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2020/21 Carlo Ancelotti

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MikelsGoat said:
I keep reading people say hes doing marvelously with this squad.

Im taking nothing away from Carlo here, but the squad isn't as bad as people make out, sure it lacks depth in some areas, but we have some very, very, very good players.

Top 4 would be overachieving of course, but can we stop pretending we have Brighton players please.
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We have some very very good players, but also some bad ones. There shouldn’t be a world where James Rodriguez trains with Jonjoe Kenny but that was Everton before the January window.

I actually think January did us a favour squad wise getting a good bit more of the deadwood out.

I’m not suddenly going to pretend that Coleman Davies Siggurdson Iwobi are brilliant players now because they’re not. They’re being maximised to their best form by a very good manager.

I think we’ve got an excellent core now of Godfrey Holgate Keane Mina Digne Docuoure Allan James Richarlison DCL to build on, it’s a lot better than it has been recently. Some other squads though have 15-20 players they might consider at that level though.
 
alphabet said:
The way I understood the comment is that he wants to get top4, if only for a few days, as it puts pressure on teams playing after us and keeps us in the Euro mix.
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Yeah, he's basically saying we want to be in the top four, we want to be in the conversation, but he's too canny to pin his colours to the mast of this deeply flawed group of players. He hasn't been given the tools to aim for the top four yet. The fact that he has the squad in the mix at this point of the season is a testament to him, but he knows he can't rely on these lads. Some he will rely on, some he knows will let him down either mentally or technically.

To date, Carlo has signed two of his own transfer targets: James and Allan. Doucoure and Godfrey were "club" signings, as Carlo puts it. They've done really well, but he will want more of his own in before he starts to put his reputation on the line. Besides, Big Sam would love nothing more than to piss on Moshiri's chips come Thursday, and there are enough mercurial types in our squad to let that happen...
 
Saint Domingo said:
We have some very very good players, but also some bad ones. There shouldn’t be a world where James Rodriguez trains with Jonjoe Kenny but that was Everton before the January window.

I actually think January did us a favour squad wise getting a good bit more of the deadwood out.

I’m not suddenly going to pretend that Coleman Davies Siggurdson Iwobi are brilliant players now because they’re not. They’re being maximised to their best form by a very good manager.

I think we’ve got an excellent core now of Godfrey Holgate Keane Mina Digne Docuoure Allan James Richarlison DCL to build on, it’s a lot better than it has been recently. Some other squads though have 15-20 players they might consider at that level though.
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Leicester won the league with 3 very good players in Vardy, Kante and Mahrez, the rest were journeymen and very average footballers.

It’s all about desire and hunger and good organisation from management. We have enough quality to finish top 4 if we want it enough.
 
Saint Domingo said:
We have some very very good players, but also some bad ones. There shouldn’t be a world where James Rodriguez trains with Jonjoe Kenny but that was Everton before the January window.

I actually think January did us a favour squad wise getting a good bit more of the deadwood out.

I’m not suddenly going to pretend that Coleman Davies Siggurdson Iwobi are brilliant players now because they’re not. They’re being maximised to their best form by a very good manager.

I think we’ve got an excellent core now of Godfrey Holgate Keane Mina Digne Docuoure Allan James Richarlison DCL to build on, it’s a lot better than it has been recently. Some other squads though have 15-20 players they might consider at that level though.
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It's all a matter of perspective. Once we strengthen a few more areas (could be as little as 2 or 3 good ), our bench becomes Coleman, Davies, sigurdsson, iwobi, holegate and probably gomes. That is not a bad bench to have.
 
BrendanGOT said:
He is though if we finish 4th especially but I'd argue even finishing 5th and 6th would be a marvelous job for what he's got at his disposal. I'd say we're comfortably the 7th or 8th best squad on paper and we're also competing with Spurs, Chelsea and Liverpool for those 3 spots. So it's a big ask imo. Probably gaurenteed that we'll need to beat Chelsea and West Ham to secure one of those spots too.

Edit: can't write off Villa either, they've 2 games in hand, 6pts off 4th and we've to play them twice
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Its certainly going to be difficult, we are competing with teams who are playing very well and also have good players.

Saint Domingo said:
We have some very very good players, but also some bad ones. There shouldn’t be a world where James Rodriguez trains with Jonjoe Kenny but that was Everton before the January window.

I actually think January did us a favour squad wise getting a good bit more of the deadwood out.

I’m not suddenly going to pretend that Coleman Davies Siggurdson Iwobi are brilliant players now because they’re not. They’re being maximised to their best form by a very good manager.

I think we’ve got an excellent core now of Godfrey Holgate Keane Mina Digne Docuoure Allan James Richarlison DCL to build on, it’s a lot better than it has been recently. Some other squads though have 15-20 players they might consider at that level though.
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City, United, Chelsea all have good squads.

The rest, not so great IMO.

Im talking squads, not first 11, I mean if Leicester miss Vardy, they have nada, there's a perception that other teams have better squads, but I think most, bar the 3 I mentioned have a similar lack of depth as we do.
 

BrendanGOT said:
He is though if we finish 4th especially but I'd argue even finishing 5th and 6th would be a marvelous job for what he's got at his disposal. I'd say we're comfortably the 7th or 8th best squad on paper and we're also competing with Spurs, Chelsea and Liverpool for those 3 spots. So it's a big ask imo. Probably gaurenteed that we'll need to beat Chelsea and West Ham to secure one of those spots too.
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I don't think West Ham will finish in a European place, 7th at best.
I also think Man Utd will get dragged into the battle for CL place.

Only City are guaranteed CL football next season.
 
JLW said:
I don't think West Ham will finish in a European place, 7th at best.
I also think Man Utd will get dragged into the battle for CL place.

Only City are guaranteed CL football next season.
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If West Ham take 7th which is normally a European place then for us that leaves 8 teams (Inc Villa) competing for 6 European spots. Gonna be tough.
 
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MikelsGoat said:
Its certainly going to be difficult, we are competing with teams who are playing very well and also have good players.


City, United, Chelsea all have good squads.

The rest, not so great IMO.

Im talking squads, not first 11, I mean if Leicester miss Vardy, they have nada, there's a perception that other teams have better squads, but I think most, bar the 3 I mentioned have a similar lack of depth as we do.
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I thought we had the 9th best squad at the start of the season. 8th when Wolves sold Jota and then Jiminez got injured.

I think the sky six all have deeper squads. Arsenal could put out a front three of Aubemayang Lacazette Pepe and if all were injured could still play Saka Martinelli Willian for example. If we lose DCL or Richy we’re down to nada. Spurs can pick three from Bale Son Kane Moura Vinicius Lamela. These players are much better than what we had in Bernard Tosun and Gordon effectively.

I think other teams do have deeper better squads but the problem is they have lesser managers who when their plan A doesn’t work have nothing else. Rodgers being the prime example. If Maddison or Vardy are missing he ain’t winning even though he has better striking options on the bench than we did when we went to Wolves with James and Siggurdson up front.
 
Saint Domingo said:
We have some very very good players, but also some bad ones. There shouldn’t be a world where James Rodriguez trains with Jonjoe Kenny but that was Everton before the January window.

I actually think January did us a favour squad wise getting a good bit more of the deadwood out.

I’m not suddenly going to pretend that Coleman Davies Siggurdson Iwobi are brilliant players now because they’re not. They’re being maximised to their best form by a very good manager.

I think we’ve got an excellent core now of Godfrey Holgate Keane Mina Digne Docuoure Allan James Richarlison DCL to build on, it’s a lot better than it has been recently. Some other squads though have 15-20 players they might consider at that level though.
Click to expand...

It's also worth noting a lot of the good, has really been down to his doing. Calvert-Lewin was a brillaint target man before he arrived but not a brilliant striker. Davies was pretty hopeless and now looks a player. Iwobi was hopeless and is better now, and the same with Sigurdsson too. Both Keane and Mina have enjoyed their best run of form under him as well. It doesn't sound a lot, but thats 6 players he's improved and made into either first team regulars or worthwhile squad players.

I hope there's more to come with Richarlison. Before the last 4-5 weeks he ws having the season DCL had at the back end last year, then all of a suddent DCL sprang into life. You kind of hope Richarlison now starts a run like that where he's close to a goal a game over a 10-12 game run and really kicks himself on into that world class bracket.

Holgate is another, not quite kicked on yet, and may not, but has some potentially too. I'd probably throw Pickford in their too as someone who is threatening some very consistent displays (it was around this time last year Keane really started to kick on as well).

So the squad looks a lot better. In honesty only really Bernard has gone backwards (while I do accept a few have stalled). Before you get to adding James, Godfrey, Allan & Doucoure, he has made existing players better, and players who in honesty many of us had rightly written off long before.
 

Saint Domingo said:
I thought we had the 9th best squad at the start of the season. 8th when Wolves sold Jota and then Jiminez got injured.

I think the sky six all have deeper squads. Arsenal could put out a front three of Aubemayang Lacazette Pepe and if all were injured could still play Saka Martinelli Willian for example. If we lose DCL or Richy we’re down to nada. Spurs can pick three from Bale Son Kane Moura Vinicius Lamela. These players are much better than what we had in Bernard Tosun and Gordon effectively.

I think other teams do have deeper better squads but the problem is they have lesser managers who when their plan A doesn’t work have nothing else. Rodgers being the prime example. If Maddison or Vardy are missing he ain’t winning even though he has better striking options on the bench than we did when we went to Wolves with James and Siggurdson up front.
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The point I make with Arsenal, is if Ancelotti had gone there, and Arteta had gone here, where would both be.I think they would be in the hunt for 2nd, and we would probaby be in the bottom half of the league.
 

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