The Rebuild

[Evertonian in NC]

Keep Garner at RB, please. He's completely fine there.

But need to start phasing out Tarks for JOB at RCB.

[Cods]

We've been lucky with Keane's unexpected resurgence this season - long may it last of course, but his performances will regress to the mean at some point,

Could be said that under Moyes his mean is a solid 7.5/10. There has been very little variance either way. A big reason we've done ok.

The next year or so we do need to be transitioning towards starting JB and JOB, with flying fullbacks and a midfield that can play, keep and pass the ball rather than leaving a lot of that to our current CBs. And a new upcoming hungry CB waiting in the wings.

[Kerryblueboy]

Linked with toney and zirkzee this morning would have toney in a heartbeat but fear it will be too expensive zirkzee is another non scoring forward who we don’t need

[Cozzie]

I kind of like the way Zirkzee plays but he doesn't get goals.

Toney would, but I feel he's nailed on for a reuniting with Frank at Spurs, probably maybe allowing us to get Richy on loan.

He'd demand daft wages Toney too.

[Silas]

Think given we all kind of know this is a mid table season if it's looking that way in Jan we need to be persisting with Barry. Bringing Toney in means he doesn't get a look in as he'll be expecting to be first choice. Be arsed with another promising young striker being ruined by the Everton development system

[74Blue]

So, 11 games in. 15 points and 13th place. Not too bad. Some good performances and some disappointing ones, with no real pattern of form.

For the pessimists, 5 points off the relegation zone. For the optimists, 5 points off 2nd and within a win of the European places. Maybe indicative of the league this year, which is super competitive.

I am just realistic and believe will probably end up somewhere mid table. But is it time where we can start to believe again in what is possible for us going forwards?

3 questions for everyone:

1. What has been the biggest positive of the season so far
2. Where do we most need to improve, either as a club/squad
3. Linked to the above, what is most important in terms of actions for the January transfer window?

I would have liked us to have been a bit higher than 13th at this stage of the season, especially as we will be without N'Diaye and Gana Gueye for some big games whilst they are away at AFCON. They will be a big miss, and I think we will struggle to put points on the board whilst they are missing. With N'Diaye in the team, the opposition have him to worry about as well as Grealish. Without him, they'll just double down on Grealish and we're not longer a threat going forward because our only remaining creative player is being marked out of the game. Hopefully I'm wrong and Moyes will draft in Dibling and he'll hit the ground running with a point to prove, but I'm not convinced.

The way the league is this season, a couple of poor results and you could be right back in the shit.

[brap2]

Be arsed bringing a striker in personally. Would be much more rewarding watching Barry develop imo, than watching Toney or Zirkzee press.

If we sign a striker before we sign a full back or a CM I will have concerns.

[Risky]

Whether we bring in a striker or not in January will depend on what happens over the next couple of months I'd hope. If Barry builds on that performance at the weekend and gets a goal or 2, and we're comfortably nowhere near the bottom of the table, then I'd definitely agree with sticking with him as our starter.

If not though then someone like Toney would be a good move I reckon. You could still have Barry making the odd start and coming on in games, which tbf is probably what the ideal would have been this season anyway. Pretty sure the plan would have been that Beto was usually the starter, with Barry getting game time as 2nd choice - unfortunately Beto's poor performances have seen more pressure heaped on Barry.

[Shogun]

Not unlikely that we sell Beto in January and bring in someone like Toney on loan.

[Cereal Killer]

Be arsed bringing a striker in personally. Would be much more rewarding watching Barry develop imo, than watching Toney or Zirkzee press.

If we sign a striker before we sign a full back or a CM I will have concerns.

Yes please, two actual fullbacks that can play football would help the team function far better than it currently does, whereas another striker doesn’t fix any issues

Shift Patterson out, loan Aznou out, let O’Brien battle for a CB position

[Bumble]

Not unlikely that we sell Beto in January and bring in someone like Toney on loan.

This would be an optimal solution.

[777Kidnappings]

Surely we arent gonna spend big money loaning Toney for half of a season where we will probably finish midtable regardless

[Kerryblueboy]

I don’t think Moyes sees full back as a priority he has said so in interviews he will want a proven striker to finish chances developing young talent has never been high on his cv

[AjaxAndy]

Whether we bring in a striker or not in January will depend on what happens over the next couple of months I'd hope. If Barry builds on that performance at the weekend and gets a goal or 2, and we're comfortably nowhere near the bottom of the table, then I'd definitely agree with sticking with him as our starter.

If not though then someone like Toney would be a good move I reckon. You could still have Barry making the odd start and coming on in games, which tbf is probably what the ideal would have been this season anyway. Pretty sure the plan would have been that Beto was usually the starter, with Barry getting game time as 2nd choice - unfortunately Beto's poor performances have seen more pressure heaped on Barry.

Exactly this, if neither are scoring even semi regularly by Jan then we need to bring someone in.

Might help Barry anyway coming on with 20 left rather than carrying the weight of expectation to score when starting.

I think we'd all prefer he starts grabbing a few goals and we can just allow him the time to develop and find some consistency, but also if he's not scoring that can affect confidence and he'll feel the pressure which isn't good for a young player's development.

You start them regularly because they're ready, not because you've no other option... So really depends on where we are with him come Jan, and then making a decision on what's best for the team and also his development.

[Toddacelli]

Surely we arent gonna spend big money loaning Toney for half of a season where we will probably finish midtable regardless

I agree with this sentiment generally, but if it’s the difference between 12th or 8th place, that could be huge for us in terms of attracting players who want European football next season.

Looks like a huge ask now, but with Branthwaite back and a bagsman in the team we look a very different prospect.