2020/21 Carlo Ancelotti

[Saint Domingo]

It will only work with a CM signing this window + Allan back.

If you have James out wide you need 3x work horses in the middle who can all get about the pitch and tackle.

Our problem is Doucoure or Allan tries covering the space James leaves then the opposition can run straight through our middle which has just one player in there as Gomes can not do anything defensively whatsoever.

Ideally a Gana type CM would be perfect in that set up.

Yep agreed. You have to have two solid full backs though that can defend one on one, get up and down the flank, and use possession well especially to cross the ball. We don’t have that on the right. We also don’t have pacey centrebacks who can cover space as they’re two of the slowest in the league. It also doesn’t really suit Doucoure that well playing the inside right channel either. The only players it really suits are DCL and Digne.

Id like to see if we could make the 4231 work with Allan Docuoure holding, James at ten and Digne back in.

 

[ForeverBlue92]

Yep agreed. You have to have two solid full backs though that can defend one on one, get up and down the flank, and use possession well especially to cross the ball. We don’t have that on the right. We also don’t have pacey centrebacks who can cover space as they’re two of the slowest in the league. It also doesn’t really suit Doucoure that well playing the inside right channel either. The only players it really suits are DCL and Digne.

Id like to see if we could make the 4231 work with Allan Docuoure holding, James at ten and Digne back in.

I like the 4231 but we really do need an upgrade on both Coleman & Iwobi imo.

Celik/Aarons & Bailey/Zaha and that side becomes a lot more dangerous.

 

[Old Blue 2]

He has made three decent signings in his first window.

He has had to work with the utter dross that is in the squad, leftover from previous Managers. Hopefully he will move them on as he gets better players in with each successive transfer window.

He has so far worked wonders to get us to joint 4th place at this point in the season.

You will NOT get instant success and brilliant play every game at the point in time he is at with the club. He has to be given time...

 

[Thomasc]

He has made three decent signings in his first window.

He has had to work with the utter dross that is in the squad, leftover from previous Managers. Hopefully he will move them on as he gets better players in with each successive transfer window.

He has so far worked wonders to get us to joint 4th place at this point in the season.

You will NOT get instant success and brilliant play every game at the point in time he is at with the club. He has to be given time...

Of course not.

But the performances against West Ham and Rotherham have been shockingly bad. As bad as anything served up under Koeman, Allardyce or Silva.

 

[Saint Domingo]

He has made three decent signings in his first window.

He has had to work with the utter dross that is in the squad, leftover from previous Managers. Hopefully he will move them on as he gets better players in with each successive transfer window.

He has so far worked wonders to get us to joint 4th place at this point in the season.

You will NOT get instant success and brilliant play every game at the point in time he is at with the club. He has to be given time...

I think all the signings were decent.

I know it’s dead edgy to criticise James, and some of the Gylfi fan boys would like to spin a story that somehow that Icelandic fraud is better for the team but apart from this niche part of the internet no one else would ever believe that. As soon as James returns to full fitness and form he’s our best player by a mile. Free signing.

Docuoure is one of our best players. So is Allan. Godfrey had been a great buy for us. That makes it 4 signings in my book. Even Nkonkou, he’s not the player w probably needed but given his price can anyone say he’s a bad buy? He looks very promising.

If Carlo keeps having windows of close to 100% hit ratio we won’t be going too far wrong.

 

[Saint Domingo]

Of course not.

But the performances against West Ham and Rotherham have been shockingly bad. As bad as anything served up under Koeman, Allardyce or Silva.

Slight exaggeration. The West Ham game was just a laboured performance against a team who wanted to sit deep and some of our players were obviously unfit. We still could have won it and more than deserved the draw. That’s nowhere near some of the complete dismantlings we took under those three names. It wasn’t even as bad as the Wolves game under Ancelotti which I think was his lowest point. Yeah Rochdale was rubbish but we still won.

 

[Bullens Rd]

Not much more he can do when the players refuse to listen to his instructions from the sidelines, is there?

He was constantly telling them to play quicker and go forwards today but the two main crabs, Gomes and Davies, kept ignoring him and instead passed on the responsibility to other players with their safe backwards passes time after time.

 

[Leylo]

Not much more he can do when the players refuse to listen to his instructions from the sidelines, is there?

He was constantly telling them to play quicker and go forwards today but the two main crabs, Gomes and Davies, kept ignoring him and instead passed on the responsibility to other players with their safe backwards passes time after time.

Got to say you could constantly hear carlo saying go forward wtf what are they doing in training, the finch farm bug needs sorting

 

[Thomasc]

Slight exaggeration. The West Ham game was just a laboured performance against a team who wanted to sit deep and some of our players were obviously unfit. We still could have won it and more than deserved the draw. That’s nowhere near some of the complete dismantlings we took under those three names. It wasn’t even as bad as the Wolves game under Ancelotti which I think was his lowest point. Yeah Rochdale was rubbish but we still won.

There have been many awful performances under Ancelotti, especially at the back end of last season. You mention wolves away, let’s not forget getting smashed by relegated Bournemouth at home either, or the beating at Newcastle earlier this season or being played off the park by Southampton. We clung onto a point at Burnley too.

how about v United in the cup quarter final, it was actually embarrassing how bad we were in the first 45 mins, could have been about 4 down.

 

[billyblue80]

There have been many awful performances under Ancelotti, especially at the back end of last season. You mention wolves away, let’s not forget getting smashed by relegated Bournemouth at home either, or the beating at Newcastle earlier this season or being played off the park by Southampton. We clung onto a point at Burnley too.

how about v United in the cup quarter final, it was actually embarrassing how bad we were in the first 45 mins, could have been about 4 down.

Look at the squad we have. As has been said above they don't listen to instruction some of them.

 

[Preki]

Look at the squad we have. As has been said above they don't listen to instruction some of them.

I'm not sure it's so much not listening as not being good enough.

 

[Exeter_Gently]

He has made three decent signings in his first window.

He has had to work with the utter dross that is in the squad, leftover from previous Managers. Hopefully he will move them on as he gets better players in with each successive transfer window.

He has so far worked wonders to get us to joint 4th place at this point in the season.

You will NOT get instant success and brilliant play every game at the point in time he is at with the club. He has to be given time...

The modern day fan can't get their pea brain round this mate.

 

[Shibbywiggles]

Not much more he can do when the players refuse to listen to his instructions from the sidelines, is there?

He was constantly telling them to play quicker and go forwards today but the two main crabs, Gomes and Davies, kept ignoring him and instead passed on the responsibility to other players with their safe backwards passes time after time.

I found that really interesting yesterday. You could hear him clear as day saying to pass forward and switch the play and then immediately saw sideways and backwards passes. Carlo wouldn’t be encouraging forward passes if they weren’t on so either the players aren’t good enough or they’re cowards.

On the transfer window point if we manage to do the same thing next summer - lose no major players, sign 3 top first team players, get two young fringe players who may or may not impact first team (Godfrey has, Nkounkou not trusted in prem yet) then we’ll be a real quality team. Ideally, a pacey right winger this window would be ideal too but sounds like we need to shift some deadweight on big wages first.

 

[Bigduke1234]

To be fair you would reasonably expect our worst players to still be better than a league two side

Frankly, playing turd like Tosun and Davies without any pace in midfield and I actually don’t. Surely our embarrassment against lower league sides in the cup competitions tells us this?

 

[Bigduke1234]

Agreed, but we should still have enough to see off a struggling Championship side.

Disagree, some of those players are an embarrassment and would struggle at that level. In any game, having zero midfield means you’ll struggle, it was just like last season after lockdown I. We were outplayed by Rotherham, time to stop defending the utter gash in our squad.