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Simon Buttle
Player Valuation: £60m
Davide is apparently going to be on Jim White this morning for anyone who wants to listen.
SpongeBob brown shoes
Player Valuation: £40m
What times that mate?
Simon Buttle
Player Valuation: £60m
I think the show usually starts at 10.00am on Talksport, no idea what time Davide is actually on, a colleague just mentioned it to me before.
There's going to be peaks and troughs along the way and most rationale fans will realise that and also that we're heading in the right direction.
If you'd have said to me thirteen months ago that we'd have Carlo as manager and second in the league, I'd have laughed my head off and it sounds fanciful.
Now people are moaning that we drew to Burnley - k'in ell, they need to give their head a wobble. Carlo is getting blood out of a stone.
brieverton
Player Valuation: £50m
I have been surprised with our results generally, both positively and negatively.
Ultimately what we are looking for is consistency but to achieve that over the longer-term is essentially the same as stating your ambition to get into the top 4 and challenge for the title.
Everyone seems to agree we are not at that level, so considering injuries and the poor run of form we had been in, the last three wins have been particularly satisfying.
I agree we should have done better in some games, but we did better than we might have expected in others.
We are a bit of a way off from going to places like Burnley, much less Southampton, and "expecting" to beat them as routine, things will be very rosy indeed if things evolve where I think different.
I approach most of our games like a visit to the dentist as it is, I can only enjoy a win after the final whistle.
The key thing is our new-found defensive solidity and compactness. You certainly don't climb the league conceding twice every game. That generally comes at a price at the other end too, but we have plenty about us to win tight games and if that continues, then great.
Ultimately what we are looking for is consistency but to achieve that over the longer-term is essentially the same as stating your ambition to get into the top 4 and challenge for the title.
Everyone seems to agree we are not at that level, so considering injuries and the poor run of form we had been in, the last three wins have been particularly satisfying.
I agree we should have done better in some games, but we did better than we might have expected in others.
We are a bit of a way off from going to places like Burnley, much less Southampton, and "expecting" to beat them as routine, things will be very rosy indeed if things evolve where I think different.
I approach most of our games like a visit to the dentist as it is, I can only enjoy a win after the final whistle.
The key thing is our new-found defensive solidity and compactness. You certainly don't climb the league conceding twice every game. That generally comes at a price at the other end too, but we have plenty about us to win tight games and if that continues, then great.
Ring master
Player Valuation: £90m
Carlo Press Conference 2.15 today for man utd game
catcherintherye
Player Valuation: £80m
All very fair mate.
We have gone though, from a club that after Martinez's excellent first season-with the exception of a couple of good spells in Koeman's 2nd, from a side that really expected to lose every away game. I mean even that Koeman season was really built upon home form. We've so gone from a side under Silva that I expected us to lose every time we conceded first. The stats back those assertions up too. We had seasons of winning 1-3 away games. Awful really.
To narrow it down ait from last season to this, we have gone from a semi-decent side who when set up right and plan A worked we would be ok, but ultimately one with no flexibility or resilience, to a decent side who can increasingly cope with adversity and hold onto leads. The actual performance level hasn't gone up enormously, but resilience, game know how and an ability to maximise points has improved enormously. I think that is reflected by the "not enjoying" our games. They are stressful, and we are used to throwing games away, but we have got a lot better at this of late.
We do have to be "in the game" to maximise these developments though. When we drop our level 10%, I just think all the benefits go out of the window as we are not competitive. You can't hold onto a lead, or fight back for a draw if you are 2 goals down and not at the races. It's why the 4 CB's thing has been sensible, it keeps us in games.
As a final aside, really outside of title challengers/winners nobody just goes to Southampton, Burnley etc and wins regularly. Sides in the top 4 this season will not do that. We have to win some of those games (as we've done at Palace) but not all to make progress. We rely on a bit of luck too. If you take the view luck works 50/50 you could say what we have done well, is the games where we have had some luck, we have generally profited. Whereas where we haven't, we are not good enough to compound those odds.
I said before the Chelsea game we would be streaky. I still maintain this. We will find a system that works well for us and win/not lose a series of games. Then it will get found out a bit, and we will need to change. Ancelotti will tinker, the results will be affected, and we will then stumble upon something else. The hope is, those streaky runs get longer and the periods it takes to find the next system get smaller.
Saint Domingo
Player Valuation: £90m
Burnley was a classic Ancelotti game on my view that showed the progress we have made. Burnley are in good form having beaten Arsenal and Wolves recently. We turned up there with one win in 6 and having just lost at home to Leeds. We didn’t play that well but ultimately we stayed in the game because we had a cutting edge up front and was a decent connection by Sigurdsson away from winning it. Under Silva or Koeman that type of game is another demoralising loss away from home. Ancelotti seems to be able to keep us in games though with only really the Southampton game getting completely away from us this season. Even the Leeds game we could have easily won it despite being outplayed at times. We got back into the game against Liverpool after being down and could have equalised to Man U before losing. In previous seasons we were out of games so quickly at times if we played badly and that was the end of any chance at the points. Ancelotti seems to be getting points from games even when we don’t play well. That buys him time to sort out the bigger picture at Everton without the pressure of needing to stave off relegation.
brieverton
Player Valuation: £50m
Agree completely. There have still been large periods of games where we can look sluggish and lethargic and this squad can't generally be at 2nd gear and expect to pick up points.
Things are improving on that front, as you say, the mental aspect of reacting to adversity in games is very important.
I'm really heartened by Godfrey in this aspect. The runs, the tackles, shouting and pointing at senior players. It's infectious that, and great to see.
PSB1
Player Valuation: £10m
I'm tempted to agree in an odd way. I don't think there have been very many times when we've looked outclassed. Consistency will escape us for the time being, in my opinion, because the guys who come in for regular first teamers just lack that touch of class needed.
catcherintherye
Player Valuation: £80m
Godfrey has done brilliantly, playing completely out of position as well. In his own way I think Holgate has also done well. We have a good group of players 22-24 when you factor in Calvert Lewin & Richarlinson as well. They all seem like leaders to me. Iwobi has also started to contribute.
I've felt for some time, we will score goals. James has such ability to create something out of nothing. Calvert Lewin is now very difficult to mark with his power, pace and leap, and Richarlinson will score too- he is a great dribbler and generally a good finisher- though we haven't seen it enough yet. Throw in Sigurdsson, who should and could pop uo with long range efforts/free kicks as he did 2nd season playing in a 10 (even if it's just off the bench).
Crucially we are also a big threat of set plays, Keane, Mina, Richarlinson and Calvert Lewin currently. They are 4 in the top 10 of the league in terms of threat from set plays. I would say we are the most dangerous in the league.
Even if we sit deep and play more defensively, 90% of the above threats remain. Richarlinson probably prefer playing on the break, increasingly Dom is adding that to his game too.
We were being let down by being too offensive. There has been a shift and a welcome one. Only 1 side so far this season has kept us out (we played with 10 and effectively 9 with James) for about 35 minutes of that game too. We will score, if we can keep them out at the other end we can finish in the top 4. I like the current set up. 4 lads who want to defend at the back. Iwobi who is doing a lot more defensively in front. Doucoure being more disciplined and enjoying the role in front of them. It will be dull, and stressfull, but its the way to go for me.
Ring master
Player Valuation: £90m
I mean we got 4 points from them last season with Ferguson managing two of his first three games of football so I'm not quite sure where you're getting that from.
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