c1982

Credit where it’s due tonight - looked decent.

Gomes - looked so much better in that formation.

Excellent again today - a few misplaced passes early on but he just got better and better. Many crumble against Sharp/McGoldrick/McBurnie but him and Keane were excellent.

Who knows how we play at the moment? I certainly don’t! Ancelotti hasn’t been able to implement his style fully and has been hamstrung by injuries and not having players who fit what he sees as a winning system. What I do know is we lack energy, leadership and aggression so someone in the Hojbjerg mould sounds like just what we need and probably another central midfielder too. This is clearly our weak point and I trust Ancelotti/Brands will get the right blend. We may have had that this year had it not been for injuries but, that, we will never know.

Add leadership and tenacity and he’s the blueprint of what we need.

Let’s not compare him to the midfielders we’ve got - it’s an insult to him!

Turns out he was sold just as Ancelotti started at Bayern.

Leader who will help control the game. Gets stuck in but has a bit of quality too. Ancelotti had him a Bayern so will know his qualities.

Branthwaite - looks very good with the ball at his feet. Did really well today after a tough debut against Wolves. Pretty obvious to see that he will be top class.

https://www.theguardian.com/football/2020/jul/15/carlo-ancelotti-warns-jordan-pickford-form-must-improve-everton

No keeper is like Oblak - they aspire to be as he’s the best in the world.

My heart says, “Ancelotti was the man who transformed Pirlo from a number 10 to the silky deep lying legend that he will forever be remembered.” My head asks, “What’s Ancelotti been sniffing?!?!”

I’m not the biggest Pickford fan but this is how I feel.

Unpopular opinion - we’ve missed him. He’s been an awful signing due to his injuries but he is probably our best CM option in a 4-4-2. I do feel most of our problems this season have stemmed from not been able to select any of our main central midfield options (Gbamin, Gomes and Delph) for most of the season.

That there just now is why I’d happily sell Pickford (as he just stops a one on one!!!) almost throws one into his own goal then laughs it off. Aside from thinking he wouldn’t be that hard to replace - he just seems a bit of an idiot to me. He may not have been directly at fault for many goals but he’s very clumsy and gets away with a lot.

What, like Lössl or Stekelenburg?

Another poor performance but we still picked up a point - we’ve been very poor in every game since the restart in my opinion so the fact that we’ve picked up points while performing so poorly... well there’s a positive in there somewhere!!! The reality is, without that balance in midfield, we won’t be able to control any game. It’s a mishmash of no other options currently and what little back-up we have - which may improve us e.g. Delph, Gbamin, Besic, Bolasie, Walcott; they’re either injured or unavailable or in Schneiderlin’s case, gone already. Gomes isn’t ready - probably mentally more than physically, Gylfi/Iwobi/Bernard just don’t fit, Davies isn’t good enough to ‘carry’ this midfield yet, Gordon has been the bright spark and hopefully this will put him in the frame for much more opportunities next season. We’re not going to replace all of these, so hopefully a couple of quality additions will bring out the best in others. I see a sound beating coming our way vs a settled/quality Wolves midfield - I think the only option will be long ball missing the midfield up to DCL and Richarlison or we’ll be completely outplayed again.

I’d imagine there would be a release clause in many of the Bournemouth player’s contracts if they went down so in Ake’s case you’d imagine a fee similar to what they signed him for. Regardless, I don’t think Bournemouth would be able to afford keeping him in the Championship on the £100k or whatever he must be on so doubt he’d cost as much as what his market value really is. If they were to stay up, I think they’d be asking too much for him to be a worthwhile signing.

I’d prefer Ake from Bournemouth personally. Tidy with the ball but a much more aggressive defender. Yes, it looks like he’ll be relegated as part of an awful Bournemouth defence but I think Ancelotti could work wonders with him. He’s left footed too and offers versatility - both, we are lacking in.

Quality over quantity this summer - I’d prefer 3/4 top quality first team options and have players like Davies, Bernard and Iwobi as back-up. Most important players to sell are Gylfi, Sandro and Tosun in my opinion. I expect swap deals may become ‘fashionable’ this summer and would be open to Bernard, Iwobi and Kean being involved which would be a bonus. I’m not too worried about Besic, Bolasie and Walcott as they only have 1 year left on contracts (I think?!) - Theo may even earn an extension as he’s arguably our most suited winger to Carlo’s tactics. Priority must be central midfield and wide men who can play Carlo’s way.

The problem...

Exactly this. edit: actually, shite is harsh on Davies, think he did alright and was positive throughout.

I think it was Coleman who played him onside.

I think he (and Davies to a certain extent) are hamstrung currently as our midfield is all over the place - there’s no balance whatsoever. I’d keep Gomes and Davies but not to play as a pair - we need a commanding CM and wingers who can play this system. Gordon looks a true gem and his versatility will be a massive bonus.