2020/21 Allan

[Lanolin]

I’ll be honest, overall I think he’s been a disappointment. He’s clearly a good footballer, but I’m not sure he’s a great fit for what we needed. He doesn’t seem disciplined enough to sit, or athletic enough to be box to box. He’s good, but I’m not sure he’s good enough.

 

[Carlito]

But we don't need him, right now, to have an incredible passing range, because our full-backs aren't getting forward (well, one of them isn't) and we were playing a diamond, meaning there's no width. So all the 'sitter' has to do is get it, and pass it on. Nothing fancy. Just get it, give it, and have multiple options when he gets it.

That's what it's about. And Gomes isn't, because he slows everything down too much, whereas Davies, for his many faults, generally tries to play quickly - which is where our goal comes from.

Unfortunately, Carlo has to look at himself. He's making some bizarre decisions even when taking into account our injury issues.

The key to playing Burnley - and ffs, I know this - is stretching them with pace. Spurs did it last week and were 2-0 up in 15 mins. Yes, they have some world class talent, but we also have quick players up front.

Why not play 4-3-3, and get King, Richarlison and Dom turning their defence early on? Get them on the back foot and keep them pressed in. Have Allan and Gomes (because we have nobody else) pushing up and Davies sitting. Let Allan fight fires and hope Gomes can get on the ball a bit.

It's all about being pragmatic. We're better skipping out the midfield, so just do it, and get the ball into three players up top and look to build from there.

The way it's going, it'll end up being Holgate in there again soon, and, as you say, a case of bypassing midfield.

I don't see anything like what you do in Davies, though.

 

[BlueToff]

The way it's going, it'll end up being Holgate in there again soon, and, as you say, a case of bypassing midfield.

I don't see anything like what you do in Davies, though.

I'm not suggesting he's a long-term answer.

I'm saying that as it stands, he's gonna have to play, cause he's better than the other option (Gomes or Onyango).

So, play him where he fits best, which is pretty much as that six, whose one job from an attacking perspective is to get it and give it off to somebody better on the ball, and from a defensive perspective he just has to disrupt and stay disciplined in the middle of the park. Let Allan go and do the fire fighting because that's what he wants to do, and Davies can just stay in that position so we have that one in there.

 

[Zatara]

Issue is I think he does too.

His positioning is really bad at times.

But, again, a bit of a baffling decision from Carlo to play Davies right side of the three and Allan central.

Allan wants to go and press and hassle, and Davies has done well sitting, so just keep it simple. It's like Carlo's got it in his head that we signed Allan for one job (that isn't really his best role) and will insist on playing him there, when actually, we had the chance not to.

We should have played 4-3-3 or 4-2-3-1 today. But, whatever. Allan wasn't great. Our midfield is crap. It doesn't offer anything going forward and today it got strolled through. It's a worry.

Over to Brands. Again. If he's still here, to sort it out.

It's not even pace, it's that he just goes chasing the ball.

It's mad that we've seen Davies play well in a sitting role recently and yet Carlo's decided to play the two of them in roles that really aren't getting the best out of either of them.

Davies should be in that position today. Play Allan right and if it means Gomes left in a 3, fine, or play 4-2-3-1 if he really wanted to try Iwobi at 10.

But ffs, just never, ever play that diamond again, pls Carlo.

I mean, he played one of the most disciplined midfield roles I've seen any of our midfielders play this season in that Liverpool game.

He's better at sitting than Allan, because Allan doesn't sit. Davies does. But he doesn't - odd moment aside with his cross tonight - offer enough going forward. He is very apt at getting the ball in the middle of the park and playing it off, though. And Allan wants to get about the pitch and hassle. If you're playing a three in midfield, which we were, kind of, then you have that sitter in the middle, and the ones either side have the licence to push, press, hassle and get on the ball and get forward - with the players we currently have available, Davies is better suited to doing the one which requires less athleticism and energy, and is more about keeping things simple, and Allan is the one better off trying to get forward - look at that pass he plays for DCL, or that great run he had through the heart of Burnley's midfield in the first half.

We're wasting him playing him as the deeper one, especially when we've seen Davies do that job relatively well during a difficult period.

Allan was always best as a centre mid in Italy yet Ancelotti played him in the more defensive role in Napoli.

The diamond is ideal for us as we have zero attacking wide players -- im not going to count Bernard or Iwobi as theyre not good enough.

It should be Davies in the base with Doucoure and Allan ahead and James at the tip.

In the summer Ancelotti and Brands need to bring in a RB and spend the rest of the funds on the central area.

Davies + Doucoure + Allan have no competition for places -- again, im not counting Gomes...

 

[jazzy]

Allan looks unfit to me and has bee rushed back because we have no one else of quality to play in midfield.
At his best he is good enough to play in our midfield.
We just need quality around him.

 

[Lanolin]

Allan looks unfit to me and has bee rushed back because we have no one else of quality to play in midfield.
At his best he is good enough to play in our midfield.
We just need quality around him.

He really should be fit though. I mean they initially said he’d be back 2 months ago, and he’s been in full training for a month. If he’s not fit it’s a serious concern I think, regarding his overall fitness level.

 

[dannyboy]

Allan looks unfit to me and has bee rushed back because we have no one else of quality to play in midfield.
At his best he is good enough to play in our midfield.
We just need quality around him.

I'd agree if we hadn't seen other games like this from him earlier in the season. I think he wants to enforce the game like Roy Keane but he's not good enough to do that in this league. Needs to be more disciplined positionally and given a clear role.

 

[BlueToff]

Allan was always best as a centre mid in Italy yet Ancelotti played him in the more defensive role in Napoli.

The diamond is ideal for us as we have zero attacking wide players -- im not going to count Bernard or Iwobi as theyre not good enough.

It should be Davies in the base with Doucoure and Allan ahead and James at the tip.

In the summer Ancelotti and Brands need to bring in a RB and spend the rest of the funds on the central area.

Davies + Doucoure + Allan have no competition for places -- again, im not counting Gomes...

A diamond isn't ideal for us right now because we don't have two of the midfielders to make it work (and the crucial one is Doucoure to give us legs) and we don't have a right-back capable of getting forward.

 

[BlueToff]

He really should be fit though. I mean they initially said he’d be back 2 months ago, and he’s been in full training for a month. If he’s not fit it’s a serious concern I think, regarding his overall fitness level.

It's not a fitness problem. S'ton he looked leggy but that's match fitness. West Brom he was superb and I don't think he looked knackered v Chelsea. But playing 90 mins in a PL game when we're chasing the ball most of the time is gonna drain anyone, especially if they haven't played in a long time.

Yesterday wasn't about fitness. It's about his tendency to dive in and hunt and chase the ball. But that just means that without Doucoure to gives us extra protection we're absolutely not going to get the best out of him playing him central in a three.

Burnley did what all teams who have had success against us do - they pressed us. Allan goes hunting and chasing things and frankly, he's not very disciplined. I think he can be, in certain scenarios, but he's also having to make up for Gomes who offers nothing and Davies wasn't having his best game either. Not an excuse for Allan, cause he was bad, but I just wish we'd play him in a role that suits what he can offer us.

We've got nobody in midfield who has shown in any sense this season that they can run with the ball apart from Allan. He showed it in glimpses last night. That's not what you want your sitter doing, but it is what we need somebody in our midfield to do, so scrap the diamond, it's crap, and get Davies and Allan in there as a two or, if needs be, 4-3-3 with Davies central and Allan in one of the flanking positions.

In the meantime, it's just disgraceful that the coaching team have not worked on getting us better in attack. We can't be so reliant on one player who the club have rested for a month in order to protect from further injury.

 

[ToffeeTim]

He lacks discipline and thats the problem. The second goal yesterday was just rash play.

 

[Zatara]

A diamond isn't ideal for us right now because we don't have two of the midfielders to make it work (and the crucial one is Doucoure to give us legs) and we don't have a right-back capable of getting forward.

True, but it could be an ideal platform to build on in summer.

 

[BlueToff]

True, but it could be an ideal platform to build on in summer.

I just don't like it as a system, Zat.

It's not been used successfully in the Premier League.

I think for the odd game, with the right personnel, it can work, and that's fine. I'm not tied to one formation and neither is Carlo. Formations are much less important than having an attacking system/structure and a defensive system/structure which allows you to create chances and also stop giving away so many chances whether you're playing 4-3-3 or a diamond or 3-4-3 or whatever.

The only PL team that I can think of off the top of my head in recent seasons that has used a diamond to any tangible success in a consistent run was Spurs, and they played it for about 10 games a few seasons back when Poch got them to the CL final. They actually stopped playing it when Eriksen's form started to dip, IIRC.

United have played it on and off this season, either in Europe or the PL, but it's not a system which can be relied on. It really isn't.

 

[Toffeelover]

It's not a fitness problem. S'ton he looked leggy but that's match fitness. West Brom he was superb and I don't think he looked knackered v Chelsea. But playing 90 mins in a PL game when we're chasing the ball most of the time is gonna drain anyone, especially if they haven't played in a long time.

Yesterday wasn't about fitness. It's about his tendency to dive in and hunt and chase the ball. But that just means that without Doucoure to gives us extra protection we're absolutely not going to get the best out of him playing him central in a three.

Burnley did what all teams who have had success against us do - they pressed us. Allan goes hunting and chasing things and frankly, he's not very disciplined. I think he can be, in certain scenarios, but he's also having to make up for Gomes who offers nothing and Davies wasn't having his best game either. Not an excuse for Allan, cause he was bad, but I just wish we'd play him in a role that suits what he can offer us.

We've got nobody in midfield who has shown in any sense this season that they can run with the ball apart from Allan. He showed it in glimpses last night. That's not what you want your sitter doing, but it is what we need somebody in our midfield to do, so scrap the diamond, it's crap, and get Davies and Allan in there as a two or, if needs be, 4-3-3 with Davies central and Allan in one of the flanking positions.

In the meantime, it's just disgraceful that the coaching team have not worked on getting us better in attack. We can't be so reliant on one player who the club have rested for a month in order to protect from further injury.

If what you say is it then it has to be down to Carlo not getting our play right and the team being picked.

 

[BlueToff]

If what you say is it then it has to be down to Carlo not getting our play right and the team being picked.

well our composure on the ball is dreadful. Carlo can't kick it for them, or stop Davies falling over, unfortunately.

It's a melting pot. We need better players, but to get those, we need to finish higher. To finish higher, we need to score more, but we don't create enough, because our players are crap. Etc etc.

 

[Toffeelover]

well our composure on the ball is dreadful. Carlo can't kick it for them, or stop Davies falling over, unfortunately.

It's a melting pot. We need better players, but to get those, we need to finish higher. To finish higher, we need to score more, but we don't create enough, because our players are crap. Etc etc.

That reminds me off a film from long ago "Catch 22".