Valencia: Everton represented a great opportunity

West Ham's transfer policy is utterly bizarre, I would take Valencia any day over the hapless Zaza and Carroll.

Welcome to Everton, Enner. If you're as good as the other signings, we'll be doing just fine.

I'm a big fan of Shane Long and would have loved to have got him, but I'm confident that Valencia can be a good bit of business.

One look at his international scoring record tells me he's a lethal striker when utilised correctly. Pace to burn, eye for a goal, something to prove and wanted to come to Everton. Koeman knows the types that fit what he wants.

Every player including our hat-trick hero knows, drop your level below what is expected and Koeman will replace you pronto, cos winning is what he does in a professional manner with no remorse. I think Valencia will shock a few at just how lethal he can be just like Gana!!! COYB

Carroll is unplayable on his day with wingers putting good crosses in. Benteke went to Palace and scored on his debut, why? because he has wingers in Zaha and Townsend now putting crosses in. Lukaku thrives on crosses and through balls to run on to. Hopefully Bolasie can provide the crosses and Barkley, Mirallas and Deulofeu provide the through balls.

Valencia's international record speaks for itself, it's clear that he was largely misused at West Ham and I'm confident Koeman can bring out the best in him. I was actually pretty jealous when West Ham originally signed him following the World Cup.

He does have a fair bit of pace and a decent shot on him so he could be a decent impact sub for starters but I genuinely hope he comes here and proves me wrong and does well. Like any other player that puts on the Everton shirt, I'll always support and back them from the off and give them every chance.

He also seems to work hard for the team. My biggest criticism of him in past is his selfish play, whilst you have to have a little of that in you when as direct as him I think he could pick his head up more and play people in. Fingers crossed Koeman improves this aspect as well as his consistency over 90 mins.

So if he reckons that Enner is worth a punt and he can get the best out of the lad, that'll do for me. Welcome to a club with an incredible future before it, Mr Valencia. I hope you thrive here.

Pants!!!

Happy days!!!

But seriously though, none of those were Koeman signings. Let's have a bit of faith.

Let's hope he sometimes runs circles around Lukaku in training, and even if that is all that's needed to keep the Lukaku firing in the actual games, that's enough for me!

It seems that whether or not Valencia does well, we had a cracking transfer window. We got our business done early, had four starting players in before the last-minute panic, and even made a profit, selling a player who probably wouldn't get in our current team, or would weaken it if he did.

Do the people whinging and moaning on TDD feel a bit silly now? Especially the guy who said 'Why oh why can't we get our business done early?' – apparently forgetting the four excellent players in key positions we'd already bought.

I'm a long-term watcher of TW but only a recent poster. I think it's time to move on... and get our old big-time mentality back.

Rome wasn't built in a day... but we already have the old BLUE-prints...

COYB

Have West Ham an option to take him back next summer, even if we want to make it permanent – does anyone know? I would hate for him to have a stormer of a season as a central striker with us only for West Ham to take him back to play in that role for them...

I remember Roberto doing just that several times. Only once did it work, against Arsenal when Monreal was playing, if I'm not mistaken. The rest of the time he did it... well, enough said. ;)

With the signings we have brought in, it will not be long before Ronnie unleashes another gem.

Anyway, my real question to you: If you have been, is that stadium as shit as being reported or mentioned? And is it completely devoid of any proper football atmosphere?

Welcome to the greatest club on earth, Enner, but woe betide if you make a mistake!

Reports views generally excellent, but some serious issues. Most of it centres around the fact that hardcore fans behind the goal at Upton Park used to stand up throughout the whole match. (I can recall having to do the same in the away end or else you couldn't see much.) They are now insisting on doing this at the new Stadium.

The problems are that they are now scattered all over the stadium and stand up getting other fans behind them very irate. So much so that they were fighting with each other at the Watford match! Until they sit down, Newham Council have pegged the capacity at 57,000, leaving 3,000 empty seats. The Club have issued appeals with no success and fans have been standing, facing the Directors Box and singing, 'We're West Ham – we'll stand if we want to!' in defiance.

West Ham have another problem in that stewards are provided by the Stadium and not the Club. Therefore, there are hardly any of them to save money. They are ineffective and blatantly ignored. Similarly there have been few Police visible or seemingly present around the stadium.

Thus far there has been 'trouble' with the notoriously violent away fans of Bournemouth and Watford! West Ham season ticket holders use the same entrance as away fans! There is no proper segregation inside the stadium. No fences between rival fans, just the gangway!! It seems nobody has considered this at all. Just wait till they play Spurs, Chelsea and indeed old enemies like ourselves and Man Utd. God forbid they draw Millwall in the Cup.

And finally, their ticketing is a shambles as well according to my Hammers friend.

No doubt it will get sorted eventually, but in answer to your original question, the opinion is that the atmosphere could be very good, but will never be the same as Upton Park, so added to the woes above means they aren't at all happy so far!

This boy's only crime is that he was "door number 2" on TDD.

We need to get behind this kid. The upside is good, the down side is no skin off the nose.

No-brainer.

C'mon, Enner show your worth and rise to the challenge!

If we have to play Valencia and he's as poor as he is at West Ham then without Lukaku's goals we will be up shit creek without a paddle, that's the downside of Everton doing transfers on the cheap.

Our new keeper, fifth choice at Fulham in the Championship; Gana, relegated with Aston Villa; Valencia, two failed season's at West Ham.

Williams, okay centre-half. Holgate from Barnsley... hardly EPL proven.

On another subject, hope Sissoko enjoyed his first taste of Champion's League football with Spurs last night. Hope that bench he sat on wasn't too hard for his expensive overpriced butt. The fact they lost was just the icing on the cake!

Not only have we had the best start for ages, the players we have bought have been instant winners and you're complaining? Jesus!

I live in Australia and they call me a whinging pommie, thank god they don't listen to you and your negative comments.

Cheer up, stop bagging everything, support your TEAM NBTB

We are sitting in a pretty good position with our new keeper, who was fifth choice (really? fifth? Do many clubs have a fifth choice keeper?) at Fulham in the Championship; Gana, relegated with Aston Villa (one player doesn't keep a team up do they?); Williams, okay centre half? (National team and club captain at Swansea wasn't he?); and Holegate (Holgate!) from Barnsley.

Based on recruiting to date, I'm looking forward to seeing Valencia hit the field. Wouldn't it be great if he did a Pogba or Mustafi? Released from an earlier club only to go on and make a name for himself at a new club!

Koeman knows what he wants in a player and seems to have gotten it spot on so far with Stekelenburg, Gueye, Bolasie, and Williams.

None of them were what you would call glamour buys but what an impact each and every one of them has had on the team in such a short space of time.

My guess is that this lad will be hungry for game time and will make the most of it when he gets his chance.

Welcome to Everton, Enner Valencia.

He is very fast, runs the channels, can do amazing things on occasion. Seems to fit the Koeman pressing and breaking at pace themes. He knows where the goal is (unless played on the wing by Big Sam).

Looking at the way he dribbles and runs at defences, I think he could be a much better upgrade on Kone coming on in the 65th minute when space opens up and Premier League games become more end to end.

With Koeman's tactical changes it could be earlier in the game like at WBA and Sunderland – putting him and Rom together would be very interesting for periods of a game when the opposition are not expecting. Nice move by Koeman on the last day and he is on loan with an agenda to prove himself.

Also note his comment about trying being harder and better which will help a striker get sharp, fitter and more confident in his own ability – which appears to have been an issue at the Hammers.

This is a no-loose signing!!!

I don't expect anywhere near the same impact as Stek, Yannick or Gana. Those were players Koeman wanted in.

I'll support the lad while he is here but don't expect much. I also won't consider him a Koeman failing if it goes wrong as I appreciate he was probably the only available body at the end of the window.

As mentioned above, I expect him to fall into the Gardner, Senderos, Vellios, Nash or Mucha categories.

It seems to me like some people just want Everton to blast loads of cash for the sake of it so we can boast a big net spend. Can't see the point myself.

Look at Gana. ٥.1m looks like the best business done in the transfer window by nearly any club.

As you say a body in the reserve striker department. Definitively an upgrade on Kone and lots of upside with loan context and being 26 years of age.

It's good to see so many on here getting behind him early on and hopefully we can be as patient with him on the pitch. I see in 2014 he scored 18 goals for Mexican side Pachua in only 23 appearances and won the Golden Boot which shows the lad has potential if we can just make him believe in himself again.

Lighten up for God's sake. The performances to date of the new boys have been superb, individually and collectively. Stek, Bolasie, Williams, Gana, Holgate, and we haven't even drawn breath on the other Finch Farm potentials, have all contributed to an excellent start to the season.

If we win our next bath of winnable games the match with City could be a top of the table affair. Who would have imagined that after last season's capitulation to Sunderland?

Get with the program Paul and COYB.

As the saying goes - I bet Xmas is a ball round at your gaff.

Maybe not initially, for Everton at least. However, Southampton were very strongly linked with him at the tail end of last season while Koeman was still in charge of that colossus of a club.

In a back catalogue of posts where it didn't appear to me that the content of utter shite could be surpassed, I take my hat off to the superlative dismissal "Gana, relegated at Aston Villa". What actually goes through the head of someone posting that as – ostensibly – a means to sway people to an opinion? It can only possibly be a deliberate wind-up.

Idrissa Gana Gueye, you've been found out, stand in the corner.

Step forward and Tikaboo Paul K, henceforth known as "Yer actual Paul K" now that Alf Garnett has shuffled off this mortal coil.

It's really just dawned on me that we have, all being well for this season and possibly the next, the experience of Stekelenburg between the sticks. A swansong season beckons, where he has already got back into the Dutch squad.

We have the Captain of Ireland, the Captain of Wales, could have been / should have been Captain of England as the club captain and Leighton Baines as our back 4. I mean seriously guys, can there be a better back line in the Premier League at this point in time?

Marry that with Gana and 'old man' Barry, who has carried on from where he left off last season and who for my money has been our player of the season so far. His defensive cover and forward support for Gana (at 26 the peak of his career) has been majestic.

Up front we have Rom, older than his years, and Mirallas, Bolasie (I love that guys style), both late 20s. Geri and Ross whilst not being quite the youngsters any more, may wake up wise up to what is expected under Koeman's guidance.. . Suddenly that looks like a Championship quality side to me.

Now I am blue through and through, and biased to boot, but seriously, if Ronald can work his magic there is suddenly massive potential that could have slipped under the media's radar big time.

The supporting cast of Funes Mori, Cleverley, McCarthy, Robles, Dowell, Pennington, Davies, Valencia (could be another surprise package), Kenny, Holgate, et al – bugger me, we could be on the cusp of something really good. (Hope Paul Kossof doen't read this... !)

Remember when Martinez went through a phase of playing Lukaku out wide? It worked once against Arsenal but he kept predictably doing again.

Koeman also included him in a list of players we have that can 'press' effectively the other day, so I don't think he's as much of a panic buy as it seems.

A change of scenery can work wonders for a player, though, so best of luck to him.

Right now we're feeling pretty buoyant so let's see what he can do.

Not too shabby them two!

I like Funes Mori but too often for me he seems to be hesitant. I think our new keeper feels more confident now behind this defence whereas last year both Robles and Howard didn't trust the men in front of them.

With big Rom up front, you are always going to create chances and especially now as nearly all our attacking players have pace to burn. I'd love to see Geri become the player he really could be as I feel he always takes too much out of the ball. I'd love to see him shoot much more early as he often waits until the defender gets back at him to make a block.

If Koeman's first choice of strikers was "for some unknown reason," Valencia, and he had said he was, then at least we could say "Oh he must see something in him West Ham doesn't." Valencia was a last-minute panic loan, bought in on the cheap, the same reason Kone and Gibson are still here, the cheaper option. That's the way this club operates, on the cheap, and will continue to do so while Billy and his mates are in charge.

Don't get me wrong, I want us to be successful, I pray for it. I want our team to be the best, but bringing in cheaper options is not going to do it.

William 56, 😁

Get shut of Gana, then? £7M too cheap?

When Gana was signed there were posts on TW basically saying "what a load of shite, only ٥M, and from a team that was relegated". Comparable negatives were expressed about Stek (couldn't even get in the Fulham 1st team) and Williams (too old). Apparently, Bolasie was too expensive.

I've seen Pogba a few times, and quite frankly am wondering why he's 㿼M. He wasn't cheap, was he?

Spending dosh is not the prime consideration here. Having our supposed new era means first of all that we don't need to sell, hence being able to keep Lukaku. It also means having a top quality manager who can identify real and effective needs rather than splashing cash like a lottery winner with holes in their pockets.

I've been supporting Everton for 55 years, and regard the last 20 or so years as abnormal, having previously seen 8 major trophies and a number of truly great players and teams. So for me there's nothing really unexpected in a genuine new era, it simply meets my expectations.

I 'feel' this is a new era, the vibes seem right, and we're making progress under a manager who seems to know what he's doing and is free of bullshit. I could of course be wrong but, if I am, I'll jump that hurdle of disappointment when I come to it. But for now, I'm rather hopeful and positive. I've no real evidence to make me otherwise.

If you're feeling a bit low or put-upon, you can come round to ours and have a nice cup of tea and a Garibaldi.

No, I wouldn't get rid of Gana, but he's a diamond in a pile of coal.

It's all opinions, lads, it brings debate, that's what we are here for – opinions, not cat-calling. I don't buy into this so-called 'project' that's being bandied about; with Kenwright involved, we will be lied to.

How many of you were doing hand stands over Valencia? Not many, I bet, who's happy Kone, Gibson, Niasse and McGeady (temporarily on loan) are still Everton players?

Yes, I hope Valencia scores 20+ goals for us and puts us in the Champions League, but be honest, West Ham's failed striker, 10 goals in two seasons, and if he was any good, why was he being put on the wing? Just like our own failed striker, Kone.

Another thing about Koeman, which makes him a bit different from some of the other 'elite' managers, the prima donna types like Maureen and Klopp who seem to want to be centre of attention like a spoilt child. Koeman is down to Earth, and deals in detail, in which the devil always lies. He wants to win every game, no matter whom against. If we're in a cup, he wants to win it, full stop. Compare Maureen's comments yesterday, basically saying the Europa League wasn't really worth playing in. What a terrible attitude, not one that bodes well for a fighting team spirit. Well Koeman isn't like that, and that's why, amongst other things, he gets the respect from players. And also from the media, it may be worth noting.

All of these kinds of things combined are what give me the confidence that this is indeed a genuine new era, a project. Actually, according to Ryazantsev, bigger than a project.

Coal turns to diamonds under extreme pressure.

Let's see how, before the next window, the first team squad and the others shape up under Dutch pressure.

Diamonds or paste?

However, I do think that Lennon and others such as Cleverley, Robles and even Gibson, are all players with Premier League quality who can have inspiring moments, who can and should all be able to compete in keeping the pressure on the first 11, to say nothing of providing good cover during injuries. If during their time on the pitch they provide any inspiration and retain their place then that's good news to me. It is a squad game at the end of the day...

But what could Koeman do with this Valencia feller and Lukaku as a pair up top? What would be the options behind them? I have no idea, I trust Koeman knows. But he has a certain positivity that just says he didn't get Valencia just to be a sub for Lukaku if he happens to get injured...

So I hope we finally have one adaption that opens for an x-x-x-2 (or whatever) up top, for when that is needed. Or as a basis if it fits any of Koeman's general tactics that we haven't seen yet...

If I remember correctly, we had accepted bids for two strikers Koeman wanted. We were gazzumped by Champions League on one; and the other team wouldn't let him go without a replacement. Brahimi became a moving target price wise.

Would have been interesting to see your comments if Everton had bought Marhrez, Kante & Vardy when they were less well known and cheap buys. It is not about what we spend. It is about trying to get a player that fits how the manager wants the team to play.

I think Enner Valencia is a great signing. He did not cost about anything and he could turn out to be a success. He is a pretty sharp and very, very quick player. I was thinking when West Ham signed him, why we could not sign players like that?

Idrissa Gueye, seriously the warp of this whole window. No-one else noticed how good he was at Villa? I did not notice. Very impressive signing.

Williams and Bolasie – well I am just sitting here smiling.

We can certainly say that this team is much stronger than last season. :-).

I hope that Enner can get on a good roll now as well.