2020/21 Carlo Ancelotti

[MikeH72]

Yes, buy better players.

So NO then

 

[Lanolin]

8th is. And then i look at the squad. And i just posted in another thread. Five of our midfielders(regular starters) have scored 3 goals between the lot of them.
The squad needs major work. Major..

Yeah no arguments there, it definitely does. Like I say though, I'm not sure it's so bad that it's not capable of looking a bit better than it often does. I'd say Ancelotti is doing fine, OK, reasonably well, however you want to put it. If I thought he was getting the absolute most out of what's at his disposal I'd grade it higher than that.

 

[Gilbert..]

He’s not wrong though is he? Can you see a game plan when we go onto the pitch, do you know what our players are trying to achieve? Can you see any patterns/training ground routines being carried out? To me it just looks like we throw a load of players out there and wing it.

They're trying to achieve being good. Only they're not. Thats why id flog half of them.

 

[Goat]

So NO then

But hes not winging it, there is a pattern to our play.

He is being let down by underperforming players, players that have been underperforming for years in some cases.

Theres a reason we have finished between 8th and 12th recently, under 6 different managers.

 

[MikeH72]

They're trying to achieve being good. Only they're not. Thats why id flog half of them.

But are they? You can’t just walk onto the pitch and “be good”, not as a team anyway. There’s got to be some sort of method and cohesion there. We are not a team whatsoever, we have a lot of poor players obviously but there’s just no semblance of a functioning unit there whatsoever. I have absolutely no idea what we do in training apart from practice heading corners away, whatever we do is not translating on the pitch.

 

[MikeH72]

But hes not winging it, there is a pattern to our play.

He is being let down by underperforming players, players that have been underperforming for years in some cases.

Theres a reason we have finished between 8th and 12th recently, under 6 different managers.

Is there? I haven’t seen one all season. Unless sitting deep and hoping to get set pieces is our style.

 

[mrb85]

I'm not sure we are Tim.

If we were doing that, then maybe we'd also have seen it more at home?

I don't honestly seeing us have laid the foundations to become anything as of late.

On the gameplan, I agree with you, in these away games the tactics have often been spot on. I don't think they were bad today, tbf.

But at home, the gameplans have been abysmal. Like, non-existent. That's ultimately what's cost us.

Carlo's not for turning -- I'll be very surprised if he changes his gameplan much for the visit of the dangerous Sheffield Utd. Thing is, if he does change tack, we go on the front foot and we win well he'll be in for criticism for leaving that approach too late in the season for games at GP.

 

[Gilbert..]

But are they? You can’t just walk onto the pitch and “be good”, not as a team anyway. There’s got to be some sort of method and cohesion there. We are not a team whatsoever, we have a lot of poor players obviously but there’s just no semblance of a functioning unit there whatsoever.

Nah. I gave up on a lot of them way before ancelotti rolled up.
I want half of them gone.

 

[MikeH72]

Nah. I gave up on a lot of them way before ancelotti rolled up.
I want half of them gone.

So do I, I just wish I could see at this point what we were actually aiming to be.

 

[Goat]

Is there? I haven’t seen one all season. Unless sitting deep and hoping to get set pieces is our style.

Hes doing what he can to get results.

I mean you literally abuse Iceberg on a weekly basis, the Richarlison thread is popping off with people saying how rubbish he is and yet at the same time people think Carlo should have us playing free flowing footy with jokers like Iwobi pondering his next tweet on the pitch.

 

[mrb85]

He shouldn't be getting blamed for anything, ffs,

He should be getting credit for improving us.

I hate to break it to people, but never mind this season, it's gonna be a struggle to finish top 4 next season. There's absolutely no chance we'll be finishing above City, United or Chelsea, so if we do challenge for top 4, we'll be scrapping for 4th with the RS, Leicester and possibly Spurs and Arsenal.

Really? Thanks for that astute insight.

 

[MikeH72]

Hes doing what he can to get results.

I mean you literally abuse Iceberg on a weekly basis, the Richarlison thread is popping off with people saying how rubbish he is and yet at the same time people think Carlo should have us playing free flowing footy with jokers like Iwobi pondering his next tweet on the pitch.

I don’t want or expect us to be playing free flowing football, I just want us to look like we’re capable of scoring more than once in a game.

 

[Goat]

I don’t want or expect us to be playing free flowing football, I just want us to look like we’re capable of scoring more than once in a game.

And we are then back to the "we need better players".

 

[gonetomorrow]

He's done well. He hasn't made a silk purse but some of our play involving James, Godfrey and Allan has been bordering on what's required for top four.

We need better players in all areas.

 

[Egil Olsen]

That's the crux of the whole thing for me. I don't think he's underachieving, but I'd be hard pressed to say he's getting the absolute most out of them if i'm honest. It's why I hate the polarity of the way the argument is always framed. I don't think he's doing a bad job, or needs to be sacked, or that we should be in the top 4, but I also don't buy into the idea that the squad is so horrifically bad that it's asking too much to be able to play the odd team off the park or to be slightly higher in the table. Without wanting to go back down the whole 'but we've got more points though' argument, finishing 8th is finishing 8th. If that's what we do then I think it's pretty underwhelming.

I think that's exactly what makes the whole discussion so difficult. When I looked at our squad before the season I would definitely put it in the top 8. The most likely scenario was an 8th place and that is what is meant by expected. An average manager should have managed to get us to 8th place. This does not mean that it is bad or that we have not made progress, but we have not performed better than expected.

Furthermore, there should be reason to assume that a manager who is among the best performs better than expected. This goes without saying, because one who is ranked among the best should perform better than what an average manager would have done. Performing as expected is not phenomenal, but it provides stability. Still, there is no reason to praise someone as a genius for performing as expected, to quote Roy Keane: It's their job.