Sky Sports: Brands to come on board at Everton

Hoping this is the beginning of a more ruthless approach, and people being held to account right across the club.

I for one don't give a shit if we sack the next 5 DoF or managers until we get the right men in. No room for sentiment we're already a long way off the top 6, so like most of the top sides do! Hire them see what happens? Fire them if they're not up to the job and go again. We will get it right one day?

Bang on.

In no particular order the squad needs

A back up keeper to challenge Pickford
A first choice left back
Two first choice centre backs, plus an up and coming talent
A left winger
A proper dynamic centre midfielder
Some midfield muscle.
A fast number 10
A fast mobile #9

Keep: Pickford, Baines, Jagielka, Holgate, Kenny, Coleman, Gueye, McCarthy, Lookman, Walcott, Vlasic, Dowell, Sigurdsson, Tosun, Calvert Lewin. That needs some real star dust to turn it around after numerous botched attempts.

Out : Robles, Stekelenberg, Martina, Williams, Keane, Schneiderlein, Bolasie, Rooney, Klaasen, Mirallas, Besic, Niasse.

Sorry folks, but couldn't resist that one, the revolution is starting, and not before time.

Someone may want to turn the lights on at PSV, because according to Dutch newspaper Algemeen Dagblad, they're in the dark over rumours linking Marcel Brands with Everton this morning.

Sky Sports reported that the Director of Football would join the Blues once Ajax lifted the Eredivisie – which could be as early as this month – they Dagblad say that they have had no offer for Brands and there have been no concrete steps made to release him from a contract which runs until the summer of 2020.

There's something a little fishy going on here, isn't there? Until we get official word from the club that this move is happening, I'd err on the side of caution.

We all are realistic and experienced enough to know that what the club states, alludes and documents publicly has to be taken with a pinch of reality and dueful respect.

If true, then along with club admin having the relocation to The Liver Building 8th floor, in August 2018, then perhaps the club is learning that proper planing and prevention, does prevent piss-poor performance and decades of mediocrity and poor running of the club.

I live in hope and optimism and let's hope this is another step in the right direction. In context, there's more reality in this happening than of us nicking a point this Saturday, I hope to be proven wrong.

A good downhill slalom for this week, all Evertonians.

Walcott
Sigurdsson
Tosun
Vlasic
Martina
Rooney
Sandro
Keane
Klaassen
Onyekuru
Pickford

Klaassen and Sandro obviously haven't worked out but, on the whole, it doesn't seem like bad business compared to some of the shite I have seen coming through the door over the years.

So what am I missing? I think the management of these players is really the issue, I think they are playing far below their potential rather than punching above their weight.

Yes, we overpaid on Bolasie, Sigurdsson and Klaassen, and maybe Keane but I'm in the hope he'll come good under a better coach and a stable defensive partner. But we'd make a profit on Pickford, Lookman and Onyekuru who was linked with Barca before his injury.

Tosun and Walcott have been good business and we'll even make a profit on Sandro so Walsh hasn't been that bad. For me, He could have done a lot better than blow stupid money on the first three players I mentioned. His other major failing was not buying players in the areas needed.

So jury's out and anything's better than Lardiola Shakespear and Walsh.

You are so so naive.

All that a massive overhaul does, is ruin squad dynamics & creates zero team chemistry.

You simply cannot sell players who have been bought in this year.

Klaassen, Keane, Sandro (although the latter will likely leave), should be kept for one more year.

The out goings should be:

Mirallas
Schneiderlin
Williams
Besic (unfortunately not good enough)
And a few youngsters that aren't quite there (maybe buy back clauses for one or two).

In:

CB - Mawson (offer Williams in exchange)
LB - Chilwell (& Robinson coming back)

Maybe a CM... But I think Baningime and Davies are top top quality options, with Gueye, McCarthy, Klaassen, Rooney.

Wings: Walcott, Bolasie, Sandro, Onyekuru, Lookman, Vlasic, Dowell

Strikers: Tosun, Calvert-Lewin, Niasse

We aren't far away from a really good, they just need to be given a chance... I think Klaassen will be very good if he gets a chance, he has the work rate and energy and quality we are missing.

A massive overhaul will result in the same thing as this season – and then many more managers being sacked & replaced.

But for now this looks very much like pure speculation until either of the two clubs confirm it!

I'll dream on!

There's a bus stop at the end of the street.

I agree, except I'd have an upgrade on Niasse this summer. I think we need 4 signings in the summer (5 if you include a back up keeper) A centre-back. A part exchange involving Williams and Mawson sounds good to me. A left-back, Frank Fabra for £4.5m is said to be a done deal and was a a Marcel Brands target for PSV. I think we need to spend big on another striker and midfielder. I'd be happy with Wilshere on a free as a replacement for Schneiderlin, but if Fonseca becomes manager I wouldn't be surprised if we attempt to make Fred our marquee signing. A box-to-box midfielder who is pivotal in Fonseca's Shakhtar Donetsk side. We need a new back up keeper too.

So offload:

Williams
Schneiderlin
Besic
Naisse
Robles
Stekelenburg
Mirallas
Martina

No Siggy?

If they don't get it right this time then serious trouble could be in store. The squad is already a mess wish some extremely average players on big wages. In fact we are riddled with them. The next signings are critical. Get them wrong and we will be in deep shit.

It will also be hard work getting rid of a long contract, big wage earner in his late 20s such as the woeful Bolasie, or other duds such as any center back signed in the last 4 years.

The centre-back position needs sorting – it is the cause of many of our problems. We have neither pace or physicality. We can't defend high. We cant defend crosses. We can't defend dead balls. For example, I'm actually struggling to see what type of center back Keane is. He appears to have no outstanding attributes.

It's been a shambolic season. We got away with it due to the league being 5 good teams and the rest dross. Fuck it up again by adding more botched change into the mix and we may not be so lucky. At best its mid-table again next season as this cluster fuck will take a couple of seasons to sort.

In the end of the day, he was over promoted, taking on a position he was no way qualified for. He'd probably be happy going back to a scout role, without the burden of the responsibility of the club itself.

37 games 5 goals.

Which of our centre-backs can boast that?

The obvious question would be, what if a DoF signs a player, but after watching him in training, the manager doesn't fancy him?

Surely, there should be one man making the decisions, and therefore being held responsible if they're badly wrong.

At a guess, Dan, you have missed the entire season.

The coach is told what style we play, identity, brand whatever moniker you prefer. But the coach has to get that identity right regardless if it's not their preferred style.

If Everton go about hiring coaches instead of managers it will gain traction. A good DoF sets the identity, chooses players that fit with it, and hires & fires the coach based on results. They also set clear targets and don't bend them.

If you appoint a manager then you are setting yourself up to fail. That's not the model's fault – that's the clubs inability to execute.

I welcome any speculation that tries to correct what was a god-awful attempt at this model.

It reassures me that, when the analysis of incoming and outgoing expenses is analysed, Moshiri has not committed as much from his own pocket as it would seem. THAT IS A GOOD THING! Shows he's a real player, no dummy, and will be patient for so long and then strike when necessary.

I am looking for a real professional transition during the summer, from the pit of cosy despair to a bright new future; and I am prepared to be patient.

Thank you, Mr Moshiri.

We're safe, so cut the ifs, buts and maybes and do one simple thing that will get the renewal forms flying in. You know what that is Everton; and until you do it, renewal forms will trickle in.

Our problem has been with managers. Koeman we all agree was a terrible man-manager as well as tactically naive. Unsy was pushed in too soon and Sam was crisis management.

Sure, the balance of the squad is awful but there have been some diamonds in the rough such as Pickford, Tosun, Vlasic (for me a real prospect), Sigurdsson and Onyekuru. These guys, combined with the youth we have already and a few experienced heads, make for a pretty good squad. A few more signings in the right areas and a decent manager and we could see a big turn around.

I'd keep Rooney if he'd accept a lesser role, as well as Bolasie, Jags, Keane (will improve), Gana and few others. The only offloads are the malcontents, like Mirallas and Schneiderlin and maybe Williams and Martina, being surplus to requirements.

A panicked fire sale does no-one any good.

We need a good coach who can make our players look good again. Lots of fans seem to think that players like Keane, Klaassen and Sandro have played as well as they can for Everton. They haven't, and will be much, much better once there's a positive atmosphere and clear sense of direction under a better coach.

We're still in transition and need to start finding stability wherever possible. The kind of players you'd break that rule for simply aren't going to come here yet. We're not going to leapfrog to success the way Man City were able to, we need to become more than the sum of our parts again, and we do have some very good parts.

As a result of this chaos on the field, Bramley-Moore Dock will become a pipe dream and the next generation will suffer even more than the present one.

Meanwhile I'm having a tenner on a Blues victory tomorrow!

As a director of football he has undeniably failed so far. We have looked incredibly lacking in direction and identity this season, with massive gaps in the playing staff and a hugely unbalanced squad. How we started the season with only ine senior left back but about with four No 10s (Barkley, Rooney, Sigurdsson, Klaassen) is beyond me. We have one of the slowest teams in the league and the majority of our expensive purchases have made very little positive impact (Bolasie, Schneiderlin, Keane, Klaassen, Rooney).

I don't know a huge amount about Brands but his record so far looks pretty good. I don't think it stands that, because the players in Holland are not as good that the scouts, directors and coaches etc are similarly poor. Ultimately he went into clubs with similar resources to their competitors and improved them. That sounds a promising start to me. What I'm unclear about is his footballing philosophy. What type of football will he steer us towards?

A cursory google shows that he was on a recent list of 7 best Sporting directors in world football. https://www.fourfourtwo.com/features/7-best-sporting-directors-world-football-right-now?page=0%2C1

Though looking at that list, I wonder if we'd be better off trying to prise away Michael Zorc from Dortmund; I am always so impresses by their transfers and football philosophy.

What was preventing him from repeating what he had done so well before? Because, unless that is fixed, nobody will be able to fulfill the expectations of that role.

Just a small point: Everton signed Keane as an England international. His form this season has been poor, he lacks confidence and plays like a cat on the proverbial hot tin roof. At Burnley, he played in a system that fitted the players available, not in a system into which players have to fit. He played to the right of the left-sided and vastly under-rated Ben Mee.

This season, Tarkowski has come in at Burnley and is now an England centre-back. This may be another example of being lucky. However, it strikes me that Dyche, who was deemed not good enough for us, may know what he is doing and Koeman and Allardyce do not.

Funes Mori is basically a left-sided defender, an Argentine international, and they aren't too bad a team and maybe he and Keane could have some kind of synthesis which Williams and Jagielka are unable to provide alongside Keane.

It's been a fucking catastrophe, there is nothing good to take from it. Even our golden generation of youngsters like Davies and Calvert-Lewin have been massively out of their depth in a generally poor league (with the exception of the top 4 or 5).

Moshiri has to get it right this summer, or he's just wasting his money and our time.

There's several such references.

I have no idea what a technical director does. Come to that, I have no idea what director of football does either. As with everyone else, I'd have to read the job description. Otherwise it's all assumptions.

Thinking it through, a football club needs people to do the following things:

Person A. Determine a playing style that suits the players currently available to the first team. Select the team and the tactics on a game-by-game basis. Identify weaknesses and opportunities and share the need for recruitment/sales to address those.

Person B. Work with players collectively to coach the style and the tactics, work with individuals to ensure that they improve and are able to give the maximum of themselves and for the team. Liaise with medical, technical, stats staff to ensure this.

Person C. Manage a large team of individuals tasked to identify talented individuals elsewhere and maintain a watching brief on those at the top of the list such that there can be a response to person A when asked for players who can improve the team/squad.

Person D. Negotiate purchase and sale of players to achieve maximum return/minimum outlay, negotiate contracts keeping wages under review such that priorities of person A with regards to retention and improvement and person C in regard to availability.

In order these descriptions seem to fit under the titles manager, head coach, chief scout and team finance manager.

There are lots of other things that need to be done around and in support of these things, but those four are key. I'd like to know, rather than speculate, who does what at EFC. Any genuine offers. I'll chip in with I know that Kenwright negotiates the money in transfers, and other clubs' counterparts reckon that he is very good at it.

As for the main item of the thread, Dutch football is going through a really poor spell, their league is poor, bloody hell Steve McClure has won it, the national team is struggling, their best players are abroad.

Wouldn't touch a Dutchman in any of the roles above unless they had done it at the highest level in the major European leagues.

He owes you big time now mate, a crate of lager or similar to your door wouldn't go amiss!

On a personal point of view, I really do think a lot of players will come good (including Keane) when this clown gets the bullet.

The fans know who the 'deadwood' are; get rid, and buy players who want to play for our great club.

Recall Lookman, Onyekuru and play them!

Players listed @36, correct, get shut!

Also, stop buying the next best thing and buy proven quality!

We all hope, in readiness for next season that many changes will improve the status of his once great club.

Hmmm Ill keep my spot light on the ultra depressive (but amusing) Tony at 159.

COYB

Check Peter Reid Biography. He talks of the 80's team pressing and actually says "Geggenpress anyone?". He believes Howard Kendall Mk1 was doing it 30 years ago so it is not new.

Kunal Desai (#10), Are you going to buy their shares then. I reckon they are worth around ~𧴜m. Much as many of us believe Bill should have no management influence over the club, he does own 25% and Woods we all agree does nothing. But when Moshiri buys more, he has to offer to buy all the shares, including those owned by the people with 1 or 2 shares. So Bill and Woods can only go when they sell up and not before. Elstone is an employee and that is a different matter.

Marmite is veg based. It is made in Burton-upon-Trent. What else is made in Burton-upon-Trent? Lots of Beer. What does beer need? Yeast. What happens to the yeast after it has worked its magic and changed the liquid into Beer? It gets sold to Unilever who make the spent yeast into Marmite.

I don't think any animal product in there – just yeast from the Beer making process.

As for Australia. Vegimite was owned by Kraft Foods. It is a competitor product to Marmite and so had to have a different name. Nothing to do with a vegetarian version.

I think that is a 2 cases of amber nectar to Peter (and me?), one from each of you.

And how did a thread about a new DOF get into the history of yeast based spreads in the 20th century?

About two people on that list are still representing their country and one of them Iceland!

Rooney was only ever coming here and Walcott is a decent player.

Stated before recruitment can't all be Walsh's fault. I think the younger players brought in have done well or look like they will with the right coaching.

That's my biggest concern. No real improvement in play, no game plan. Does anyone know what we are? We're not even a typical Sam style team. I think Shakespeare would be a better manager for us than Sam.

Next concern was the lack of signings and loaning out cover for key positions LB, CB, CM, LW, CF. Next it was big money flops going back to Niasse, Schneiderlin, Bolasie, Williams, Keane, Klaassen. 𧴵m down the hole. Controversial because their good players but Sigurdsson and Pickford another 㿷m, did we need them?

Rooney for me was the best player brought in last Summer, he's done well and worth another season.

In terms of quality, it's nearly as bad now as the Walter Smith days. The fact that most of our better performers come from the Moyes days is a huge indictment of the botched transfer deals since he finished. Lukuka aside most of been substandard.

Our main issue, as it has been all season long, and under three different managers, and even more styles, is that we are too slow in transition.

From the moment we win the ball to the moment the ball goes forwards, it takes too long and stats showed we are the slowest or one of the slowest in the league at it.

This doesn't mean long ball, just look at Pep Guardiola's Barcelona, they were lightning fast in transition. Guardiola studied Bielsa's philosophy on pressing and transitioning into attack and copied it.

Whether we boot the ball long, run with it, or knock it sideways and then pass it forwards, it doesn't matter. We take too many touches, no one takes responsibility for the ball, no one runs off the ball, our movement is poor, the passing is poor and we allow the opposition to recover their shape before we even think about going forwards.

The loss of a player to run with the ball immediately after we won it (Barkley) has been a big loss and we need to sort the midfield out now.

It doesn't even need a whole midfield rebuild. God knows what they're doing in coaching as this was the main thing Sam Allardyce said he would address.

In contrast, our players could barely control the ball, and set it off to its next destination. Yet I've seen these players able to play front-foot football.

I strongly believe this is a coaching issue. Can the coach we get, urge the team to relax and just play? The only player capable of it at the moment is Pickford!

A complete or significant clear out just sets us back. Three high quality additions and the appointment of a progressive coach will make a difference under a DoF.

Well I hope so.

At Everton we've been buying big names at huge fees. It's not as if Rooney, Sigurdsson, Pickford, Keane or any of the other major signings were unknowns. Were they the right signings? Make your own mind up about that, but I'm not sure how much input Walsh would have had in those decisions. Surely they were decided between the Manager & Board.

At the right club, with the right aims, I expect he could scout the talent to improve a middle to lower level team. Everton was not looking for that kind of player. We wanted the finished article, and that was not Walsh's track record.

Sam Hoare's post was equally as good in saying as a scout it's fair to wait a year or so. But as a director of football, hopeless.

This position should be front of house, media facing, take pressure from the coach as and when we need and task the coach in the targets required.

Arguably its made for a charismatic gob-shite with a good political brain.

Walsh is not that guy nor should he ever be put in that position. He now is just collateral damage.

No contact between the parties yet supposedly.

No doubt this one will drag on in the usual Everton fashion when what we need is a swift appointment...

"Transition" "Pressing" "Geggenpresing (WTF?)" and the like are unnecessary terminology when THE glaring issue is what you later allude to, namely that the squad is so unfit when compared to just about every other club that the absolute basics become undoable as a direct consequence. Things like running off the ball to create a pass option and closing down the time and space for an opponent to damage us. The fact that the players seem to be unable to master immediate control of the ball or even make an accurate shot from the edge of the area also points to way too few hours being spent at Finch Farm.

Add in the notable absence of more than two or three players with pace, the visible puniness in stature of the squad as a whole, and a raft-full of obese, couldn't-give-a-fuck-when-they-were-players-either coaches now doing their invisible thing at FF and the message that comes across to many of the younger players in particular, I'm sure, is simply, "Why should I bother?" Any one of them getting tip-top fit and accomplished would still be lumbered with the lumbering, lazy has-beens still nicking a living off us when it comes to match-day.

I just hope Moshiri this time gets it right. If he's going to persist with a DoF then he, the DoF, needs to select the next manager and be paid more than him as a consequence. The next manager needs to be permanently accountable to the DoF because the brutal truth is that the club has regressed since Moshiri took over with Kenwright as his "expert". Can't say I'm surprised.

Our club's issue is one of management first and foremost, secondly some of the players who are not good enough and/or don't give a shit and finally a high-level collective of out-of-date people who look like they should be on a ghost train managing and appointing people who follow the same management speak BS that they think will somehow mean that everything will turn full circle and by the law of averages, Everton will win something again!!

Bottom-line, hate to say it, but follow what the RS have done and appoint a manager that the fans can relate to, and maybe the players will follow.

Mourinho, Klopp, and Guardiola sides are never more dangerous than when you are attacking them. Most of their sides are superior to most of the opposition they play so they often are camped on the edge of the opponents box and struggling to get in behind. However, if the opponent is attacking them, then the opponent will not have that shape and strength if they suddenly lose the ball. Klopp and Guardiola base their tactics on trying to win the ball back. They actually press (close down) in completely different ways. Klopp tries to overwhelm the player in possession so he surrenders the ball, makes a bad pass, or just gets tackled. The flaw in his tactic is that if you can get past this overwhelming force (such as by a ball over the top) then the Liverpool defence is badly outnumbered. Which is why Liverpool toned down their pressing against City.

Guardiola presses by shutting down the pressing lanes. Sure one guy closes down the guy on the ball, but others get in the way of the guys who the player on the ball would pass to, meaning he's suddenly without a pass and vulnerable. And this is exactly what they did to us last weekend. We found ourselves shutdown.

Mourinho likes players to close down, but he sees defensive weaknesses in pressing and so does not press to the extreme of the others. His style is the epitome of counter-attacking, and he loves nothing more than sitting deep and hitting teams on the break. A style he perfected at Porto and a reason I believe that he would still succeed at a team like Everton, whilst the other two would find it impossible to win the league due to the substandard of player.

Counter-attacking is nothing new, but Mourinho is obsessed with I would call counter-counter-attacking. This is when someone like Liverpool or City are able to get the ball off you and immediately pour forwards on the attack. Mourinho points out that this is where those sides are at their most weak, if they lose the ball at this precise moment, then they are often caught well and truly with their pants down. It's difficult to coach this, but Mourinho does it by instructing his players to be more rigid in shape. Klopp and Guardiola are very flexibile meaning the right full back can be racing down the left wing, but Mourinho would go mad at this.

Transitions are important but it its the time from when you win the ball to when you are on attack. As I said above, this does not just mean a big hoof up the pitch, it can be a forward pass, it can be running forwards with the ball and it can even be a sideways pass.

An example of Everton playing swiftly in transitions without playing long ball can be found in the first season of Martinez. Often, McCarthy would win the ball and play a short sideways and even slightly backwards pass to Barry, who would then spray another sideways pass to the flank where someone like Coleman would receive it and charge forwards. In the first season this happened very quickly, with Coleman receiving the ball within a few seconds of the ball being won, and often he wasn't a sideways pass it was actually a diagonal ball as he knew what was coming and Barry knew what was coming and this was something they had worked on in training.

Transitions are the key words to any manager, mediocre or elite. Quick transitions get you goals. Slow transitions make it impossible. The long ball game of the 80s was based on scientific studies around this very issue. They found that the majority of goals happened with very few touches. It's different language to the modern football parlance but it's the same idea, get the ball forwards before the opposition can be ready for it.

it's a great misconception that the Barcelona team of Guardiola was this slow, sideways playing tikka-takka team. The majority of their goals came from winning the ball and a lightning fast transition that saw them move the ball to Messi before the opposition could organise to defend against him. They would play beautiful triangles of quick, short passes that would take three or four players out of the move and so leave the opposition exposed. This meant Barcelona were transitioning quickly from defence into attack.

I've never heard Sam Allardyce talk about transitions, but that doesn't matter. It's just a word and the meaning is more important. What he does go on about at length is getting the ball forwards quickly. I don't agree with Allardyce on much, but I do agree with him there. It may surprise some of you, but I can assure you that no manager, even the much-maligned clueless fool "Bobby Brown shoes", actually wants to play the ball forwards slowly after the opposition has had a chance to reset their formation and be ready to defend.

This comes from tired, lazy, unconfident and scared players. If your team is playing crap, and you play sideways, safety first passes to your mate, then your stats are going to look pretty good. In the team meeting after the game, you can say, "But Gaffer, my pass completion rate was 95%, I didn't let you down". There's been times this season when the team has played exactly the same as it did under Koeman as it has under Allardyce. And if you really think about it, it's exactly the same as the crap that got Martinez sacked. Three very managers with big similarities in their failures. Not all of the blame can be thrust on the players as Martinez' team is largely departed and the only players really left from back then are not players you can accuse of slowing transitions (namely Coleman and Baines who make us quicker not slower and Jagielka who loves a hoof - as drilled into him by Moyes who also was obsessed with transitions).

I think the issue one of confidence, and a symptom of losing, and that if we started winning then the players would be more adventurous in getting forwards, would show more for the ball, and would be more decisive in making the pass. Could the manager fix this with positivity on the training ground? Well I doubt Martinez was anything but, even in his final days. Perhaps drilling the players better, as Moyes rarely had this issue and he was definitely a drill sergeant, but supposedly Allardyce excels at that too.

I think it's a combination of factors, but mainly comes down to the players. We lack a midfield general. Few teams do have such a player, and those that do are usually winning the league. We can't go out and sign one, as there's few there that would come to us. Instead I think we develop our own. Gueye is very much someone at the forefront of our slow transition problems, but Davies is the answer for me. Maybe he's not half as good as some of us think he is, maybe he never will be, but positive in possession, not afraid to make mistakes, and always with his head up, I think that him in the middle makes us a team that moves the ball quicker in the middle. I think a deep midfield three of Davies, Gueye and Rooney (especially with Sigurdsson injured) is the way forwards.

So, er, yeah, sorry about that, but transitions do matter, and fix it and we fix the side.

Edit: and I didn't even get started on the second most annoying thing for me, slow underhit passes. Elite players should have elite control, smash the ball into their feet so they can take a touch and sprint after the ball, or use the power on the ball to play another quick powerful pass themselves. We just move the ball so slowly it's ridiculous.

After the point at the end of his first season, when Martinez said he needed seven new players, nothing was the same. It looked to me like the trust had gone between him and the players. Sure, there were some good performances, but no consistency. He lost them.

Koeman bought some good players in the summer, who must have been chomping at the bit to get out there. From the first game they were slow, cautious, ponderous. They weren't as one with the, manager. There were clearly things going on behind the scenes, but again, it looked to me like they didn't trust him. They never seemed on the same wavelength.

Allardyce came in and he back to basics shtick started well, before tailing off to the same shapeless mush delivered by his predecessors. The commitment and energy seen in his Sunderland and Palace sides isn't on display here, is it?

The thing I've noticed watching City, Spurs and Liverpool is how much the players appear to be enjoying their work. They're worked and drilled hard, bollockings are given, but they look like they're having fun, much like our great 1985 team did. Can't be a coincidence.

Charisma's the right word, Steve. Someone with a bit of intelligence and the ability to motivate, cajole and instill belief in a bunch of talented players who have been tied in knots by poor, demotivating management.

I thought I knew my football until I read your post. Well done for the coaching lesson and the time it must have taken you to write!!

I hope Allardyce reads TW, he will see "that we know our onions"!

Ever thought of chucking your cv MoshIRI's way? Get Sam Hoare in as your chief scout and we're onto a winner!

Tell ya what though when he's not in the team he is certainly missed. Energy and an to obsession to move the ball forward, never cowed by his errors.

As you say maybe not the best but certainly gives the team inertia.

A must start tomorrow, if he can keep his head, he often neuters himself with a yellow.

Dreading tomorrow. People tell me that they're no good after European games. I've also heard this season that Burnley don't win when they go a goal behind, that Troy Deeney can't buy a goal, that Southampton are no good at home etc. I don't see players in our team who hate losing.

There were other players in better forward positions than Wayne, who wasn't doing much with the ball anyway, but he will improve the more he plays and he should be the first name in midfield for tomorrow's game.

Rooney has been struggling but I would start him tomorrow just for the passion of playing against them. Coleman, Baines, Calvert-Lewin. Tosun. Jagielka, all starters for me.

My Everton cupboard is bare, only crumbs to be found, stale and unappetizing.

Sam Allardyce is not that manager. He only thinks of transactions and not transitions.

Now THAT'S what you call a perfect analysis 👍

Re a lot of people saying the tiki taka from Barca was slow, sideways football.
I recall a quote from Sir Alex after Utd played them.
Summed it up perfectly.

"They put you on a carousel. They move you around and around until they create an opening and they're in. "

Steve, I like Mouriniho, but it seems that he's not flavour of the month no more. His speech the other week was brilliant, because he was basically saying to the fans that United haven't been the best for a few years now, and was giving them “food for thought”.

My style is different, but it's time for a new era now, back me if you want success, but I can't always guarantee to play the game like Ferguson's teams did. I asked a few United fans, who didn't particularly like Mouriniho, if they thought he would have lost two finals in 3 years to Barca, by playing the wrong tactics? And they all said I had a point.

Best club side I ever saw was Guardiola's Barca, yet Mouriniho's Madrid, beat them to the league. He couldn't stay though because he didn't fit in with the style of Madrid, and I think he was maybe testing the water with United's fans, because he's finding himself in a similar situation now?

All three of those manager have one thing in common, they don't seem to stay in the same place for that long. Is it because they burn out their players because they demand so much, or is it just the way football is going because very few stay in one place for that long anymore?

Chico's Match Preview

However, your sub-analysis of the role of the team manager and his alliance with the players is off the pace. Steve's brilliant clarification @ 97, (thanks Steve, I really felt I learned something about a game I've been watching for 60 years), describes the reality on the pitch and therefore the important duality of the management of a football club at this time.

If the team is doing well then the Club will be successful - yes. But hey, that's such a simplistic (but non the less true) statement. It is a many chickens and many eggs situation which all have to be hatched, scrambled and balanced out over time. I get the importance of the DoF as well as the relative importance of the Team Manager. What is most important is the symbiotic nature of the relationship that has to exist. Football as a social phenomenon has moved beyond the singular successes of the one man band leaders such as Shankly, Fergie and Kendall.

I this context, wWat does the success of the Redshite, apologies, Liverpool FC, have to tell us? Well I watched a recent TV (BBC obviously) love fest feature / interview of him. Ready to turn off or vomit, I have to admit, that at the end of the program I was impressed. His 'charisma' . . . . . Smooth, articulate, humorous, stylish, obviously a passionate man-manager with lots of football savvy and respect for the interviewer. His appointment by Liverpool was a well planned strategy, not a panic button situation that we found ourselves in after Koeman.

I think Moshiri saw the error in appointing Koeman which must have been a big blow to his plans, but credit to him, took a big decision when needed. His chase for Silva was tacky, but then I think he wanted Unsy to step up to the plate. He came close but the timing and dynamics were wrong. Allardyce was the safest business option and so the season became a survival run (achieved with a steep learning curve along the way.

Brands will be in I hope, and I think the manager will not be selected by him, more possibly I hope, he has been selected to complement the incumbent manager who is already agreed upon.

My money is on Silva. He showed great coaching skills and man-management, and some class in the way he dealt with the overall situation when at Hull and after . . . . (silence really is golden).

I suppose the Americans call it a dream team; I see a young and not so young dynamic duo who, along with the new stadium, EITC, the fans, Joe Anderson, and a new generation of players, will eventually challenge Liverpool and others for the benefit of generations to come.

I am prepared for the wait, and I recommend Don and Steve should be retained in an advisory capacity . . . . .

COYB

The things that frustrates me with our current attacking play is the lack of movement, poor decisionmaking and poor technichal implementation (passing, crossing, shooting etc) in the final third. So often we take the wrong decisions in the final third and make poor passes or poor crosses so the chances dissappears... If they have the attacking play drilled into their spines, lots of these errors would be less frequent.

Looking at Man City at the weekend you see players that have been drilled into making attacking runs and taking good decisions, both with and off the ball. They are constantly moving and knowing that others move as well resulting in that there always is a good option when you have the ball, and their movement creates opportunities to play one-touch football which is the most efficient way to break down a low standing defence. If we can get a manager in to fix both our transitionplay and final third attackingplay we could be very dangerous. Allardyce is so far away from having the knowledge we need to progress as a team attackingwise, and make us competitive.

Contrary to what many others on this forum think I actually think we have good players, they just aren't trained/drilled/managed in the right way. The players we have were bought with the idea to play possessionbased attacking football, and when Allardyce applies his defensive hoof-philosophy you definately can say the he don't have the right tools for the job (or rather vice versa, the players don't have the right tool for the job...). Relegation is never an option with this squad though, the players are simply too good for that, and despite having a philsophy that goes against the type of players we have, we are still just a few points away from seventh place... That says something...

I think that a new leftback is a must. I love Baines and when he plays you can see his quality on the ball, both in decisionmaking and technically. However he is 33 and has been injured a lot lately. I would bring in a left back that is at least as good as Baines, not to be backup, but to alternate between Baines and him. I think a leftwinger with pace and ballcontrol is a must. Bolasie has pace, but he lacks in all other departments, and his decisionmaking is terrible. Lookman could be a very good option there and in my opinion he should have been played a lot more this season, but the one who picks the team hasn't. Sure he is still a raw player, but he could have been used as a substitute more, and the upcoming games when we have only positions to play for would be ideal to blood him in... The third thing I think is a must is a dynamic box to box midfielder. Someone with a big set of lungs and with a footballbrain to dictate play from midfield with his passing. Davies is great in there but he still young and learning. I don't think he should be a regular starter yet, his decisionmaking and passing isn't there yet, but hopefully with time it will come.

Bring in a manager that knows how to play transition and attackning play, a left back, left winger and box to box midfielder, all three of GREAT quality and I think we will be very dangerous next season.

I'd play like this:

Pickford
Coleman, Keane, Funes Mori, Baines/new LB
Gana Gueye
Walcott, new BTB-midfielder, Sigurdsson, Lookman/new LW
Tosun

But most important of all:

Allardyce out now!!

What we need is dynamic, penetrating midfield scorers around him. Agree that might be Lookman, but his managers seem to think his decisionmaking is still pretty bad. After a dazzling debut at Leipzig he's made only four appearances in the past two months. He may have a maturity issue as well... in an interview with bundesliga.com, he said his game had no weaknesses. Uh-huh.

John 124. I like that about Lookman too, it's a great asset to have when playing good attacking football. Look at Sane at City... There's no reason why Lookman can't be as good as him, if only we can get a coach in that can teach him to make runs and make good decisions...

Hey Mods', any chance of the match day thread so I can start venting my spleen about our not so loveable neighbours?

If you look for a team to play the season out, I think we actually can put out a decent team. Sure, it's not top 6 quality, and it's some way off that, but it's better than Burnley's and it's at least as good as Leicester's.

The midfield is the key. Gueye, for my money, is as good as most top 6 sides have, if not, he's only just below it. Sure, he's a limited footballer, but what he does, he does exceptionally. Those skills are intercepting, tackling, chasing, pressurising, closing down, and other defensive type duties. Note all require mobility. This means to cut off his mobility is to handicap him further, and that is a bad idea when he is a limited footballer with a few exceptional qualities. Please do not confuse Gueye with Carsley. Both were great tacklers, but one was the essence of a holding midfielder (Carsley) and the other is a destroyer in the Kante mould. What this means is that Gueye cannot play as a lone defensive midfielder in front of the back four, quite simply because he will leave gaps behind him as he hunts, chases, and pressurises. Gueye can play well in a 4231, as a defensive midfielder alongside another who compliments him by possessing the passing qualities he lacks.

Last season Schneiderlin had those qualities, but I think everyone has now given up on him ever rediscovering that form and those qualities. The best player I have ever seen play this role is Xavi Alonso, for the RS. Whilst Sigurdsson and Rooney can pass long, they cannot do consistently, and neither have the discipline to sit and cover and hold for Gueye. Which is why we cannot play a 4231. The other problem with Sigurdsson playing this position is that we then need a number 10, and that's his position. Say Rooney is there (and playing it well) then the other issue is that Sigurdsson is losing half his game, the better half too, by being so deep (just in front of the defence) that he is not going to be on the edge of the box getting the ball and shooting from range.

Therefore, I prefer a midfield 3. This sees the number 10 disappear from the formation and the two defensive midfielders come a bit further up the pitch. I like the idea of Gueye and Davies flanking a more creative midfielder. Davies is not quite as good as Gueye at tackling and intercepting, but he covers just as much ground. He is keen to sweep in behind, and has discipline. I am not one of those who thinks Rooney is the root of all evil, and think that he is inconsistent, but a lot of good has come from his boots. And without Sirgurdsson, Rooney flanked by Gueye and Davies is our best midfield. As I said, not as a number 10, but a lot deeper, alongside the other two, with the brief that his primary job is to get on the ball qickly and to look to release one of the wingers, or if no pass is on, to hit the striker.

Without a number 10, we are then looking to play the ball forwards quicker, and so we need pace on the wings, and height upfront. Tosun is starting to impress and show just why the Turks love him so much. He is very much everyone's number 9. I think Calvert-Lewin is no winger, but up against the RS, where we want Rooney to be getting the ball forwards quickly and hitting them on the break, I'd put big Dom on the left wing to use his height to knock the ball on for Tosun, or to hold it up and play in runners from midfield (which is why Davies is a must).

Next season, we could have Lookman and Henry in the team, and Walcott is clearly of the standard we need, Tosun is showing promise, Calvert-Lewin is for my money worth a place as back-up striker. So I'd use whatever money we do have to find a player capable of hitting long passes and being defensively sound. Someone like Matic, but these players are hard to find and don't come cheap. Forget tidy little passers like Ever Banega and the Turk we are linked to, they won't fit in with what we have, we need a player with long passing ability, a good engine, can tackle (but doesn't have to be to the extent of Gueye) and goes box-to-box. Any chance we can persuade Spurs to part with Dembele? Finding such a player would allow us to play a 4231 and put Sigurdsson behind the striker, or allow them both to play in a 433, with Gueye having to work in a slightly more disciplined manner.

Everyone knows the defence is a mess, we need a left back, but with some better coaching, I think Funes, Keane, Holgate, and Jags is enough if we can just sign one more. We also need a keeper as Robles is off on a free in the summer.

Steve#117, from the many posts you have made in the past you obviously study the game keenly. Analysing the style of the opposing teams is very important, and I enjoy reading your thoughts, we need to understand who we are competing against, but I can't help thinking if that is what we concentrate on, the team with inferior players will usually lose. That probably explains our dire record against the top teams.

If we had a decent team spirit, with our best 11 we could beat most teams outside of the top 6 or 7, by way of superior skill and will-to-win. I can only see that spirit being engendered amongst a group of spoiled millionaires by excellent man-management and good coaching knowledge. Roberto Martinez appeared to fit the bill briefly, but he just couldn't stop himself from spouting nonsense, which lost him all credibility.

To beat the top 6 requires something extra. It needs cunning, guile and surprise, the opposition needs to be confronted with something that makes them uncomfortable. This might be “getting in their faces”, it might be employing solid defence then suddenly slinging up 3 centre forwards for 5 minutes, it might be looking at Vincent Kompany or Van Dyke and thinking “let's put a runner up against him”. In short, making up new stuff or, rather, re-inventing old stuff.

We need a coach/manager who can sell such concepts to lazy players. Or sign players who have some hunger, on contracts that pay by success.

Another one I think will come good is Vlasic, I like the glimpses I've seen of him. He too should be one to blood in during these last games of the season, but that's another big flaw with Allardyce.. his reluctance to play youth...

I think we all want Pochettino, and to do a Spurs. And they did not get to where they are signing older players.

Analysing the opponents needs to be done in two ways, the way you allude to, concentrating on the defensive aspect only is, as you say, we will usually lose. We need to exploit the opponents weaknesses. So tomorrow we have RS.

Dare I say it, it's a great time to play them. They are likely to be leggy (they worked hard midweek) and so there's a good chance their pressing game can misfire. Liverpool are also weak in defence. If you can bypass their press, then they are there for the taking.

As I said above (edited post, so you missed it), get the ball forward quickly, up and over the charging midfielders closing us down, and look for Walcott running into space, Tosun dropping off and using his strength to shield the ball and holding it up, or Calvert-Lewin on the left wing, using his height, pace and strength. I don't suggest Calvert-Lewin is a winger, not at all. I would never really play him there, but he did well against City in such a position (right wing) at the start of the season, and as we need to get the ball up and over the charging Liverpool players, height is something we need, so I'd shove him on the left to keep the shape we need.

The midfield three of Gueye (who is fit), Davies, and Rooney can then compete with the tired RS midfield. They need to get stuck in early on Liverpool and let them think about the big game against City, and making sure they don't get ruled out by us crunching into them. You watch them bottle the big tackles.

Captain Jags also needs to play. He always does well against the RS and we might need a last minute screamer.

And I couldn't agree more on Allardyce and youth.

Our midfield is decent but disjointed. As a team we don't have the high energy needed but Gana and Davies are both good at closing down. Neither have shown the ability to play accurate 50 yard passes to counter the high press so Rooney should fill that role until we get a new General who can play and pass in the mould of Arteta or Gravesen only more mobile and a shouter/leader.

I at least thought Sam's back to basics would have helped create more chances.
With his love of playing % why or we not putting more crosses into the box?

Baines, JJ, Siggy 3 good crossers of the ball but so often we have no one to cross too, why?

I expected Sam to drill it in that if we have possession get it wide, 3 or 4 forward players should be sprinting to get in the box for the delivery but we don't. It's the easiest way to create chances.

With our poor defence we should line up 5-4-1. To help stay deep, (our defence to slow to keep a high line) wingbacks keep wide, (make the pitch big) and move the ball quickly making it harder to be closed down but with more room to play balls into space for runners.

Coleman, Martina, Jags, Holgate/Mori, Baines.
Walcott, Davies, Gana, Rooney.
DCL.
Subs. Siggy for Rooney. Tosun for DCL. Bolasie or Vlasic for Walcott.

We don't need to be taking yet more risks on players who haven't played in the Premier League unless they are top class players with big reputations. Have the club learnt nothing with the Klaassen and Sandro signings?