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2020/21 Carlo Ancelotti

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Terrarian said:
just noticed Leicester have lost one more than us but yet they are considered top 4 challengers, we have drawn more.
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I think the league has been so topsy-turvy so far because there haven't been an awful lot of draws in matches. To your point.. Leicester are where they are because they've won 8 games.

For me, it's all about game-by-game management. In the games were we 'should' be winning on paper then we need to just go for broke - win or lose. For the so-called 'top 4' clubs is where we need to be a bit more pragmatic in our approach to make us hard to beat above all else, regardless if we only draw those. I do think Ancelotti knows this.
 
It'll be curious to see what he does for the Arsenal match we will be favorites compared to the last two matches where most people wrote us off including myself, If he gets 9/9 here then that is bloody amazing when you consider Digne is out and James missed two of them.
 
John from Bootle said:
This is exactly the point I was making. Why would a defeat mean it was the wrong team by default? What makes it so certain that any other team selection would have seen a better result?

Hindsight is a wonderful thing, especially when you don't even know what would happen with an alternative team.
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I didn't say by default though did i? I said there would be a reasonable argument. The two are really quite different.

If we'd played exactly the same way but they'd got a penalty out of nothing instead of us then you could say it was the right team and just unlucky. We do that pretty often I think, accept that we've performed well but not got the result. If we'd lost 4-0 and Godfrey had a nightmare at left back then it would be completely different. You'd then have to at least consider the possibility that it wasn't the right team. We'll never know what would happen with alternative teams etc, but I don't remember people saying we should keep Silva or Koeman because you just don't know whether the games would have gone differently in an alternative reality. As I said, it's pretty obvious stuff really.
 
Toffe3m4n said:
I think the league has been so topsy-turvy so far because there haven't been an awful lot of draws in matches. To your point.. Leicester are where they are because they've won 8 games.

For me, it's all about game-by-game management. In the games were we 'should' be winning on paper then we need to just go for broke - win or lose. For the so-called 'top 4' clubs is where we need to be a bit more pragmatic in our approach to make us hard to beat above all else, regardless if we only draw those. I do think Ancelotti knows this.
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Sorry, I wasn't really clear on my point, I'm just saying how the outside world perceives both teams, they've lost more than us and are considered top 4 contenders whereas we are still considered a 7-10th place outfit.
 
Prevenger17 said:
I maintain that the ridiculous start we had was the worst thing to happen in terms of fan expectations. We're going to drop points at weird times this year and, personally, I don't think we have the squad to get top 4. But Europe and maybe a cup is still very much on the cards and it baffles me how people can't see how much better we have been generally since Ancelotti arrived. Better results, better football, better players coming in. This guy needs more than a year ffs, but you know that every loss is going to be an inquest and a soaking wet bed
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And remember he has won the last two without two of his key signings as well (plus Allan for 60 mins). Has got players like Sigg, Iwobi and Keane in career best Everton form.

Improvements everywhere. There will be setbacks, but we will be in the Europe fight deep into the season.
 

John from Bootle said:
This is exactly the point I was making. Why would a defeat mean it was the wrong team by default? What makes it so certain that any other team selection would have seen a better result?

Hindsight is a wonderful thing, especially when you don't even know what would happen with an alternative team.

We're inconsistent because the squads still rubbish. But if people wanna believe we lost matches because some young left back. unproven in the league, didn't get picked, then that's up to them, but it doesn't make then right.
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Definitely the most common tactic of the armchair expert! The solution is always to do whatever the manager/player didn’t do especially when they feel it supports and backs up a previously (publicly) stated opinion.
Take Gomes yesterday. From being one of our most popular players
he’s now wining the monthly unpopularity contest, worst player ever to wear the shirt.
Yesterday when he put that challenge in and seemingly gave away a penalty he was immediately crucified as if there was final proof for what his detractors had been saying all along!
Only he didn’t do anything wrong! He did well, not that he got any credit.
Had he left that ball and they had scored he would have been vilified for the exact opposite reason, for not putting his boot in or being too weak or cowardly! Whatever it takes to be proven right all along!
 
The good thing is that Carlo knows we are not at the level of the top teams just yet so is under no illusion that we are title contenders and his current target is to do as well as we can with what we have. He knows toe to toe games against top teams is suicide and therefore has to change tact. It is starting to work and as long as we can still keep working hard then that will put us in good stead for when he can get more of the players he wants and needs to push us further.
He is not kidding himself and has his feet firmly planted yet knows what he needs. So glad we have him and not a head in the clouds manager.
 

One thing that I’m still getting used to, and makes me very nervous - how deep we drop to defend free kicks outside our box. Never seen any team do what we do.
 
MACCA75 said:
One thing that I’m still getting used to, and makes me very nervous - how deep we drop to defend free kicks outside our box. Never seen any team do what we do.
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Easier to head the ball out & away if you're running towards the edge of the box to meet the ball. I guess that's the premise. Obviouly leaves space for the short ball and a shot from distance/cross from the line.

It's working for now, teams will be working out plans to counteract it soon enough.
 

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