2020/21 Carlo Ancelotti

[Parker]

Biggest compliment I can give him is that when we go in at half time I have no doubt we'll be better in the second.

 

[Thomasc]

No question he's a boss player but I do wonder if he likes to be the focal point of the team and because that isn't happening he's almost trying to win games on his own.

Yeah, he’s pretty much carried us for 2 seasons, now it’s not all about him.
He must get that in the National side though so hopefully he can learn to adapt.

 

[Gilbert..]

Well the club has been quite clear that Europe is the target, and that means aiming for top 6, so I think it's a logical target. You don't appoint Ancelotti and spend your budget on expensive 29 year olds with no sell on value to finish 8th. Whether the squad is as good as some others is kind of irrelevant really, if we're not aiming to outperform those teams in the short term then we've made some very strange decisions.

All well and good if those he signed as "short term?" Had been playing all season.
Wether the squad is as good as some others is irrelevant? Thats quite a bizare comment. As the quality and depth of a squad is very relevant.

 

[LocalNative]

Oh I totally agree. I think his pragmatism is his best attribute.

But my point still stands. It was clear that the players weren’t executing what was asked of them in the first half for one reason or another. It was clear they were expecting to pass forward and that they weren’t.

That might have been the catalyst for the change but as soon as they did actually pass forward (3-4 mins into the first half), we scored.

Whether it was the game plan or not, if one of your players gets a run on slabhead you deliver him the ball. We didn't do that in the first half for whatever reason, perhaps naivety.

I prefer to give James a free role though to wander wherever he wants to get the ball, it's a lot tougher to do vs the better teams but we need to find a balance there as it's like defending with 10 men when he's on sometimes.

 

[Lanolin]

All well and good if those he signed as "short term?" Had been playing all season.
Wether the squad is as good as some others is irrelevant? Thats quite a bizare comment. As the quality and depth of a squad is very relevant.

The club's aim is to finish 'in the champions league or european places', Ancelotti has said this numerous times. The only bizarre comment is suggesting that you have a better idea of the truth of that than him I would have thought.

 

[LouReedwalkonthewildside]

So for James is it a case of once Everton has touched you ...

Joking apart, I am still happy with Ancelotti for the most part. The squad is wafer thin once the top players are out due to injury or suspension, and there are a couple of trouble positions that need to be reinforced such as right back and goal keeper, but the manager is able to deal with this and pick up points which I am not sure previous managers would have done.

I didn't expect him to win the league (except for some day dreaming after those first few games of the season where we were on absolute fire) but for the most part I can see progress, and a desire to perform in all matches with a notable few exceptions (Newcastlse?!?) but he has them back up after those exceptions which is vast progress over previous seasons.

He's still got my support and I fully back him to keep getting things more and more right, the longer he is here. Wish we had got him in after Martinez.

There is no question mate that Ancelotti will take us places.

 

[brieverton]

Europe via the league or cup, any form of it will do for next season. I'd love us to win the F.A. Cup, I don't see that but our league position has to secure Europe.

There has to be some tangible achievement by seasons end that the whole club can take encouragement from and build on that momentum.

If we don't have that, then the world won't fall in and we'll get on with things, but it would be a big blow.

It isn't a particularly huge ask for a club of our size and ambition to get into the Europa League, much less manage the early stages of that with relative comfort the next season. I think Ancelotti expects that and needs that to further the experience of the squad collectively and make his case to the board to give him what the squad needs for next season.

It isn't media bluff or false modesty when he says we are not ready for the Champions League. Everybody can see that. He has set us the goal of Europe by other means. Hopefully we can achieve it and use that momentum to continue to build the squad.

 

[Gilbert..]

The club's aim is to finish 'in the champions league or european places', Ancelotti has said this numerous times. The only bizarre comment is suggesting that you have a better idea of the truth of that than him I would have thought.

Its an aim. Every manager quotes aims.
The irrelevant squad comment came from you. Not ancelloti. dont try and be a smart arse and claim that was his.
How did you come to the conclusion squad quality is irrelevant?

 

[mill]

Whether it was the game plan or not, if one of your players gets a run on slabhead you deliver him the ball. We didn't do that in the first half for whatever reason, perhaps naivety.

I prefer to give James a free role though to wander wherever he wants to get the ball, it's a lot tougher to do vs the better teams but we need to find a balance there as it's like defending with 10 men when he's on sometimes.

I think playing James at the top of the diamond would only work if we were pushed further up the pitch and had more of the ball. Yesterday he was in the area where he just wouldn’t see the ball.

Ideally, in that kind of game you’d want Gomes deeper to re receive the ball deep and move it forward quickly. Have Davies and Allan either side of him and doucoure in the James position to support quickly once the ball is played into the channel.

the problem is it means gomes is in the area where Fernandes occupies which is a risk in itself and means you are relying on Allan and Davies (and the CBs offering protection). But that will leave the full backs exposed.

It’s a hard problem to solve really (not least because how do you leave James out?).

We did well. Just needed to be a little more aggressive on the ball and move it up the pitch quicker.

My biggest issue with the side across the board at the moment is that we always seem to take an extra touch before releasing the ball. We could move it a lot quicker if we didn’t.

 

[Lanolin]

Its an aim. Every manager quotes aims.
The irrelevant squad comment came from you. Not ancelloti. dont try and be a smart arse and claim that was his.
How did you come to the conclusion squad quality is irrelevant?

When did i suggest Ancelotti had said it?! How is an aim different to a target?! All that was being said is that our target (or aim if you prefer) for the year should be top 6, and according to the noises coming out of the club, it is. For some reason you're taking issue with that. I genuinely have no idea why.

 

[Gilbert..]

When did i suggest Ancelotti had said it?! How is an aim different to a target?! All that was being said is that our target for the year should be top 6, and according to the noises coming out of the club, it is. For some reason you're taking issue with that. I genuinely have no idea why.

Im genuinely interested why you claimed the quality of the squad is irrelevant? Its not. As a rule clubs with better quality depth do better than those who havent. Clubs in and around us right now have better depth than us. It undermines what he's actualy done with his squad depth in comparison.
Easier to just reply how you came to that rather than with your nose up in the air like the duke of all knowledge.

 

[Lanolin]

Im genuinely interested why you claimed the quality of the squad is irrelevant? Its not. As a rule clubs with better quality depth do better than those who havent. Clubs in and around us right now have better depth than us. It undermines what he's actualy done with his squad depth in comparison.
Easier to just reply how you came to that rather than with your nose up in the air like the duke of all knowledge.

I'm saying that our aim is to finish in the top 6. Whether we have a squad that is in the top 6 in terms of talent is irrelevant TO THE AIM. As has been said, nobody is suggesting it would be an absolute disaster to finish 8th and we'd need to sack Ancelotti etc, just that 6th is a perfectly reasonable target to set for the season. You're going on as if it's a criticism of Ancelotti when it's nothing of the sort, it's bizarre. I'm not pretending to be the 'duke of all knowledge' (well i don't think I am, but I have no idea what that actually is so i can't swear to it) i'm literally just giving my opinion on why it was understandable for another poster to say that we were aiming for 6th, I wasn't expecting the spanish inquisition.

 

[Gilbert..]

I'm saying that our aim is to finish in the top 6. Whether we have a squad that is in the top 6 in terms of talent is irrelevant TO THE AIM. As has been said, nobody is suggesting it would be an absolute disaster to finish 8th and we'd need to sack Ancelotti etc, just that 6th is a perfectly reasonable target to set for the season. You're going on as if it's a criticism of Ancelotti when it's nothing of the sort, it's bizarre. I'm not pretending to be the 'duke of all knowledge' (well i don't think I am, but I have no idea what that actually is so i can't swear to it) i'm literally just giving my opinion on why it was understandable for another poster to say that we were aiming for 6th, I wasn't expecting the spanish inquisition.

Fair enough. But it certainly isn't irrelevant as to the actual stuff that goes on on the pitch. May aswell say sam allardyce's aim was to pull west brom out of the relegation zone. But the quality of what he has is very different to his "aim"

 

[Lanolin]

Fair enough. But it certainly isn't irrelevant as to the actual stuff that goes on on the pitch. May aswell say sam allardyce's aim was to pull west brom out of the relegation zone. But the quality of what he has is very different to his "aim"

But seeing as I never said it was, that really doesn't matter.

As an extension of the point though, I believe the moves we have made have been with a view to accelerating our improvement. If we were aiming to get into Europe in 3 years then the signings of Doucoure, Allan, James and Olsen (and possibly King) weren't particularly clever moves. Arguably neither was the appointment of Ancelotti. I believe we made these moves specifically because we wanted to push ourselves into those positions in the short term, and then start to build from there. Unless we're able to throw an absolutely huge amount of money at the squad this summer, there's a pretty good chance that we won't have one of the best 6 squads in the league next season either. At some point you have to back yourselves to overcome that, otherwise what's the point. It's why you pay a manager £10m a year, why you forget about sell on value for players etc. I've said before, you can finish 8th-10th in this league with a bang average squad full of plodders. We have been proof of that ourselves over recent years. There's absolutely no point in stretching the wage bill and pushing the ffp limits to settle for the same places you can achieve with a team full of Robbie Bradys and Ben Mees. Thankfully, I don't believe the club are doing, but if i did, i certainly wouldn't be as happy about it as some people seem to be.

 

[Gilbert..]

But seeing as I never said it was, that really doesn't matter.

As an extension of the point though, I believe the moves we have made have been with a view to accelerating our improvement. If we were aiming to get into Europe in 3 years then the signings of Doucoure, Allan, James and Olsen (and possibly King) weren't particularly clever moves. Arguably neither was the appointment of Ancelotti. I believe we made these moves specifically because we wanted to push ourselves into those positions in the short term, and then start to build from there. Unless we're able to throw an absolutely huge amount of money at the squad this summer, there's a pretty good chance that we won't have one of the best 6 squads in the league next season either. At some point you have to back yourselves to overcome that, otherwise what's the point. It's why you pay a manager £10m a year, why you forget about sell on value for players etc. I've said before, you can finish 8th-10th in this league with a bang average squad full of plodders. We have been proof of that ourselves over recent years. There's absolutely no point in stretching the wage bill and pushing the ffp limits to settle for the same places you can achieve with a team full of Robbie Bradys and Ben Mees. Thankfully, I don't believe the club are doing, but if i did, i certainly wouldn't be as happy about it as some people seem to be.

You've skipped some of the younger players signed for the future like godfrey and branthwaite.
Lets be real we're not going to get(and certainly wasnt before ancelotti) players in their prime and at the top of their game. We havent won a bleeding trophy for 26 years.
If two to three years of ancelotti can give an injection of better quality mixed with younger players im going for it.
The clubs image was on its knees fella after marco silva. On its knees