Cannot think of a less effective defence for a DoF than 'the players were bought for the previous managers system'. I mean, it's literally the definition of the job to prevent that.
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You get to a “chicken or the egg” situation with that too
Whose more at fault, Brands for signing players expecting the next manager to use them in the manner he intended them to be used, or the club for bringing in a manager who has other plans when it comes to formations?
Terrible at his job.
I wouldnt even give him another transfer window.
Sack Carlo, scrap the DoF role and appoint Moshiri as player manager.
I wouldnt even give him another transfer window.
Sack Carlo, scrap the DoF role and appoint Moshiri as player manager.
Well that's hard to prevent and you can cherry pick examples from all types of clubs and managers, but certain types of players need certain types of systems. United of course don't have a DOF, but also can't seem to find a place for Pogba. But back on topic, I think you grade a DOF on the body of work of players available to use, just as you grade a manager on results given the players available. Of the 6 you list:
Sidibe and Gomes have been very useful
Gbamin is injured
Delph and Iwobi have been disappointing
Kean is a mystery, but clearly not up to it at the moment
gonetomorrow
Player Valuation: £70m
Did Ancelotti have someone acquiring players for him when he was winning all his trophies?
I'd rather he did the job himself to be honest.
I'd rather he did the job himself to be honest.
Ancelotti has never bought his own players.
He has had a DoF at every club he's been at.
gonetomorrow
Player Valuation: £70m
Can't argue with that I suppose!
Saint Domingo
Player Valuation: £90m
Bit of an oversimplification. I’m saying that he bought decent players that in Silva’s system wouldn’t have been exposed as much. Gbamin got injured (not Brand’s fault), Richarlison was earmarked for the wide position and Walcott was back up, Ancelotti moved Richarlison and then Walcott got injured (not Brand’s fault). Problems within the team have been exacerbated by the tactical change and injuries. I’m sure if we’d had Ancelotti at the beginning of the season we might not have bought Iwobi and we potentially may have looked at quicker wide players if we knew Richarlison was earmarked as a striker.
None of that counters what I said. It shouldn't matter who the manager is or what their favoured formation is if you're doing it right. If one managerial appointment makes half your signings obsolete you've messed up big time.
At what exactly? Carrying the shopping?
Saint Domingo
Player Valuation: £90m
It hasn’t made half of them obsolete
Digne
Mina
Richarlison
Gbamin
Lossl
Delph
Kean
Gomes
All can be used by Ancelloti in whatever formation he wants.
Bernard and Iwobi would clearly be better at either number 10 or tucked infield rather than outwide in a midfield 4. Hasn’t rendered them obsolete, just not as effective.
My point is not that Brands bought poor players, it’s that injuries have exposed the weakness of the team combined with the tactical shift by Ancelotti.
Chelsea bought Jorginho for Sarri, Lampard comes in and changes tactics and all of a sudden Jorginho doesn’t fit the system. Didn’t make him a bad buy, doesn’t make him a bad player, but all of a sudden looks a waste of money when Lampard prefers faster players.
You must remember the dross that he is moving out at the same time .It is stupid to judge him yet just as it would be to judge Carlo for last night's charade.
cf definition of useful below
Gomes has 13 starts and 15 appearances despite missing 17 fixtures
Sidibe has 17 starts and 22 appearances
Whether either is a "best fit" for the Everton squad you want to see is beside the point. Neither has been a liability and it's the DOF's job to find better players as well as the best players. It may be hard to imagine, but Brands has some limitations to how he achieves squad development, including financial limitations. From what you'd read online it's like he's not aware of other players, or that players themselves don't have their own preferences on where they play or live (or in the case of a French striker that Moonface missed on, his wife's preferences on where to live.)
So, yes, both players have been very useful.
Black Belt Jones
Player Valuation: £25m
If you're talking about fitting the club then isn't one of the strongest parts of our identity, maybe the strongest, the fact that you have to try and you have to put your foot in? For better or worse, a gifted but lazy player who shits out of 50/50s will have a hard time at Goodison. A player who makes mistakes, but does his honest best has the respect of the fans.
I wonder if the DoF cares about this particularly when buying players like Iwobi - like welcome to Everton Alex, you're going to have 40,000 people raging at you every other Saturday, but just try and do your best. Seems like a massive disconnect.
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