Yannick Bolasie

[TheBigIguana]

I think there’s a few things to look at with both signings, one of them being how we all felt at the time. The Klaassen signing was understandable, although we all recognised it was a gamble he was Ajax captain at the end of the day and had won trophies and had a very good goal scoring record. It was a gamble that did not work out.

Bolasie was never, ever going to be a good signing, it was doomed to fail from the start. We literally just paid £30m for a bottom half Premier League player who’d been average for his entire career. We could all see there was no way it was going to work. That makes Bolasie the worse signing for me.

And yet the major reason for Bolasie failing was a freak event that no one could have been expecting when the deal was made. I'm sorry but anyone who is saying he was playing poorly pre-injury in 2016 is guilty of revisionist history. He isn't everyone's type of player, he isn't my type of player for what it's worth, but at that point he was doing what we brought him in to do.

 

[sageyefc]

Sad to say there's a lot of competition there. I'd have Robles, Alcaraz, McCarthy, and Kone as the worst in Everton history. Possibly any club's history, although that is speculation I admit.

NEA if McCarthy was good for one year, either. The spine of Wigan Athletic brought in to wear the Royal Blue Jersey - like something out of a Mike Bassett script.

They cost about one Ashley Williams combined so it even a patch on Walsh/moon heads duds

 

[TheBigIguana]

Sad to say there's a lot of competition there. I'd have Robles, Alcaraz, McCarthy, and Kone as the worst in Everton history. Possibly any club's history, although that is speculation I admit.

NEA if McCarthy was good for one year, either. The spine of Wigan Athletic brought in to wear the Royal Blue Jersey - like something out of a Mike Bassett script.

This is even worse than the Bolasie revisionist history. McCarthy wasn't the greatest player in the world but he was 13m, stayed for awhile, had a couple runs where he was legitimately a good player including in 2013-14 and only really fell off because every unlucky thing that could possibly happen to him did happen. I get the rest but let's not do guilt by association or whatever.

 

[MikeH72]

And yet the major reason for Bolasie failing was a freak event that no one could have been expecting when the deal was made. I'm sorry but anyone who is saying he was playing poorly pre-injury in 2016 is guilty of revisionist history. He isn't everyone's type of player, he isn't my type of player for what it's worth, but at that point he was doing what we brought him in to do.

He’d had a few assists, but I would imagine you’re just looking at numbers on a spreadsheet, again. He was never good enough, the injury is not the reason he isn’t good enough. Before the injury he was still a bottom half average player that we paid £30m for.

 

[TheBigIguana]

He’d had a few assists, but I would imagine you’re just looking at numbers on a spreadsheet, again. He was never good enough, the injury is not the reason he isn’t good enough. Before the injury he was still a bottom half average player that we paid £30m for.

I remember him being the best creative player in the team for a solid two-three months before he got hurt. He wasn't a perfect player by any means but had he not been hurt he'd probably have spent 3 to 4 years as at least a reasonable option like so many of our players have been lately. At the end of the day they also weren't good enough for where we want to be, but people don't seem to want to dump on them like they do Yannick.

For me there were two major flaws in his game. One was that he didn't really link up with players well and the other was he didn't score goals. But what he did do well was create good chances with regularity. It's a useful skill that didn't go away for any reason other than him getting hurt. And again I think denying that is very simply living in a place that isn't reality because from the start people didn't agree with the transfer fee.

 

[MikeH72]

I remember him being the best creative player in the team for a solid two-three months before he got hurt. He wasn't a perfect player by any means but had he not been hurt he'd probably have spent 3 to 4 years as at least a reasonable option like so many of our players have been lately. At the end of the day they also weren't good enough for where we want to be, but people don't seem to want to dump on them like they do Yannick.

For me there were two major flaws in his game. One was that he didn't really link up with players well and the other was he didn't score goals. But what he did do well was create good chances with regularity. It's a useful skill that didn't go away for any reason other than him getting hurt. And again I think denying that is very simply living in a place that isn't reality because from the start people didn't agree with the transfer fee.

You would describe Yannick Bolasie as "creative"? In what world? That would imply that he has a semblance of a football brain and intelligence. He got a few assists by hoofing crosses in the general direction of Lukaku. That is not creativity.

 

[sageyefc]

And he cost 30 mil back when 30 mil was mega money and not the norm like it is today

 

[TheBigIguana]

You would describe Yannick Bolasie as "creative"? In what world? That would imply that he has a semblance of a football brain and intelligence. He got a few assists by hoofing crosses in the general direction of Lukaku. That is not creativity.

Chances are chances. As I said it is certainly not the type of player I would sign, and I'm not sure Koeman had any clue what he was getting himself in to, but at the end of the day Bolasie created chances and goals at a more than acceptable rate. He got hurt. That's why it stopped.

I'm all for beautiful football, but the end result matters too. For example I was going through some of the games just now and the game where we drew Swansea 1-1 at home on the late Coleman header includes a Lukaku miss from about 4 yards out from a Bolasie cross. It came from him almost falling over, doing three unnecessary moves and fizzing it at knee height, but still it's a shot from 4 yards that he set up. That was kind of his game, really ugly at times but ultimately capable of doing his job. This was two games before he got hurt too.

So to me, acting like he was "doomed from the start" or "never useful for anything" or whatever else goes around whenever he comes up is just too much in my opinion.

 

[TheBigIguana]

And he cost 30 mil back when 30 mil was mega money and not the norm like it is today

That was the start of us spending that amount pretty regularly. Moshiri's takeover was the spring of 2016 and he was signed that summer. Bolasie is a part of this era of regular spending and not the era before where 28m for Rom was astronomical and McCarthy at 13m was half our budget.

 

[sageyefc]

Chances are chances. As I said it is certainly not the type of player I would sign, and I'm not sure Koeman had any clue what he was getting himself in to, but at the end of the day Bolasie created chances and goals at a more than acceptable rate. He got hurt. That's why it stopped.

I'm all for beautiful football, but the end result matters too. For example I was going through some of the games just now and the game where we drew Swansea 1-1 at home on the late Coleman header includes a Lukaku miss from about 4 yards out from a Bolasie cross. It came from him almost falling over, doing three unnecessary moves and fizzing it at knee height, but still it's a shot from 4 yards that he set up. That was kind of his game, really ugly at times but ultimately capable of doing his job. This was two games before he got hurt too.

So to me, acting like he was "doomed from the start" or "never useful for anything" or whatever else goes around whenever he comes up is just too much in my opinion.

But Bernard creates chances and all you ever do is moan about him

 

[sageyefc]

That was the start of us spending that amount pretty regularly. Moshiri's takeover was the spring of 2016 and he was signed that summer. Bolasie is a part of this era of regular spending and not the era before where 28m for Rom was astronomical and McCarthy at 13m was half our budget.

At the time it was an astronomical amount of money for what we were getting, in later years it’s become more normal around the league. Maybe he’s the reason transfer fees have gotten ridiculous

 

[TheBigIguana]

But Bernard creates chances and all you ever do is moan about him

Pre-injury Bolasie had 1.74 key passes per 90. Bernard has 1.73!!

And Bolasie's tended to be closer to the goal or put another way better chances to actually score.

All I'm asking for is consistency guys. Bernard isn't the worst player nor the best, and neither is Bolasie. And I get that fee matters but we treat them like completely different levels of players because one was free and one cost money.

 

[sageyefc]

Pre-injury Bolasie had 1.74 key passes per 90. Bernard has 1.73!!

And Bolasie's tended to be closer to the goal or put another way better chances to actually score.

Up until around Christmas Bernard had one of the highest chances creation % in the league

 

[TheBigIguana]

Up until around Christmas Bernard had one of the highest chances creation % in the league

What is chances creation %?

I'm genuinely asking. % of what?

 

[sageyefc]

What is chances creation %?

I'm genuinely asking. % of what?

3.9 per 90