Everton need Lookman more than Ademola needs a loan move

If Lookman is being coached and not taking it in then perhaps it is best we send him out on loan, Bristol City would be my pick if they want him. However, I would prefer we keep him and play him instead of Bolasie from the start.

Bolasie can come on with 30 minutes left and get up to speed that way, instead of being flogged to death, as he is now.

Oh and another thing – where is the bloody left-back we need!!

No point loaning this lad out, he needs to learn at the highest level. He attracts players to the ball, space there dare I say it for others to play into.

But this is were the vision ends, Allardyce needs too much physical endeavour from his game to let him start. All that running after the ball, because that's the way we're are set up to play means a player like Lookman will only have the ball fleetingly and that comes with pressure to do the impossible.

If I were Lookman, I'd be hightailing it out of Dodge before his career is ruined.

We need to have the defence and midfield put together in such a manner that our forwards can receive much better service plus the forwards and, in fact, all the players need to learn to run off the ball to provide passing opportunities. There seems to be no structure in the side, no cohesion.

Do I remember something about Allardyce mentioning something about a warm-weather break? I would have a clause in their contracts saying 'Lads wages reduced, for a short day week' – and pay for your own holidays, you buggers! They are really taking the piss.

However there are few factors that need to be taken into consideration. Allardyce doesn't seem to really give players much of a chance to show just what they have. If a young player is only on for very short periods of time they are likely to be very nervous, and anxiety will cause any player to make mistakes and we never see their best.

Just today I read an article where Allardyce was discussing Klaassen. He stated that a player must be ready as he will only get one chance and one only. This seems to apply to any player. Come on! If everybody only got one chance, there would be very few ever likely to play a second game. There are many who need an entire season to adjust.

Unfortunately, we have had such a lousy season that it would seem that Allardyce is just as nervous as the players. It is likely that, as he chops and changes the team, he infuses his anxiety into the players. He is probably even less positive than the fans about who to pick. His solution is just to tell the players that they don't have any confidence. We all know that and expect him to do something about it.

Lookman is one of many of the team who seems too desperate to prove themselves. Ramirez, Klaassen, Keane, Vlasic and even Sigurdsson are just a few examples of overly anxious, nervous players. And there are others.

Despite his bombastic and aggressive nature, Sam Allardyce appears to be just as nervous as the players and the fans. He may talk a big game but his lack of success of late indicates that he just doesn't really know what to do. His players reflect the manager's uncertainty as they all seem to be in a constant state of anxiety. I can almost hear them shouting out, "Don't give me the ball. I don't know what to do with it"

Perhaps Sam should have been given "one game and one game only" to prove his ability as a manager.

I accept they play different positions and all but what hypocrisy to suggest some players get one chance whilst others have the privilege of stinking the place out on a regular basis.

This reticence to blood youngsters and at least salvage something from an absolute misery of a season is just one reason why I really hope Allardyce never sees the end of his contract.

We seem to be haemorraghing young talent at an alarming rate, and I'm referring more to the likes of Liam Walsh than Barkley, but worst of all we have nothing to show for it.

That said, there could be wisdom in keeping exciting, eager young prospects like Lookman as segregated from the trenchant losers in the first team as possible, lest they contract whatever bug it is that makes you play with no pride or purpose whatsoever.

To me, the problem seems to lie with a Manager (and possibly his predecessor) who don't appear to appreciate skill but prefer defense and work rate in order to fit the manager's one and only system and who has said that he prefers "mature" players for the sole reason that he doesn't want to play too many youngsters at the same time. Would we be seriously worse off if we had Lookman, Deulofeu, Barkley, Dowell and Walsh (yes, I know Allardyce wasn't responsible for most of those players current disposition) in the side, and that without mentioning several other players who seem to have had their one chance (Sandro, Klaassen, Davies, Vlasic, Calvert-Lewin(?).

The Board must seriously consider if we want this manager sorting out the playing staff – especially considering how performances have worsened recently and his short term contract.

Lyndon, I think you are right to question a Lookman loan but consider this, Allardyce knows that losing the ball from front positions right now is, with the worst defence in decades on the field, tantamount to losing a goal. He knows that the usual risks associated with this are actually not “usual” when behind them our defenders, including our defensive midfielders, are slow across the pitch, slow to turn, and well, just unbelievably slow.

Normally I'd rush to agree with the argument that Lookman offers a rare bit of pace, and excitement in a truly awful squad. I like watching him play, yes, but I'm “nervous” as well because frankly the lad can not afford an error as so many around him have zero ability to recover and that is not “usual” in most Premier League teams. But it is how it feels for us right now. Never have I seen an Everton team less equipped to cope when we lose the ball and face runners at pace driving towards them, and yes I'm nervous because rarely has such a situation seemed to so regularly produce a goal or general chaos in our defence.

Despite all that, I would keep Lookman and send Vlasic out on loan. I'd have him on every bench and, because there do not seem a lot of goals in this squad I'd accept the risk but then I'm not the manager who is, apparently according to many fans, already sacked at the end of May. I'm not the manager who has inherited the worst squad for decades, with 㿅m players unable to cope. I'm not the manager with it seems half-a-dozen No 10s and not a single premiership standard left back capable of covering those lost balls or runners coming at them because the club literally hasn't a clue how to spend its millions. I'm not the manager given half a season to save a season and a lot, lot, more besides.

So I'm prepared to accept that Allardyce isn't the kind of manager that an Ademola Lookman will find happy to play and accept that the odd mistake or two may cost us a goal or a game, when that could help take us down. I think I will judge how well Lookman is treated by this management team if we somehow drag ourselves to safety and have a few games to take risks. I'm praying for such a scenario and to be able to scream for Lookman's introduction from the bench to terrorise defences.

But I'm as nervous as the bloody squad right now because, for instance, defeats in our next two matches will see us fully engaged in fighting for the clubs future and I still cannot quite believe we are here. Maybe in the next five days or so Mr Moshiri will realise that unless he and Walsh find two quality defenders to shore up the horror story that is our back line in front of Pickford we are in desperate trouble and maybe then Lookman may get the chance to shine?

What are you frustrated, Lyndon? Loans are designed to help players prove themselves. Lookman needs to do the same in my view – he's been bang average for us and a loan will show what he can do, and give him confidence like Dowell.

What he needs is a run in the 1st team, where he can learn by doing.

For me, we have been failing due to an overdose of caution – yes, losing the ball can cause problems, but we end up losing the ball anyway by timid, inaccurate passing. We may as well take the risk of ceding possession by taking a chance, attacking the opposition, running at them, and Lookman is one of the few who can do that.

He's a young lad, away from home, he definitely looks like a player who needs the arm around the shoulder and being told he will be picked for the next 3 games, no matter how he performs. He might provide some goal opportunities, and even a bit of excitement.

Would be insane to let him leave on loan.

I think he could be immense at a team like Man City who actually use players like him to full effect. He's a bit like Sterling. The pub football on offer here doesn't suit him.

Lookman has that ability to carry the ball and go forward, something that seems outlawed at Everton Football Club nowadays. I mean we just don't like entertainment or entertaining players anymore do we? Players that get you off your seat at least with anticipation?

I fully expect any semblance of attacking football to have been trained from Walcott over the next month or so, it's what we do isn't it?

Why have exciting attacking players when you can just attempt to “stop” opponents in every game with numerous defensive minded crabs???

Who doesn't lose the ball (repeatedly) in this Everton squad?

Does Lookman, perhaps losing it by attempting to beat a man with pace and skill, really represent that much more of a risk than a more 'steady', experienced, player simply twatting it straight to the opposition, or sliding in for no reason, missing the ball and watching someone sprint away from him, or attempting to spray a crossfield ball that cannons into someones arse and sets them off on the counter?

We don't possess any players who are preternaturally gifted at not giving up possession in 'forward areas' (if that is the main area of concern). Calvert-Lewin's hold up play is decent, but tends to be countered by the fact he's normally utterly isolated and, understandably, slightly confused whether it's actually the ball careening through the sky way above or a fucking wiltering comet. Rooney constantly gives the ball away (not only in attacking areas either) via misplaced passes or forgetting he's now basically running about in Burt Reynolds body, but that doesn't seem to deter Allardyce from deploying him. Bolasie isn't exactly reliable at retaining possession when running at players. Walcott, while at Arsenal, wasn't either.

Why can Lookman "not afford an error" when everyone else seemingly has license to litter the pitch with wads of them?

Vlasic sank without trace last week and whenever he has started (admittedly that has not been often), Lookman has struggled. He's got a lot of flair and talent to be deployed in due course but I understand Allardyce's caution.

We are in holding mode for the time being. Sam may be around up to the end of his contract or beyond if results are turned around, but I can't see it myself. But why Schneiderlin is allowed (selected before others) to play when he is so painfully off the pace is for me totally mystifying. Playing Schneiderlin is actually unfair to him as a very competent footballer is being taunted and humiliated off the park (which will stoke up resentment if not further loss of confidence).

There may be a logic in allowing Lookman a loan for some playing time, but I would rather it was with us. However, if the story headline reading the club wont sanction a loan, suggests the player is looking for one, then I sense he could be wanting out of the Club anyway because of the nauseous situation Everton are now in.

Thank you, Ronald, we will be forever in your debt, and come on Sam, earn your dough.

If he's going to go out on loan it should at least be to another Premier League side. We already know he can do the business against Championship level sides.

To have a player like Lookman who may give the ball away but might be just as likely to create or score a goal nowhere near the first team or on the bench is pure cowardice and indicative of the defeatist mentality surrounding the club.

Since when has setting up a lopsided team to sit deep back in their own half won teams games consistently?

Goals win games, we need as many players on the pitch or at least as an option off the bench to be able to provide an attacking threat, to try and get the goals to get those wins to in the current predicament ensure safety with the possibility to kick on ready for next season.

Our leading goal scorer gives the ball away more than most but his goals outweigh his mistakes. I think the same would be said about Lookman given a run in the side till the end of the season.

If you don't buy a ticket, you won't win the raffle

I can't imagine a player like Salah improving in the manner he has as a player being at Everton, but Liverpool allow players freedom to attack and train players to become fitter and stronger.

Would the likes of Mahrez be allowed to move forward with the ball if we signed him in the way he has at Leicester?

Sigurdsson has not been the influence he was at Swansea, scored a couple of decent goals okay, but at Swansea everything came through him, set pieces were right on the number, everything! It's okay saying he was in a bad team so he could shine more but hey, he's in a bad team now!

Keane and Williams were rock like defenders at former clubs but at Everton they are treacle runners but that's for another thread regarding defence, just a brief example.

Back to Ademola Lookman, the strange thing is he probably would have prospered more as a player under Roberto Martinez who at least allowed the attacking players more freedom.

Say what we want about him but it was only Martinez who had any idea what to do with Ross Barkley and no doubt about it, got the best he could out of a loose cannon of a player.

Players like Lookman and other attackers – they just ain't going to prosper under Allardyce style of play.

The best cure for being homesick, is to just let him do his job and play football. The more he plays, the better he will become, and the better he becomes, the happier he will be. Simple really!

We need to keep these players until we get a manager who knows how to develop and get the best out of them. That isn't Sam Allardyce – who will be gone in the summer.

I get that he hasn't been given enough game time and the fact that he is young but that horrible cheat Dele Alli is around the same age, came from the same league and was cheaper than Lookman but he immediately became a big player for Spurs. Maybe a loan is the best thing for him where he can play regularly and toughen up.

In regards to our football it is total shite. It's not totally Big Sams fault although a lot of it is and the Dutch fool's too. The key players in keeping possession and playing expansive football are the centre-backs and the defensive or central midfielders. The problem is, our players in those positions are shit at football, it's as simple as that. It's one of the reasons why Pickford and our defenders keep hoofing it.

We need in the summer to ship out Besic, Schneiderlin, Williams and (it pains me to say) Jagielka and replace them with quality ball-playing players and get a progressive young coach.

John Daley (#21) – good post John, fully agree.

I've watched Dowell whenever Forest have been on television and although I thought he started slowly during his loan spell, his contribution in recent games appears to have grown immeasurably. This is of course an argument for Lookman to go out and gain that sort of experience. However, as has been pointed out above, he has already gone down that path with his home club Charlton so surely he is just the sort of player we need right now – ie, something different.

However, we are talking Sam Allardyce here. He is on a relatively short-term contract and he will look after himself first and foremost, so any chance of him risking a lot of playing time for master Lookman – forget it.

What chance of sending Allardyce out on loan? Any takers out there?

Niasse set up Sigurdsson for the goal against the RS.

It is clearly Lookman who receives Bolasie's pass out of defence from a Liverpool corner on the counter-attack.

Lookman does very well to jink inside his man and lay a crisp pass into the path of Jagielka who is the real provider of Sigurdsson's equaliser. The skipper's determination and alertness to the possibility of the counter attack is IMO the most telling factor in the goal.

Without Jagielka's run and lay off, there wouldn't have been a goal.

One thing I do know is that he's my three sons' favourite player. They're always complaining he's not on the pitch enough. In fact, they're just always complaining about Everton nowadays. I hear "Why are we so crap, Dad?" quite a lot. In the football wilderness that is Oxfordshire, where every other knobhead is an RS fan, they've had it pretty hard. Still, they could be Oxford fans, or, god forbid, Swindon.

The other thing about Lookman to bear in mind is that he confuses the opposition because he looks about 12 and they think we've put him on by mistake.

However, if Allardyce, is of a mind that he will only be on the bench as a last resort, then it would be beneficial to Lookman and the future of the Club to get him a really good loan move where he would get regular starts.

Pointless just keeping him here for the sake of it. Either Vlasic or Lookman should be given a decent chance. Both appear to be behind Bolasie and Walcott now. Keep one and send the other out on loan.

A World Cup medal winner at just 19 (now 20), he showed last summer at the highest level for his age group just what he offers.

Like many an Everton player this season, young and old, he has not delivered consistently on his potential.

All 3 first team managers this season have been reluctant to play him from the start. He has completed the full 90 minutes in which he was in the starting XI in only 3 games this season. All in the Europa League, one game under each manager:

Under Koeman the 2-0 home win over Hadjuk Split.
Under Unsworth the 3-0 away defeat to Lyon.
Under Allardyce the 3-0 away win to Limassol.

In the only other 2 games this season in which he was a starter, he was so ineffective in the 1st half in both games that he was subbed out at the interval:

Under Koeman the 1-1 away draw to Hadjuk Split.
Under Unsworth the 2-2 away draw to Palace in the Premier League.

In total this season, he has played:

* 152 minutes of Premier League football in 7 appearances, 6 as sub.

* 367 minutes of Europa League football in 6 appearances, 3 as sub.

* 38 minutes of League Cup football in 2 sub appearances.

* 38 minutes of FA Cup football in 1 sub appearance.

That's a total of 595 minutes – just shy of 10 hours football, less than 7 full games of football in a season Everton has already played 37 games of football.

Now some (not for the first time on TW) have alluded to the notion that the lad is homesick and this is impacting on him.

Dave Abrahams told me before the FA Cup game at Anfield that Lookman wouldn't be playing 'cos he'd gone back to London due to this homesickness, only to retract it later when Ademola was named on the sub's bench. Who truly knows?

What is fair to assume is that 3 different managers this season have worked closely with him in training, given him chances (albeit limited) on the pitch, and he has failed to convince any one of them to persevere with him.

That is not to say he is already a 'lost cause'. He just turned 20 in October.To leap to the conclusion that he is being frozen out by Sam Allardyce is also possibly ill-judged, given the data above. Indeed, just a couple of weeks ago Allardyce spoke on camera about the bright futures for both Lookman and Vlasic, whilst acknowledging the need to keep a balanced team.

Boss Tips Young Pair For Big Everton Futures

I could also add that a good number on TW seemingly don't demonstrate much patience or tolerance of young players. We had a magnificent quartet of young footballers in Stones, Barkley, Deulofeu and Lukaku, now all gone. They were regularly abused and criticised on these pages, quite possibly by some of the very posters in this thread calling for greater inclusion of Lookman.

I would hope Everton wish to retain and further develop Ademola Lookman's skills. If that includes a loan spell at this time of his career to give him more game time, then so be it.

Yes if they play regularly it can help, but really all it tells you is they can play at Championship level. I know Dowell has done well at Forest but I don't know if he could reproduce that in the Premier League. We have seen players come from lower leagues or leagues abroad and struggle in the Premier League, ie, Sandro and Klaassen both successful abroad.

So for me if he has the potential a lot of us think he has, then keep him here and give him game time. Then after 6 months you will know if he can be a success or not. As I mentioned it can work for some players although I cant think of any of the Chelsea youngsters who have been loaned out come back and claim a first team slot.

Lookman sent packing would be the final straw for me. The current Everton team no longer resemble the club I know and love. I'm very close to taking a hiatus from all things Everton.

He was reportedly homesick when he first joined us. Maybe he still hasn't acquired the mental strength or maturity to be involved regularly. All speculation of course but his continued absence from squads could be more than just that managers don't rate his ability.

We have had just 2 games since the Liverpool cup game.

Lookman was an unused sub vs Spurs. Not included at all vs West Brom. So you are incorrect in saying he hasn't been selected at all.

By contrast, Vlasic was overlooked completely for the Spurs game, but started and played 45 minutes vs West Brom.

That rather undermines some conspiracy theories that young 'uns aren't being given a chance under Sam.

Plenty also commented that Theo Walcott's arrival reduces even further the chances of either Lookman or Vlasic making the team. But surely the departures of Mirallas and Lennon make a nonsense of such claims...?

Did you also hear/read the manager's comments today? I quote:

"I say to players not in the team or squad, 'If you let yourself go, you do yourself the biggest disservice you possibly could, because when needed you will not be able to perform.

"When you cannot perform, you get one chance – if you blow that chance you do not get another, not at this level now.

"You have to keep yourself super fit, super dedicated – because all the players doing the work on a matchday are keeping themselves at the highest level of fitness they can.

"If the lads not in the squad do not keep themselves right up there by doing the extra work they need to take that chance when it comes along, they end up failing and having no other chances – because when they have had the opportunity they failed to show the potential and ability they had before they came here."

Now, it is anybody's guess who he is addressing by those remarks... Sandro? Klaassen? Lookman..?

But isn't the manager's basic premise a good one? If you are not in the starting XI or match day squad, you have to put in the hard yards on the training ground to be ready and able to step in when called upon, or you simply won't be able to perform to the best of your ability and force yourself into the reckoning for a regular start.

On whose side will the fans be in this contest? Not Allardyce's, I suspect, and I think that will be a bad mistake. You can dislike this manager's style while still wanting idle, self-serving players – who have far too much power – to be faced down.

The first problem is that Moshiri was involved in bringing in players, who Sam is afraid to ship out. He is doing everything to accommodate them. Players from Martinez's time are being in most cases are being shipped out, either transferred or loaned. The second problem is the difference in wage contracts, as Kevin Ratcliffe said in the Echo which is unsettling some players, because they can see that they are not worth the money. But they are keeping them out of the first team.

There is no doubt is the last chance payment option, for those who a struggling to reach the standard required by their for to play in the Premier League. Everton are getting excited about them at their prime, not in the really what they can produce in a Everton Shirt. This is a serious problem regarding potentially good players.

Allardyce in his selections is maintaining the status quo and potential players are not getting a chance.

I suppose a manager saying you need to stay fit and be prepared is common sense. But he then says you only get 1 chance, well that certainly cant apply to Schneiderlin or Martina who have had countless chances and still don't improve.

Also, he gives Vlasic 45 minutes, now admittedly he wasn't having a lot of influence but that could have been said for most of the team that day.

The thing about Allardyce is he loves listening to the sound of his own voice, where he might be better keeping his counsel. He has said that both Klaassen and Sandro can leave; well that is hardly going to motivate a player. So no wonder they are not maybe putting a lot of effort into the training.

He also said Rooney and Sigurdsson cant play together so again great motivation for Everton and England's top goalscorer or our biggest transfer buy. Again he would have been better keeping quiet with those observations.

He openly has said his first signing had to be able to hit the ground running, but when Tosun signed he said he wasn't sure how he would perform coming from abroad and having no experience in the Premier League.

So his utterances so far don't seem to be giving the squad any positive vibes.

He just comes off as the old out-of-touch manager. He's the old man shouting at the kids playing in the street, lecturing anyone within earshot of how things were done properly back in his day.

But going back to Lookman, I forgot he was sub and can't grumble at one of my favourites coming on for Bolasie, Aaron Lennon, but Lookman played well at Liverpool.

He was an unused sub at Spurs and not even on the bench versus West Brom. Not giving the lad much confidence there, Jay, yet Schneiderlin in, game after game, and impressing no-one really in a key position.

I don't disagree with your 'one chance or your out' shout about Schneiderlin. For a couple of games there was very, very marginal improvement, but not enough for me (and many other Blues, evidently!) to justify him leap-frogging others for his position.

He must work his nuts off in training and maintain incredible fitness levels to be impressing Sam who continues to include him, although not always as a starter.

On Martina, I am more forgiving. He has not been out and out crap as some claim. Basically, he is currently the only option available for the position he occupies. Are you aware, for example, since Sam Allardyce arrived at the club (with Baines already injured), Martina is the ONLY player to player EVERY SINGLE MINUTE under Sam Allardyce?

The manager cannot be faulted for inheriting that situation. He will certainly in part be culpable if that continues to be the case once this January window closes. As a bare minimum, Garbutt needs to be added to the 1st team squad as left back cover.

As for Sam Allardyce's utterances, as with every single Everton manager in recent years contractually required to face up to the media, you can give weight and importance to their every utterance and dissect and analyse it to the 'nth' degree...or you can read or hear the words and say 'next.'

The most important dialogues 'twixt players and managers are never heard, I reckon. But it won't stop the speculation and pigeon-holing of many, I'm sure.

How anyone can find the words to be "nonsense" is beyond me. The determination to loathe everything about Allardyce is dangerous for this club.

The fact is, all we see is what goes on on the pitch for 90 minutes. The management team see ten or twenty times that between games. I assume they watch the players, they study the stats, they speak to the fitness guys, to the U23 management, to everyone.

Sam has made it clear what he expects from the players as a minimum. Perhaps the answer to "Why does Schneiderlin get a game?" is that nobody is showing even the minimum during the week to replace him.

I don't think we can judge Allardyce for a few more weeks yet. Once he's had three or four months at the helm, brought in a few of his own players, and got the existing squad members up to scratch – those who are capable of meeting minimum requirements – we might get an idea of what he can do at Everton.

It could be that Moshiri will move him on at the end of the season if he can line up somebody more glamorous, we shall see. But hopefully between now and then, Sam will have got our squad fitter and more balanced and if he does get the boot then he'll leave us in the kind of shape Moyes left us in. So the next manager can balls it all up again.

I guess that's one way of looking at it Michael...but others may believe that Schneiderlin gets a game because the manager is thick as a fucking brick and Schneiderlin's performance is just another example of him being unable to see what is smacking him between the eyes.

The guys in the Blue Dragon may put in a good shift all week, but if they are shite on Saturdays...

Then answer me this. What is the “key performance indicator” that Sam and his great team of cast off small club coaches are using to justify Schneiderlin being on the pitch every single match? Besic can't get a minute on the bench, let alone the pitch.

He says “We have every optimum Premier League performance in every position here – it's something I insist on – and we ask what is the optimum? What is the elite Premier League level, not just for fitness, but for abilities. What is the average?“

So if a player isn't given time in the game, how do you analyze him against Premier League performance which is obviously derived from Premier League matches. Unless you believe Sam has coaches at every other club's training facilities and they are analyzing how they're training?

Also, anyone who knows the first thing about data analysis knows that deriving anything from a small sample size is the worst thing you could do. Comparing someone who gets 45 minutes against someone who is playing consistently for a month is simply not possible. Yet that is exactly what he's trying to say, that it's this optimum Premier League performance analysis that is driving his team choices and that is the cause of these players that have more talent and have actually achieved more as players than he ever did, not getting a chance.

Lookman was handed his 'one chance' against Limassol, shone, scored two goals, and was rewarded with nothing more than a 'remain seated' return to the subs bench.

He got his second shot against the RS, immediately added balance and threat to the side, played a huge part in the equalising goal and earnt himself the chance to... stay in precisely the same place he was already in Allardyce's pecking order.

Anyway, imagine being an attacking player told to "get out there and show me something, son" in a side set up to adhere to Allardyce's game plan:

"You will get one chance... between the bloody lot of you... if you're lucky. Better hope it falls to you and you bury it because there probably isn't going to be another one. Don't even think about giving me any excuses about rustiness or lack of service, either. Me and the missus went on holiday for the first time in three whole months last week. Self-Catering. Piece of piss."

You obviously make some good points but I err towards the old adage that often "attack is the best form of defence" and that, rather than focus on the potential for Lookman to lose the ball and cost a goal (he hasn't yet whereas Rooney, whose profligacy with the ball continues to astound me, has), I prefer to think of the goals for that we haven't scored because we're not using the attacking talents that players like Lookman possess off the bench in close games.

For the last two or three years Liverpool have operated on a footing of going out and attacking teams, getting "out of the traps" fast and getting in the first couple of big punches (if you'll excuse the mixed metaphor!). They have a weak defence and it's come back to bite them at times (e.g. against Sevilla) but more of than not, they knock their opponents back on their heels to such an extent that they don't recover. The result is they win a lot more games than they lose.

Roberto Martinez had a similar approach and it's no surprise to me that we were at our most exciting and dangerous under him. His problem was that he refused to accept his defenders leathering it away when the situation called for it and he couldn't manage games. That West Ham game where he responded to them going down to 10 men by throwing Niasse on rather than shutting up shop will forever be in his epitaph as Everton manager.

Now I'm not saying we have the attacking talent that the reds do but my big problem with Allardyce – I've said it before but it bears repeating in the context of this article – is that by so limiting your options to actually win a game, you're only left with the other two outcomes as being likely: drawing or (with our defence) losing.

Attacking players inevitably lose the ball trying to go forward – and there's a whole other article's worth of arguments against the way Allardyce teams just gift the ball to the opposition by continually hoofing it up to an isolated striker – so it's up to the manager to earn his corn by organising the defensive side of his team. Thus far, Allardyce hasn't done so.

Like for like is fine when you are winning or playing okay, but I don't think this applies when your team are coming off second best, to a team that are second from bottom in the league?

I thought we should have went 4-4-2 for a few reasons, with one of the biggest being that Schneiderlin was doing nothing but agitating the crowd. Tosun was struggling playing upfront by himself, and Walcott looked like he would have sooner played centrally, which would have definitely helped Cenk, and quite possibly the team?

Two wide men, two forwards, with McCarthy and Sigurdsson sitting in midfield, is what I thought Allardyce should have gone with second half, because I'm sure this would have really engaged the crowd, which would have definitely helped the team?

The football is boring, which isn't a new phenomenon, but Allardyce, Ferguson and Sammy Lee, have all played at Goodison Park, and seen Everton's crowd help the team win the game. Ask Unsworth, who's team were dead and buried against Watford, until the change of formation got the crowd involved, and probably made Silva think he wouldn't mind having them fans behind him every week!

I know it goes against the Everton grain at the moment but let's try it.

Lookman, nor Sandro, nor Klaassen probably will not be going out on loan. They will sit as unused subs/ non squad members until the summer when their stock is at an all-time low, and be sold at sizeable losses by the man currently in charge now.

I'd like to see it happen before then, but I don't think big Soft Arse will be jettisoned in the summer, and the situation will get so bad we will be crying for a Martinez or Koeman to bring their good times back.

Please God, the Kraken awakes at Everton before the situation is irretrievable.

Nobody seems to have told Guardiola. He also doesn't seem to have read the memo that says ‘if they were expensive or get paid a lot don't coach them to improve.'