APN_EFC
Player Valuation: £25m
Thanks for putting the attitude interviews and references together.
[This was supposed to be a short reply but I just kept writing....and i think it's self-therapy more than anything.]
It's significant because we know a lot less than what's actually going on, and so if Coleman and Ancelotti - who both are men of few words normally - come out with these kinds of comments we can assume it's worse than what we see.
I can't work this out though: what are the players doing wrong, and who are the players who show this lack of attitude?
Looking at the teams from last night and that one that preceded Coleman's interview, who are the exact players who are showing this lack of fight and character, because it's hard to see from media and social media who it might be? And when we talk about character, I think it's very easy and shallow to just make a judgement that the younger players who are showing their wealth and on Snap and Insta all the time are lazy, and the 'serious' older ones are more professional. I think character and fight is also this mentality that you somehow find the energy and determination to play well and work hard, even when you're low on confidence or not in good form. It's rare to get that character. So even if we have good players, nice guys, seemingly hard-working professionals (e.g. Gylfi) the lack of character comes from their inability to
- concentrate at the most important moments
- find the extra bit of pace or energy to chase or make a run
- have the focus to pass or shoot or tackle really well even though they've not seen the ball for 20 mins
- have inner belief and confidence
Should we need a Big Dunc rallying cry or the Goodison crowd to get behind the team? In fact, the pandemic has shown the influence of the crowd for good and bad, and it has shown the real professionals are the team who can play for themselves and their teammates, not only to show the crowd and get reactions. For that reason, I think Carlo has done so well because even though we are at the same-ish league position of previous seasons, he has got 11 individuals to grind out results to get us to 8th or 9th. And some things have improved.
Here's my guess, based on very little evidence of who probably has the right character, and who doesnt:
The right character to continue in the team:
Pickford - seems to have made a comeback from that ridiculous hate campaign, and has played in high pressure games for England.
DCL - has shown great progress and his work on his fitness and his weaknesses show his character
James - has proven himself under pressure for Columbia and the biggest teams
Godfrey - consistently good and he embodies the spirit we're looking for
Allan, Doucoure, Digne - play well most of the time
Richarlison - is normally good, I can't help thinking that isolation and the pandemic have hurt him. Imagine being from a very social, family-oriented, warm culture and being on your own for 18 months, and seeing your country is being ravaged by Covid.
Davies - worth working on - at least he runs around
Young players, inc. Gordon, Simms, Branthwaite etc - have to be worth trying if only for passion and wanting to make a name for themselves
That leaves 2 characters of players who have the 'wrong attitude'. I cannot believe that anyone goes out to deliberately fail, but I do think that only a minority of players have the mental strength to be consistently good.
1) Players who are individually good professionals, but couldn't perform when it mattered:
Walcott, Sigurdsson, Keane
2) Players who are losing their way or talent, and I don't think we can turn their careers around
Bernard, Iwobi, Holgate, Gomes, Delph
Seamus Coleman - like latter-day Baines & Jagielka - is a 'model professional' with the right attitude, but I don't think he's the boss on the pitch. We need more leaders around him to help him, or a more vocal, powerful captain. Yesterday was our first choice XI. even though it's an impressive looking team, I think the 'lack of fight/attitude' also comes from
- no backup on the bench pushing the first XI, or giving them a rest.
- who is the leader on the pitch? You look at our last really good team, and I think there were quiet leaders in Baines, Jags, Coleman and Distin, but then big characters in Cahill, Howard, love him or hate him Neville and Arteta as well. Lukaku was a leader too, he's the type of person I'm talking about too.
- do they really know what they want? why are they here? DCL seems to be talking about the long-term , so too Godfrey, Davies, Coleman, Pickford, even James and Allan talk about the 'project', but I cannot believe that they didn't have the willpower to fight against some of the teams we saw this year.
Carlo has to be given more time, but it's crucial that he and Brands buy leaders and characters, not just the missing links in the team.
[This was supposed to be a short reply but I just kept writing....and i think it's self-therapy more than anything.]
It's significant because we know a lot less than what's actually going on, and so if Coleman and Ancelotti - who both are men of few words normally - come out with these kinds of comments we can assume it's worse than what we see.
I can't work this out though: what are the players doing wrong, and who are the players who show this lack of attitude?
Looking at the teams from last night and that one that preceded Coleman's interview, who are the exact players who are showing this lack of fight and character, because it's hard to see from media and social media who it might be? And when we talk about character, I think it's very easy and shallow to just make a judgement that the younger players who are showing their wealth and on Snap and Insta all the time are lazy, and the 'serious' older ones are more professional. I think character and fight is also this mentality that you somehow find the energy and determination to play well and work hard, even when you're low on confidence or not in good form. It's rare to get that character. So even if we have good players, nice guys, seemingly hard-working professionals (e.g. Gylfi) the lack of character comes from their inability to
- concentrate at the most important moments
- find the extra bit of pace or energy to chase or make a run
- have the focus to pass or shoot or tackle really well even though they've not seen the ball for 20 mins
- have inner belief and confidence
Should we need a Big Dunc rallying cry or the Goodison crowd to get behind the team? In fact, the pandemic has shown the influence of the crowd for good and bad, and it has shown the real professionals are the team who can play for themselves and their teammates, not only to show the crowd and get reactions. For that reason, I think Carlo has done so well because even though we are at the same-ish league position of previous seasons, he has got 11 individuals to grind out results to get us to 8th or 9th. And some things have improved.
Here's my guess, based on very little evidence of who probably has the right character, and who doesnt:
The right character to continue in the team:
Pickford - seems to have made a comeback from that ridiculous hate campaign, and has played in high pressure games for England.
DCL - has shown great progress and his work on his fitness and his weaknesses show his character
James - has proven himself under pressure for Columbia and the biggest teams
Godfrey - consistently good and he embodies the spirit we're looking for
Allan, Doucoure, Digne - play well most of the time
Richarlison - is normally good, I can't help thinking that isolation and the pandemic have hurt him. Imagine being from a very social, family-oriented, warm culture and being on your own for 18 months, and seeing your country is being ravaged by Covid.
Davies - worth working on - at least he runs around
Young players, inc. Gordon, Simms, Branthwaite etc - have to be worth trying if only for passion and wanting to make a name for themselves
That leaves 2 characters of players who have the 'wrong attitude'. I cannot believe that anyone goes out to deliberately fail, but I do think that only a minority of players have the mental strength to be consistently good.
1) Players who are individually good professionals, but couldn't perform when it mattered:
Walcott, Sigurdsson, Keane
2) Players who are losing their way or talent, and I don't think we can turn their careers around
Bernard, Iwobi, Holgate, Gomes, Delph
Seamus Coleman - like latter-day Baines & Jagielka - is a 'model professional' with the right attitude, but I don't think he's the boss on the pitch. We need more leaders around him to help him, or a more vocal, powerful captain. Yesterday was our first choice XI. even though it's an impressive looking team, I think the 'lack of fight/attitude' also comes from
- no backup on the bench pushing the first XI, or giving them a rest.
- who is the leader on the pitch? You look at our last really good team, and I think there were quiet leaders in Baines, Jags, Coleman and Distin, but then big characters in Cahill, Howard, love him or hate him Neville and Arteta as well. Lukaku was a leader too, he's the type of person I'm talking about too.
- do they really know what they want? why are they here? DCL seems to be talking about the long-term , so too Godfrey, Davies, Coleman, Pickford, even James and Allan talk about the 'project', but I cannot believe that they didn't have the willpower to fight against some of the teams we saw this year.
Carlo has to be given more time, but it's crucial that he and Brands buy leaders and characters, not just the missing links in the team.
Last edited:
