Without spirit.....

[marcus]

Agree with a lot on this thread...

Godfrey & Holgate provide plenty of spirit & energy as they are young & get around the pitch more...

It's getting the mixture right between young fit eager players & older experienced less fit players...

no excuse for no spirit though, Ancelotti calling out lack of spirit should really hurt the players & there true spirit should be seen in the next premier league game...

 

[R.Reddington]

Yesterday's performance was pathetic. No attempt to play with high intensity, no desire to win the game and a terrible attitude by most of the players. Sigurdsson strolling around in midfield makes me angry, Iwobi looking like he couldn't care less and Richarlison constantly doing stupid things. These players need to have a long, hard look at themselves and find some motivation to be successful at this club.

 

[Egil Olsen]

This reminds me a little of what Guerdiola said:

"If you train badly, you play badly. If you work like a beast in training, you play the same way. I will forgive if the players cannot get it right, but not if they do not try hard".

This is not a new problem. We have seen in several matches that we have lower intensity than the opponents. It is often the same players who completely lack intensity in their game. This must be addressed in training, and if that does not help, you must use other players. Then you can rather use players who have lower quality, but who in return have greater intensity in their game. If not, the manager will signal that this is acceptable.

 

[everton1953]

Not nice to read in the Echo the sickening, fawning worshipping praise of the RS after the West Ham game. RS fans pouring out their delight at a 2m signing cback from Preston. Everton rightly summed up as a load of vurds.

 

[Debunkology]

 

[TimHowardsBeardJuice]

Good point, I was thinking more captain material, but you are absolutely right there needs to be a core of likeminded people. I don’t like harping back to Moyes area as it wasn’t anything to be aspirational about really (albeit consistently better than anything since) but those team had the likes of Stubbs, Carlsely, Cahill, Neville, Arteta etc..... think the qty of managers and churn of players has eroded that kind of common mind set.

No reason Allan can't be captain. He's been around, he commands respect, and he never downs tools.

Much rather see him than, say, Sigurdsson.

Coleman, enough for me. I've heard the "we didn't play hard enough and we need to look in the mirror" speech one time too many. If we didn't play hard enough, and you're the captain..... ?

 

[deipnosophist]

I think football fans take the sport too seriously. It's all about money now; the fan is insignificant... until he stops paying subscription fees. Just enjoy it for what it is...a run round once or twice a week for 100K a week...you really think the players give a toss about anything else?

 

[Toffee in Jandals]

I think football fans take the sport too seriously. It's all about money now; the fan is insignificant... until he stops paying subscription fees. Just enjoy it for what it is...a run round once or twice a week for 100K a week...you really think the players give a toss about anything else?

Yes, actually I do for the vast majority of them, its called professional pride. Some of our players though just struggle with the correct mentality and too often revert to kittens instead of lions.

 

[deipnosophist]

Yes, actually I do for the vast majority of them, its called professional pride. Some of our players though just struggle with the correct mentality and too often revert to kittens instead of lions.

agree with your latter assertion...and perhaps I was being a little over-cynical in my one...a cynicism born of following Everton too long

 

[DanEFC92]

Our lionheart's lacking spirit? Say it isn't so

 

[Cool_Blue]

Hate to think what the players/fans relationship would be like by now in a normal season with 40,000 in.
Losing at home to WHU, Leeds & Newcastle? Toxic central.

 

[windymiller]

Not nice to read in the Echo the sickening, fawning worshipping praise of the RS after the West Ham game. RS fans pouring out their delight at a 2m signing cback from Preston. Everton rightly summed up as a load of vurds.

What's a vurd?

 

[everton1953]

What's a vurd?

I am not good at finding alternatives for words that will get banned. Have a guess. Curd? No, Kurd? No, over to you.

 

[Methuselah]

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.

I agree with all this and there is also the question of the effort expected for the vast wages they get paid, seemingly whether they 'earn' it or not.

 

[brieverton]

We should have gone after the ref after Shelvey's snide tackle on JR.

A booking is acceptable currency in these games, he was happy to pick it up as James' was marked for the rest of the game. Same for the rest of the team, they'd have taken 11 yellows if it meant success. Just do enough to stop the star man, and each man can have his turn if necessary.

Most of the team were subdued, sometimes you need a row between team-mates or a bit of fist-pumping, anything which raises players from their slumber.

It was a horrific performance from start to finish, and apparent really from the first whistle that they just weren't up for it at all.