As a person I guess?
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Bit lightweight for a guy his size, but one of a few that fell victim to us being a clusterfuck at the time IMO.
I am loathe to critisise any Spurs player past or present and i feel he tried his best with us. Always like to see an old Spur do well. Gomes tonight for instance, lovely humble bloke. I used to go mad at this bloke in the shelf constantly slagging him off. Yes he made mistakes but also saved us a few times.
AVB was the death-knell to CMs, tbf.
Parker,
Dembele
Capoue
Paulinho
Sandro (Injury's granted)
Carrol
Did anyone of 'em play well or consistently under him?
Most of them weren't good enough, Capoue could be at best a squad player for a team like Spurs, I think a midtable side like Watford fits him perfectly, no shame in that.
Capoue was also here when Poch arrived and regularly played in central midfield alongside Mason or Dembele until Poch kicked him, Kaboul, Lennon and Adebayor to the curb for being a disruption.
Dembele and Sandro both played consistently under him though, especially in his first season. One of our best ever Premier League midfield partnerships.
Let's revisit the list shall we?
Parker - Spurs POTY 2012 played as a box 2 box instead of a deep enforcer type. 2011 EPL POTY candidate.
Dembele - Since revered like a god by a large % of Spurs fans
Capoue - (See current discussion)
Paulinho - Soft cunt. Lazy
Sandro (Injury's granted) - His best was damn good tho'
Carrol - Looked a tidy little player to begin with... Never pushed on.
No shame in being a squad player here either... Surely that equates to "good enough" to be here?
It means that he isn't good enough for a top-four contender, let alone a title contender, in this league, just like Danny Drinkwater isn't good enough for Chelsea.. Even at Everton they would probably be on the bench.
Noted... Some of the boys had turned cunt by then.... AVB/Timmy double whammy.... Or are we suggesting Lennon was always a bad egg too...? Hate the way it ended here for him.... An early hero of the BMJ revolution.
In-spite of him perhaps?
The combo clicked and granted I have very fond memories of Dembele/Sandro in certain games, but i'd be curious to see how often they actually played together and how regularly... Failed to get a tune out of any other combo. Parker/Dembele should have been awesome but he played them the wrong way round.
AVB seemed to have a fetish for big slow CMs dictating our quick transition into stodgy, boring game-play (where we relied on Bale to provide the worldies to get us out of 0-0 purgatory)... You'd think CMs would thrive in such an environment.
Drinkwater PL title winner
Danny Simpson as well, nowhere near good enough for a team like Spurs or Chelsea.Drinkwater PL title winner
Whether you frame us as a top 3 club now of a top 4 contender back then, to call him capable of being "a squad player for a team like Spurs" and then say he isn't good enough to be here is a direct contradiction in terms.
I think we need to park the pre-conceptions about longer term levels of the clubs involved and assess on face value or the scenarios in question a bit more here....
Drinkwater plays for a Europa League team, having signed off the back of a league winning season. I don't rate him particularly, but is he any worse than say Mikel or this season's Kovacic?
Yet Capoue's a starter for a Watford team that has outperformed Everton for at least the last 2/3 years... A spell when Everton have had Schneiderlin, Gueye & Barkley (All of whom were ironically wanted by SPurs fans at one point of another).
Is Delph a mid-table at best kinda player too? I'd have said so on pure ability, but he seems to have a nice little thing going at 'the bestest EPL team evaaaaar (tm)'.
I'm saying that he isn't good enough to start for us or any other top six club for that matter and that he would at best be a squad player, but even that is debatable.. Regular starters for Everton in midfield this season like Gueye and Andre Gomes are twice the player he is imo and I think it is perfectly fair to assume that he wouldn't be a regular starter for them.
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Was Danny Simpson ever on the radar of Spurs/Chelsea?
Seeing as you mentioned him though... Surely that's further testament to their being varying degrees of quality in any squad.. Furthermore that you can be successful in such a scenario....?
TBH, I think this notion that a clubs playing staff should all be at the level of their best player is thoroughly unrealistic unless you are City/PSG.
See also Spurs... The calls by some to sell the likes of Davies, Dier or whoever cos they're not elite, despite them functioning well within the squad.
Gibson, Evans and the like under Fergie.
Proverbial squad players can be extremely important to a club.
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That's not relevant in this context, the point is that being a PL title winner doesn't necessarily mean that you are good enough for us or the chavs.. Drinkwater and Simpson are just two examples.
Nah, sorry dude.... That's a bit too revised for me not to call you out accordingly.
You originally baulked at the idea the there was anything to like about him during his time with us..
Then you framed him as merely squad quality as if that is a bad thing.
No one's calling for him to return here, but lets have a little consistency?
Why are Everton so shite in the middle of the park then?
Not really, I've said a couple of times that he would at best be a squad player for a team like Spurs and that a midtable side fits him perfectly, he is just a decent and at the same time very limited midfielder.
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Indeed....And I address that in the comments you chose not to quote.
Just to clarify, I'm challenging your appropriation of the concept of "squad player" and "good enough" here... I've not got a hard-on for Ettiene Capoue, nor am I trying to convince you that Simpson or Drinkwater are desirable players to me.
If Dier and Sissoko are good enough to start for us, Capoue definitely is.
Capoue is a very good footballer, it's pretty much Watford's midfield pair that are the hub of what's driving them to a very decent level, because it sure is shit isn't Deany and Grey.
I'm pretty sure it wasn't his ability that got him moved on, he got on the wrong side of the dressing room IMO. Personally I'd have loved to see him stick around and Poch work on him, because I think he could have been an outstanding midfielder, because he's got a real range of abilities. Tall, strong, tenacious in the tackle, excellent technique, short and long range passing with both fee and could move forwards with the ball too.