James McCarthy

[RFUS]

Just doesn't do enough to warrant his and Barry's inclusion for me. If we had a great defence I could understand if but we don't even with the two of them playing. We don't even dominate possession anymore. Plus we're also currently playing with two full backs who are staying back quite a bit of the time. What exactly are they there for if they don't score, don't create, and don't keep the door shut?

Gibson came on and did more in a half an hour stroll round than McCarthy has managed all season. For 13 mill you expect more. Fine with him if he is going to be the sole DM in the team and is properly challenged by Besic, if he's a guaranteed starter though regardless of form as extra cover alongside Barry then I don't see the point in him.

It works when we have two fullbacks bombing on but right now we don't. It's just too defensive and our attacking play suffers as a result.

 

[mitchell1996]

if he doesnt raise his game besic or gibson should be starting in midfield ahead of him 100% (when fit obviously) they both offer us alot more in terms of actually starting attacks. barry is a alot more creative with his passing than mccarthy aswell which people dont seem to touch on.

 

[hetion]

I feel like I'm going crazy because I've seen McCarthy offer quite a lot of incisive passes this season. Like some proper nice attack-starting passes. Has no one else seen these?!

 

[mkrudden]

What always baffles me is the constant insistency from Evertonians that McCarthy must become this all-round midfielder, box to box, dominating. Failure to do so results in criticism.

What if he is just an energetic version of Matic? His job being to hassle the opposition, snap away at heels and generally be disruptive. When he gets the ball, pass it on simply.

If the above was his job, is he not doing it more than adequately? I think so. He does it far better than Gibson, Besic, Barry, Osman and Ledson.

Just because Roy Keane thinks he should dominate midfields, doesn't make it true. He can be a fine footballer for this club by just sticking to being a very good, albeit limited, defensive midfielder.

I think its time more started to give him the credit that is due, rather than criticising him for what he's not.

 

[Walken]

if he doesnt raise his game besic or gibson should be starting in midfield ahead of him 100% (when fit obviously) they both offer us alot more in terms of actually starting attacks. barry is a alot more creative with his passing than mccarthy aswell which people dont seem to touch on.

Gibson is arguably the best footballer out of all our center mids, he will never regain full fitness though

 

[Lids1978]

What always baffles me is the constant insistency from Evertonians that McCarthy must become this all-round midfielder, box to box, dominating. Failure to do so results in criticism.

What if he is just an energetic version of Matic? His job being to hassle the opposition, snap away at heels and generally be disruptive. When he gets the ball, pass it on simply.

If the above was his job, is he not doing it more than adequately? I think so. He does it far better than Gibson, Besic, Barry, Osman and Ledson.

Just because Roy Keane thinks he should dominate midfields, doesn't make it true. He can be a fine footballer for this club by just sticking to being a very good, albeit limited, defensive midfielder.

I think its time more started to give him the credit that is due, rather than criticising him for what he's not.

Fair point lad. My only gripe is that he scored six goals I think for Wigan so he has that in him and id just like to see a few goals from him. Dunno maybe I'm wrong but he can do better

 

[mkrudden]

Gibson is arguably the best footballer out of all our center mids, he will never regain full fitness though

Rubbish imo mate.

How is Gibson better at winning back the ball than McCarthy in your opinion? At covering the split CBs, at being mobile?

They are so different they can't be compared.

 

[Walken]

Rubbish imo mate.

How is Gibson better at winning back the ball than McCarthy in your opinion? At covering the split CBs, at being mobile?

They are so different they can't be compared.

sigh

 

[mitchell1996]

I feel like I'm going crazy because I've seen McCarthy offer quite a lot of incisive passes this season. Like some proper nice attack-starting passes. Has no one else seen these?!

they're few and far between in my opinion

 

[mkrudden]

sigh

Great response in a forum mate.
Lets do this again soon

 

[mitchell1996]

Rubbish imo mate.

How is Gibson better at winning back the ball than McCarthy in your opinion? At covering the split CBs, at being mobile?

They are so different they can't be compared.

i wouldn't say they cant be compared, i mean not every player has to have the excact same pros and cons in order to be compared, they do play the same position after all. i think people actually forget how good defensively gibson was when he was fit for long periods under moyes. yes mccarthy gets about the pitch better and runs more but gibson offers far more in terms of his overall game i think. but saying that im not sure a barry-gibson pair would be a good idea because you need mobility in there as you touched on.

 

[sageyefc]

What always baffles me is the constant insistency from Evertonians that McCarthy must become this all-round midfielder, box to box, dominating. Failure to do so results in criticism.

What if he is just an energetic version of Matic? His job being to hassle the opposition, snap away at heels and generally be disruptive. When he gets the ball, pass it on simply.

If the above was his job, is he not doing it more than adequately? I think so. He does it far better than Gibson, Besic, Barry, Osman and Ledson.

Just because Roy Keane thinks he should dominate midfields, doesn't make it true. He can be a fine footballer for this club by just sticking to being a very good, albeit limited, defensive midfielder.

I think its time more started to give him the credit that is due, rather than criticising him for what he's not.

But we need more than just a dog with a bone type, he can be really effective when we need someone snapping in at players to win it back but in the games when thats not really a priority, like against lesser teams who sit back, like the majority of matches we're in hes a bit of a nothing player, at least barry can pass it about, you've compared him to matic there, matic has a great range of passing and gets shots off, McCarthy needs to add that to his game

 

[Walken]

Great response in a forum mate.
Lets do this again soon

the only thing you value is a grafter it seems, pouring water on gerry's efforts of late, Gibson is a better 'footballer' than Barry, Macarthy and possibly Besic who also has very good technique, Gibson is better with the football, and as they both play center mid, I would hope the manager does compare them, and weighs up the different values they bring, and possible partnerships they could make

 

[mkrudden]

But we need more than just a dog with a bone type, he can be really effective when we need someone snapping in at players to win it back but in the games when thats not really a priority, like against lesser teams who sit back, like the majority of matches we're in hes a bit of a nothing player, at least barry can pass it about, you've compared him to matic there, matic has a great range of passing and gets shots off, McCarthy needs to add that to his game

Even in the games against "lesser" sidesw, McCarthy is the only CM able to win the ball high up the pitch against the deep sat opposition. He was doing it just over 24 hoursw ago as an example.

There is never a time when we don't need a player winning the ball back for us.

 

[sageyefc]

Even in the games against "lesser" sidesw, McCarthy is the only CM able to win the ball high up the pitch against the deep sat opposition. He was doing it just over 24 hoursw ago as an example.

There is never a time when we don't need a player winning the ball back for us.

Winning the ball back two or three times isn't enough, he needs more to his game, in possession he's pure meh