2020/21 Carlo Ancelotti

[Gilbert..]

They certainly aren't the options we want, but it's surely understandable that people think they may have been better bets? Iwobi is frustrating as hell but he at least offers a willingness to carry the ball forward and more pace than the others. The team looked like it would be slow and one dimensional on paper, and it was slow and one dimensional on grass. I have no idea whether playing Iwobi would have changed the result, but I would have preferred to see it from a balance perspective nonetheless.

Alex iwobi. We're now officially scraping the bottom of the barrell. Im not even going to entertain the idea that he makes any difference.
The two more offensive fullbacks at home hasnt worked. We're not good enough to open up.
Our midfield and options for midfield are woeful other than being tight away from home.
Until we get some genuine width with pace then the midfield will just be a slow laborious handicap. The centre can handle allan and doucoure. But the 4 strung across including gomes sigurdsson and davies offers virtualy nothing. The options on the bench pretty much the same.
The club is crying out for new personel in positions that have been neglected for years.

 

[catcherintherye]

They certainly aren't the options we want, but it's surely understandable that people think they may have been better bets? Iwobi is frustrating as hell but he at least offers a willingness to carry the ball forward and more pace than the others. The team looked like it would be slow and one dimensional on paper, and it was slow and one dimensional on grass. I have no idea whether playing Iwobi would have changed the result, but I would have preferred to see it from a balance perspective nonetheless.

There is a big cavaet here, that Iwobi was awful against Spurs but yes Iwobi is a better wide right than Doucoure. Doucoure has been our best central midfielder, so we end up with a double negative too, that we lose a central midfielder and have an inneffective right winger.

I've said it a few times, but I thought we over-complicated the simple against Fulham. Iwobi is a right footed wide player, play him in there. Start Richarlinson up front with Bernard left, or play King up top with Richarlinson on the left. Choose between James and Sigurdsson in the 10. perm 2 from 3 with Doucoure, Davies and Gomes in the middle.

It's really clear to me, if you start asking these players to do 2 jobs at once, with or without the ball, or do things that aren't natural they fall apart. There is a wider question about why can't they do it, and with the money they are paid thats fair enough, but we are where we are, and if we keep repeating the same mistake you'll get the same confused performance. I'm almost beyond getting angry at the players now. Everyone knows,if you ask say Gylfi Sigurdsson to do anything other than be a number 10 he will be ineffective. There comes a point when a manager has to stop trying to do it.

 

[Bullens Rd]

12 minutes late to his press conference. Rumours the press officer has had to try and calm him down before starting as he was ready to unleash a public lynching of some of his players!

 

[Gilbert..]

There is a big cavaet here, that Iwobi was awful against Spurs but yes Iwobi is a better wide right than Doucoure. Doucoure has been our best central midfielder, so we end up with a double negative too, that we lose a central midfielder and have an inneffective right winger.

I've said it a few times, but I thought we over-complicated the simple against Fulham. Iwobi is a right footed wide player, play him in there. Start Richarlinson up front with Bernard left, or play King up top with Richarlinson on the left. Choose between James and Sigurdsson in the 10. perm 2 from 3 with Doucoure, Davies and Gomes in the middle.

It's really clear to me, if you start asking these players to do 2 jobs at once, with or without the ball, or do things that aren't natural they fall apart. There is a wider question about why can't they do it, and with the money they are paid thats fair enough, but we are where we are, and if we keep repeating the same mistake you'll get the same confused performance. I'm almost beyond getting angry at the players now. Everyone knows,if you ask say Gylfi Sigurdsson to do anything other than be a number 10 he will be ineffective. There comes a point when a manager has to stop trying to do it.

Iwobi was gash v spurs. Iwobi also started in the 2 nil defeat at home to newcastle. And was taken off after 60 mins because...wait for it. He was gash.

 

[Toffe3m4n]

Probably lost in translation.. but it sounds like he's already phoned it in for tomorrow night

 

[catcherintherye]

Iwobi was gash v spurs. Iwobi also started in the 2 nil defeat at home to newcastle. And was taken off after 60 mins because...wait for it. He was gash.

I agree mate, especially against Spurs, but at least Doucoure wasn't pulled out of position to accomodate him.

He would have been no worse than Doucoure was in the position, and Doucoure would have helped us in the middle. I just don't understand the logic.

 

[Lanolin]

Alex iwobi. We're now officially scraping the bottom of the barrell. Im not even going to entertain the idea that he makes any difference.
The two more offensive fullbacks at home hasnt worked. We're not good enough to open up.
Our midfield and options for midfield are woeful other than being tight away from home.
Until we get some genuine width with pace then the midfield will just be a slow laborious handicap. The centre can handle allan and doucoure. But the 4 strung across including gomes sigurdsson and davies offers virtualy nothing. The options on the bench pretty much the same.
The club is crying out for new personel in positions that have been neglected for years.

Like I said, they aren't the options we want, but let's not make out like this is the same as asking Moyes to break into the top 4 with Magaye Gueye. Thomas Hitzlsperger and Denis Stracqualursi. Iwobi is at least a competent top level footballer, we wildly overpaid for him but he'd get games at 90% of teams in the league no problem. I honestly don't know why people insist on making out like we have the worst squad in the league, it's really weird. I mean Harrison Reed has just completely controlled the game for 90 minutes against us. HARRISON REED!

 

[ToffeeTim]

Iwobi was gash v spurs. Iwobi also started in the 2 nil defeat at home to newcastle. And was taken off after 60 mins because...wait for it. He was gash.

We lost the game after Iwobi was subbed against Newcastle. The side lost all shape and were cut open by Newcastle.

 

[Gilbert..]

I agree mate, especially against Spurs, but at least Doucoure wasn't pulled out of position to accomodate him.

He would have been no worse than Doucoure was in the position, and Doucoure would have helped us in the middle. I just don't understand the logic.

Mate we just havent got the quality. Look at the signings to play wide the last few years. Bernard. Bolasie....
We're desperate for a bit of quality out wide.

 

[DaChunk]

Giving proper Moyes vibes in this presser

 

[Lanolin]

There is a big cavaet here, that Iwobi was awful against Spurs but yes Iwobi is a better wide right than Doucoure. Doucoure has been our best central midfielder, so we end up with a double negative too, that we lose a central midfielder and have an inneffective right winger.

I've said it a few times, but I thought we over-complicated the simple against Fulham. Iwobi is a right footed wide player, play him in there. Start Richarlinson up front with Bernard left, or play King up top with Richarlinson on the left. Choose between James and Sigurdsson in the 10. perm 2 from 3 with Doucoure, Davies and Gomes in the middle.

It's really clear to me, if you start asking these players to do 2 jobs at once, with or without the ball, or do things that aren't natural they fall apart. There is a wider question about why can't they do it, and with the money they are paid thats fair enough, but we are where we are, and if we keep repeating the same mistake you'll get the same confused performance. I'm almost beyond getting angry at the players now. Everyone knows,if you ask say Gylfi Sigurdsson to do anything other than be a number 10 he will be ineffective. There comes a point when a manager has to stop trying to do it.

That's it in a nutshell. As I said earlier, whether it would have made a difference to the result I don't know, but there's no doubt in my mind we would have looked more cohesive at least with players fulfilling roles they're capable in. The team looked unbalanced on paper on sunday, sometimes you can be surprised by how things turn out, and that has happened to me this season (Leeds away being a recent example) but this game turned out exactly like it looked like it would beforehand.

 

[Gilbert..]

We lost the game after Iwobi was subbed against Newcastle. The side lost all shape and were cut open by Newcastle.

Thats garbage. Iwobi and sigurdsson stunk the place out that night. We never lost at home to newcastle because iwobi was taken off. We lost because the attacking options of your alex iwobis offered feck all.

 

[ToffeeTim]

Thats garbage. Iwobi and sigurdsson stunk the place out that night. We never lost at home to newcastle because iwobi was taken off. We lost because the attacking options of your alex iwobis offered feck all.

When we take him off we lose balance. When we bring on perceived attacking subs we always lose our shape.

Doucoure played on the right the other night. I dont get it. Its not his role and stops him being effective.

 

[Pabbers]

A tough week for Carlo, and it shows.

The issue at his home wont have helped.

 

[Gilbert..]

When we take him off we lose balance. When we bring on perceived attacking subs we always lose our shape.

Doucoure played on the right the other night. I dont get it. Its not his role and stops him being effective.

Just shows how poor an option he is that we are dragging other players out there
Mate iwobi needs binning. He's part of the massive problem that we cant be on the front foot at home because he offers so so little.