That bench lol
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That bench lol
kenada_blue
Welcome to Barcelonaton FC
They finished 2nd the previous season he took charge. So it's not like he took over a team full of cloggers.
I distinctly recall the moans when Moyes and Martinez stuck to a 451 and consistent way of playing. Usually when results didn't go or we were not particularly fluid.
I'm quite comfortable with a manager being flexible, particularly in response to injuries or trying to tactically out manouever the oposition. Indeed Ancelotti was critiqued in his early days at Parma for sticking to 442.
It has been a mixed bag this season though. Sometimes it has worked, others it has not.
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Spadge Vernacular
Player Valuation: £70m
If we are being fair then we have to factor in that he fed then a diet of purple skittles from day one.
Spadge Vernacular
Player Valuation: £70m
Correct, but it seems some on here don't want a progressive manager.
Death
I'll take down dat coal powered MG, I tel u Hwat
And if pep chose napoli and Everton the last two clubs he too wouldn't have a trophy since 2018 like carlo. Which not that long ago but his detractors seem to think not winning a pot since 2018 makes youna dinosaur.
Titus Bramble
Best centre half to grace the Premier League
It’s a shame our season feels like it’s petering out after so much promise at the start of the season.
I think we’ve done well to cling on for this long to 'still be in with a shout' of top 4, but that’s gone now.
Looking at the wider context, we have improved on the last few years of dross... at least this season we’ve won while being dross at times.
Looking back at our results, we haven’t drawn enough games - 14 wins from 30 games is pretty decent for where we are - but Fulham, Newcastle, Leeds and West Ham at home... get draws out of them at the table looks very different.
The state of our squad despite the injuries just really shows how much money we’ve wasted over the last few transfer windows, another window or 2 is needed to really get this sorted.
I think we’ve done well to cling on for this long to 'still be in with a shout' of top 4, but that’s gone now.
Looking at the wider context, we have improved on the last few years of dross... at least this season we’ve won while being dross at times.
Looking back at our results, we haven’t drawn enough games - 14 wins from 30 games is pretty decent for where we are - but Fulham, Newcastle, Leeds and West Ham at home... get draws out of them at the table looks very different.
The state of our squad despite the injuries just really shows how much money we’ve wasted over the last few transfer windows, another window or 2 is needed to really get this sorted.
The Carlo signing was a coup without a shadow of a doubt. A major plus for it was the supposed draw he'd be for true top notch players to join our ranks. James without doubt does just about match up that promise. I think the summer window is crucial to see if we nick a Cavani or 2 and truly make this experiment happen. However if Carlo's task becomes to build a squad from scratch on a budget and see us push for honours I'm truly worried if he's capable in that roll. I love seeing his name as manager but just truly hope it's not heading for tears. How we'd come back from that frightens me.......he simply must succeed.
ForeverBlue92
Player Valuation: £80m
Yeah I dont like stubborn managers who'll blindly stick to a system even if it doesnt work - but Carlo had a winning style earlier in the season and literally thrown it out the window when Saints beat us 2-0 when Richarlison was suspended for those 3 games. For me since then we never returned to that style of play which is bonkers - just put Gordon or Nkounkou in Richarlisons position for those 3 games rather than changing it up and going with mad formations like 343 at home to Leeds Utd or playing Gomes out wide away at Newcastle.
We can talk about injuries but make no mistake Carlo has played a big part in undoing all the good work he did at the start of the season with these odd decisions.
Even the back 4 which hasn't been that badly hit injury wise he played 8-10 consecutive games iirc with a different back 4 - how can the players build/form understandings/partnerships if Godfrey is at RB one week, CB the next, LB the week after etc.
I think the point was more that he achieved something tangible straight away on the road to building his side, whereas people are making out that he basically had 3 seasons of nothingness before a top team just popped up out of nowhere.
They finished 7th or 8th in 14-15, he took over in 15-16
Suarez dragged a mid table team to challenge for the title quite literally on his own.
Stephenlloyd
Player Valuation: £40m
The point is you’re going back 6 yrs. and it was a squad that 17months before threw away the league. Bar Suarez, Sterling and gerrard had retired, but they had also signed Firmino, benteke, who obviously were injured and Sturridge, Henderson were still there.
Even in 6 yrs a lot has changed , the teams challenging the top 6 all spending money, Fulham come up spend 100mil go straight back down, villa spent even more and got very lucky.
Newcastle’s attacking options cost 40mil more than ours. Brighton who potter is doing a great job keeping them in the league, playing good football. Have a debt on spending around 200mil over the last 5yrs, but survival is success according to the media.
Saint Domingo
Player Valuation: £90m
If agree that the structural problems at the club may limit Ancelotti. I just don’t think that in a sea of problems you get rid of the one man who might actually be able to help us find solutions. His recruitment last summer was the first time the squad has actually improved in ages. Why would we get rid of a manager who can get in good players and improve the ones we have.
Ultimately Brands is responsible for everything else. I don’t agree with views about this buys as Brands or this buy was a manager’s, I think Brands facilitates getting the targets that any manager wants as seen by the very different profile of targets Silva had (Richarlison Kean Gbamin) to those of Ancelotti (Allan James). I think in the main he’s done well at closing targets the manager has asked for (Rojo aside) and getting them for good value within our FFP constraints.
Where I think he’s done less well so far are all the other aspects. Contract management is still a shambles with us agreeing extensions with Keane and likely Siggurdson. If the manager has asked for them then fine but a strong DOF really should have said no. Player fitness, injury prevention, conditioning, recovery, is an absolute disgrace. The academy seems to have dried up also, we’ve had nothing of any value since Barkley in 2012 that’s almost 10 years ago. Granted it might take time for Brand’s work to come through on this and maybe the likes of Small is the start of some better players but the output is once again not good enough. Scouting at that level in general seems to have stopped. DCL Holgate Stones have been some of the only recruitment successes recently but apart from Branthwaite we seem to have stopped looking at this level.
Brands and Ancelotti between them have a lot to sort out, the forum seems to be split on whether they deserve time to do so or whether they’re the wrong people. If it’s the latter though it begs the question who is the right person because none of these problems are easy to solve and have blighted us for years.
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