2023/24 Abdoulaye Doucoure

[Gilbert..]

Our only player to have an over 80% pass rate on Sat.

Someone else who I haven’t rated particularly highly, certainly his technical ability, but his industry and energy is such an important factor. And he does that incredible knack of popping up in the right place.

I was looking at those stats yesterday for both teams. It was staggering comparing the difference between the two sides as a whole and even individual players. Evertons entire midfield had 70 passes between them. Pascal gross had 117 on his own.

Unreal stats.

 

[Neiler]

I was looking at those stats yesterday for both teams. It was staggering comparing the difference between the two sides as a whole and even individual players. Evertons entire midfield had 70 passes between them. Pascal gross had 117 on his own.

Unreal stats.

At the same time we had Gylfi Sigurdsson here and would often top out these stats and still got massively massively criticised.

Id say if you looked at someone like Tom Cleverley while he was here it would be similar.

I'm a firm believer in people not knowing what they want.

 

[Walken]

But apparently we are playing 442 LOL

Premier League running, sprinting, pressing and speed: Anthony Gordon, Heung-Min Son and Dominik Szoboszlai among table-topping workers

Anthony Gordon, Heung-Min Son, Dejan Kulusevski, Bryan Mbeumo, Dominik Szoboszlai, Bruno Fernandes and Abdoulaye Doucoure identified as top workhorses in Premier League; which teams and players rank top for sprinting, pressing, pace and distance covered?

www.skysports.com

 

[Bedfordblue]

But apparently we are playing 442 LOL

Premier League running, sprinting, pressing and speed: Anthony Gordon, Heung-Min Son and Dominik Szoboszlai among table-topping workers

Anthony Gordon, Heung-Min Son, Dejan Kulusevski, Bryan Mbeumo, Dominik Szoboszlai, Bruno Fernandes and Abdoulaye Doucoure identified as top workhorses in Premier League; which teams and players rank top for sprinting, pressing, pace and distance covered?

www.skysports.com

Interesting Onana is identified as our quickest sprinter, several of the squad have said it’s Branthwaite from the recent media stuff.
Also Beto looks quick when he gets going.

 

[Walken]

Interesting Onana is identified as our quickest sprinter, several of the squad have said it’s Branthwaite from the recent media stuff.
Also Beto looks quick when he gets going.

Onana's top speed looks to be up there once he gets away, Brainthwaite has a similar build and I don't recall him failing to recover anything over the top or down the side.

Think DCL wouldn't be too far off

 

[Gilbert..]

At the same time we had Gylfi Sigurdsson here and would often top out these stats and still got massively massively criticised.

Id say if you looked at someone like Tom Cleverley while he was here it would be similar.

I'm a firm believer in people not knowing what they want.

Could you just not read the post and found an interest in the numbers, like i did, than making it into a "what people want"
But seeing as you've gone down that road. You wont find many teams with so little possession long term going places. But we are a long way from going places. We're a fighting for survival side.
Stick your gun back in your holster.

 

[Neiler]

Could you just not read the post and found an interest in the numbers, like i did, than making it into a "what people want"
But seeing as you've gone down that road. You wont find many teams with so little possession long term going places. But we are a long way from going places. We're a fighting for survival side.
Stick your gun back in your holster.

Lets keep her country here mate!

Overall i disagree also with your assertion - you assume a teams that play possession game are successful - they arent there are many different ways to be successful in football, not so Leicester won a PL title without the ball and our lovely neighbours under Klopp, have won loads playing pretty much counter attack football. They couldn't get a sniff last week when they were forced into holding possession VS Luton - very similar to us now that i think about it.

Elsewise i believe more in control of the game, Bourmouth for example had more possession at Goodison but we were in absolute control of that game, we had possession to burn VS Luton but never had control of the game.

I dont know were this assumption comes from that possession means you've obviously done well in a game or a virtue in football that must be found - its an absolute myth.

 

[Gilbert..]

Lets keep her country here mate!

Overall i disagree also with your assertion - you assume teams possession alone are successful, Leicester won a PL title without the ball and our lovely neighbours under Klopp, have won loads playing pretty much counter attack football. They couldn't get a sniff last week when they were forced into holding possession VS Luton - very similar to us now that i think about it.

Elsewise i believe more in control of the game, Bourmouth for example had more possession at Goodison but we were in absolute control of that game, we had possession to burn VS Luton but never had control of the game.

I dont know were this assumption comes from that possession means you've obviously done well in a game - its an absolute myth.

Leicester are going to be the example of everything for the next 100 years. A 5000-1 freak

 

[hippopotamus]

But apparently we are playing 442 LOL

Premier League running, sprinting, pressing and speed: Anthony Gordon, Heung-Min Son and Dominik Szoboszlai among table-topping workers

Anthony Gordon, Heung-Min Son, Dejan Kulusevski, Bryan Mbeumo, Dominik Szoboszlai, Bruno Fernandes and Abdoulaye Doucoure identified as top workhorses in Premier League; which teams and players rank top for sprinting, pressing, pace and distance covered?

www.skysports.com

Interesting stats, but what does it have to do with the formation we are playing?

 

[Daveysgingerlovechild]

But apparently we are playing 442 LOL

Premier League running, sprinting, pressing and speed: Anthony Gordon, Heung-Min Son and Dominik Szoboszlai among table-topping workers

Anthony Gordon, Heung-Min Son, Dejan Kulusevski, Bryan Mbeumo, Dominik Szoboszlai, Bruno Fernandes and Abdoulaye Doucoure identified as top workhorses in Premier League; which teams and players rank top for sprinting, pressing, pace and distance covered?

www.skysports.com

Interesting stuff. Pressing and Doucoure's importance to it is quite clear.

 

[Neiler]

Leicester are going to be the example of everything for the next 100 years. A 5000-1 freak

Ah there a few, the Kopites are counter based, Inter won a CL without the ball etc, WHU won a Euro trophy last year playing on the counter. Id say counter and press is the dominant philosophy at the mo.

Im trying to remember all the players that were could hold possession were called crabs when they held possession here - quite a few.

It wasn't a barb at you - i genuinely don think people know what they want.

This time last year people were giving about about playing pointless possession football and wanted to be more direct, this year when we are more direct people want more possession

 

[Gilbert..]

Ah there a few, the Kopites are counter based, Inter won a CL without the ball etc, WHU won a Euro trophy last year playing on the counter. Id say counter and press is the dominant philosophy at the mo.

Im trying to remember all the players that were could hold possession were called crabs when they held possession here - quite a few.

It wasn't a barb at you - i genuinely don think people know what they want.

This time last year people were giving about about playing pointless possession football and wanted to be more direct, this year when we are more direct people want more possession

Its the exception rather than the norm over a sustained period that teams with so little of the ball are successful. But i still loved the leicester fairytale. They caught everyone out as nobody took them serious even right up to the last few weeks. The vardy counter worked a treat for that one season.

 

[Walken]

Interesting stats, but what does it have to do with the formation we are playing?

His stats are a midfielders stats

 

[Neiler]

Its the exception rather than the norm over a sustained period that teams with so little of the ball are successful. But i still loved the leicester fairytale. They caught everyone out as nobody took them serious even right up to the last few weeks. The vardy counter worked a treat for that one season.

I think you need a hybrid and a bit of variance in all honesty mate. You need the directness - thats right now for us. But then you need to add the quality and stand on the ball to add more control. Thats the next stage of development for us.

Ill give two examples Big Joe - year two added Samways and Kanchelskis (he also like Tony Grant), Davey added the likes of Arteta, once the foundations were put down.

Think of it as a process rathe r then an event, id like a playmaker next if im being honest.

But just going for a possession game - i think its a myth really - i dont think it means anything to be honest.

 

[Jacko93]

I think you need a hybrid and a bit of variance in all honesty mate. You need the directness - thats right now for us. But then you need to add the quality and stand on the ball to add more control. Thats the next stage of development for us.

Ill give two examples Big Joe - year two added Samways and Kanchelskis (he also like Tony Grant), Davey added the likes of Arteta, once the foundations were put down.

Think of it as a process rathe r then an event, id like a playmaker next if im being honest.

But just going for a possession game - i think its a myth really - i dont think it means anything to be honest.

In My opinion, most of the time, possession stats say very little about the dynamics of a game. Against Brighton, we let them play the ball at the back, cause it was pretty much completely ineffective for them. Teams play the ball at the back to try and work a shape that they can attack with. In almost all cases, the value to this is the work done off the ball, not on it, by both teams. We were more effective than them off the ball, thus controlling the game better. The fact that they had so much possession meant that we weren't giving them the opportunities to play the riskier ball in behind, not that they were better than us.

Against Luton it was flip flopped. We had loads of possession but wasn't given the chance to do anything of note about it due to discipline of the opponents.

AS @Neiler says, our next step is to work on a playmaker of quality, controversial but, that 'could' be Dele. Somebody who ca make the difference with a defence splitting pass, or effort from distance once we get the ball.

I don't care whether we play possession football, or otherwise, I just want effective football. I have seen both styles being played at Goodison over recent years, and both with little effect by Home and Away teams.