johnnythefirst

He had the same number at Atletico. Doesn't matter.

That's why I myself said he was one of the best forwards in Europe last year. Which is something different to one of the best forwards in Europe in general. ;-)

He was loaned out for most of those waiting years, and I didn't mention Lukaku. I was responding to the "one of the best forwards in Europe" quote. ;-)

Hmm, bold statement. => One of the best forwards in Europe, last season. Looking at his entire career, he's not really been very impressive. People forget so quickly. We'll see what happens.

Why would you doubt it? He doesn't have the world cup pressuring him anymore, and for the first time in three years, he can start the season free of stress. I think he'll do just fine. I'm wondering what will happen if you play each other now. He never really had any problems with any of the Chelsea players...

I'm not going to start this tired year old argument again. World cup year/"chances"/jadajada. Don't be bitter, don't be arrogant towards other people's opinions and move on. It's not because someone doesn't agree with you, you should link them to the Everton forum. You're not the bouncer here.

Plus Lukaku tweeted a picture of himself while on a plane to Liverpool. I mean...

Some people on here, I'm not gonna mention any names because it's clear to everyone, are acting like jealous wives. 'When I really needed him.. he LEFT me! HE LEFT ME!!! :'-(" The record is skipping dude.

Wouldn't bet my house on it actually.

I think Lukaku really wanted to leave and he wouldn't have agreed to such a clause.

Yes, and in happy happy joy joy-land he'll leave PSG where he is a starter and take his chances in London for some reason. But in reality I don't see that happening. A young talented player (like Lukaku, sadly) would be the ideal second striker, and Drogba is perfect to step in when needed and coach the youngsters. Costa - Drogba - Mandzukic/Cavani will not work in a one striker system. Read my lips.

The question here is why would Cavani join a team playing with one striker when Costa and Drogba have just been bought. Only one of three can start the game and players like Cavani or Costa don't join teams to become a 30 minute sub.

People on the Everton forum seem to be pissing themselves in joy.

Sad It didn't work out for him, but I guess he went for a very good price. Both clubs will be happy.

The problem is you can only make sure whether someone has true talent when you play them in the first team. That's why Belgian, Dutch and French youngsters break through all the time while the English ones are deemed "not ready". If you're "not ready" season after season, you'll eventually become a self fulfilling prophesy. Then people will say "they didn't have the drive or the willpower to make it", while all they might have needed was an honest chance. Think about it, if you'd bought Eden as a 16-year old talent, would he be your most important player today? When would he have broken into the first team? At 18? At 20? When would he have gotten regular starting spots? He's as good as he is now because he's been playing important matches for about 7 years.

If the quality of talents is so much higher, then why are they stealing away our talents?

Tell me why they are better? Money? Facilities? If there is no output, they aren't better. Who are the new big stars of English football? Name 10. Name 5 even. Clubs like Anderlecht, Standard and Genk have been pumping out class players for ten years. Clubs like Ajax and PSV have been doing it since the 70s. Let's not even mention what the French academies have produced since the nineties. We have our Hazards to thank them for.

If he goes somewhere, he should go as a starter, not as a prospect for the future. It's not a coincidence Belgian teams are popping out talents at this rate in the last couple of years. It's a good learning school. I'm glad at least he was able to play in the senior squad for two years. Cases like for example Musonda on the other hand always sadden me a bit. Another example is Boyata. A good prospect at the time, who is now an almost 25 year old player wasting his career away.at Man City. He could have learned much more, while regularly playing for a smaller club. Won two titles though. Two titles he had nothing to do with. If the English youth academies were as good as the Belgian or Dutch ones, they would have surely produced more top class players by now. Sadly, a lot of the biggest talents at English top teams are foreign kids that were bought with lots of money and the uncertain promise of a big career that most likely will never come. Many of them are blocked by the big star players until they're in their 20s, never fulfill their potential during those crucial years and then whither away in a lower division. Not good for the players, and actually not good for the future of English football.

Yeah, please don't.

Both keepers should be able to play the entire season due to their talent and class. Benching Cech is an insult to his career and achievements and benching the best young keeper in the world is an insult to football. This is what happens when only ten teams worldwide have all the serious money. As I said before, European football is being impoverished if you take a step away from the two main leagues and the 10 main CL contenders... 20 years ago, Ajax was one of the major forces in World Football. Today they still have just as many fans and a sold-out stadium of 50.000 seats, but they have to buy crap players and every time they actually find a world class talent it's gone in two years. Top football is getting boring, that's why every neutral fan was rooting for Atletico to win the CL last year, at least it was something fresh. Not an insult to any club btw, it's not your fault, but it's the reality. Look at the Madrid Squad. They now have Bale, Khedira, Di Maria, Kroos, Isco, Benzema, Xabi Alonso; Modric and Rodriguez. They can't all play, some will rarely do so, and they would all be the absolute star in other teams. Now they have to play second fiddle to Ronaldo. That actually makes me sad.

As much as I'm a fan of his, that seems quite impossible. Except when Costa gets injured for months or so, which I of course wouldn't wish on him...

That was only Mirallas I think, and he said that it's a great player but that some might say he didn't deserve it yet because he didn't fought for the qualification. Januzaj should always be with the team in my eyes, and needs to earn a starting spot as soon as possible. If that happens, they can't constantly put two or three guys on Hazard, which would help him a lot.

I seriously don't think the problem is motivation.

That's an absolutely ludicrous statement. "He could have played better but he just didn't feel like it" Seriously?

The first guy teammates should be looking for is the one that's open. No one player team has ever won the World Cup except for Argentina 86... This forum is acting like the rest of our players are worthless.