2020/21 Marcel Brands

[TheSecondComing]

When was the last time we played a team off the park?

 

[ArtetaMoney]

When was the last time we played a team off the park?

That friendly that we won 28-0

 

[Nymzee]

The squad is unbalanced with various obvious holes.

No manager would do better with this squad because Brands has left us with 1 striker for large parts of the season and various weaknesses across the midfield.

Whilst we still need parts added we still have a RB in the squad, a LB, we have CB's, we had 3 centre mids, we had a LW, a RW and a ST fit.

We somehow thought Gylfi up front vs bottom 3 team Fulham would suffice.

That's not on Brands.

 

[Lanolin]

Indeed the midfield still is a major issue and I can see why Ancelotti set up against Fulham the way he did. IMO he expected the midfield 3 to push Fulham right up the pitch, allowing people like Digne and Coleman to push up.

It failed massively, so I ask myself; is this Ancelotti trying to implement a system on the training ground that he knows may or may not work in a game; but he wants it drilled into the players so when the quality is there, players can adapt.

Or has he too much faith and loyalty, because he’s such a good man manager he builds that relationship.

Either way, a component midfield win that game easily, they control West Ham and Leeds and allow people like Rodriguez the freedom because they resort to dropping deep.

Whilst there’s many flaws with how we’re playing and things being tried, I’m more than happy to see out the 3 years because I guarantee we’ll be a much more consistent team by then

Surely that's a pretty damning indictment of Brands' recruitment though? I mean against Fulham we played a midfield 3 with 2 of his signings in it, who cost about £50m, and they were completely outplayed by a midfield made up of players who moved during he same period, for about a fifth of the price. The squad against Fulham had 14 Brands signings in it, and yet it was a truly awful performance, one of the worst i've seen. This is what I mean about improvement on paper and improvement on the pitch. The squad looks better, it's probably worth more, but surely 3 years is enough time to put together a side that won't get dominated by a team that looks almost certain to be relegated.

 

[nsno-chris]

Surely that's a pretty damning indictment of Brands' recruitment though? I mean against Fulham we played a midfield 3 with 2 of his signings in it, who cost about £50m, and they were completely outplayed by a midfield made up of players who moved during he same period, for about a fifth of the price. The squad against Fulham had 14 Brands signings in it, and yet it was a truly awful performance, one of the worst i've seen. This is what I mean about improvement on paper and improvement on the pitch. The squad looks better, it's probably worth more, but surely 3 years is enough time to put together a side that won't get dominated by a team that looks almost certain to be relegated.

and by the same account those squad member still go Old Trafford and come from behind to deliver a 3-3 draw, beat spurs 5-4 in the cup and given us a brilliant away record

There something wrong at home, drastically.

 

[Toffe3m4n]

Should collect his P45 for iwobi alone.
That should still set alarm bells ringing for every Evertonian that he thought that was a good deal. Ok you can make mistakes we all do. But that one. THAT one. I can still remember the hours leading up to that transfer, sitting there thinking WTF are you doing.

Again - Iwobi really wasn't the bad buy that some insist that he was. It's clear at this point that he's a valued member of the squad.

 

[Bullens Rd]

Waste of space with probably, apart from Bale, the easiest job in world football.

 

[Lanolin]

and by the same account those squad member still go Old Trafford and come from behind to deliver a 3-3 draw, beat spurs 5-4 in the cup and given us a brilliant away record

There something wrong at home, drastically.

Yeah i'm not saying all the players are awful or anything, they clearly aren't. I just mean you're saying we had a game plan against Fulham but the midfielders literally weren't good enough to carry it out. Not just not quite good enough to perfect it, but not even good enough for it to be clear that it even was the game plan - we didn't just not push them back for the majority of the 90 minutes, we didn't push them back at all. If that was a one off it would be different, but it's not. Our midfield has consistently been steamrollered over the 3 years he's been here, despite him signing about half a dozen players for that position at god knows what cost. It's a concern for me.

 

[D410]

If we want to be in Europe every season then we need a squad capable to meet that objective. big big decisions to be made this summer.

 

[Gilbert..]

Again - Iwobi really wasn't the bad buy that some insist that he was. It's clear at this point that he's a valued member of the squad.

If the squad was even just a bit more half decent he wouldnt get a look in.
I cant start on iwobi again. It winds me up how stupid my club was buying him. Arsenal are still pissing themselves laughing.

 

[Lanolin]

Again - Iwobi really wasn't the bad buy that some insist that he was. It's clear at this point that he's a valued member of the squad.

He was at the price. He's an adequate PL player, but £28m was way, way, way over an acceptable fee.

 

[Toffe3m4n]

He was at the price. He's an adequate PL player, but £28m was way, way, way over an acceptable fee.

Was it? considering his age and his form at Arsenal it could've been worse like.

 

[Bluestar]

The squad is unbalanced with various obvious holes.

No manager would do better with this squad because Brands has left us with 1 striker for large parts of the season and various weaknesses across the midfield.

It wasn’t one striker though. The club had Tosun on the books who was unshiftable.
They also have Richarlison and Bernard.

Above all else, midfield and CB / LB cover had to be sorted last summer. Other positions had to wait.

We are still dealing with the legacy of 200-300m of wasted signings.

 

[Efcjake]

Except that assumes performance in a vacuum. It’s possible for us to have improved and our league position not because other teams have improved, too. This season is incredibly competitive, at least from 2nd in the league down.

His job is to improve us relative to our competition. If he doesn't do that then he isn't very good.

 

[Efcjake]

Well the squad isn't at a similar level, is it?

If it finishes 8th again this year then it is.