For all the grit, determination, effort, honesty and fancy football of the newly promoted sides, it?s the lack of goals which ultimately sinks them. The general rule is that the players which could bag 10-20 a season before in the Championship suddenly can?t cut the mustard in the Premier League. Goals win games and we're not scoring any... We're completely fucking impotent.
The fact David Moyes ? an experienced (not to mention highly rated by the majority) manager ? was unable to see the obvious problem staring him in the face amazes me.
The current roll of shame.
Yakubu: He will score goals if A) he's fit and B) he's motivated. Following his ruptured Achilles (a horrible injury) he?s certainly not fit. Plus, for whatever reason, he?s not motivated. During pre-season there was a massive question mark hanging over him; to be honest there always will be.
Louis Saha: Again, he will score goals if fit. But he?s only guaranteed to play 30-40% of matches a season and for half of those he will be nursing or playing his way back from injury.
James Vaughan: A striker once who had so much potential, would he have prospered better with a different manager and better coaching? Probably... But it was the devastating list of injuries which ultimately curtailed his development. Now he?s surplus to requirements and the Championship is his likely destination.
Victor Anichebe: He's a big athlete with a massive frame... but a striker? Does Moyes even know what his position is? Winger? Forward?? fuck knows! A good squad player but hardly the spearhead of your Premier League strikeforce.
Jermaine Beckford: A talented player, playing for a fallen giant in the lower leagues. Worth a punt? Yes. But only a mad man or a desperate man would rely on an untested League 1 player as your only striker up front in a 4-5-1 formation. Plus reading stories saying ?Moyes upset with Beckford misses? fucking enrages me. What does he expect?
I have a lot of time for Beckford ? he?s fucking trying, he?s fucking trying for his team, the fans and the manager... his head never goes down and I would take 11 of him over a team full of Artetas and Heitingas at the moment. The last things this lad needs is a kicking in the press from ?Mr Manager of the Month?, he needs an arm and encouragement.
But, either way, the pressure he is now under is unfair; he?s the victim of a manager who simply couldn?t see the wood for the fucking trees.
The fact that, given all the above, David Moyes insists on playing a defensive 4-5-1 only compounds the problem further. David Moyes is paid £65-75k a week to sort this out.
The reality is he probably would like to splash the cash on a new player but didn?t have the funds to do so. If so, why not sell to buy? Heitinga and Bilyaletdinov = New striker. Ultimately David Moyes has 100% control over the evolution and development of the squad ? the buck stops with him; it is his fault we only have a League 1 striker up front... no-one else's.
Goals ultimately change and win games; our lack of them is worrying ? especially when you see the options at our disposal. The fact that, within the space of few dark months, we have gone from a top 5 finish, down to the bottom 6, whilst playing a League One striker up front on his own sums up our plight.
There are a lot of unhappy players at Everton at the moment, but most are probably too scared to say anything. The first player to do so will be Pienaar when he unfairly leaves for nothing. It will be interesting to see what he has to say.
It's gonna be a long hard season.
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DM ain't got a clue how to deal with and play strikers and they all end up the same way. Good points, Johno.
Our problem is no goals from midfield or defence. If we had had another 5 to 8 goals from this area, we would be in the Euro places now... Cahill has 8 goals so far and if he keeps it up he will break the 20 goals that all the so-called top strikers hit...
So I'll say it again: can we stop going on about needing a top striker when we have one.
If you can't see the need for a prolific striker to finish off some of the chances that we've created on the ground, then we must be watching a different game.
Michael (#11) ? I hope you're right about Cahill bagging 20 goals but the most he has ever got for us is 12, in his first season. It's a big ask for him to continue a goal ratio that is slightly better than 1 every 2 games. If Beckford doesn't come good and the Yak never gets back to his old self, then I think we are going to need a real number nine. I would love Andy Carroll in our team.
We have Cahill doing his job (with his 8 goals) as a striker, what we need is more goals from other areas. I think the rest of the team are hiding behind the so-called striker problem and not taking enough responsibilty for the lack of goals.
Makes you sick, dosen't it... especially when one of them spends half his time on a sick bed, another, although aged 26 still lacks experience, while the third is a lazy arsed diver.
With the exception of Beckford, who I would grant a run out over a couple of weeks, but as for the other two it is mind boggling that Moyes turned down offers for both of them. As things have turned out, I would pay good money to get them of the books.
Saha and Yakubu are not getting any younger, more prolific or less injury-prone are they? Cahill's goals should be an added bonus, not something that we have to rely on to keep our heads above water.
It's never a good time to go to Stamford bridge, but Chelsea are going thru a spell just like us.I would like to see Lee's (2) gamble pay off, even though it means Moyes being more adventurous. We can talk all we want, but it's his team selections, and hopefully change of tactics, that will bring some better results, and help bring confidence back to the team.
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