James McCarthy

[Khalekan]

Mate he's just not good enough and his game is far too one dimensional to be anything more than a squad player, he's basically been found out at this level as a workhorse - who doesnt seem to work that hard anymore

If theres the option to get someone in decently above his level then we should do so and get rid

Well, he is good enough because we have seen how good he can be.

He is not in good enough form to be starter in central midfield and that is the point I was making.....but you know as well as I do Barry will miss a good half dozen games through suspension and he is getting on now so he won't be run into the ground by Ronald, nor indeed will Gana.

The rest of your post is basically agreeing with my assessment that he is indeed a squad player now and must remain for now unless there is that better "option" available out there.

 

[bluestevon]

You need time to play any pass; struggle to get enough of it and it affects all your game.

Unless he gets shifted between now and the end of the month he;s in Koeman's plans. He's worked with him for preseason so he must see something you dont.

In pre season he spent most of the time watching McCarthy playing in the middle shaking his head and waving his hands every time he went crab mode mate, he looked the one player Koeman was getting frustrated at on the side, he went out and bought someone to play McCarthys position and put him straight into the team and today he put a 19yo kid out on the right and hauled mccarthy off 30 odd minutes in.

Yup think he really rates James

 

[bluestevon]

Well, he is good enough because we have seen how good he can be.

He is not in good enough form to be starter in central midfield and that is the point I was making.....but you know as well as I do Barry will miss a good half dozen games through suspension and he is getting on now so he won't be run into the ground by Ronald, nor indeed will Gana.

The rest of your post is basically agreeing with my assessment that he is indeed a squad player now and must remain for now unless there is that better "option" available out there.

Yup but honestly mate, McCarthy comes in for either Gueye or Barry and we will lose a huge ammount in the centre, really that shows we need to go out and buy another good level cm, as we dont actually have any genuine competitipon or pressure on those two unlike for example we do have at cb, and out wide now

 

[Bainesy's Left Peg]

Don't rate the lad. Even when he was "good" I wasn't convinced as he seemed very one dimensional. We spent a lot of money (for us, then) on him too.
I sure as sh!t ain't no soothsayer, just not a player I'd miss

 

[Khalekan]

We have had a very solid, respectable start to the season.

Things are looking up both on and off the pitch.

Yet people still want a scapegoat......even though a scapegoat ain't needed at the moment

Jimmy Mac.....Come on down, my son.

What I think is happening is the anti Bobby brigade want a total de-Wiganisation of Everton and with Alcaraz gone, Kone fading out of the picture and Joel once more relegated to reserve goalkeeper, James is the last vestige of Martinez's Wigan ergo he has become the new villain de jour.

Not that there is owt wrong with wanting to de-Wiganify EFC.....I applaud the notion of making the defence solid again.

But stone me, let's not chuck the baby out with the bathwater and make slagging off McCarthy the default position.

He was the one Wigan import which actually worked.

 

[ToffeeTim]

We could probably recoup the 13m we spent for him this window. Certainly doesn't seem a bad option.

 

[davek]

In pre season he spent most of the time watching McCarthy playing in the middle shaking his head and waving his hands every time he went crab mode mate, he looked the one player Koeman was getting frustrated at on the side, he went out and bought someone to play McCarthys position and put him straight into the team and today he put a 19yo kid out on the right and hauled mccarthy off 30 odd minutes in.

Yup think he really rates James

...so why did he say what he said?

Maybe you should allow for the possibility that he knows what's possible with a player? I know if I was looking at a player and getting frustrated it'd be because I knew there was better to come out. If I didn't think that I'd be unmoved by his performances and shift him out the door.

 

[danielsen]

He's not PL standard. Look at Gana - he knows how to use the ball and to tackle. JMc just runs into the back of people and is lucky to stay on the pitch most games.

 

[bluestevon]

We have had a very solid, respectable start to the season.

Things are looking up both on and off the pitch.

Yet people still want a scapegoat......even though a scapegoat ain't needed at the moment

Jimmy Mac.....Come on down, my son.

What I think is happening is the anti Bobby brigade want a total de-Wiganisation of Everton and with Alcaraz gone, Kone fading out of the picture and Joel once more relegated to reserve goalkeeper, James is the last vestige of Martinez's Wigan ergo he has become the new villain de jour.

Not that there is owt wrong with wanting to de-Wiganify EFC.....I applaud the notion of making the defence solid again.

But stone me, let's not chuck the baby out with the bathwater and make slagging off McCarthy the default position.

He was the one Wigan import which actually worked.

Nothing to do with that mate, but going into this season he was our third highest ever transfer fee paid (and yopu can almost discount Niasse as well from that), he is limited and still has a likely high resale value in this market - is he crap - nope, is he limited in what he brings to the team - yes.

Can McCarthy, Cleverley, Gibson, Lennon all 'do a job' - yes but as the purchase of Bolasie and Gueye has shown - maybe Koeman wants more than that throughout the squad and wants players who make choosing whose playing a difficult thing rather than an easy thing

 

[bluestevon]

...so why did he say what he said?

Maybe you should allow for the possibility that he knows what's possible with a player? I know if I was looking at a player and getting frustrated it'd be because I knew there was better to come out. If I didn't think that I'd be unmoved by his performances and shift him out the door.

Because he is a manager and whats he supposed to say - nah he's crap i want to sell him, or did he just give a stock managerial response to a player who may or may not move on this summer - he answer the opposite mate he has a player he can't use on his hands which would be pretty stupid.

He also said he has a plan B in case Lukaku moved on - which today showed that was just a palm the press off answer

 

[mites]

mccarthy is going to stay as a squad player for us unless someone offers us silly money for him. he's a good utility player and a decent dmid on his day. I think he has the qualities koeman wants but not at the level koeman wants so he'll be a good back up for both gana and barry.

I worry who we're ever going to get to replace barry in this squad though. great move by martinez. can't believe how good he's been at his age for this long.

 

[EFCPaul]

Today could very well have been the day Koeman has made his mind up on whether to keep or sell him. I suspect it's the latter personally because he offered absolutely nothing whilst he was on the pitch and there are better players we either have or are looking to bring in imminently whom he's no way near as good as.

If he stays then he'll need to MASSIVELY improve and shows us things he's seldom shown in the 3 years he's been here, e.g. getting involved in attacks, linking up the play and picking out anything other than a simple pass and most importantly, scoring some goals.

 

[tonyrl99]

Crap.

 

[Nil Satis Niasse Optimum]

Was a brilliant passage of play in the second half when McCarthy, who was stood on the touchline around 15 yards outside of their area, received the ball four times and on each occasion without even looking up he had no intention whatsoever of playing a forwards pass and casually rolled it backwards. Weak player who is a bit of a liability on the pitch for us.

 

[Paul w]

James is not a wing back nor a full back.

He is defensive midfielder whom we know can be very good.

And we know he has been kept back by injuries this past year.

Shipping him out now would be madness unless someone better is fetched in over the next two weeks or so.

He will get plenty of game time as a rotation option for Barry and Gana and when they are injured or suspended.

Get his head down, fight for his place, try to impress the manager.

I will tell you what James isn't,he isn't good enough.