c1982

Better than Anthony Gardner though! Quality wise, it's a no brainer BUT will he ever be fit?

http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/everton-launch-thomas-vermaelen-transfer-13552256.amp

If we want a left footed player who can play in defence and midfield then surely Grzegorz Krychowiak would be perfect?! Off to West Brom on-loan.

Just wait for the Janssen swap for Barkley rumours to start...

i miss dave

With all this going on, it makes it even more remarkable that Koeman led Southampton to their record number of points in a Premier League season.

Atletico would own his contract but couldn't register him to play so could still loan him out to be registered elsewhere. That's my interpretation of it without reading up on official rules so could be wrong.

Roma are signing Schick from Sampdoria... does this point towards Dzeko to us? He would be ideal.

Because Bailey is not a fan of Koeman.

Last word on Costa... if Atletico are loaning him to us (presuming a deal with Chelsea will be done first), then I don't see us paying much, if anything, as we'd almost be doing them a favour.

Schneiderlin stayed an extra year when Koeman wouldn't sell and continued to do well. He was then very happy to rejoin him here at EFC.

They had a scuffle in training... probably happens multiple times a season - this one just made its way into the press.

Ajax is even earlier than his time at Valencia! It could be argued that Koeman had a big influence on Zlatan's career as that's when he came to the forefront worldwide; under Koeman at Ajax. If we get Costa he'll play every game for the simple fact that he's better than what we currently have. The Mirallas situation is something we all know little about so people can draw their own conclusions but it'd be speculative. It wouldn't be the first time Mirallas has caused unrest either. Is Mirallas a player who can take us to the next level? I don't think so. Is Costa, albeit on a temporary basis? I don't think many teams will enjoy playing against us between now and January with him. A relationship Koeman has with Mirallas or previous relationships 10+ years ago will have no bearings on a potential relationship Koeman and Costa may have.

Think this one needs its own thread now. https://amp.theguardian.com/football/2017/aug/28/everton-deal-hajduk-split-winger-nicola-vlasic

Good way to scout seeing players first hand as opponents/ pre-game. Similar to when we had our eyes on Arshavin and Yarmolenko... looks like we'll actually get this one done though.

10 years ago during a period, which I'm sure Koeman will admit, that didn't work out at all. Valencia were notorious for getting through managers up to even now - though recent records suggest they may be on an upward turn. Costa is a massive character but he has the quality to go with it. He's better than any striker we have or could hope to get so a no brainer in my opinion.

Mirallas is an average player who's been dropped for 2 games (it may be longer term but neither of us know yet) but please do share these other examples.

This 100% I was in the camp of all season or not at all but actually just having him as an option - especially over a busy Christmas period - I'm all for this.

Koeman can't handle Mirallas?! Brilliant! It's okay not to rate Koeman but this is clutching at straws!

I'm a huge fan of Barry but the same could be said about if you can't see what a top player and how important Schneiderlin is to us.

Sounds like we were very poor and very negative. Unfortunately, we're missing some really key players who would allow us to be more adventurous - injuries, suspension and the 1-3 players we still need. It just shows that our squad isn't strong enough yet - even after adding all the players we have. Fact is that those above us - 'the big 6' - have been adding quality for years; spending sometimes 10x what we have. A few windows of big spending isn't going to fix that, especially when they're all adding quality too. Sack Koeman? Then what?

Realistically, Arsenal, Spurs and Liverpool are our main targets this season... Arsenal have 3 points, Spurs 4 and Liverpool 7 - only Liverpool have looked impressive (and I include us in that) and we've had by far the hardest fixtures. People need to chill the fuck out!!!

I don't think we were looking to get on the front foot - it was controlled possession to get the job done.

Teams will sit deeper creating more space. Did you not see the period of controlled possession in the last 15 vs Split? Okay, not the strongest opponent but they were still chasing the game. We've got players who can stay solid, we've got players who can keep possession of the ball comfortably; we need that focal point in attack to bring that part together.