Everton game shows Levy is right over N'Koudou

TRANSFER TALK



The performance of Kane and the European Championship players rather backs up the point I was making about Georges-Kevin N'Koudou being unfit and in effect faulty goods. A comment asked on an article about this point asked whether Harry Kane was faulty goods having had only 2 weeks training.

Well, the performance of Kane and the Euros boys against Everton answered that question. Until they are properly match fit then yes they are in effect faulty goods. They are not operating to their maximum, they are being eased into match fitness with playing time. You'll remember after the European Under-21 Championships last summer Kane was off colour at the start of last season.

N'Koudou, using Kane as a guideline, would need at least 3 weeks to get fit fir the season if he were signed now. He isn't, therefore, worth his maximum price of £11.11-million and we are doing the right thing offering half that amount, whether Mitchell like it or not.

Eric Dier came off for that reason, not because he was worse than Wanyama, he wasn't, he was performing to the standard we need, but he could only do it for an hour, not 90 minutes.

Hugo Lloris pulled a hamstring. That could have happened at any time but muscle injuries occur more frequently when a player is fatigued, that's why we manage game time. We have a medical team who assess when a player is likely to have an injury and we give them a rest until they come out of the danger one, then they get put back in the firing line.

Every player is different. On one we need to get players up to speed and on the other hand we need people like Vincent Janssen playing to give us the energy and sharpness others are missing. It is a balancing act and during it, you hope to win games, we drew.