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The case for the defence...

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I had my doubts on Coady in a back 4 but he's been excellent so far, hit the ground running which based on past association he really need to do so well done to him.

Tarkowski just been as solid as expected, very clever pick up on a free. Again didn't understand the negativity when he was first linked as to me he was always going to have Distin type impact coming in.

Patterson worth the wait and then some, playing like Coleman did a decade ago.

Considering Lampard struggled to organise a defence at both Derby and Chelsea I think he's shown great understanding of what was required. Really learnt from the defensive horror shows at Spurs and Burnley last season.

Get Coady signed full time, get Branthwaite back next season (see he scored for PSV against Feyenoord so very positive he's actually starting for them) and source another young CB and suddenly you've got probably strongest range of CBs since period of Jags, Distin, Stones....

Keane, Mina and Holgate will surely all be gone next summer.
 
knowing your history said:
I had my doubts on Coady in a back 4 but he's been excellent so far, hit the ground running which based on past association he really need to do so well done to him.

Tarkowski just been as solid as expected, very clever pick up on a free. Again didn't understand the negativity when he was first linked as to me he was always going to have Distin type impact coming in.

Patterson worth the wait and then some, playing like Coleman did a decade ago.

Considering Lampard struggled to organise a defence at both Derby and Chelsea I think he's shown great understanding of what was required. Really learnt from the defensive horror shows at Spurs and Burnley last season.

Get Coady signed full time, get Branthwaite back next season (see he scored for PSV against Feyenoord so very positive he's actually starting for them) and source another young CB and suddenly you've got probably strongest range of CBs since period of Jags, Distin, Stones....

Keane, Mina and Holgate will surely all be gone next summer.
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Holgate could survive the purge. Keane's contract is a problem, unless we loan him out. Seems pretty clear that Tarkowski and Coady are the guys, and that Branthwaite is the future. What Thelwell decides to do with Godfrey and Holgate will be interesting.
 
Martin Alvito said:
Holgate could survive the purge. Keane's contract is a problem, unless we loan him out. Seems pretty clear that Tarkowski and Coady are the guys, and that Branthwaite is the future. What Thelwell decides to do with Godfrey and Holgate will be interesting.
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Yes can't see either Godfrey or Holgate being prepared to having long spells on the bench, don't think it would bother Keane as much as at least he can "hide" there
 
Martin Alvito said:
Holgate could survive the purge. Keane's contract is a problem, unless we loan him out. Seems pretty clear that Tarkowski and Coady are the guys, and that Branthwaite is the future. What Thelwell decides to do with Godfrey and Holgate will be interesting.
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I don't mind Godfrey too much, just yet another who gets injuries just when he has run of starts and can cover positions along the backline given he was playing LB pretty regularly not so long ago.

That said if someone comes in and offers 20m next summer then off he goes....

Holgate is surely the type who a promoted club might want for 10m or so, I'd say this will be his last season here.
 

Jags Lescott with Yobo in reserve are probably the best CB group we’ve had in the prem. They were nearly always available though every game whereas Mina Holgate Godfrey just cannot stay fit for long periods.

Here’s hoping that Coady Tarkowski can stay together for a while and we can start developing Godfrey Branthwaite behind them.

Will take a lot though to get close to the standard Jags and Lescott set back then. We could leave either one on one with the top forwards in the league and be confident that they could outpace them and out power them. I’m not quite there with Coady and Tarkowski yet but in comparison to the utter clown show that Michael Keane has been running it’s good to see us revert to some sort of competency at the back.
 
Saint Domingo said:
Jags Lescott with Yobo in reserve are probably the best CB group we’ve had in the prem. They were nearly always available though every game whereas Mina Holgate Godfrey just cannot stay fit for long periods.

Here’s hoping that Coady Tarkowski can stay together for a while and we can start developing Godfrey Branthwaite behind them.

Will take a lot though to get close to the standard Jags and Lescott set back then. We could leave either one on one with the top forwards in the league and be confident that they could outpace them and out power them. I’m not quite there with Coady and Tarkowski yet but in comparison to the utter clown show that Michael Keane has been running it’s good to see us revert to some sort of competency at the back.
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To be fair Holgate not been injured since his broken toe two years back, before that he had a decent run plus played every game available at West Brom.
 
I think after last season, Lampard & Thelwell sat down together to take stock after the dust had ultimately settled and they'll have seen that 66 goals conceded stat and instantly thought 'we need to sort that out pronto'.

Tarkowski being the first signing very early doors was telling. Adding Coady to that, plus the midfield additions, very much pointed to a 'building from the back' approach and we've seen the early, encouraging signs of that. They were absolutely right to prioritise that over the summer.
 
Littlesue said:
To be fair Holgate not been injured since his broken toe two years back, before that he had a decent run plus played every game available at West Brom.
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Other players at other clubs don’t get broken toes and split knees. At Everton a good injury record is when a player can stay fit between his two major injuries. He’s not as bad as Mina for the soft tissue ones and he’s been available more than Godfrey but once again as soon as he starts getting anywhere near his top form he gets an injury putting him at the back of the queue again.

Michael Keane has made an entire Everton career out of being our only co distantly fit centreback option no matter how tragic he’s played.
 
4737carlin said:
A combination of Kenwright, Rafael, Frank and Thelwell have built a back four that hopefully sticks together for the next few seasons.
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Kenwright and the FSW had sod all to do with the recruitment of Patterson or Mykolenko - all the groundwork for those two signings was done by Brands.
The only involvement of the FSW was fortuitous in that he outed Digne.
 

Blast_of_Cannock said:
What a difference to last season. Every corner we conceded it was "OH ####, HERE COMES ANOTHER GOAL!". Now, with this defence, it's not worrying me whenever the opposition gets a corner.
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We’ll let some silly ones in for sure, but yeah I agree it’s a totally different feeing when we are under attack.

Cursing us here no doubt, but it’s like some strange magic is protecting the goal at the moment.
 
AndyC said:
Kenwright and the FSW had sod all to do with the recruitment of Patterson or Mykolenko - all the groundwork for those two signings was done by Brands.
The only involvement of the FSW was fortuitous in that he outed Digne.
Click to expand...
But if we hadnt of rightly outed Digne, who had been useless for ages, we might not of gone for Myko, also if both Kenwright and RB had sod all to do with the recruitment thats a clear indication of what a poor owner Moshiri is. A manager should always have a say in player incomings
 
Do think we’ve got a little fortunate with how few goals we’ve conceded so far this season, when you look at how many times the opposition have hit the woodwork and xG numbers. But do think the back 4 have done incredibly well given how they’ve barely played alongside each other. And the lack of PL experience with our full backs. I think they’ll continue to improve as a back 4.
 
Martin Alvito said:
Holgate could survive the purge. Keane's contract is a problem, unless we loan him out. Seems pretty clear that Tarkowski and Coady are the guys, and that Branthwaite is the future. What Thelwell decides to do with Godfrey and Holgate will be interesting.
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One of them has to be sold. I’d prefer Holgate move on but wouldn’t really miss either of them. Godfrey still has the higher ceiling and his versatility is valuable as a backup.

At this point, Keane should want to move on if he ever wants to play again
 

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