nogs

2 hours ago, Matt said:

No. There was clear instruction to play out of the back which, considering our midfield, was a poor tactical choice. 

He's had us playing out from the back since the Burnley game when he had hardly had time to take a training session yet. Why would he change for an away game against West Ham? If you put the horror show against Liverpool aside, we've won 3 drawn 1 and lost away at Man City in the league under Ancellotti. I'd say we're playing as well as can be expected five games into his tenure with a sub standard squad. 

3 minutes ago, MikeO said:

Was he subbed because he was injured? I thought it was because he was crap.

I was only listening to it on the radio but there was no mention of an injury. That said has he ever completed 90 mins for us? His conditioning seems very poor, even when he plays well we only get 45 mins out of him. 

23 minutes ago, Matt said:

I’m ranting in other threads at players but this is on him today. Might as well have played with 9

What's on him? That half our squad is shite and we've got a load of injuries? 

14 minutes ago, Matt said:

That’s how bad the two in midfield did today 

You must have seen something in the Liverpool match I didn't to think Schneiderlin would do any better. I've quoted the stats elsewhere - 11 Prem appearances for him this season, 2 wins. Keep him well away. If Gbamin isn't back soon, and the silence on him suggests he's not, I'd be looking at loan options this month rather than play Schneiderlin. 

14 minutes ago, Matt said:

I did and I’d rather Morgan played. 

But you moaned about our CMs sitting on our CBs toes?? That's all Schneiderlin does! 

34 minutes ago, Finn balor said:

Awful bench 

You can't put players on the bench who aren't fit. Got no problem with youngsters getting a chance myself. Again, the idea that we have any strength in the squad is a myth. 

10 hours ago, TallPaul1878 said:

We do need to sell some players. Whatever we can recoup from player sales will help, even if it is just to cut some losses. We paid the best part of £30m for Tosun, if we can sell him for £20m then it's a £10m loss but that's better than a £30m outlay on a player who doesn't play.

Same with many other players. If we can get half our money back it would help to cut those losses

Yes we do. But making a loss on players - and so many players at that - will mean our transfer budget takes a hit. Brands says so himself, don't expect the club to be going after the £60m players. 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/51114007

Unlikely to see us throwing money around this window then, and purse strings might even be tighter come the summer than they have been the past few years. Our problem is we don't have that many saleable assets. 

54 minutes ago, badaids said:

He was excellent yesterday. He needs to see more of the ball further up the field - would a free role suit him? I still wish he’d drive on more at the defence, he’s far too willing to check his runs or get stood up. It wouldn’t matter if he lost the ball as he does that often anyway, better to do it further up the field with the defence shitting themselves.  Also, he still seems very short on puff. What a player though!

I didn't see any of it yesterday but I thought he was excellent for an hour v Burnley, then have been disappointed not to see more of him since. He seems to have found his mojo playing in Ancellotti's system which gives him the freedom to drift inside, but is fitness a concern (and I don't just mean injuries)? I hope we can get him up to speed because it also frees Richarlison to play up top with DCL, which looks easily our best attacking option. 

12 hours ago, Zoo 2.0 said:

Schneiderlin's last appearance in the league was a 3-1 win against Chelsea. 

Which was the second game we'd won in the 11 league games he's started this. season. 

35 minutes ago, Finn balor said:

We have Delph, Morgan for short term fixes tho shukes. If Carlos here for five years he wants good players not shite.

A short term fix would be someone who came in and helped us win games. Every time Schneiderlin plays, we lose. He fixes fuck all. 

11 hours ago, MikeO said:

Stat was league games only so Liverpool not included.

Ah fair enough. 

2 hours ago, Bailey said:

Sorry for the late reply.

Burnley is a much easier kettle of fish, especially at home. They let us have it for most of our half. We aren't pressed from the 18 yard box like we are against City and Liverpool. Bernard would definitely help any team trying to control possession though, but Richarlison trying the same thing wouldn't. 

You say just kids but tactically they play the same way as the first 11. They constantly had the spare man in midfield too. Do you want Siggy and Schneiderlin to turn on the ball deep in their own half with someone breathing down their neck? Grealish tried similar last night and within seconds it was in the back of their net. Choudhry is kid too, with not a massive amount more of experience.

Yeh the formation was strange. To start it looked like Walcott was playing off DCL and his late runs were causing them problems but as the game went on he more or less marked himself out of the game. He was the only outlet in the first half and we found him when he made the run. Richarlison more or less marked himself all night.

Yeah I agree on how Liverpool were set up, absolutely how it should be, the whole club playing the same brand of football top to bottom. 

Have a look at the player positions https://www.whoscored.com/Matches/1434408/MatchReport/England-FA-Cup-2019-2020-Liverpool-Everton

To be fair its not dissimilar to Burnley, Newcastle or City. In practice we're pretty much playing 343, with the left sided forward (Bernard v Burnley, Richarlison in the other three games) dropping deepest to make up the extra man in midfield. 

I'm not sure why Walcott got the nod in this game over Kean or Richarlison, although he had a decent enough first half before going completely to shit, and I'm not sure why Richarlison has gone to the left after looking good playing further forward off DCL v Burnley. But it's the midfield positions that stand out a mile - look at that space between Sigurdsson and Schneiderlin! 

11 minutes ago, nogs said:

Got bored and did it. The stat is slightly misleading because 42 of the 50 were against Burnley and Newcastle. 10 of those 42 were DCL but he did score 3. None from 32 from the rest of the team would be an issue, except we won so it doesnt matter. 8 attempts in two games v City and Liverpool reserves is a bigger problem. 

Actually, WhoScored.com has it as 7 attempts v City and 11 v Liverpool. Which would make 60 in four games... 

3 hours ago, TallPaul1878 said:

Feel free to go and google them up for us

Got bored and did it. The stat is slightly misleading because 42 of the 50 were against Burnley and Newcastle. 10 of those 42 were DCL but he did score 3. None from 32 from the rest of the team would be an issue, except we won so it doesnt matter. 8 attempts in two games v City and Liverpool reserves is a bigger problem. 

1 hour ago, TallPaul1878 said:

It's an absolute disgrace. It's as if those at the top of the club have forgotten what is required to win football matches. An article came out today saying we snubbed the wonderkid who is banging them it at Bayern, Zirkzee. He admits that he was ready to sign a contract but the plug was pulled as the club wanted players like fucking Bolasie

I wouldn't worry about that. How sick must Arsenal fans feel about Gnabry? 

48 minutes ago, TallPaul1878 said:

I've been saying we need to start thinking outside of the box with recruitment. Stop chasing big names and look for diamonds in the rough. Some of them will stay with us for good, some will get sold for mega money. Either way we need to have a more sustainable recruitment policy than what we currently have and we need to ensure that players are attracted by the shirt and not the pay cheque.

Yep, spot on. 

9 minutes ago, Bailey said:

Mings is in the same category as Keane for me. We will massively over pay for a player that hasn't yet shown that he is able to play at the top level. I say top level because that it what his price will be. 

Put it this way, we probably signed Mina for not far off half as much as we could sign Mings for now. I would much prefer Mina. 

The same applied to Ake too. He is being quoted at £50+mil. I like him, but he isn't worth that. Ironically you want to sign that type of player when they get released by the top clubs, another angle that people on here have poured scorn over.

I'll also add into this, which players have we signed that are "stars"? We haven't signed anyone who had proven themselves as an elite player. We have paid over the odds for domestic players that aren't worth it... Siggy, Schneiderlin, Bolasie, Keane, Walcott, Keane, Delph etc etc

Sigurdsson, Walcott, Schneiderlin came here with big reputations. Delph has long been rated, rightly or wrongky, as a top pro. Keane is a media darling and conned Southgate into making him first choice England CB for a while. My point is, we've aimed for elite players and ended up getting the dregs of players who see themselves in that category, want the pay packet to back it up, but can't show they're worth it on the pitch. 

I don't think I suggested anyone released from a 'top' club, did I? I see that as dangerous. I want us to sign players on the way up, not down. 

43 minutes ago, Bailey said:

I agree about the CM / CB. They must be our priorities, including the type of midfielder you have mentioned.

I'm not so sure on some of the players as I fear that the Sheffield Utd players in particular look good because of who they play for and how they play. Lundstram in particular is a really limited player at this level. He isn't going to sort any of our problems. Mings could get into the Bournemouth side who ship goals for fun but then again I have been relatively impressed when I have seen him but not enough to suggest he is worth the price Villa paid or let alone the price we would have to pay. Having said that there isn't anyone I know of that I think would be worth going for instead that is significantly better. 

Exactly - you can't think of any ready-made stars who will come in and transform us. So let's stop pretending we're the big time and getting our pants pulled down signing 'stars' who turn out to be shit. Let's go back to investing in character and potential, players who are willing to learn, who are hungry to improve and have already shown they can step up when asked. I don't want us to be chasing the same players as the Sky 6 right now because we'll have to throw cash at them to compensate for the lack of European football we can offer and we'll end up with the mercenaries. I want hungry players that our supposedly world class coach can mould into winners. 

CB and CM all day long. 

It was stupidity going into the season with only three CBs, we're really lucky Holgate has come on as he has done but he's still learning, Mina is OK, Keane is just utter shit and needs moving on, especially as Ancellotti clearly wants his defenders to play football. We really need a leader, an organiser who can defend and play. I'd love Mings, Ben White has had a fantastic season at Leeds on loan from Brighton, we've been linked with Egan at Sheff Utd and he's the lynch pin of a very good defense so why not. 

CM, well its all about making sure we don't ever have to play Schneiderlin again really. I get the shouts for Cantwell coz he looks a good player but I think we need a genuine box to box all rounder rather than ANOTHER AM/no 10, we've still got Bernard, Sigurdsson and Iwobi! Rabiot would be great, especially as a loan makes sense with Gbamin and Gomes to come back. I think Mooy would be great at Everton, an absolute 100%er in the traditional Goodison hero mould. I've said it elsewhere but based on his performances this season, I'd love Lundstram back, his sheer energy and work rate are absolutely what we're crying out for in the middle. 

7 hours ago, Newty82 said:

Good to stir up a response there!!! Haha

I know it seems to stir up a negative reaction if you say anything slightly against Don Carlo...even if you aren't actually doing so! Let me say, I'm as excited as anyone to have him here. Awesome pedigree. However, as far as I'm concerned, it's an open book with empty pages that need writting.

I'm just calling it as I see it. And the last 2 games we have alarmingly turned to going backwards - A LOT. Under no pressure. Then put ourselves under pressure. I may just be scarred from previous attempts at this same play but we looked to making progress in this regard, first with Dunc where we absolutely did not do this. But the intensity has dithered and been replaced with much more passing about that back. Noticeable against Newcastle aswell.

Now I know there is more work to do, but the players haven't just decided to play this way themselves. They're being told to do so from somewhere. Basically I'm just a bit fearful that we try playing in a way that we don't have the players for.

Stay calm. It's not a critiscm. Just an honest innocent observation.

Keep calling it as you see it. Some of the interpretations of what constitutes criticism of Ancellotti is a bit bizarre tbh. Saying we've started passing backwards too much or that he picked a shit midfield against Liverpool is hardly calling for his head! 

1 hour ago, Bailey said:

Then why did we try and play out from the back in those two games? That's the bit I don't understand. We can knock the ball long and play for the second balls and put our stamp on the game from there. 

Even the likes of Richarlison, Walcott, DCL, Sidibe  (at right wing) aren't players who are going to keep hold of possession but can play really well in those long ball/counter situations. 

There is no doubt that Ancellotti has been dealt a shit hand with this side, but play that hand. That's all Ferguson did. Kept it simple and played the way the players can.

I don't think we did against Liverpool. We reverted to aimless hoof ball. Even when we should have scored 3 in the first half it annoyed me coz we weren't set up to go long, if Richarlison had been right up alongside DCL it might have worked but most of the time it just ceded possession. Like I've said elsewhere, I think Ancellotti was expecting a stronger Liverpool side and we got caught in two minds.

4 hours ago, Btay said:

Made money on Vlasic and Henry to be fair. Pickford needs to improve as well. 
All in all not one of those “big money” signings have been worth it. 135 million ( excluding pickford ) wasted. Steve Walsh only runs his mouth about how the board didn’t want Robertson and Maguire for 20 mil though, I wouldn’t have trusted him either after this shit show.

To be fair Robertson and Maguire left Hull that same summer Walsh and Koeman went on their diabolical spending spree. So if our board turned their nose up at Maguire for Keane, more fool them. We wouldn't have got Robertson with Liverpool after him. For £8m he was a an absolute steal. 

13 hours ago, Newty82 said:

Must admit, I'm a bit worried by the sight of us playing the ball backwards a lot in the last couple of games. And then getting ourselves into trouble by doing it in ever tighter spaces.

Watch this space on that one. Hopefully it's part of the coaching process and the players ate just trying to adopt to new strategies.

They've been completely unable to handle the high press from City or Liverpool. You go backwards under pressure when you don't trust your technique, you don't have the speed of thought or confidence to move the ball more positively under pressure or your team mates aren't showing for you. It will be a long road coaching that into some of these, some are just not good enough to get it. 

It was pretty depressing watching how Arteta had Arsenal flying into tackles and hunting in packs against Leeds second half last night.