I understand what you’re saying, but I don’t agree. Allardyce put together a back 3 (when we’re tactically comfortable with 2 CBs), started Mangala (who hasn’t had even a week of training), sent out a pairing of Gana and Schneiderlin (who we haven’t seen work well together for a solid year), neglected to play anyone who can connect play in midfield (Rooney or Sigurdsson, for instance), played Martina as LWB (when he can just barely do a job at LB), started Bolasie and Niasse (each of whom works hard, but they serve us better as subs), and clearly had no plan for how we would use the ball (you can’t ONLY defend with your backs to the wall—you need to relieve pressure somehow). The man is an absolute idiot. He set them up for failure and they failed. Maybe some of them downed tools (I really don’t think they did, except for maybe Schneiderlin, but he’s been shit all season). But, they were trying to protect a fort with nerf guns and one hand tied behind their backs. I wouldn’t blame them for downing tools, if they did. Allardyce is the worst type of English manager. Tactically clueless and dependent entirely upon his ability to motivate.