Still reeling on yesterday's result, like you all, very little surprises me with our team , missing opportunities to progress on a regular basis has become the norm from week to week.
The summary from the manager is intriguing and ,I would imagine impossible to correct. Playing without spirit has to be the absolute base a team can go to. We've seen our captain come out after a game on numerous occasions after abject performances stating the effort wasn't there. So I would have thought if it just happened once there would be an absolute dressing down from management and never would it be seen again,no ?.
I played at a real low level of football, ( left back,as I was the worse of three left footed players ). Playing for 15 years I can honestly say ,me, or none of my team mates ever once didn't play without spirit, christ , we never trained on wet cold nights after work without spirit !.
How can anyone, no matter what level, play without spirit ?. Does it mean , you can't be arsed to compete, is it to not try ?. To not care about the result ?. given the fan base , how do you " not care " . The minimum Evertonians expect is this. How could any player not have the respect to play for the fans ,for their coaches, manager, doorman, canteen staff, for themselves for goodness sake.
Not being good enough is another matter, and I'm ok with that.
Brett Angel wasn't good enough, for those who watched him though, I don't think you could of accused him of not playing without spirit.
Certainly I watched him for a couple of seasons at non league level, couldn't level that at him.
So what does a manager do when he comes across this ?. The easy answer is to send them packing, but realistic, you can't sell all the players , replace them with spirited players minus the talent, Everton would soon be in trouble, paying of huge contracts and a relegation battle would more than likely ensue.
So I trust Ancelotti to get it right over the next couple of years and move on these players who play without spirit.I think he is turning us around ,I like he's signings this season, Godfrey plays with passion, and signings like him will get us back to players who want to play for our club.
So, getting rid of two this season, would send out the message , which two though ?. For me Sigurdsson, and any captain that can't inspire his team on a regular basis has to go, as much as I've been a fan of Seamus, time is up.
Needed this therapy to move on from losing at home yesterday.