18 Jan 2014 17:39:33
Squad report so far.

Goalkeepers:
Howard-8-been solid in goal and is having his best season for us imo

Joel-6-looks very nervy in goal and imo will not be howards long term successor

Full backs:
Coleman-8.5-top drawer thus far, still learning defensively but is incredible going forward, best right back in the league

Baines-7.5-not at his best but has been injured, people need to lay off him, he has a decent game and people say he was poor, still best left back in the world imo

Oviedo-8-baines has played more but when oviedo has played he has done very well, aggressive in the tackle, fast and has been a more than able stand in for baines

Centre backs:
Jagielka-8-top drawer again this season and is imo one of the best centre backs in the league in terms of out and out defending

Distin-8.5-im putting him ahead of jags just because usually when it is a lone striker up top such as soldado, fletcher, crouch, berbatov and lambert it is distin who has to put up with them one vs one and he has kept them all quiet with his speed and strength so I think he has had a bit more to do than jags

Alcaraz-8-solid when he has played and is actually a good footballer aswell as a good defender, out injured again with 'muscle fatigue' yeah isn't that what everyone else calls being shattered?

Stones-7.5-solid but he was too adventurous against norwich and it nearly cost us and his marking needs some work but is still young and will only improve with age

Heitinga-6-barely played, goodbye johny

Wingers:
Mirallas-7-not at his best this season, seems scared to take people on but has popped up with the odd moment of magic which has won us games

Pienaar-6.5-if the rumours about him being homesick are true I'm really not arsed, he has been a great servant but it has reached the point now where his final ball is poor, he won't go on the outside and is scared to take people on, he had such a good game against liverpool and that was it he hasn't done much this season

Deulofeu-8-this kid is going places, really hope we can keep him for just one more year, runs at people, scores crackers and is like a bullet, finishing needs some work but he is very talented, been a great loan signing and will miss our doofy loofy when he goes

Naismith-7-done nothing wrong when he has played, works his socks off and scores a goal here and there, not much else to say really

Centre midfielders:
Barry-9.5-player of the season imo, hasn't had a bad game, reads the game so well, always there for a pass and really hope we sign him

Mccarthy-8.5-another great signing, unlike most on here I was made up when we signed him, 13m maybe a bit too much but is worth more than double that the way he is playing, such ferocity no matter who he plays

Osman-6-im being generous here because I don't want another argument, in the holding midfield role he is woeful, in the attacking midfield role, he is woeful but not as much, won us the game against villa and yep that's about it, can't get away with just being neat and tidy anymore, you need more in your game

Barkley-8-been good, people need to calm down about him though, he has everything and has potential, will he be world class? No he won't, he will be one of the best attacking midfielders in the league but nothing special or out of this world like a mario gotze or a paul pogba, been good but not as good as some people are saying, he is greedy and shoots way too often

Strikers:
Lukaku-7-he has everything, pace and power but uses it only when he feels like it, nemanja vidic is no pushover and lukaku outpaced and outmuscled him with ease, we then play sunderland at home and phil bardsley keeps him quiet by barging him off the ball, phil friggin bardsley, touch is poor but meh I really hope we don't try and spend 25+m on him, I'd rather we went for someone else

Kone-6-injured, hardly played and with the ramadam I don't think he will ever prove himself, has everything but will lose it due to injuries, hope he proves me wrong but I'm having serious doubts

Jelavic-6-hes gone now I know but still had some part to play, he is done let's face it, he may go to hull and score a few goals, then next season he will go bad, 7.5m how did we do it

Happy with the season obviously and long may it continue

Mike-Ox Long

1.) 18 Jan 2014
I would have given Naismith a 5 (works his socks off, as you said, and defends well, but we immediately loose any control or threat we had on the game when he arrives because he's so bereft of skill) and Deulofeu a 7 (been exciting, but his performances have been overrated. Given the ball away Far, far, far too many times. We'd have scored way more goals when he played if he'd just got his head up every now and again instead of trying to dribble through his man or shoot).

Completely agree with all the others, though. Osman has been terrible, contrary to what some overloyal fans claim. Lukaku has been pretty poor in over half of his games, despite what the media would have you believe, and Baines has been unnecessarily criticised. McCarthy has been outstanding, as has Distin, and I'm glad you appreciate both of them, too.

2.) 18 Jan 2014
Agree with all of them mike especially the bit about Barkley. With all this hype it's putting to much pressure on him to produce outstanding performances.

He is going to be a quality player but I would give him another couple of years to develop before we start comparing him to players like Gazza and Ballack it isn't fair on him.

3.) 18 Jan 2014
Think you've been a bit harsh on barkley. Yes his decision making is a bit off at the moment but I truly believe that he will become world class and an everton great.

4.) 18 Jan 2014
18 Jan 2014 19:59:54
About Joel he WILL be Howard's replacement. He's just signed for us, came from Spain. It's difficult to adapt to a new country and a new lifestyle beeing so young.
I've seen him play matches, in Spain and at Wigan, he's brilliant, some unstoppable saves.
Remember De Gea's first season at UTD.

5.) 18 Jan 2014
18 Jan 2014 20:32:40
I remember it well mate, but de gea was 19, joel is 23-24 okay for a goalkeeper it isn't much difference but its still quite a leap, de gea was still played regularly and grew into it more, joel is second choice and will be on the bench for at least 3 more years and will only appear in the league cup, by then he will be 26-27 I know goalkeepers don't enter their prime until late but I just cannot see us lining up in four or five years time hearing the announcer going 'we start off with the mighty blues, in goal number 1 joel robles!', I really cannot see him as our long term goalkeeper, taudul for the youth set up looks a decent keeper, springthorpe looks dodgy and I haven't watched griffiths yet so I think unless taudul begins to really develop I think we will have to buy another keeper, de gea is the second best young keeper in the world and the talent is obviously there, does joel have it? I really don't think so, maybe he will prove me wrong I don't know, hopefully he will, bobby likes him so I'm probably wrong but atm imo he isn't all that, barkley's decision making is poor in terms of shooting too much but he lacks the mentality to see a pass, he will not cut the defence in half with a pass like gotze or silva or mata can do, he can develop that but it takes time, he also gambles with our whole result, like against southampton and sunderland, he was doing tricks about 20 yards from our goal like what are you doing?, he might be an england regular in the future and might become top class but world class is too much, he needs to start thinking about what he is doing if he has a glimmer of hope of becoming a great player, against norwich you said that mate but it was because we went to three at the back why norwich got the upper hand not because of naismith, he isn't a winger he is a forward, he scores the odd goal and his positional sense is incredible, like against chelsea (twice) and liverpool, watch his movement, you don't see some of the top strikers doing that mate, I'm not making that comparison but for me he is decent enough and as long as he works for the team I'm happy for him to play, magaye gueye is useless if you want someone worse, never seen an attacking player go backwards so much.

Mike-Ox Long

6.) 18 Jan 2014
Mike, it is hard to take anything you say seriously when you are so obviously biased. If you don't like a player then you will give them no credit whatsoever (Osman springs to mind). Some of the marks are crazy mate. I mean, how can you give Osman and Heitinga the same rating when the latter has played hardly any games? Osman has made one major mistake (v Sunderland) but, as you said, he won us the game against Villa and he got us on the way v Fulham. Mirallas, bar one or two games, has been woeful compared to last season yet you rate him higher than Osman? The rating for Ross is about right but the write up is strange. The lad is the best player of his generation without a doubt. Yes he will make mistakes as he is only young but the only way to eradicate these mistakes is for him to play and learn from the more seasoned pros. Try and not let your emotions get the better of you when marking the players mate, it makes you look a bit daft to be honest

7.) 18 Jan 2014
Stopped reading when you said Barkley won't be world class, ridiculous comment.

8.) 18 Jan 2014
18 Jan 2014 23:12:49
Usually I would get annoyed at that but its really interesting, osman, despite winning us the game vs villa and admittedly did only one major mistake and that was against sunderland, he hasn't done anything except mope around and lose the ball, I don't rate him and I will admit that but I just don't think he has done enough to warrant a higher rating, mirallas has the fourth most assists in the league I think but I'm not sure, he was up there for a while though and has scored a couple, I grew up with ross mate, I'm not saying we pick roses and skip or we go for windy walks on the beach, I know him, I know his mum, diane, I still think we are overhyping him, not so biased now eh?, heitinga should of been given a five as should of kone as they haven't played enough to judge, apologies for that, I don't think I look daft, I'm just giving my opinion and that is the beauty of football, everyone is entitled to one, if you think I look daft that's fair enough

Mike-Ox Long

9.) 19 Jan 2014
You're right Mike, football is about opinions and they will differ from person to person. I wouldn't give Osman more than a six myself but I don't think he is as bad as you, and some others, would have us believe. You're right to downgrade Jonny and Kone (the latter would be given a 4 just for his glaring misses in the cup against inferior opposition) but I would give Ross a better mark than Del boy. Only for the fact he has made more of an impact when starting games. Our loanee is a quality player, no doubting that, but he is more guilty of giving the ball away, playing with his head down and, therefore, sometimes not seeing the correct pass. This will obviously change with experience so it's in no way a major fault.