Darron Gibson - is he good enough for Everton?

7even said:
I saw something else. Both him and Carrick was slow on the ball and because of that we had problem of keeping midfield possession.

Gibson wasn't bad but not good enough. He must take his chances.
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We fecking dominated them. Not sure you need stats to show that, and there's always conflicting possession stats, but we had 67% possession according to ESPN.

Gibson attempted 79 passes today, probably the most he's ever had in a game. Far more involved in general midfield play.

Saying that I thought West Ham just made it very easy for us.
 
I don't think he was bad but I think we have better talent coming through and what Gibson needs to do, is get back to scoring goals because that's not happened enough this season. A big chance for him today, he should be scoring those.
 
It was a bit of a duck shoot for him today. WH were shite in midfield so he had the run of it. He was okay. He grew into the game a bit.
 
I wouldn't call Hitzelsperger an out and out left winger, he was drifting in a lot. So yes midfield three.
 
It wasn't a good performance from Gibson today by any means. Solid tops. Much easier game for him and Carrick second half as West Ham had to deal with the Hernandez threat, creating a bit more room in the centre of the park

I have no idea what Pogue has watched there today
 
Brwned said:
We fecking dominated them. Not sure you need stats to show that, and there's always conflicting possession stats, but we had 67% possession according to ESPN.

Gibson attempted 79 passes today, probably the most he's ever had in a game. Far more involved in general midfield play.

Saying that I thought West Ham just made it very easy for us.
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Nothing wrong with the stats. 1-0 Stoke - Chavs Yeahhh. As I sad not a bad game from Gibson but he's to slow on the ball.
 
There was one pass which gave me hope in the first half, a 30-40 crossfield pass to Valencia. If he grows some balls he will be a good player.
 
FortBoyard said:
I wouldn't call Hitzelsperger an out and out left winger, he was drifting in a lot. So yes midfield three.
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So we can't say that United use a 4-4-2 when Giggs is on the left and drifting centrally frequently. Same with Nani when he does it on either flank.

West Ham deployed two central strikers. So was their "natural winger" stuck on one flank or playing further up? Because the initial lineup on ESPN showed a 4-4-2.
 
MrMarcello said:
So we can't say that United use a 4-4-2 when Giggs is on the left and drifting centrally frequently. Same with Nani when he does it on either flank.

West Ham deployed two central strikers. So was their "natural winger" stuck on one flank or playing further up? Because the initial lineup on ESPN showed a 4-4-2.
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The "midfield three" I was referring to were Parker, Hitzelberger and Noble. West Ham have looked a different side since Grant started playing them together.

They played a 442 today but those three have been in great form for them these last few weeks, usually with all three of them in central midfield (although not today, obviously)
 
cj4_elmo said:
Thing is, the way we play nowadays means that our central midfielders, bar Scholes, will rarely shine. Their main task is to win the ball and keep possession while allowing the strikers and wingers to do the magic.
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That's only because the don't offer much else.
 
He chases the ball like a dog chases a bone and has a complete lack of positional awareness.

Shocking in the first half, better when Hernandez came on and stretched them meaning he had more room to opperate. I've waited a while before critisising him too heavily but he really isn't good enough to be starting these away games for us...not yet anyway.
 
EricaNo7 said:
Exactly . We need a strong midfield, not an average one . However this has been obvious for some time now.
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If that was an average midfield i don't know what the hell West Hams was, Carrick & Gibson's stats, passing etc today was twice the West Hams midfields stats, they both put in a decent shift in a tough away match imo, they kept plodding along the whole way through out the game & did feck all wrong, i particularly thought Gibson's work off the ball / positioning was a big improvement on the last time he lined out for us & the Rep. of Ireland, his passing was quite impressive too, with 67 successful passes from a total of 79 compared to Scott Parkers an England International with a total of 25 successful passes from a mere 38.
 
The Black Pearl said:
If that was an average midfield i don't know what the hell West Hams was, Carrick & Gibson's stats, passing etc today was twice the West Hams midfields stats, they both put in a decent shift in a tough away match imo, they kept plodding along the whole way through out the game & did feck all wrong, i particularly thought Gibson's work off the ball / positioning was a big improvement on the last time he lined out for us & the Rep. of Ireland, his passing was quite impressive too, with 67 successful passes from a total of 79 compared to Scott Parkers an England International with a total of 25 successful passes from a mere 38.
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I don't care about west hams midfield though. I just think we need better
 
cj4_elmo said:
Thing is, the way we play nowadays means that our central midfielders, bar Scholes, will rarely shine. Their main task is to win the ball and keep possession while allowing the strikers and wingers to do the magic.
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That may well be the case, but the problem being none of those 2 could be accused of being specific DM's, which is why they are not really that effective in those roles. If Carrick plays then someone with more pace and mobility such as Anderson or Fletcher must play alongside him. Or someone with more creativity such as Scholes or Giggs.

Gibson's strengths certainly do not lie in defending, he is simply not mobile enough to defend as well as regularly offer attacking support. So when played like he was today, he prefers to stay deeper and keep his discipline, than to be caught out of position and expose the defence.

One last point, you say bar Scholes the others will rarely shine. Wouldn't that claim indicate you don't really feel the others are really good enough to shine regularly? See I think this is the real problem. We need technically better players who would still be able do a defensive job, but offer significantly more going forward.
 
The Black Pearl said:
If that was an average midfield i don't know what the hell West Hams was, Carrick & Gibson's stats, passing etc today was twice the West Hams midfields stats, they both put in a decent shift in a tough away match imo, they kept plodding along the whole way through out the game & did feck all wrong, i particularly thought Gibson's work off the ball / positioning was a big improvement on the last time he lined out for us & the Rep. of Ireland, his passing was quite impressive too, with 67 successful passes from a total of 79 compared to Scott Parkers an England International with a total of 25 successful passes from a mere 38.
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No one is knocking what they did, well i'm not anyway. But what i would say it really they are getting knocked more for what they didn't or cannot do. As you rightly say they didn't do a lot wrong but what they did offer was limited in terms of variation.

We know what we are going to get from Carrick. Neat, tidy and unadventurous but does the job. Gibson is not the best foil for Carrick imo, as all it really does is highlight Gibson's lack of pace and mobility. We can't have 2 slow, safe passers who can't tackle in the centre at the same time. It does not play to their strengths and shows more what they are unable to do within those roles rather than enabling them to do what they are actually good at.
 
x2_554eb1b
 
Flying Fox said:
I still think it is. How could a poser get their hands on a pic of Tony with some of the Ecuadorian lads before their game in the Netherlands in the break just gone and what appears to be a pic of his daughter? :confused:
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Pictures of the team ain't difficult to get and that could be any girl, how would we know the difference?
 
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