2020/21 Carlo Ancelotti

[Lanolin]

I honestly don’t get how people can look at our squad and the way the are as individual players and their approach and attitude towards games and think we have anything other than a poor squad overall. We’ve got about 5 individual decent players who when fit and are on a good day are top drawer, it’s never often enough. When they aren’t on form we are left with a load of duds who have no desire to put in the extra effort nor have the will to do well. Too many journey men here for the money not for success or to see the club progress.

It's relative though isn't it? Is our squad poor when compared to City's, yes. Is it poor when compared to Sheffield United's, no. For me we have a squad that I would realistically expect to finish somewhere between 7th and 10th. As it is we've finished at the lower end of that scale, and we've done it playing some truly staggeringly awful football. I don't think Ancelotti has been a disaster or needs sacking or whatever, but I'd be lying if I said I thought he was doing well, or that I could see what his long term plan was.

 

[Stuartisitc1878]

We need better players. Doesn't matter who the manager is...Carlo, Moyes, Rogers or any other flavour of the month manager you want to throw in there, the squad is awful. It's slow, it's unbalanced and it has zero character or fight. I've watched Everton field teams of absolute yard dogs in the past with nowhere near the technical ability of a Richarlison or a James but they gave everything each and every game because they had personal pride and they cared. This lot have hidden behind the last 3/4 managers every time they decide it's too much effort and on this occasion it doesn't wash... it can't. We've a manager who's won it all - whether he's past it or not is very much up for debate but the recurring pattern here is regardless of the manager these players fail, every time they fail because they aren't good enough.
Now Carlo isn't blameless, the football over the season, especially at home has been awful but i do believe that's because Carlo clearly doesn't trust the players and lets be honest he has every right to not trust them, they've been given 18 months to prove they deserve to be part of his Everton and with the exception of maybe 4 or 5 players (not including this seasons signing) they've all shown themselves to be massive failures, serial losers so, get rid and get Carlo the players he needs. There is honestly no point in having a manager of his standing if you're asking him to work with the same group of wasters that have downed tools for the the last 3 managers. If you aren't going to back him be prepared for much of the same next season, only Gylfi's going to be a year old and a yard slower.... if that's possible.

 

[RomanReigns]

No more empty promises and deadline day signings

Sort out the mess now don’t wait till brands has finished his golfing holiday in the Bahamas

 

[BlueToff]

With regard to the counter attack point - it’s hard to see this improving without a complete change in personnel.

If Richarlison and DCL are running through 2 v 1 against a defence, we aren’t going to score:
Firstly because Richi won’t play the right pass, and secondly because DCL wouldn’t finish even if he did.

People like these 2 but their shortcomings dictate what we are - a set piece team.

but tbf mate we got a penalty yesterday doing just that...

We need more players to be able to add to what we have in that regard.

I agree DCL isn't really an on-the-break player, but he's not inept at it.

My point was, that 'system' (loosely speaking) is all that has come out of this season really, as a basis from which to build. Low block, but that requires real pace on the counter and for Doucoure or another midfielder to be free to push on.

But that isn't going to work in every game and we need other solutions. One of those is coaching - it has to improve.

 

[Gilbert..]

The football has to improve. I couldn’t cope with another season watching that.

I can only hope that with the expected personnel changes, we can see a more expansive style of play.

I’m sure the club will see this season as progress, but will want more next season.

Earlier in the season, I think we would have viewed last summer’s signings as a great success. Where we have got to now with a full season under our belt, I’m not sure we would be quite so generous.

Perhaps they just run out of steam with an intensive Premier League campaign. We definitely need a bigger squad to cope with the season though. And injury or two and we just can’t manage.

I hope Carlo changes his mind about using some of the younger players, I think we could’ve used some of them in the latter part of this season. If they haven’t gone on loan and been available to us I’m sure Gordon would’ve been of use.

I think thats a fair point. Two were gambles. All 3 have had injury issues.
I could see at the start of the season an instant injection of better players was needed. Did see it impact at the start of the season. First few games i thought allan and doucoure made a big difference in attitutde.
It fell away though.

 

[kenada_blue]

I actually think we should take that Martinez 72 point tally out of any future reckonong of how well an Everton team is doing. It's like setting an Everton team the task of reaching Mount Olympus.

That season Roberto sprinkled stardust on an old but experienced outfit and got a magical season from them. I said when he left that we wouldn;t see an Everton team get within distance of it for a decade or more and it's proving to be the case.

What I do expect, though, is us pushing into the 60 point bracket and EL territory. We had it in our sights and then the team allowed themselves to be overwhelmed by the prospect of actually securing a Euro spot. That's what we brought Ancelotti in - or so I thought - to bring composure in and get a team believing in itself. The reverse happened though and their confidence went down like a lead balloon.

Or we've amassed a team full of players with a weak mentality. Or even players who aren't capable of reaching a level needed.

 

[Bluestar]

I think thats a fair point. Two were gambles. All 3 have had injury issues.
I could see at the start of the season an instant injection of better players was needed. Did see it impact at the start of the season. First few games i thought allan and doucoure made a big difference in attitutde.
It fell away though.

It did fall away.

The intensity of this season may have affected them. The PL is merciless and they have now had a year to acclimatise, so perhaps next season will be better? That’s what I am hoping anyway.

I also think that our lack of depth meant an over reliance on some of them. We just couldn’t cope at all with injuries.

I guess with the end of this season, we can all heave a sigh of relief that the Koeman mess is finally starting to disappear in the rear view mirror. Some of the more recent errors should also be addressed. With them off the books, perhaps we can start to develop some actual depth in the squad.

 

[arbok]

Where are those figures from? Not having that Kalvin Phillips is on 4 grand a week

2025-26 Leeds United F.C. Payroll Table

An updated look at the Leeds United F.C. 2025-26 payroll table, including team totals, retained figures, and complete breakdowns of player salaries, and bonuses.

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Spotrac. I'm guessing DCL is going to get a raise.

2024-25 Everton F.C. Payroll Table

An updated look at the Everton F.C. 2024-25 payroll table, including team totals, retained figures, and complete breakdowns of player salaries, and bonuses.

www.spotrac.com

 

[navidson]

Sportrac. I'm guessing DCL is going to get a raise.

View attachment 128223

Cheers mate - Comparing the spending on our squad to the Leeds one has made be both furious and nauseous

 

[Lanolin]

I think thats a fair point. Two were gambles. All 3 have had injury issues.
I could see at the start of the season an instant injection of better players was needed. Did see it impact at the start of the season. First few games i thought allan and doucoure made a big difference in attitutde.
It fell away though.

It did fall away.

The intensity of this season may have affected them. The PL is merciless and they have now had a year to acclimatise, so perhaps next season will be better? That’s what I am hoping anyway.

I also think that our lack of depth meant an over reliance on some of them. We just couldn’t cope at all with injuries.

I guess with the end of this season, we can all heave a sigh of relief that the Koeman mess is finally starting to disappear in the rear view mirror. Some of the more recent errors should also be addressed. With them off the books, perhaps we can start to develop some actual depth in the squad.

I think part of it is just seeing what we want to see. I can remember people saying the likes of Ashley Williams and most definitely Schneiderlin had made this massive impact when they first came in, and then after a bit people start to have a bit of a go at them and eventually they're the worst players ever to wear the shirt etc. I think you can look back though, and question whether they were ever actually as good as you told yourself at the time. For me, Allan and Doucoure have been up and down all season, the only difference is everyone was giddy at the start of the year and so any deficiencies got swept under the carpet, only to come back into focus once things went downhill.

 

[arbok]

Cheers mate - Comparing the spending on our squad to the Leeds one has made be both furious and nauseous

I added the leeds one to my msg above.

I don't know if kalvin phillips is on 4000 a week, but i think its clear that Leeds had the lowest wages in the prem (if you go through every team's salary (Arsenal was up there with the highest)) and that team runs through brick walls for Bielsa. We could do with a bit of that fitness and attacking mentality. They'd be a handful in Europe for some teams who would not be able to match that intensity, and I don't think they're juiced up either. They've been targetting these players that show fitness and endurance.

 

[Bedfordblue]

2025-26 Leeds United F.C. Payroll Table

An updated look at the Leeds United F.C. 2025-26 payroll table, including team totals, retained figures, and complete breakdowns of player salaries, and bonuses.

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Spotrac. I'm guessing DCL is going to get a raise.

2024-25 Everton F.C. Payroll Table

An updated look at the Everton F.C. 2024-25 payroll table, including team totals, retained figures, and complete breakdowns of player salaries, and bonuses.

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Always think those lists are best treated with a degree of scepticism... DCL got new contract in March last year, before we signed Josh King. No way on earth it was only worth £20k / w.

 

[Gilbert..]

I think part of it is just seeing what we want to see. I can remember people saying the likes of Ashley Williams and most definitely Schneiderlin had made this massive impact when they first came in, and then after a bit people start to have a bit of a go at them and eventually they're the worst players ever to wear the shirt etc. I think you can look back though, and question whether they were ever actually as good as you told yourself at the time. For me, Allan and Doucoure have been up and down all season, the only difference is everyone was giddy at the start of the year and so any deficiencies got swept under the carpet, only to come back into focus once things went downhill.

Cant say i ever felt that about schneidelin. He falls into the iwobi catergory of why did we ever buy him. Biggest crab ever.
The opening day at spurs allan and doucoure were excellent. Not even so much the quality. It was the attitude. They fought for everything.

 

[Kever10]

It's relative though isn't it? Is our squad poor when compared to City's, yes. Is it poor when compared to Sheffield United's, no. For me we have a squad that I would realistically expect to finish somewhere between 7th and 10th. As it is we've finished at the lower end of that scale, and we've done it playing some truly staggeringly awful football. I don't think Ancelotti has been a disaster or needs sacking or whatever, but I'd be lying if I said I thought he was doing well, or that I could see what his long term plan was.

I think we have a few better individual players, but this squad hasn't had a team in it for years. You could probably take 1 or 2 of our players and improve a number of sides in the league. But together as is, it's just not up to standard. Even the teams whose squads you think ours is favourable too, the majority have a core who have been assembled with a purpose. Ours has been assembled by a succession of failed managers whose starting tactic was to undo everything the previous manager did and do the exact opposite. Ancelotti is the 1st manager since Martinez (and maybe Allardyce if we are being fair) to come in and try and work with what he had and adapt our playing style to fit accordingly.

The answer is not to start again with another new manager and start the whole thing over again. The answer is to have patience and belief in the plan.

Honestly, people keep saying Ancelotti should have another window and see how we're doing by Christmas. This is insane. For me, while he keeps us safe in the league, he should have 2 years minimum to do what needs to be done and we should be supportive and patient in doing so.

We are not going to fix anything long term by continuing to make the same mistakes over and over again and just hoping we get lucky. More than any other team who ever existed, Everton should not be pinning their hopes on a roll of the dice.

 

[f.t.r.s]

2025-26 Leeds United F.C. Payroll Table

An updated look at the Leeds United F.C. 2025-26 payroll table, including team totals, retained figures, and complete breakdowns of player salaries, and bonuses.

www.spotrac.com

Spotrac. I'm guessing DCL is going to get a raise.

2024-25 Everton F.C. Payroll Table

An updated look at the Everton F.C. 2024-25 payroll table, including team totals, retained figures, and complete breakdowns of player salaries, and bonuses.

www.spotrac.com

View attachment 128223

Not having that ben Godfrey, coming straight out of a relegated Norwich, in his breakthrough season...was suddenly handed a contract worth more than england international Michael keane
And Niels on 55k? Behave haha