no sense to me.

Fair points but all systems can be tweaked to suit the personel, especially if you don't quite have the profile of player you want long term. I'm not for one second advocating Dowell for Gylfi but the world wouldn't stop spinning if it happened, different things would be asked of the deeper players, different passes between the lines etc to suit a different players movement and style.

 

[Charles Plastusz]

The smartest recruitment strategy is to keep your best players and replace the weaker ones in your first 11
At the moment Gana is one of our best players

No the smartest strategy is to plan for all eventualities especially as players head towards their thirties. I suspect we don't quite disagree as much as it may seem my friend but we probably won't make a breakthrough today ha ha!

 

[Brisan123]

Fair points but all systems can be tweaked to suit the personel, especially if you don't quite have the profile of player you want long term. I'm not for one second advocating Dowell for Gylfi but the world wouldn't stop spinning if it happened, different things would be asked of the deeper players, different passes between the lines etc to suit a different players movement and style.

Lad togger is not for you
Dowell instead of Siggy not a major downgrade .
Dowell has done nothing in an Everton shirt
Those that have watched him over the years and rate him will tell you he goes missing in games
You want us to change the way our midfield play and therefore our forward because we change one player
Gana easily replaced , the same Gana that has the best stats in Europe at what he’s asked to do

 

[Lanolin]

Fair points but all systems can be tweaked to suit the personel, especially if you don't quite have the profile of player you want long term. I'm not for one second advocating Dowell for Gylfi but the world wouldn't stop spinning if it happened, different things would be asked of the deeper players, different passes between the lines etc to suit a different players movement and style.

That's missing the point though, i'm saying it wouldn't be a tweak, it would be a total change. It's like when people used to say that Martinez's side would be great if they carried on doing all the things they wanted them to do but stopped doing the things they didn't like, seemingly oblivious that it's just not possible to do that.