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2020/21 Carlo Ancelotti

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A midfield of Gomes and Davies just doesn’t work, there’s not enough pace or ability to win the ball apparently even against a lower league side.

I’m surprised Doucoure didn’t come on at half time, it was inevitable we were going to concede if nothing changed. Allan has been a really big miss, hopefully he’s back to full fitness quickly once he returns.

Made up to have Digne back, having a proper fullback on that side (Godfrey has been ace, but he’s not a left back) will bring out the best in Richarlison, give James more passing options and will create more crossing chances for DCL.

We’re in the hat for the next round, that’s the main thing
 
Terrarian said:
Carlo has never managed a team that fail to show up on such a regular basis, I bet in private he's tearing his hair out. These last few years and the teams we have had and some of the performances have been unacceptable in my eyes for the money they get paid.
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It’s not like it’s inexplicable though to be fair. A midfield of Gomes and Davies has no pace, no dynamism, no bite. If you lose the midfield battle you’ll struggle, and just from looking at the team sheet there was always a good chance we would lose it yesterday. As soon as doucoure came on the game changed. It’s not just that players can’t be bothered or don’t turn up or whatever, we’re just lacking done pretty important attributes across the team.
 
Terrarian said:
Carlo has never managed a team that fail to show up on such a regular basis, I bet in private he's tearing his hair out. These last few years and the teams we have had and some of the performances have been unacceptable in my eyes for the money they get paid.
Click to expand...

The range of ability on the squad is way too wide. I doubt any other premier league team has the sort of gap between their top players and their worst players as we do. James, Richarlison, DCL, Digne could all play in lots of good teams and are better than most other mid table team’s players. On the other hand though we have the likes of Kenny Davies Pennington Coleman Sigurdsson who wouldn’t get into any other premier league line up (except maybe Sheffield United’s)

That’s what I see as the difference between the likes of us and the Leicesters and Arsenals of this world before we even talk about the top 4. If they’re missing a first team player they can bring in another player who is a very good option. Pereira is out so James Justin comes in. Barnes is out and Ayoze Perez comes on. William isn’t playing well so they call on Smith Rowe and Saka.

If Doucoure is injured we call on Tom Davies who wouldn’t stand out in the championship and wouldn’t get into any other premier league midfield. When James is out it’s Sigurdsson, if DCL is missing it’s Tosun, if Richarlison is out it’s 19 year old kid Gordon.

It’s nowhere near good enough, but the issue is that we still have gaping holes in the first team to plug before we even get round to the squad options. Until we close that gap in the squad we’re not going anywhere though because everyone saw the difference when Docuoure came on yesterday, we find it very difficult to win without Richarlison, because as soon as s they’re not there we hand the control of the game over to any opposition that has an ounce of pace which is every other football team in most professional divisions of the English game.

It can’t be stressed enough how much we need to get rid of this pace problem from the squad. Other teams with worse players in their first 11 than us will have better chances in the big games because they have the minimum pace and power to compete in them, so if they’re lucky enough to ride out the first half an hour of City/Liverpool/United dominance then they’ll have their own spell where they have an opportunity. Everton will never ever be able to do this in a big game with these players because if the opposition is motivated (which they normally are in cup games or derbies) then they can dominate us for every minute of the 90 because our players aren’t quick enough to keep the ball and aren’t quick enough to get it back once we lose it. We will never win a trophy or derby until these slow players are eradicated from the squad and replaced by players with the necessary speed and skill to compete. James is the only player we should consider carrying with fast players around him because of his ability. All the rest are nowhere near good enough.
 
Saint Domingo said:
The range of ability on the squad is way too wide. I doubt any other premier league team has the sort of gap between their top players and their worst players as we do. James, Richarlison, DCL, Digne could all play in lots of good teams and are better than most other mid table team’s players. On the other hand though we have the likes of Kenny Davies Pennington Coleman Sigurdsson who wouldn’t get into any other premier league line up (except maybe Sheffield United’s)

That’s what I see as the difference between the likes of us and the Leicesters and Arsenals of this world before we even talk about the top 4. If they’re missing a first team player they can bring in another player who is a very good option. Pereira is out so James Justin comes in. Barnes is out and Ayoze Perez comes on. William isn’t playing well so they call on Smith Rowe and Saka.

If Doucoure is injured we call on Tom Davies who wouldn’t stand out in the championship and wouldn’t get into any other premier league midfield. When James is out it’s Sigurdsson, if DCL is missing it’s Tosun, if Richarlison is out it’s 19 year old kid Gordon.

It’s nowhere near good enough, but the issue is that we still have gaping holes in the first team to plug before we even get round to the squad options. Until we close that gap in the squad we’re not going anywhere though because everyone saw the difference when Docuoure came on yesterday, we find it very difficult to win without Richarlison, because as soon as s they’re not there we hand the control of the game over to any opposition that has an ounce of pace which is every other football team in most professional divisions of the English game.

It can’t be stressed enough how much we need to get rid of this pace problem from the squad. Other teams with worse players in their first 11 than us will have better chances in the big games because they have the minimum pace and power to compete in them, so if they’re lucky enough to ride out the first half an hour of City/Liverpool/United dominance then they’ll have their own spell where they have an opportunity. Everton will never ever be able to do this in a big game with these players because if the opposition is motivated (which they normally are in cup games or derbies) then they can dominate us for every minute of the 90 because our players aren’t quick enough to keep the ball and aren’t quick enough to get it back once we lose it. We will never win a trophy or derby until these slow players are eradicated from the squad and replaced by players with the necessary speed and skill to compete. James is the only player we should consider carrying with fast players around him because of his ability. All the rest are nowhere near good enough.
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The worst part of this (very well written) piece is that we have 2 or 3 levels of player BELOW the replacements that need to be shifted out first.

Not even replaced really... just get rid and attempt to get something back for them.
 

Saint Domingo said:
Everton will never ever be able to do this in a big game with these players because if the opposition is motivated (which they normally are in cup games or derbies) then they can dominate us for every minute of the 90 because our players aren’t quick enough to keep the ball and aren’t quick enough to get it back once we lose it. We will never win a trophy or derby until these slow players are eradicated from the squad and replaced by players with the necessary speed and skill to compete. James is the only player we should consider carrying with fast players around him because of his ability. All the rest are nowhere near good enough.
Click to expand...
I don't think it's just a pace thing. Our players are standing still and waiting for the ball to come to them, like they're unaware that there's an opposition on the pitch that's playing for the same ball as them.

This was painfully obvious vs WHU. They're losing balls they never should and passes getting intercepted because... Well, they're just standing there with their heads unscrewed. We'd get a lot more points from the games we lost if they had just turned up and were not complacent. It's almost like after a string of good results they underestimate the opposition and expect the game to win itself.
 
alphabet said:
I don't think it's just a pace thing. Our players are standing still and waiting for the ball to come to them, like they're unaware that there's an opposition on the pitch that's playing for the same ball as them.

This was painfully obvious vs WHU. They're losing balls they never should and passes getting intercepted because... Well, they're just standing there with their heads unscrewed. We'd get a lot more points from the games we lost if they had just turned up and were not complacent. It's almost like after a string of good results they underestimate the opposition and expect the game to win itself.
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There’s a bit of this as well. Our passing is awful, but the opposition know they can press us because there’s not a single player in the team who can spin away from them and make them look stupid. Full backs can push right up on Bernard or Sigurdsson because where are either of them going. Same with Tosun up front. Defenders stand off the quick players scared that they’ll run let them, then you end up with what the top clubs have when they face us where every single player is behind the ball say deep paralysed with fear that they will get exposed for pace (which is what happened in the league cup qf). Then the opposition can just build wave after wave of pressure until you crack. If we had enough players to compete for those first 20 minutes on an even keel then the pattern of the game becomes far more open.
 
Titus Bramble said:
A midfield of Gomes and Davies just doesn’t work, there’s not enough pace or ability to win the ball apparently even against a lower league side.
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It wouldn't even work in League One. In fact, those two would struggle even more in League One because you need to show more physicality and fight in midfield there, something both of these severely lack.
 
Saint Domingo said:
There’s a bit of this as well. Our passing is awful, but the opposition know they can press us because there’s not a single player in the team who can spin away from them and make them look stupid. Full backs can push right up on Bernard or Sigurdsson because where are either of them going. Same with Tosun up front. Defenders stand off the quick players scared that they’ll run let them, then you end up with what the top clubs have when they face us where every single player is behind the ball say deep paralysed with fear that they will get exposed for pace (which is what happened in the league cup qf). Then the opposition can just build wave after wave of pressure until you crack. If we had enough players to compete for those first 20 minutes on an even keel then the pattern of the game becomes far more open.
Click to expand...

I don't know! We are excellent at sideways and back passes.
 

Terrarian said:
Carlo has never managed a team that fail to show up on such a regular basis, I bet in private he's tearing his hair out. These last few years and the teams we have had and some of the performances have been unacceptable in my eyes for the money they get paid.
Click to expand...

As long as he does something about it. I shudder every time I mention this, but a massive amount of Klopp's power and respect within the club (and the squad especially) over at the RS comes from his purge of everyone who wasn't good enough over the first few years of his reign. He gave them a chance, they failed, and they left.

This is what needs to happen here, even if it means we have to use youth players to cover any gaps and we have to swallow a few losses (on the field and on the balance sheet). Its probably going to be better for the likes of Besic, Bolasie, Bernard, Iceland, Tosun and about half a dozen others as well.
 
Bigduke1234 said:
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.
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Then why is he saying we don't need to add improvements in this window?
 
riddick said:
Then why is he saying we don't need to add improvements in this window?
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I don’t think Carlo rates any of the players available. Let’s be honest, January is a tough window.

my understanding is that the aim is European qualification, Allan is soon back plus glabammo (don’t laugh but he did make the bench yesterday) so he thinks we’ve got enough. Let’s be honest, losing Allan was up there with the worst players we could have lost especially as he was looking boss.
 

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