My concern is that whoever comes in is a downgrade on Mina who saw us through the run in with leadership and power at the back. Before he came in the defence was becoming a major concern again, and replacing that level of quality is tough
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Very much so, and whilst not knocking the lad, the premiership is a tough place for an inexperienced and unproven at this level young player, I hope he can prove me wrong though.
twoblue
Player Valuation: £35m
Mina was basically the Dcl in defence. Far better when he was in the team, but couldn’t rely on him to be fit.
Oh yeah and that has to be sorted out at both ends of the pitch.
You are spot on though, different team with those two in it, but so unreliable we can't afford to have that constant drop off
Dyche knows how to pick a centre half mate. particularly at a lower level, he found the likes of Mee, Keane (such as it is), JT and Nathan Collins.
Just checked his wiki to clock how many games he's actually played and he's still sub 75 appearances for his career - a quarter of those were in the lower divisions. I don't think we can pin our hopes on a lad with that level of experience which means that we will still need to bring in a senior centre half to go alongside Tarkowski for my money.
Jeff Jones
Player Valuation: £35m
Look, I'm a Mina fan and I wish he'd stayed, but I don't get this sudden wave of praise here.
The only thing I've seen here is mockery aimed at his injuries, apart from his part in our survival in the last few matches.
I've always been a big fan, players get blamed for being injured makes me cringe
Houghty19
Player Valuation: £20m
The amount of money Mina was on compared to his availability meant he was never getting another contract. I know players don't like to be injured but I've never seen a player get injured as much when nobody is near him. He must have pulled up lame half a dozen times without a challenge in sight. To not offer a contract renewal was the only sensible thing for the club to do.
It's absolutely cringeworthy. While it's frustrating that he's been injured so many times, I always find it uneasy because does it insinuate that it's deliberate?
Have people suggested that he's been unprofessional or contributed to them? I've never heard any rumours regarding his lifestyle or whatnot.
Likewise with Dom, I don't think he is willingly being injured or contributing to it. Their legs may resemble weetabix at times, but that's not by their own choice.
Mina is (was) our best CB in terms of talent, leadership and snideness. When we played with him, we always looked better; when he played, he was influential.
While there would have been justified concerns regarding his fitness, I think on the balance of probability we may be worse off without him than with him.
If we'd have been relegated, I may have felt slightly differently (wages versus the physicality of the league), but we ain't - so it's disappointing.
Mina is the only defender we have who wouldn't look out of place in a Champions League team. In other circumstances we could carry a player with his wages/injury record. As it is though, we need to build our side on dependability. Every penny in wages must be value.
That's the same with any youngster coming through , knowing his development & timing is right.
Colwill done well at Brighton & he's 8 months younger than Branthwaite.
Let's hope the development depth have seen enough to put the lad in the squad.
I think he has tasted quite a bit of 1st team footie , he'll want that to continue.
Wether that's here or elsewhere that's all down to Dyche.
Jimmy Grimble
Player Valuation: £20m
Thats really generous of you!
Bluebonic
Player Valuation: £35m
I agree about his quality, but it was only available every other month (if that) and often only for a game or two. I think a CB half as good as Mina, but capable of staying fit would actually be a massive upgrade. Too much chopping and changing at the back is the real recipe for disaster.
He has probably been the player that Everton have on their books that had the best season.
Regular in a good PSV team that was 2nd in the league, won the cup, did OK in Europe and qualified for Champions League. He is 20 years old, good on the ball, two footed and extremely quick. If he was Dutch, CL teams would be fighting for his signature and willing to pay silly money for him.
Not a finished product, but years ahead of what many of the top defenders of the world were. And his potential is second to none.
The one thing that will hold him back, is that he is under contract with a club that hired a dinosaur manager that does not really have a track record or will to play, improve and develop young players.
If you look at how City, Arsenal and recently also Liverpool play with three at the back in possession with a central defender playing really wide, that is how PSV and Branthwaite have played the last six months. With left full back van Aanholt stepping into the midfield and Brathwaite picking up a hybrid position similar to what Ake, Gabriel, Akanji, Walker and Konate have done in Premier League this season. Branthwaite is a really good fit for defending in modern football.
For a team that does not want to have the ball, defend with a low block and do not play out from the back, Branthwaite will be wasted. And probably end up being benched for Michael Keane. My guess is that he as a Manchester City player would get more minutes next season than what he will get for Everton. And his market value is likely to be much higher now than in 12 months.
That said, it would be typical Dyche to use Branthwaite as a left back. Left back in a Dyche system has a lot in common with how Branthwaite played for PSV.
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