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The Hibbert Agenda
Player Valuation: £20m
I can tell you that until yesterday Coleman wasn't the type of player to juggle the ball from the box to halfway line or bamboozle Cazorla with incredible skill.
McCarthy will develop that part of his game under Martinez. No doubt.
EVERY PLAYER JUST GETS BETTER AT THE SCHOOL OF SCIENCE!
Coleman was always that type of player. He used to be a winger. He has always had the skill, it was just suppressed under Moyes. McCarthy, on the other hand, isn't going to be that kind of player.
The Hibbert Agenda
Player Valuation: £20m
bigboy
Player Valuation: £6m
Was Seamus going in for a kiss at the end there?
ijjysmith
Calm
Absolutely made up he didn't say Jordi Gomez, James McCarthur or Franco Di Santo were the best players he's ever played with.
GET IN
tonka1878
Player Valuation: £20m
Obviously, erm, to be honest.... He has the potential to be the heartbeat of our team for 10+ years and when he starts to add goals to his game could become the complete midfielder.
A
aloadofold......
Guest
Just a word about how impressed I am with him as a young man as well as a footballer.He epitomises the saying " Walk lightly carry a big stick " . He must be psychic coz he keeps showing up like 'kin Zorro ,breaks up play , then disappears ,amazing kid...............
Royal Blue Jersey
Player Valuation: £35m
Every time I start to doubt the value of his contribution, he explodes into my conciousness on a heady wave of boundless energy, endless running, non-stop harrying, full-blooded tackling, crisp passing, with great discipline tactically and driven by a great engine physically. Everyone can run themselves into the ground going forward; you find an extra level when running with the ball or chasing a ball over the top bearing down on goal, playing a one-two or dribbling. In attack it's all excitement, glory and action. No, that's easy to run your heart out. There's tangible rewards - get a goal and your name can slot instantly into the headlines.
But it takes a special kind of player to run his heart out every game just to get tackles and blocks in or even just to put a leg out for a clever interception; or even less, just to cover their teammate's defensive duties, to close down an opponent to buy his teammates time to retreat. James McCarthy really does embody the 'unsung hero' role of this Everton team and whilst his contributions are more obvious in some games rather than others (I struggled to fathom what he was doing at all vs. Cardiff; but I was blown away by his performance vs. Arsenal) it's testament to his character that he'll give the same performance with the same attitude whether it's Cardiff or Arsenal, whether we can see and get a chance to appreciate (Goodison was on its feet several times to applaud some wonderful 20-yard-sprint-tackles he does so well) his efforts or whether he has to sink into the background anonymously, because his is a role that functions for the team, not for himself. It's no co-incidence that he refused to leave Hamilton Accies at 16 to join Liverpool, preferring instead to rack up games, and he's only 7 away from 250 club games in his career aged just 23.
I think it's the very reason we were all underwhelmed when we signed him: everyone expects - perhaps us Evertonians more so - that prodigiously talented players, especially prodigiously talented young players, should explode onto the scene, should be buccaneering, impulsive, selfish even, should try the outrageous and the adventurous. Barkley, Rooney even the likes of Jose Baxter, they'd come on the scene all flash and self-involved. McCarthy at Wigan was again given the responsibility to anchor and protect the back four. Given how awful Wigan's defence was, this wasn't exactly a glamour role. But he did it anyway. I always noticed the contributions of Maloney, Beauseajour, McManaman and so on, I thought we'd missed the trick on Maloney (still rate him), but I see now it was McCarthy tasked with covering all their defensive working, giving them license to roam.
I've no doubt if he was given license to roam, McCarthy could do a good job for us as a real box-to-box midfielder. And maybe that day will come. But what makes him so vital to Martinez, is his ability to put his manager's instructions first and himself last. Everyone gives credit to Moyes for the defence - and as well they should, he was a great defensive coach, who set us up very well to defend - but none of them suddenly got better at defending. I think if you take out Gareth Barry and James McCarthy, we would have shipped 10-15 more goals this season. They have been the foundation of everything we've done.
But it takes a special kind of player to run his heart out every game just to get tackles and blocks in or even just to put a leg out for a clever interception; or even less, just to cover their teammate's defensive duties, to close down an opponent to buy his teammates time to retreat. James McCarthy really does embody the 'unsung hero' role of this Everton team and whilst his contributions are more obvious in some games rather than others (I struggled to fathom what he was doing at all vs. Cardiff; but I was blown away by his performance vs. Arsenal) it's testament to his character that he'll give the same performance with the same attitude whether it's Cardiff or Arsenal, whether we can see and get a chance to appreciate (Goodison was on its feet several times to applaud some wonderful 20-yard-sprint-tackles he does so well) his efforts or whether he has to sink into the background anonymously, because his is a role that functions for the team, not for himself. It's no co-incidence that he refused to leave Hamilton Accies at 16 to join Liverpool, preferring instead to rack up games, and he's only 7 away from 250 club games in his career aged just 23.
I think it's the very reason we were all underwhelmed when we signed him: everyone expects - perhaps us Evertonians more so - that prodigiously talented players, especially prodigiously talented young players, should explode onto the scene, should be buccaneering, impulsive, selfish even, should try the outrageous and the adventurous. Barkley, Rooney even the likes of Jose Baxter, they'd come on the scene all flash and self-involved. McCarthy at Wigan was again given the responsibility to anchor and protect the back four. Given how awful Wigan's defence was, this wasn't exactly a glamour role. But he did it anyway. I always noticed the contributions of Maloney, Beauseajour, McManaman and so on, I thought we'd missed the trick on Maloney (still rate him), but I see now it was McCarthy tasked with covering all their defensive working, giving them license to roam.
I've no doubt if he was given license to roam, McCarthy could do a good job for us as a real box-to-box midfielder. And maybe that day will come. But what makes him so vital to Martinez, is his ability to put his manager's instructions first and himself last. Everyone gives credit to Moyes for the defence - and as well they should, he was a great defensive coach, who set us up very well to defend - but none of them suddenly got better at defending. I think if you take out Gareth Barry and James McCarthy, we would have shipped 10-15 more goals this season. They have been the foundation of everything we've done.
When he adds omniscience to that he'll be omnipotent, an uncontrollable force
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