2020/21 Carlo Ancelotti

[Titus Bramble]

Some proper weird reactions in here since we kicked off last night - entertaining read though!

Poor performance all round last night. I though it was a bit strange starting Godfrey and Holgate centre half, both inexperienced neither are really dominant in the air. It didn’t help Holgate kept passing to a white shirt like.

Still plenty of games to go this season and it looks like we’re finally getting back a mostly fit squad.

Need to see a reaction for our next 2 big games.

 

[jamieni]

It's easy to say "I would not have picked both Sigurdsson and Gomes" but he's got to play someone.

If you point the finger at Ancelotti with emphasis on arrogantly playing 3 luxury players in midfield then you have to give the alternative, your alternative of playing Iwobi...

Not for me.

Inexperienced centre back or not, Holgate was the clubs player of the season last year.
Godfrey has been great.

If both aren't capable of playing in their preferred positions at home to Fulham then we should pack their bags now.

Ultimately, that team should be beating Fulham.

They didn't, like with Newcastle - quite simply because they didn't fancy it.

Sometimes it's that simple.

After Newcastle Ancelotti said;

"Disappointed. Frustrated. We lost an opportunity. The reason was quite clear – Newcastle showed more spirit than us. They won a lot of duals, they won a lot of second balls – we gave them presents with a lot of corners.

“We have quality but without spirit, you are unable to show your quality.

When asked what Everton need to do in response, Ancelotti said: “It’s not difficult, just switch on your mental attitude.”

“We are not happy. The key point was that we didn’t have the same spirit as Newcastle.

“I know we have quality. The good run in the past is because we showed fantastic spirit on the pitch.

“Today, we forgot our spirit. We left it at home. We tried to play with quality but in this game, in all games to just try to play with quality isn’t enough. You have to sacrifice, concentration, motivation, ambition – we forgot this today”


In short then, they wanted it more. After Fulham, he's said;

"Now we have two difficult games to play but I think we need to have hope because usually, in these kind of games, we play better.

"We have to have focus but in the difficult games usually we play well and I think we can do the same on Wednesday.

If we're going to criticise Ancelotti, then it's asking why his players aren't fancying playing 'lesser' teams and why they're upping their game against the bigger teams.

I think it's a bit of a nonsense to slate him as arrogant for playing that 11 last night. Even more of a nonsense to think Iwobi changes anything.

We have seen plenty of these performances over the past few years and the common denominator is the players. I would personally have picked someone with a bit more pace on the right and moved James central but I can understand Carlo not wanting to drop Sigurdsson after his performance on last Wednesday.

 

[catcherintherye]

Yeah thats all fair. I'm not saying i'm right and you're wrong, the point was more that just hoping you get to capitalise on a set piece and that you'll keep a clean sheet isn't a great way to win games. It will work sometimes, of course, but I think we'd have lost some of these games playing that way too, simply because it's not a sustainable way to win games.

Yes I agree. It's not an ideal situation, but I think it's the best situation we've got mid season. The alternatives from last night are;
1) We tried to do the above, but with a much smaller team
2) We tried to play a different way and competely failed.

 

[catcherintherye]

Leeds and Southampton are the two teams that have the most intense pressure on the opposing half (PPDA).

Do they play a high line?

I mean I'm not sure we've lost to Southampton at home only away.

I'll try to clarify my point, against top teams, who can to attack us, keep the ball, and press forward, we are well suited to counter attack. I don't think thats what West Ham, Fulham or Newcastle do. Leeds press chaotically and get picked apart with ease, which we did, but we missed lots of chances and had a very dubious goal chalked off.

 

[ToffeeTim]

It's easy to say "I would not have picked both Sigurdsson and Gomes" but he's got to play someone.

If you point the finger at Ancelotti with emphasis on arrogantly playing 3 luxury players in midfield then you have to give the alternative, your alternative of playing Iwobi...

Not for me.

Inexperienced centre back or not, Holgate was the clubs player of the season last year.
Godfrey has been great.

If both aren't capable of playing in their preferred positions at home to Fulham then we should pack their bags now.

Ultimately, that team should be beating Fulham.

They didn't, like with Newcastle - quite simply because they didn't fancy it.

Sometimes it's that simple.

After Newcastle Ancelotti said;

"Disappointed. Frustrated. We lost an opportunity. The reason was quite clear – Newcastle showed more spirit than us. They won a lot of duals, they won a lot of second balls – we gave them presents with a lot of corners.

“We have quality but without spirit, you are unable to show your quality.

When asked what Everton need to do in response, Ancelotti said: “It’s not difficult, just switch on your mental attitude.”

“We are not happy. The key point was that we didn’t have the same spirit as Newcastle.

“I know we have quality. The good run in the past is because we showed fantastic spirit on the pitch.

“Today, we forgot our spirit. We left it at home. We tried to play with quality but in this game, in all games to just try to play with quality isn’t enough. You have to sacrifice, concentration, motivation, ambition – we forgot this today”


In short then, they wanted it more. After Fulham, he's said;

"Now we have two difficult games to play but I think we need to have hope because usually, in these kind of games, we play better.

"We have to have focus but in the difficult games usually we play well and I think we can do the same on Wednesday.

If we're going to criticise Ancelotti, then it's asking why his players aren't fancying playing 'lesser' teams and why they're upping their game against the bigger teams.

I think it's a bit of a nonsense to slate him as arrogant for playing that 11 last night. Even more of a nonsense to think Iwobi changes anything.

Well it's the first game this season that I think he got it very wrong because he picked a team with Wednesday in mind. That's my take, be it right or wrong. Ancelotti is the only good thing going for the club right now, but he made mistakes yesterday for me.

We just can't expect that 11 to provide enough effort and energy to compete against a high press team. There are too many unreliable players lacking athleticism in that side. I think Iwobi would definitely have helped get us up the pitch last night. He lacks quality without doubt but he got us up the pitch well against Spurs, and does it regularly enough. Unfortunately his delivery can be woeful, but we didn't get into many positions yesterday.

Yesterday I split the blame between tactics and players. On the whole the players are 99% of the issue though.

 

[Carlito]

It all goes to pot whenever he deviates from the pragmatic instinct which told him at the beginning that most of these players are crap, and that he needs to keep things as simple as possible for them.

Sit deep, have the terrible selection of centre midfielders take turns running around and making a nuisance of themselves, and give Digne licence to join up with the attackers. Anything else is asking for trouble.

 

[GrandOldTeam]

We have seen plenty of these performances over the past few years and the common denominator is the players. I would personally have picked someone with a bit more pace on the right and moved James central but I can understand Carlo not wanting to drop Sigurdsson after his performance on last Wednesday.

I think this too mate.

I think his options are limited because there's no depth in that squad.

I said yesterday before the game I wanted to see King upfront to give us a focal point/outlet (but then I dont know how fit he is), and there was no width in the team (but then what options do we have to give that?)

But you then look at the other options and there's not much is there?

 

[hktoffee]

Well it's the first game this season that I think he got it very wrong because he picked a team with Wednesday in mind. That's my take, be it right or wrong. Ancelotti is the only good thing going for the club right now, but he made mistakes yesterday for me.

We just can't expect that 11 to provide enough effort and energy to compete against a high press team. There are too many unreliable players lacking athleticism in that side. I think Iwobi would definitely have helped get us up the pitch last night. He lacks quality without doubt but he got us up the pitch well against Spurs, and does it regularly enough. Unfortunately his delivery can be woeful, but we didn't get into many positions yesterday.

If we are to spend on significant amount of cash on three new players then they will be a rb, another cm with aggression and work-rate and an attacker who can play up front and on the wing aka an option other than DCL.

 

[MisterJ]

It was a bad game with a limp performance. However, no time to dwell on it as City are up next on Wednesday. Pack the Defence and Midfield and go out and play.

 

[GrandOldTeam]

Well it's the first game this season that I think he got it very wrong because he picked a team with Wednesday in mind. That's my take, be it right or wrong. Ancelotti is the only good thing going for the club right now, but he made mistakes yesterday for me.

We just can't expect that 11 to provide enough effort and energy to compete against a high press team. There are too many unreliable players lacking athleticism in that side. I think Iwobi would definitely have helped get us up the pitch last night. He lacks quality without doubt but he got us up the pitch well against Spurs, and does it regularly enough. Unfortunately his delivery can be woeful, but we didn't get into many positions yesterday.

The way I see it, he could have played Mina+Keane instead of Godfrey and Holgate.

He also could have played Iwobi and Bernard.

Godfrey/Holgate should be enough against Fulham.

Iwobi+Bernard - not sure either off the off the ball aspect you and me referred to as desperately lacking.

I don't think Mina/Keane/Iwobi/Bernard makes a blind bit off difference when players just don't fancy it.

You do have to factor in the number of minutes, I'd rather Godfrey/Holgate against Fulham than Man City.

If you aren't competing/pressing/winning the ball then you deserve to lose.

 

[MikeH72]

I think this too mate.

I think his options are limited because there's no depth in that squad.

I said yesterday before the game I wanted to see King upfront to give us a focal point/outlet (but then I dont know how fit he is), and there was no width in the team (but then what options do we have to give that?)

But you then look at the other options and there's not much is there?

I don’t think playing 5 slow central midfielders was the right thing to do, regardless of what you think of Iwobi.

 

[Egil Olsen]

He’s a luxury galactico player James. Not the type of player you need in your team when the opposition is squeezing the life out of you and giving no time on the ball and getting stuck into you. A couple of years ago he would have been the ideal player to have on against a Fulham type club, times have changed now it seems, teams just come here and don’t even allow us to play on our pitch anymore and we simply don’t even have a response. It’s heartbreaking.

It is obvious that JR's skills do not fit the current system. It is the manager's responsibility. Bielsa often uses an enganche, and that's a role I envision JR in.

Anyway, we have players to play in a completely different way than we do. Allan is a player who first and foremost excelled under Sarri as a player who regained the ball high in the field, and who played in a high pressure system. AD is also a player with a great engine, and would not have had any problems playing this way. Both of these players' skills are not fully utilized in the current system.

Richarlison is also a player who has a lot of energy in his game, which is also not used. Digne also has a large engine, and usually gets better throughout the match. We have players to play in a completely different way, and I'm sure we would have been better as a team. It is possible we had lost several games against the supposed best, but we had beaten teams like Fulham.

 

[hktoffee]

The way I see it, he could have played Mina+Keane instead of Godfrey and Holgate.

He also could have played Iwobi and Bernard.

Godfrey/Holgate should be enough against Fulham.

Iwobi+Bernard - not sure either off the off the ball aspect you and me referred to as desperately lacking.

I don't think Mina/Keane/Iwobi/Bernard makes a blind bit off difference when players just don't fancy it.

If you aren't competing/pressing/winning the ball then you deserve to lose.

Think the biggest problem is that some players weren’t working hard enough or they just simply don’t have the work-rate in the middle yesterday. I know we should be able to change things much earlier but these players just let our manager down big time with performance like this.

 

[nsno-chris]

The way I see it, he could have played Mina+Keane instead of Godfrey and Holgate.

He also could have played Iwobi and Bernard.

Godfrey/Holgate should be enough against Fulham.

Iwobi+Bernard - not sure either off the off the ball aspect you and me referred to as desperately lacking.

I don't think Mina/Keane/Iwobi/Bernard makes a blind bit off difference when players just don't fancy it.

You do have to factor in the number of minutes, I'd rather Godfrey/Holgate against Fulham than Man City.

If you aren't competing/pressing/winning the ball then you deserve to lose.

It’s all comes down too, Doucoure Gylfi and Gomes just decided that pressing was not going to occur. They won the midfield, forced us back and allowed them to dictate everything

Woeful effort from everyone in the middle of the park

 

[Jim Hopper]

If you aren't competing/pressing/winning the ball then you deserve to lose.

The concern for me is we tend not to do this a lot... it’s one thing most teams in this league have incorporated into their play except for us... even with the players we have available it’s something that can be implemented, standing off and backing off and hoping to catch teams on the counter when we don’t even have the players to do that is just asking for more trouble as we keep seeing - then again it doesn’t help we don’t have the players capable of putting that required level of effort in for the majority of the game (Gomes in particularly)