Round pegs, square holes and a general lack of desire

At least Gomes looked fitter and sharper than a few weeks ago. He did enough to keep his place in midfield. Our manager needs to find a way of getting a supply of goals from players other than the league's leading scorer. There needs to be more urgency when we play the ball out of defence and less sloppy passing such as that which set up Burnley for their goal.

However, when these players are not available, it might be wise to fit the system to the strengths of the players available and not try to fit triangles into ovals. In most managerial jobs, you have to make the best use of the resources available, but not in football it seems, where the system is sacrosanct.

In addition to this fetishising of the system, Ancelotti, as Lyndon points out, always prefers older and more expensive players over younger and local lads. Delph is like Jamie Redknapp at Liverpool, Anderton at Spurs and Ferguson in his second spell at Everton, an injury waiting to happen.

Nkounkou and Gordon must have been caught, as Duncan McKenzie once was, mocking the manager in the dressing room. No other explanation tells us why they are never considered.

For the first time since the great team of the eighties, we have top class strikers who can score goals, but we have a totally unbalanced midfield and a defensive system which does not suit the players we have. The fastest of our defensive trio is Holgate, so he's captain one week and on the bench the next. Maybe he was in the group caught mocking the manager?

Until we have Digne back we have to have a back four, it'll limit the crosses to our strikers, but just might be practical. Allan needs to get back to playing as an anchor in front of the back four and give up on his more attacking role. Doucouré can play wide on the right and support the right back and Gordon can help out on the left leaving Rodriguez to play the role that suits him as a Number 10.

I hope Ancelotti doesn't spend his week putting Iwobi and whoever through drills so we can continue playing the system, but becomes pragmatic till we have our injury-ridden defenders back.

If your inferring Richarlison is the other, you're way off the mark. He hasn't scored in the Premier League from open play this season. In my view, a very very selfish player.

Okay, an away draw after already winning three on the road it's not the end of the world, but against a team very limited clearly, it's disappointing that we don't use more nous when trying to play them.

What gets me is we are too slow in everything that we do, we move the ball so slowly, we are ponderous, we take free kicks, corners, throw-ins all like we are in slow motion.

Basically, we are too easy to play against, too easy to score against, and too easy to defend against. After a very good goal scoring start to the season we have looked clueless again and too reliant on one way of playing and roughly one goal scorer.

Defensive wise we are pathetic, again today we should've been 2-0 down after half an hour if Wood slots home a simple chance.

I recently watched on YouTube the Carsley derby of 2004, my god the way we defended that lead in the last 20 minutes was admirable, the hunger and the desire to win every ball from the likes of Alan Stubbs.

I don't see that look in our defenders' eyes these days, they are all too nice, too passive, dangling out a had hearted leg and turning their backs on shots, it's just shite and too easy.

Carlo needs to sort this shit out because a glance at the fixtures coming up and it's going to be a long hard winter for him otherwise.

To be honest, today I thought Burnley were going to win. It's sad but that's the way Everton get you.

This is the nub of the issue: any manager appearing unconcerned and mildly detached opens the door for players to exhibit the same. Being above it all might work at clubs overflowing with world class talent but not at a basket case club like Everton.

Fabulous article btw, Lyndon.

Your next-to-last paragraph says it all: they don't like pain, they like it nice and easy and – like previous managers – it looks like Ancoletti let's them play that way,

Were is the anger in the manager? None of the coaches show it and most importantly hardly any of the players show it.

Young Ben Godfrey is one of the exceptions, in his first game vs Liverpool, he had a go at the Colombian playmaker for making a stray pass. He did it again today to the same player for doing the same thing.

Fans drool over the great pass the Colombian made to Sigurdsson. It was a great pass no doubt, but how many times did he put his teammates in trouble with poor passes, losing the ball too easily and attempting tackles that would make a girl blush. He's a luxury this already-weak team can't afford.

Alex Young used to get slated for not working hard enough. Alex did a lot more than this guy does and no one can tell he is better on the eye than Young.

They are not working hard enough at Finch Farm if the way they play in matches that matter is anything to go by. A massive improvement is needed by everyone at the club.

How ridiculous to not get a replacement striker for Kean.

How ridiculous to not get a back-up left-back to Baines (one that the manager trusts).

How ridiculous to not get a back-up right-back to Coleman (one that the manager trusts).

How ridiculous to not get a back-up winger or forward to Richarlison (one that the manager trusts).

Our transfer policy makes no sense:

Don't buy Kean, buy a striker that can deliver. For £30M, there's options.

Buy a decent left-back if Nkounkou isn't trusted.

Get Sidibé back on loan and loan out Kenny again if you don't trust him (it's not my preferred option... but I'd prefer a specialist right-(wing)back so Iwobi can do damage further up the pitch)

Don't give a 5-year contract to Gordon if you don't rate him. Seriously. Stick it at 1-2 years. Or maybe nothing if he's not gonna get played.

Don't get James if he refuses to graft. Look at Salah, Firminho and Mane: they all graft. Look at De Bruyne, Sterling and Aguero: they all graft. Look at Werner, Mount and Havertz: they all graft

Ozil doesn't – he doesn't play; Alli doesn't – he doesn't play.

I don't understand the transfer policy nor the manager's tactics. It beggars belief and it's depressing.

Man Utd can have Brands for all I care: I just want a transfer policy that makes sense and works in sync with the manger's wishes.

You are right, they don't like pain, they have had it on easy street ever since they left Bellefield for this shiny new complex at Finch Farm.

As for Carlo, listen I'm not gonna criticise a guy with his CV but I do wonder if, coming to Everton, he's let himself in for something that throughout his managerial career it's something completely alien to him, a club that is not used to winning and doesn't have 19 or 20 superstars.

I think the phrase "horses for courses" springs to mind, I look at Carlo and I just see a marriage of convenience, in terms that Moshiri looks good for appointing him, Carlo gets a really good pay day (probably his last big one).

I believe he came here with good intentions but the job has clearly taken him aback by how unfit, and unprofessional most of our players are.

I don't think he has the dynamic in him now to overhaul things in the way Klopp did at Liverpool from the word go, getting them running further than everyone else etc etc.

Bielsa at Leeds is a one-off, let's be honest; he's intense during the game and you can see his personality rubs off on a bunch of modest players, they have an identity and a clear strategy.

I'm not sure I see where we will develop to be honest even six months down the line; it looks unlikely much will change.

The culture does not demand success, there's no fear of losing. There's no apparent need for success. It's all too nice!

It really hits home with our captain situation! Keane today, Holgate last week, Sigurdsson captain one week... really??! Coleman, Digne! Let's give everyone a go! I know Seamus has been injured but I want my captain to be a Watson, Ratcliffe, Gough. A leader on the pitch, someone who is to be respected and sets examples!

I'm fully behind Carlo as I don't think we can go through another manager change. But he cannot be above criticism and scrutiny. Neither can James. The club has to be bigger than individuals!

This season might just rest on a cup success. Let's go all out for the League Cup!!

Did you see his crossing today? He can't dribble past a player and score goals either.

From the 35th to the 60th minute, the introduction of Gomes (who I said should start in a 4-3-3 today) helped us control the game and pin them back. The rest of the game we didn't apply as much pressure as we should've on them, and we could even have lost it at the end.

Saying that, we could've also have won it if Sigurdsson hit it in one of the corners.

I would say No. It can't be the individuals. Surely even we can't buy identical players to the ones we have on the books. Can we?

When we say 'pace', I don't think it is about individual speed with or without the ball. It is speed of thought. Determination. Tenacity.

As many here have said before, there is a lack of fight, urgency, belief or desire. I want to see a few falling out with their teammates during matches. There isn't a single one of them that looks like a leader.

Hang on, sorry. It's the other way round. We're one point off Champions League football and John from Dingle or whoever had the audacity to question one of Europe's most decorated managers.

Honestly, when you read it back, it's hilarious.

Poor tactics, players playing out of position when more logical selections available, the snubbing of our best young talents, illogical substitutions. The list goes on and is very galling to many Everton fans.

Reputations mean nothing. It is what you do in the here and now that matters. I was as excited as anyone when we pulled off the coup of signing the Don but I am now thinking he is another one of our false dawns.

But... with Godfrey doing okay in his emergency cameo role as left-back... maybe because it Is an emergency and he doesn't have time to over-think it?? Nkounkou will still be out – or, if he's lucky, on the bench, instead of getting game time.

I wonder if Che!sea will target Godfrey? Nah, never happens, does it... he'll be the new Lescott.

Ancelotti is reprising the Moyes's technique of random selection in the hope of getting lucky.

At the start of the season, I saw a short video of training which included the new signings. To my eyes, not stats, I could see and feel an added intensity that had been missing. Sure, it's a short video... but you can recognise 'flat out'.

The manner of the performance at Spurs astounded me. Everton played slick football in possession and were both controlled and aggressive without the ball. They got a deserved and impressive result. This result built confidence up massively. Then we built on it. Win followed win. At times fortuitous but 7 victories on the bounce raised expectations to fever pitch.

The derby was a reality check and Coleman needs to have a word with himself. He was too desperate to play when, deep deep down, he needed more rest and treatment to be 100%. (Okay, that's of course an opinion). Richarlison needs a word with himself. Criminal tackle and gets a needless 3-match ban (by his own admission).

The result in the derby was dug out by a team high on confidence. Getting outplayed, they never folded and took a valuable point from the current champions.

Now. What happens next? Missing a couple of key players, we simply start to play sideways. Lack ball speed, retreat mentally. What the fuck is this??? Poor poor performance after performance. Newcastle being the worst.

Collectively, too many players just don't have the bollocks to play for Everton. When confidence ebbs away it is so difficult to restore when the manager starts playing players out of position. Ancelotti needs better players but, as a top coach, he is paid to get more out of this mob. He is paid millions to figure out a system that must bring energy and aggression. Players appear way too comfortable playing within themselves.

Results breed confidence. Ancelotti now has a run of very difficult games and a poor run up to Christmas will heap enormous pressure on the whole club.

Personally, I think Gomes has to come in and support Allan and Doucouré. Gomes had a ridiculous injury, it was always going to be a long road back to full match fitness. He is though an excellent footballer and I feel, if he gets a good run, he can return to the necessary level and give balance to the midfield.

Gbamin will I feel need a full year of playing, getting over niggles and allowing his body to return to the required level of elite sport. We are dreaming if we think he is genuinely coming back anytime soon at a level to kick us on. Good luck, JP; given time and commitment hopefully he can make it.

So. It feels like a return to the usual purgatory for us Blues. Can we grind out a result against Chelsea, find a spark and lift ourselves? Dig in and scrap? Can we? Over to you, Carlo...

From about 35 minutes on, we were completely on top. Correct the timing as it was from the moment poor old Delph limped off and we moved more to a 4-3-3 formation.

From here, we played reasonably well except for the occasional totally inept pass that gave the opposition a good chance to score again.

So, look positively at this. Carlo must now see that the current players available cannot play with just 3 at the back. I don't wish to be critical of Carlo but even a blind man must see this as obvious.

Am I for changing managers? No. Just change the thinking, Carlo!!!

It appears to me that, despite Carlo saying he and Marcel get on well, that the working relationship is actually not what it says on the tin.

Carlo's refusal to play Kenny, Gordon and Nkounkou appears to me at least to be a difference of opinion in how he and Brands see the merits or not of these 3 players. Brands has come out and actually said good things about Gordon. Things that I read as I would be playing him. Meanwhile, Carlo has said "I'm not here to develop young players."

So Moshiri looks like he has employed Brands on the premise of buying and developing youngsters and Carlo on the basis of buying, to coin a phrase, "oven-ready" players.

Once again, within the club, parts of it are pulling in different directions, so is it any wonder we don't function as a professional outfit and haven't for decades.

A choir all sing from the same page. The last time Everton FC sang from the same page was when Carter and Kendall were in their pomp. We must be the most dysfunctional outfit in the Premier League and now, that we actually have money, it still doesn't work. Is it any wonder?

I personally think Brands will go at the end of his contract unless Moshiri can agree a way forward that Brands can buy into and given its Carlo's way and no other way, maybe he will look for pastures new.

If we want to buy young eager players, then let's go for Lamptey – why weren't we in for him beggars belief. Also, Ward-Prowse, who is older I know, but is the energy we need, in that pedestrian midfield.

Our problem is, of course, that first of all we have to finish high in the table. Most of the previous clubs he has been to have been regular members at the top table. In slightly easier leagues, where Euro qualification is more regular for the big teams.

This is a whole new ball game for him. Every Premier League team can upset almost anyone else on their day. Villa thrashed Liverpool, Fulham beat Leicester...

It's not really his thing, beefing-up a mid-table rabble to get to do his thing. He has been used to some easy games at the weekend followed by European midweeks and usually these are quite comfortable from a central European base.

The difference is the quality. He trusts experience over youth, he favours his signings over current players and he puts systems above pragmatism. We have not a clue how or why he has made his team selections. His explanations are a garbled mix of ambiguous English and nonsense.

He seemed to imply that Niels Nkounkou would play at Burnley; he also said at the end of the game that Pickford "was back". Niels didn't play and was he referencing Jordan's mental health, as he has been back for some time?

He has not been grilled about his formations, selections or substitutions. No-one has asked as to why Gordon and Nkounkou have not been trusted. It is like having the Queen as manager.

This deference can only be justified if the guy pulls a rabbit out of the hat and we somehow become a team. We need an Oxford moment and a League Cup is about as good as it is going to get for this season.

On the pitch, Richarlison hasn't looked interested since his ban. I wonder if he has lost faith in Carlo already? His workrate has dropped off a cliff. James has fitness issues, he is only 29, about 10½ stone and should be fine playing the 90.

The nightmare scenario is that, come the end of the season, if we fail to reach Europe and don't win a Cup, we can wave goodbye to Richarlison, Digne and Calvert-Lewin.

Mocking the manager? What's that about? I hadn't heard that?

Usually when one of our players gets injured and hobbles off, I worry. Sorry to say this but yesterday I was actually relieved...

Might be a tad harsh on Delph but, in fairness, he should be back-up for Allan, not for Digne.

As for the 'box-to-box' non-stop engine room that promised to be Doucouré? That has clearly run out of steam and direction.

Our new signings have seemingly gone in the last five games, from invincible 'Superheroes' to mere mortal footballers, apparently suffering from that highly contagious 'Everton Disease', the symptoms of which being, lethargy, confusion, apathy, shortage of breath and general malaise.

Historically, this disease has spread rapidly through consecutive Everton teams over the years. Once it takes hold, it proves extremely hard to combat. Even the most talented and strongest players have no immunity and eventually succumb to it.

Only early diagnosis, drastic surgical procedure, and radical change of attitude, overseen by a medic of the highest quality, seems to overcome this fatal deterioration.

Over to you, Dr Ancelotti.

I think, in those early games of the season, our players had a lot more time on the ball; the first three or four games were very exhibition paced. We got Spurs at a good time, it's fair to say, but I'm pleased we won because it was at least a psychological hurdle gone.

The likes of Allan and even James have had less time on the ball in recent weeks and the league has slowly started taking a more familiar pattern again.

We need to get them up to speed fast because the league is unforgiving and we can't afford passengers.

Symptoms include displaying a general malaise, the tendency to talk gibberish about team selection, regularly appearing to be commenting on a different game much of the time, an inability to recognise the appropriate playing position of many players and accompanied by a habit of being outthought tactically by supposed inferior managers and players from the opposition. Sadly, it appears our current managerial team have succumbed.

I wonder how Ancelotti would have reacted to the system under one of our previous owners, where the manager was 'invited' for Sunday morning coffee to Freshfield to discuss the previous day's game – I suspect Mr John would have had much to say in recent times about those he was paying a wage.

Delph, another Brands piece of genius. I only hope the Eddie Hearn of Everton does one and Carlo is allowed to select the quality he knows better than anyone at the club.

And so it is ludicrous for me to assume any knowledge of 'the game' when seen in contrast to Carlo Ancelotti. So why do I presume to be qualified to give him advice or offer the slightest criticism of his team selection and tactics? Surely no-one earning north of £10M a year for picking and training football teams is at a different skill level to us mere keyboard critics?

Or, dear friends, is it all a myth – money for old rope? When you think of how many flops we had to endure before we got access to one of the world's greatest, it warms your heart to know Usmanov, Moshiri and Uncle Bill know how to pick 'em, don't it!

As the post says, round pegs and square holes, but tell me an Everton manager in the last 20 years that hasn't played round pegs in square holes? And I daresay if you asked many fans from different clubs, they would probably say their manager has done the same. Now whether it's managers trying to be smart-arse or just tinkering, I don't know.

We have been left in the position of bringing on Tosun late on in the last couple of games. Now I have never thought he gives us much. But some will ask, given the paucity of attackers at the club, then why was Kean allowed to join PSG? Ancelotti was always adamant that Kean was a big part of his plans, so I can't understand why he was allowed to go on loan and it wasn't an average run-of-the-mill club he went on loan to, it was a club that boasted Mbappe and Neymar. Yet Kean has gone there and is scoring goals for fun.

Now I know when he was here, many posters on ToffeeWevb often said he was a waste of money, but clearly the kid has ability and, with doing so well, it will be hard for us to get him back – even though there is no sell-on clause in the loan deal. So I would love someone at Everton to say who authorised this deal to go through.

So, getting back to this team, I still believe that Ancelotti will turn this club around and will win us trophies... but, if we don't get back to winning ways, the "Ancelotti Out" brigade will get bigger and louder. Changing managers as often as we have over the last 5 years has been a recipe for where we are now: a team who consist of players bought by 5 different managers; those players have never been consistent, so it's hardly surprising those same players are still inconsistent now.

Sadly, I think being Evertonians we all suffer daily anyway and feel like a bad bug had lived with us for 30 years. The nonsense we have digested has surely boosted our immune systems on a positive note.

As far as the club goes, I cannot see how a manager that has coached the very best, would work with someone looking to produce kids that are not ready?

The massive aura we have placed around the "Director of Football" role has given us nothing but problems and the hype for Brands is just beyond me. I thought we'd have learnt from the hype around Walsh.

You sack a manager and his backroom staff also go. You bring in a new manager, along with his backroom staff. New manager brings in players he wants, and it then takes new players a few months to gel with players already at the club, as well as get to know new manager's tactics, etc. After a while, results go awry, club sack manager, and the whole vicious cycle starts again.

Ancelotti inherited a lot of good players but also a lot of dross. We did quite well in the summer transfer window, but it will take at least another three or four windows to get the squad he wants. By then, all the deadwood will either be sold, or contracts expired. Fans and owners of every club need to be patient, I know we all demand success immediately, but it takes time, and we will only get it right if Carlo is given that time.

If we all are quite happy to just plod along in the Premier League, and finish around mid-table every season, then fair enough, sack Carlo and bring in the next man. But, as Brian says, I think Carlo is the man to finally bring us the success we, as fans, deserve, because there are no better fans deserving of a trophy than us. But believe me, if we sack Carlo, then that trophy will be a million miles away.

Presumably Brands and Ancelotti together sanctioned the loan of Kean to PSG. Kean is an excellent young player who realised he'd been duped into signing for a club way beneath him. I think Ancelotti was hoping to turn that around but it was not to be. So, very late in the window, we reluctantly sanctioned the unexpected departure to PSG.

There wasn't time to get a replacement but, in the grand scheme of things, we couldn't turn down what might lead to a £50M (+) sale in summer. Hopefully, the gap will be addressed in January with our own move for someone with pace and goals in them.

As it happens, PSG have a striker very much like Kean called Kalimuendo – now on loan at Lens. They have a weird habit of letting their quality youth leave on the cheap. We might get him as a makeweight in the eventual sale.

This isn't Real Madrid or Bayern Munich were you stroll up, tweak a couple of things, and hey presto, trophies land on the desk. No, this is the real world, the mess that is Everton FC, and I don't think Carlo can do the job required here.

Fans talk about transfer windows and time but basic mistakes are being made on a weekly basis. Errors you don't see in Sunday League football, and it's getting worse. It's beyond me how anyone can accept this nonsense. A million fucking quid a month, he is paid, yet the manager can't manage to put players in their correct positions.

What the fuck is wrong with Gordon and Nkounkou? Surely these two lads have to be better options than the walking dead – Iwobi, Delph and Sigurdsson? How many sackings will it take before the managers at this club realise Sigurdsson is just not good enough? Why do all of our managers keep selecting the same shite players, week-in & week-out??

Like I have said in previous posts, Ancelloti is making the exact same mistakes that Koeman and Silva used to make and we currently don't look or play any differently with Carlo in charge. I think this current shambles is as equally bad as the dark days of Ron and Marco.

If we carry on like this, then the bottom six by the end of January is looming. Same old story with the striker situation at the club; same old story with the lack of pace in the squad; same old story of washed-up players keeping the shirt; same old story of Everton being the charity club; same old story with leeches sucking a living out of the club.

We even had that other idiot, Miss Dynamite, waffling on in the press last week about Covid-19 vaccines. What the fuck has it got to do with her? What medical qualifications does she have? Stick to what you know, giving soup and blankets to the homeless people. I don't need some blonde bimbo pal of Kenwright's telling me how to maintain my health, thank you.

I'm sick to death of this shit. People think I'm a moaning twat but it's so obvious with what is wrong at the club and the team but nobody is prepared to fix it. It has been this way for decades now and it's getting worse by the week. We still can't get the basics right on and off the pitch. Little Miss Dynamite, Bill Kenwright, that guy who looks like Max Wall... I am sick and tired of the lot of them.

Those who think Carlo is our saviour had better wake the fuck up very quickly. It's now getting to panic-button time again. From what I've seen, Ancelloti would be better off at home in Italy, feet up, red wine in hand, watching AC Milan play on the telly. Carlo doesn't look intrested or capable of this job... but what do I know? I'm just a moaning twat!!!

If Carlo thinks a draw was a decent result yesterday, then can he qualify why? I'm not sure what he is trying to do at Everton but results will make or break – it's that simple.

Just wanted to touch on the transfer policies and the "have we improved" comments some refer to above. Okay, so I will be repeating myself, but not specifically about yesterday's match.

The transfer priorities in the summer were to address our glaring problems in midfield. We have done that. I am sure in the next window, we will focus on other areas.

I think the first 11 (all fit) has definitely improved on last season. But to rebuild this squad is going to take more than one or even two windows due to the randomly assembled "squad" we have amassed over several years. Team has improved, the squad is still needing major surgery, hence being hurt once one or two key players are out or having an off day.

James needs to be dropped, he's not fit enough. Iwobi can't cross a ball. Allan pushes too far forward in my opinion leaving defense short. Dom needs a strike partner.

Although I hate him, I would absolutely love Jack Grealish. We need a decent playmaker willing to run with the ball and run at defenders, making something happen rather than leaving it to Iwobi, who looks like he kicks the floor everytime he tries to kick it.

Gordon needs to be given a chance also.

Apart from Allardyce. Don't start me!

For openness, I didn't want Martinez but supported him (especially after that first season). I overly supported the appointment of Koeman - I got hoodwinked by my memories of Koeman the player, not Koeman the manager. I never wanted Silva yet tried to support him.

I try to erase the fact Allardyce was ever associated with Everton Football Club.

Watch Man City or Chelsea yesterday the way the midfield attacks with blistering pace. It destabilises defences, their forwards are hanging on the last defender and time their run behind, time after time.

We are never, ever going to get that from Gomes, Delph, Sigurdsson. Maybe Gbamin can be the missing link?

Gomes is an enigma, such a gifted player but is always looks 10% off full fitness. I like the player, I still believe he can be better. Is it worth trying him in holding midfielder central position in a 4-3-3? In between Doucouré and Allan? Where his game could be more in tune with close control and quick passing. Giving a bit more license to Doucouré and Allan to drive forward with the ball when possible.

It's clutching at straws but it's something to consider. Gomes has got the quality in him if he can rise to the occasion.

I hoped Gomes could sit behind them both as an "orchestrator", pulling the strings but also plugging that hole. If not, then yes, maybe more of an enforcer such as what we hope Gbamin is / will be.

Either way, that is an area we need to address. To my points, here and elsewhere. We've improved the team but the squad is still work in progress.

The gap between midfield and defence is concerning and has to be addressed, especially with upcoming games. Even half-fit Kenny and Nkounkou have to be better than what he's been picking.

A back 4 and a player or even 2, Holgate and Davies in a truly defensive role in front of the back 4 has to help. A midfield 3 and Calvert-Lewin up front must surely make us stronger defensively and relieve James of any defensive duties.

We really have to tighten up and get fitter!

I believe the system isn't been executed well, whether that's a 4-3-3 or 3-4-3. The team isn't compact enough as a unit. We are like a set of Christmas lights, strung out and several bulbs intermittently flashing!

In order for us to win that ball back or construct play, the whole side needs to be closer to Allan and Doucouré, much higher up the pitch. It needs a centre-back to step out of the three and into midfield to anchor the formation and push everyone up the field. He should be the pivot for the back three and the base of a midfield triangle. Given the lack of holding midfielder, I'd stick with the wingbacks.

There was absolutely no need to play that deep against a side who progess the ball directly down the middle, or any side frankly. If you want to maximize Pickford's strengths, then one-on-ones are that.

Mina was the wrong choice; you don't need a bean pole if you play high, you need a greyhound. I'll add he misjudged plenty of long balls and just grappled with Wood; Keane won his headers. Holgate and Godfrey have more than enough pace.

As a result, the front three become spaced out and isolated, they can't link up and quickly become surrounded with bodies.

The team is there and it's missing a leader to organize the formation and be brave.

We won 5 games against teams in 15th, 16th, 17th, 18th and 1st in the table. If in any given season our expectations are not higher than that, we are in big trouble.

In the past, we could blame the manager for not being ambitious, lack of experience, or being out of his depth. This is not an option with Carlo. For this, I fear that there is a bigger malaise at the club.

I see no hunger, no ambition, only complacency. It looks to me that everybody is just turning up for work, putting in the hours without effort and going home. There is an expression used in industry “keeping your nose clean”. Nobody at the club is standing up and shouting that the level of commitment is unacceptable.

In summary, despite the addition of new blood to the squad, nothing seems to have changed at Everton FC. For this reason, I fear for the future.

He made a couple of good crossfield passes, made a mess of more than a couple of easy passes, and shot hopelessly at the goal from 20 yards or more. This from a man who has scored one goal since he came here.

Yes, three centre-midfield players is the answer, Gomes is not good enough or fit enough to be one of them.

He in many ways is like Davies, where does he fit? He's got great feet and a superb range of passing, but he just isn't dynamic. Rarely beats a man, rarely gets in the box, doesn't bar one miracle score, hasn't dictated a game for over a year. Where do you play him? Left back – in the changing rooms, I'd say.

To your point, we saw Keane stepping up earlier in the campaign. We've also seen Holgate do that well in the past. For whatever reason of late, the back three have just loitered outside the box.

With the wingback formation, I think the midfield three are key. But they don't seem to have developed an understanding. The Spurs game, they played brilliantly together but, since then, they don't seem to have any clue what's going on.

At times, Doucouré operates almost as a fourth centre-back with James drifting wide and Allan covering the middle third by himself. I think Carlo needs to work on that. If Doucouré drops back, someone from the back needs to rotate into the midfield.

If James hugs the touchline, then the wingback needs to step inside. At the minute, it looks like everyone has their own plan but their teammates are oblivious to their intentions.

Gomes has become the new Morgan. There are legends about his prowess as witnessed on foreign shores but we see nothing. Immobile, pensive, nervous, petulant. He's a bit like a shell-shocked character from Dad's Army. He wears a few medals and talks of heroics on the Sudan campaign but he's not for the frontlines any longer.

I honestly can't remember the last time we scored a last-minute winner or 2 late goals to seal a win! I can't remember the last time I was overtaken by emotion by the result!

That really is depressing! As much as I don't like Vardy, we need that kind of never-say-die type of player!

We haven't had that since Cahill unfortunately. Doucouré has the stamina and the attributes but he doesn't seem to have the character

This is not some final payday for him, he could have got that in China or somewhere. This is a long-term project for him and that means getting rid of the dross he was left, and by god – wasn't he left some? If he's backed, he will deliver, full stop.

As Rob says, sack him and the cycle starts all over again. Where does that leave us? Yes, he's made some baffling moves at times (don't they all?) but I'd rather watch what I'm seeing now than under Allardyce, Koeman or Silva.

Sigurdsson should have provided with that yesterday, Dacoure should have given us the draw v United.

A few people have said Iwobi played well yesterday, he tried but twice in the last 5 minutes he had a chance to knock in a good cross under no pressure and he fluffed it!

It just all goes to demonstrate a complete lack of bottle I'm afraid to say!

I'm sick of seeing other teams celebrating their last minute winners and comprehensive wins!

Every game I watch for us is pretty much torture! As even when we win we never seem in control?! We never seem to steam roller anyone and as I've said we very very rarely win a game in the last few minutes!

Sorry to be so negative!

Balance his performance out when James, Doucouré and Allan arguably all had worse games than him.

Why is he such a scapegoat? He's comfortably been one of better players in the last three games. And yet he gets the name checked, across many threads.

I really am at a loss.

Apart from our now unbelievable start where we stayed at the top by winning games, we have gone back to what we have been doing for oh so long – missing opportunities to stay in the top 6 or 8. It's sad to see this trait return.

There have been many posts in the last 2 weeks about how Carlo goes about selecting his final 11 or his 18. I can't believe that Carlo would use what I am about to suggest but maybe it matches his explanation that his team is based on performances at Finch Farm. I think Carlo sits down with or without his coaches and lists, in order of importance to the team, players numbers 1-18.

So who is his first name on the team sheet? Calvert-Lewin or Richarlison or? That would explain how Iwobi makes it and how Gordon and Nkounkou do not? Then he fits players 1 to 11 on his teamsheet regardless of playing them out of position?

Must say it seems unlikely but it's as good as any other way that has been suggested. I must admit to doing this with my U12 football team when I was in charge of our school team back in the 70s and it worked!

Another thing that struck me yesterday was Richarlison's sulk in the 2nd half and why does this happen too often? I think he is happiest when he scores and he hasn't been doing this for quite a few games.

Yesterday, in the first half, he played much closer to Calvert-Lewin and was involved. After Delph's injury, he moved wider and began to play more as a left-winger where he is provider rather than scorer. He does provide the cross for Calvert-Lewin to score but his own opportunities to score diminish rapidly.

In the 2nd half, he rarely gets anywhere near to Burnley's goal and loses interest. When we had Digne, he didn't have to play so wide but, without Digne for 2-3 months, is Carlo going to ask him to play wide unless Nkounkou can get up and down if, if he is ever selected.

Certainly Godfrey does a good job defensively but looks lost once he gets over the half-way line. With no goals or chances for this length of time, are we going to see an increasingly unhappy Richarlison where his thoughts might drift elsewhere?

With no solutions to our full-back problems with square pegs shoehorned into round holes, at least for 10 games and maybe until Coleman returns (when?) and Digne returns (March), we and Richarlison are in for a frustrating time.

I'm just using it as an example to late in the game when a lot of our players fluff their lines when the pressure is on!

Contrast that with Vardy today! Did you ever think he was not going to score that? He can handle the pressure; lots of ours cannot, including Iwobi yesterday!

Generally I don't mind Iwobi and think he's another victim of a ridiculous fee hanging round his neck!

The only way is to build from the ground up. That's what Bielsa had to do at Leeds – and they played us off the park last week. But I'm afraid the Everton way is the quick fix, the magic manager, the transformational superstar, the multi-million transfer fix. It never works.

Klopp ended 20 years of Liverpool mediocrity by imposing his plan with ruthless intent from the training pitch and beyond. Our training is a retirement home for super-annuated dinosaurs.

If we start from the ground up, it will take us years to grow a system and players with attitude and commitment. If we don't, it will be decade after decade of false hope and mercenary signings.

Moise Kean scores again eh? Troyes, Nantes, Guineacamp or whoever they are playing are just cannon-fodder. Perhaps a better comparison is the game against Man Utd in the Champions League. He was completely lost, offered zilch and did as much as he did on the pitch for us.

He may come good and his goals may even get a decent fee for us but it will take a lot of convincing me after his efforts here.

What concerns me much more is how poorly drilled we are. Nobody seems to be pressing or working as a team, and in the modern game you have to work as a team with no let up. That for me is what happens on the training ground.

I must confess myself disappointed with the rather slow reactive style we have. He's had a year now, I expected more.

A clever club would've used the loan and moved on. He'd be a sound squad player for the future but we need much better in midfield dictating the game.

His biggest standout moment was that needless scream he belched out trying to win a cheap foul.

The sad reality is the few decent players in the squad will leave in a year or two at most. They, understandably, want to leave the purgatory that is Everton these days. The Club will win nothing during Ancelotti's tenure. It is too far behind the game in every sense.

I think it will get worse before it gets better with the fixtures in our Winter of Discontent. But I just watched top-placed Spurs win.

MotM was Højbjerg, who we laughed at versus Allan on opening day. Also good was Sissoko, who we all viewed as a bullet dodged by Koeman. The manager of course being Mourinho who faced the same accusations of being a yesterday's man with a shapeless team just months ago.

I believe we will likewise turn the corner but the night is darkest before the dawn.

I wouldn't slur him to that extent. Morgan was about lack of effort. There's no lack of effort in Gomes, his commitment is always there. It's just an existential lack of confidence and aggression, which is what led to his failure at Barcelona.

He simply cannot play up to the level of his natural talent. Beautiful touches and dribbles, but always in the middle of the park, never at the edge of the box. Beautiful passes, but always distributional or cross-field switches, never anything cutting through the defense at the 18.

And never, ever a vital goal or assist, never a true impact moment that changes a game. He just doesn't have it in him.

He does compare to Schneiderlin in one area only – the knack for fouling unnecessarily in bad locations.

Gomes is, by all accounts, a lovely guy, one of the nicest and shyest you'd ever want to meet. I wouldn't be surprised if that's the problem.

I'm dead against changing Ancelotti for any number of reasons but he really does need to step up – team selections and tactics-wise.

How do you judge a manager? – Over one season? Over a career? What he does at one club or many? And can a "good" manager suddenly become a bad one? How long do you give a manager to redeem himself if things aren't going well?

It's never black and white, is it?

Sorry my frustration got the better of me and the Morgan slur was out of line. Nobody deserves that kind of abuse, lol.

When in doubt, go back to basics; start with 4-3-3, get a settled back 4, or as settled as he can given the injuries, but I'd plump for Holgate and Nkounkou as right-back and left-back.

Allan, Doucouré and Gomes in midfield (even though he doesn't look the same player since Son did him).

And of course James, Calvert-Lewin and Richarlison up top. And instruct the midfield, win the ball and give it to any of the front 3, a la Liverpool.

It seems like years, but it was only a couple of months ago we were top of the league with that line-up.

We haven't gone bad overnight (it just looks that way) but we need a way of playing; watch just about any team and you know how they're going to set up, how they're going to play – every team except us, and if we, and presumably the players, don't know what the fuck is going on, it's hardly surprising why we're struggling.

I've used Klopp as an example before and got shouted at. He is a good example. Someone who's last season at Dortmund was far from a great exit. And someone who was given time at you know who. He took 3 seasons to get them where he wanted them, not 6 months.

And other good examples; Tottenham and Arsenal. I admittedly contradict myself in having said Mourinho has lost his mojo; that "busted flush" so many accuse Ancelotti of being and who would rather have gone with the untested Arteta because he is young and trendy.

Just maybe experience can count. Ancelotti isn't going to be around for 11 years like Moyes, but he could be the first in a stepping stone approach to genuinely putting us back on the map.

I revert back to my previous liking of how Man City did it. Brought in names to attract names and get them eventually where they wanted to be. Stepping stones.

Mourinho was the man we should have got; his best work has been taking on a challenge and "building", as at Porto and Chelsea. Not going for him says much about the lack of understanding of what we need by the club hierarchy.

The worry about Carlo was he had no real experience in "building" and it's beginning to show.

The Chelsea project was in full flight and almost there when Mourinho stepped in. You felt for Ranieiri who was just about to achieve with them, but they opted to bring in Mourinho who arguably had everything set up on a plate for him (not build it). That Chelsea team and project had been in progress since the late 90s.

The proof is in the pud.

Mourinho looks to be taking Spurs to another level whereas Carlo looks mired in the morass of mediocrity as per previous incumbents.

He got the players he needed in the summer window.

He doesn't seem a busted flush any more, and the good players are also looking better.

Providing a manager gets the players they need and, like all of us, a lucky break, they can achieve.

The one thing Mourinho and Carlo have in common is that, given the right backing, conditions and inevitable luck that comes with football, they have delivered success and trophies.

I watched the game on French TV, and they made a point about our players looking tired, and also that the front 3 seemed to be playing detached from the rest of the team. From what I could see, the front 3 were playing high, the defence was too deep, our wingbacks were being pushed back to make it a back 5, and Allan and Doucouré were being overran in the giant gap between our defence and our attack.

This was put right by our change in formation when Delph went off injured. I have to say, I have found the manager's team and bench selection for the last 2 games to be baffling. He's chosen a formation that doesn't suit us, played round pegs in square holes, and not included the young fullbacks on the bench to give him options to change if it's not working.

I would have hoped to have established a pattern of play by now, like Spurs or Liverpool have. Instead, we are more like Man Utd. A different formation every week, different line-ups every week.

I sincerely hope Carlo can revert to the 4-3-3 system he was picking at the start of the season. And playing full-backs in the full-back positions.

Porto were 5th when he took over and, after sorting them out in his first season, made them Champions, won a domestic and Uefa Cup in his second season, repeating the process in the following year but replacing the Uefa Cup with the Champions League trophy.

Your Ranieri comment is casting the runes... no-one knows what he would have done but one thing is sure: he did not build Chelsea into the dominant force in England that Mourinho did.

Mourinho is unquestionably a successful builder of teams.

The idea of Ancelotti suddenly becoming a builder at his time of life is for the birds. It won't happen.

It's not difficult to see why Højbjerg found it so easy to resist Carlo's pulling power to join Jose.

The difference is when we win the ball after being under the cosh, we normally give a nothing ball straight back to the opposition.

Baffling when it's such an easy out ball and we've got the players to exploit it.

So far, he's definitely not the latter but, at the moment, all we want is a style or pattern we and the players can relate to, and for them to be as fit as they can. Plus inspire and have an innovative bench.

Why is this all so far beyond someone as soon as they step foot into Finch Farm? These are basic requirements, regardless if he's a Jose type or not. Plus this lowering of the bar attitude after drawing at Burnley... well, we might as well have kept Moyes or one of the other never has-beens. 'Nothing but the best' seems to be just an ageing motto, sadly.

I could not see Everton offering Mourinho the salary he would have asked for. He is listed as earning €23M, alongside Klopp at €24M, Gaurdiola at €27M and the top manager, Simione at €40.5M. We manged to get a world class manager in Ancelotti who is listed at €12M with €6M of that owed from Napoli from bonuses in his contract.

As far as we aware, we don't now if Ancelotti is capable of building a team, but looking for someone else with him only being in charge for a curtailed end of last season, the summer break, and the start of this season, it seems strange that some of the supporters are starting to doubt him. The strange thing is, I did not hear many of these complaints for the first 6-7 games at the start of the season.

The problem Everton have in recruiting players is we have to wait in line if any of the top 6 want them, as Everton have nothing to offer ambitious top-class players. They can only offer promises and a history. History to me, unless you are a supporter, is something that just collects dust and players these days want the exposure of playing in European tournaments and in teams that have a chance to win the league.

Ancelotti is the first manager for a long time who some players want to come to Everton because they want to play for Ancelotti. This is a change from having to compete with the top 6.

Can anyone remember the last time that happened at Everton?

Another unenviable record on the horizon?

You probably expressed my concerns better than I tried to do in my post at #50.

My fear at the moment is we are making very slow progress and, at the current evidence, anything better than top 10 will be progress.

Whether Ancelotti is a great fit for us you can debate. But I didn't see any outstanding candidates knocking around except Pochettino and I'd confidently expect he wasn't remotely interested. Ancelotti will do fine overall (meaning knocking on the door of 6th with the 7th or 8th best team). But to do much more, he needs much better players.

But we are constantly told Ancelotti can't get a tune out of them... So who is actually right here and what's going on??

I genuinely believe we're not athletic enough still. Richarlison has it but all our best attacks go through him. Calvert-Lewin is fast but not with the ball and James isn't that kind of player.

A dynamic central attacking midfielder and a fast right-winger would transform this team for me. Who those players are that have that quality and we can afford is another question but, at the minute, we're simply too slow. Liverpool, Man City, Chelsea are prime examples and even Man Utd, though they're inconsistent. They have electric pace.

I have always been one to give managers time but what we are seeing with Carlo is pure bloody mindedness. His unwillingness to give the younger players a go is beyond belief.

Gordon and Nkounkou have shown enough to merit at least a place on the bench but are left out. I wouldn't have a problem with this if the players included had a proven track record of late but many have been dragging weed for ages.

A very disheartening trait as these young players will want to move on to prove themselves and I think they are exceptional talents.

Ask me if I would take Duncan tomorrow and I would say Yes, as Carlo I imagine is not one for turning and I cannot see the positives for this Club. This is another expensive mistake for us as we cannot afford to release him if things fall apart. They probably won't but all I can see is mid-table with this mindset.

People may not have been complaining at early results but I would suggest most understood the potential for another false dawn which inevitably it has turned into.

Don @100,

Abramovich wasn't at Porto!!

Only this time if we do we are only 2 points behind them. We are better placed going into this fixture than we were last season.

I expect pace to be at the top of Carlo's shopping list, if not in January, then definitely in the summer.

Our very own Kevin Sheedy wasn't blessed with pace but my word he was talented. Andrea Pirlo is one of the best players I have witnessed. He wasn't renowned for his pace, just his ability to dictate play.

I get what you're saying, but it is not just about pace and speed. That's English disease and why we end up with players like Iowbi.

Let's see what happens as always.

That is tongue-in-cheek and absolutely not aimed at you, by the way!!!

You're bang on. We've seen the best of what Ancelotti can offer. This is it, sadly. It's not going to magically get better under him, only worse.

He's showing us exactly that he's about, and yet a lot of people on here are convinced he's going to bring these 6 or 7 World Class players in, with pace and skill up the wazoo, and then everything will be fine.

God bless these believers, they're absolute sweethearts, I want to get on board with their faith. All I'm seeing is mediocre to shite level management that won't see us getting anywhere near the top six after the 4½ years have elapsed.

“There is no substitute for speed” – you're hanging around the wrong shady nightclubs!

Carlo is playing a system which is very vulnerable to teams that show a determination and press Everton's back four early as shown even by teams like Burnley.

Everton are much too sloppy at farting around at the back trying to work it forward too slowly.

Yes, it may be that these players are still not good enough and changes have to be made in January but at the moment we have to go with what we have.

Funny how nothing has really gone right since that awful game against RS even though VAR helped us get a point.

We had to hang on against Fulham and struggled again yesterday and just look where both teams are in the table.

Everton's new signings have become very disappointing and dropping them wouldn't be such a bad idea and although they have done some decent things they just don't perform at a high standard for 90 minutes.

On current form it's hard to see us beating anyone for a while.

I think the more this passive sluggishness goes on, the more galling and obvious Ancelotti's body language and demeanour will become.

He doesn't seem arsed when we don't win, and maybe the reason for that is, he isn't.

Carlo's only salvation is to buy some firepower and pace in the next windows if there's any cash available and return to a 4-4-2 formation. That might buy him some time if results improve; at the moment, we will struggle to beat anyone.

WTactual F IS going on?

Lets start with Koeman and his 1st League game Vs Spurs. He'd told us...when he got back from his extra weeks holiday and he was back from Birkdale or Hoylake, that the intensity and fitness had to improve...but it wouldn't happen overnight.

We started off with a hiss and a roar to lead Spurs but dropped off as he said we might, until everyone was, literally - up to speed. 1-1
The future looked promising.

This season we started, again Vs a somewhat lethargic? Spurs and we did a 0-1 job on them...all the media went on about - as always - was how bad Spurs were...but we were quite good ourselves and the future looked promising.

Well we know the rest. Stuff happened, well yeah thats what stuff does.

For the !ast 3 or 4 years this team / starting11, in its various incarnations and under various Coaches has turned out some of those 'Good' 1-1s and 0-1s...and some right awful performances, more of the latter...these seem to be the only constant.

The Coaches and the starting 11s have flicked around like a demented airport departures boards.

Were now 'stuck', if thats the right word, with Mr Ancelotti for a minimum of another season and a half.

I hope the airport board settles down and our flight gets called soon.

Interesting assertion this given that the top 6 looks pretty familiar after 10 games bar maybe that Leicester seem to have replaced Arsenal. To get into the top 4 will take more than one season realistically.

I think it's still pretty obvious that even having had 5 managers and 2 DOF the squad still isn't good enough. With the best 11 players available we have a very good team, but we are hugely reliant on Digne, Richarlison and DCL. For me James is at his best for us when he has Digne as an option to switch to, and whilst he is brilliant to watch his effectiveness is diminished without guys to do the running on his behalf

Need a long term right back. Hopefully Gbambin can step into the defensive mid role to allow Allan and Dacoure to move further up the pitch. If not him then that role needs filling.
We have been split for left backs with Baines, Digne and even Oviedo before his injury, and if the young lad isn't ready for the first team an alternative needs to be brought in. Can't have players on the books that are positional specific and not being in the match day squad even when there is a gap in the team

And what a shame we didn't get Giroud when he left Arsenal. How we could do with someone else to help out DCL. He has done an excellent job this season, but his goals pretty much all come from similar moves. He doesn't create anything for himself. We don't seem to get through the middle very often

When James has people who can space defenders ahead of him, his passing will be twice as effective.

I'd like to say more, but I'm too busy laughing hysterically at another poster's outrage over Carlo's "body language."

We need both of those players, the dynamic mobile central midfielder with pace and energy and aggressive too.

We do need the pace up front it is essential to have that asset as part of our attack. Useful too as a game changing player from the bench. At the moment we are using Tosun to add the threat! ) I think a player who fits that description will come in on loan in January.

Maybe equally as important is signing a right back. Kenny is not being consider all, and Seamus will be in and out more and more. We may have to wait until summer for these signings, but one or two shrewd loan signings in January could buy us time.

We need to revert back to the system in place at the start of the season. Hopefully, Seamus will be back sooner rather than later and Nkounkou will be given his chance. I don't see what he has done in his starts to date not to be considered.

The problem with Kean is that he didn't actually do that much in Everton colours. Fair play to the lad, he's got a few at PSG. Had he showed his form in training and on the pitch he would still be at Everton.

Mike 117

With you on body language stuff. What do you want guys? A you Gordon Ramsey going beno in the line? The look and comments he gave Dom when he passed the ball straight out left no doubts how he felt.

- a new goalie
- a first choice RB
- a new reserve LB
- a quality holding midfielder unless Gbamin breaks quarantine rules with a trip to Lourdes
- a central midfielder with some pace, bite and goals
- a quality winger (or two) with pace and end product
- a quality striker to compete with DCL

This is not going to be quick, cheap or easy to assemble. For ready made players that's about £200m worth of players - more if you set your sights on established prem players like Zaha.

On an unrelated note, Mourinho is going all out in his praise of Hojbjerg. Passing stats, simplicity and leadership etc. I strongly suspect we'd be looking at a different player had he arrived at Everton. The sideways and backward passing curse might not the fault of the midfield - but more an indictment of the crap movement, lack of pace and options in the attacking third (unless we have a fit & fresh trio of DCL, Richarlison and Rodriguez in together in the same team).

And I guess I'll beg to differ with some of the opinions of Kean but it doesn't really matter - he's gone and almost certainly won't be back.

Allan and Doucore were both upgrades on what we had. But neither are that quick, and both like to roam. Rodriguez is a great playmaker for a team that expects to have lots of the ball. But in a team that struggles to plug holes he is a problematic luxury.

It's all very well saying play a 433 but that system was being found out by the likes of Southampton and United, overloading our right hand side where no right back can cope with Rodriguez being given a free remit and Doucore is no defensive midfielder.

Our best bet may be a 4231 with James in the 10 but it risks DCL getting very isolated.

Another season of 8th-12th beckons and I fear its looking more like 12th at the moment. Poor organisation, recruitment of decent players who don't quite fix the problems and a lack of sharpness and hunger. Not expecting a very merry Xmas for the toffees.

St. Maximin is no slouch.

It could be the system, with too many holes; or it could be the fitness, but we just look slow to react to problems and the (constant) loss of posession.

Dealing with that alone and playing some front foot football would create a much better feeling towards the current (limited ) crop of players and also provide the opposition with food for thought - at the moment every team seems to be able to work us out and nullify what threat we have.

What Sheedy was surrounded by was good footballers and fierce competitors. Sharp was slow, Gray was slower and if you have any doubts as to how slow Reidy was just watch Maradona's goal. The likes of Richarlison, DCL and Doucoure would leave those three for dead in a race.
Brace was no slouch, but he was no Greyhound either. Neither were Richardson or Harper. Inchy was more a scamperer than a sprinter. beside the one season when we had Lineker, the only player who came close to being fast was Tricky Trev. Most of our pace was across the back line

Pace and speed of movement can get you so far, but it will always always, play second fiddle to guile and intelligent movement.

We don't lack pace we lack Guile. Intelligence.

DCL and Richarlison are much faster than Sharp and Gray, but they don't know how to make it count. They simply don't have the streets Smarts. They're too nice. When the dark arts were being taught, they were at the back of the class.

I don't buy we don't have pace in the middle of the park either. Doucoure is as powerful a runner as I've seen in our midfield. Iwobi is fast, Allan is no slouch either. James is every bit as fast as Sheedy.

I cringed when people celebrated Carlo's "pulling power" after he'd landed three players nobody else was in for. When people on here were asking me to "eat crow" After Carlo had landed his "world class players". I simply sent it back down the table.
I'd seen the class of 85 and I knew none of these "superstars" belonged in the same post code.

Good footballers but time and space with their brain and decision making as much as by running fast.

A long standing problem with English football has been overly focissing on pace and power.

That's fair enough. I think we're not getting the best out of Doucoure because of the system we've played from time to time, with him sitting and covering for James. We got a hint with his goal. He also missed a decent chance when he got on the end of one in the box.

If we only play 2 in central midfield though we won't see so much of that.

Lack of pace throughout is also an issue as you say, and won't be addressed unless it's brought in in January.

Loss of possession is down to habitual sloppy passing, a basic skill really. It used to be called looking after the ball.

It's even more the case because Rodriguez is a passenger without the ball. So we need dynamic players to compensate.

A new dynamic midfielder would help enormously (because Gomes and Sigurdsson are fairly lifeless). And a dynamic right back too.

Imagine us but with a Wijnaldum and a Lamptey. Whole different proposition. Yes they both have quality but they also have the pace & engine we need.

He reckons Mr Mosh will not permit any business to be done in January, so there we have it the Oracle has spoken.

We're doomed I tell ye doomed.

Carlo is trying to play about 3 systems at once, which clearly doesn't work. It's not a secret that our form has dropped off a cliff since losing Coleman, Digne and Richarlison (I know he's back).

Our full backs are integral to the way we play, and without them we're screwed.

In my view, he should be using Kenny and Nkounkou - they may be inexperienced (esp Nkounkou) but at least they're both specialists in playing that position - instead he's using Delph (WTF) and Godfrey, or weirdly, Iwobi. Madness.

We lack balance, penetration, movement, you name it and why? Because the first 11 is a team full of players playing out of position all the time. Just use Kenny and Nkounkou and at the very least you get our shape back.

No wonder that ludicrous song "Grand old team" gets an airing the entire organisation is a cabal of lard arsed, effete dandies hanging on to past glories.

This is turn may be because the sytem is not right or the players are not showing for the ball enough. Though often I see us misplace very simple passes.

We are not in the 80's sadly and teams are fitter and faster which means any such mistakes are pounced upon easily by men pouring forwards. This is why poor passes followed by an undermanned midfield is resulting in us giving up so many chances and struggling to keep a clean sheet.

People come on here with all sorts of theories. The blame lack of pace. They blame lack of fitness. They blame lack of desire. They blame lack of talent. They blame lack of heart I don't see any of that. What I see is lack of cohesion, lack of direction. Lack of belief, Lack of any sort of system. Put simply. We are not a team.

When people argue about the tactics employed by Ancelotti. I waonder what they are talking about...whatever formation we play, even when we have most of the possession. it always feels like the opposition have more players than us...Why is that ?

Everytime I see Everton play I always feel we are strung out like a fucking washing line. Our full backs don't tuck in. Our forwards are often isolated and easily marked.
Our defenders don't like too much grass behind them so they are allowed to defend as deep as they want. DCL must feel he need binoculars to see Michael keane. Pickford always stretches us still further trying to hoof the ball into the opponents area...And its not just back to front. Its right across the park.
It often looks like Allan and Doucoure are overrun and out numbered. Thats because they are. Instead of moving as a cohesive, compact unit, we are spread all over the fucking park.

Our players are not unfit. They are not especially slow. but the workload and responsibility simply isn't shared evenly across the team.
When you make allowances for players who want to avoid traffic/battle and stay out on the flanks, or allow a defender to sit deep because he is more comfortable sitting deep. You`re creating holes in the unit. Gaps appear all over the pitch. players trying to close the gaps often fall between 2-3 stools

Our tactics don't matter a fuck, because too much is asked of some players and not enough is expected of others.

Ask not what your team can do for you...

You're right. We don't look like a team, we don't look like we have belief. But all those other things that you dismiss play into that. Lack of heart, lack of desire, lack of fitness etc

How are you going to have belief if you lack all those things? How are you going to play as a team if you don't have any clear system or organisation or identity? If you have no real leadership?

I agree that there are players not doing enough, defenders sitting too deep etc but that is all part of tactics and the system.

All these things matter and the margins are often small. If Gylfi puts that ball in from 6 yards out then we win and are in the top 5, but these small margins seem to keep going against us, and there is a myriad of reason why.

Belief comes in large part from winning. It's a habit that you need to get into. You can buy winners galore (Lord knows Carlo has won enough) but untill this team starts winning more regularly it doesn't matter who we buy or who manages us. They need to do it at Everton. And that only happens when those margins start going our way. And those margins are determined by alot of things; pace (or body and mind), tactics, teamwork, desire, quality, fitness etc. They all contribute.

What a total shit show we are. From top to bottom we are shit.

We have players who according to this thread suffer from just about every weakness.

We have a manager who can't manage, not shouty enough, not good at making subs, not good at picking a team, generally shit.

A shit billionaire owner who won't get rid of BK who ruined us single handedly, A chief exec that is shit. Brands who is also shit.

A naive forward line who aren't as good as yester years favourites. A motto that needs changing to "only the shitest is shit enough"

Shit songs that the fans sing.

Can't wait until we sack Carlo and bring someone else in equally shit. It will give the wise old sages more chance to be proven correct that we are shit.

Other than that we are doing alright or maybe shit depending on how empty your glass is.

Everton's team plays like nervous kittens, never fully comfortable with the ball, often afraid of losing the ball in key areas, and rarely risking playing a forward ball until it's too late and they run out of time and space and are forced to go backward and start all over again

It's not down to speed alone, that allows the likes of City et al to get the ball forwards and launch attacks on goal, it's about understanding when and how to move and how to keep hold of the ball until you get a shot away or put in a dangerous cross.

The amount of time and space that Everton afford to even the most limited of teams often leads to the ball arriving at our defence practically every time the opponents have possession and that inevitably leads to panic stations at the back.

But Darren is spot-on that lack of pace in defence is what hurts us the most, so we can never really push up the field and squeeze the opposition back in their own half for any significant periods of time.

McCarthy in Martinez's team did all of the work on his own, as did Gueye more recently, we have two in there now and yet they are unable to quell opposition attacks as often as we'd like or need, and too often they rely on finding James in order to get the ball up the field.

On Saturday, Burnley did spend a bit of the second-half deep in their own half, but Everton didn't work the ball cleverly enough to create anything of note, save that late chance for Siggy.

As good as our front players are, they aren't able to keep the opposition guessing, Dominic's role is difficult but simple and he's doing his job admirably, Richarlison used to be our main goal-getter but now he's playing more like a winger and his desperation for a goal is beginning to make him look ordinary, which he isn't.

Neither of the forwards should have to come back midway into Everton's half to make tackles and harry people that should be left to the midfielders and defenders, the forwards should work to get the ball back of course but only in limited areas, else they are wasting their energy.

That might be considered a bit shit for those who can remember the 1980s. I can't.

It's frustrating - because it always feels like something better is almost within reach but then you get the injuries, suspensions and PTSD associated with Derbies.

I don't want it to be like that but it is (without massive spending and / or a marvellous new recruitment strategy). The silver(ish) lining is that with everyone fit we at least play good stuff and score goals. So let's just hope we can get the first 11 back ASAP and try and sneak 6th.

Yet more naval gazing back at ‘85. Slaughtering our current crop against that side is pointless, serves no purpose and frankly lazy to compare. It's not the same game at all. Is anyone going to say ‘ah no way Calvert-Lewin is clearly better on the air than Sharp' or Sheedy couldn't lace James' boots'?

Just a load of emotional misty eyed rubbish which no-one on the right mind would rail against the team of that era. Shooting fish in a barrel.
Not a iota of balance either, just a picture of disaster, everything is going to ‘pot'. Frankly using the ‘85 team to troll this current team is just mechanism, nothing constructive in it all.

Perhaps it's used because that's all that's in the locker, a default script for the soapbox, to shout the loudest for longest.

It changes no-ones mind, it only emboldens those who think the same way to clamour for those days, it advances no argument to why the team is struggling, offers no persuasive tone to a solution, no collaboration, just division.

I'm right, you are wrong, the team is shit, the unmistakable stench of the nostalgia post.

Delph makes one full out sprint and his hamstring is gone !!

Obviously very easy training sessions are the norm.

Making constant comparisons with the distant past is great from a nostalgic point of view but it doesn't solve any of the current problems.

Peter Alliss was not only a very good golfer but he understood the game and at times wasn't slow to criticize, especially slow play that was his and most fans biggest bugbear. He often commented how can it take these players 5 hours plus to play a round of golf when most hit it 300 yards plus off the tee. Next years Masters wont be the same without Alliss. But all the commentators I have mentioned were absolutely brilliant and a joy to listen to. Todays commentators I would be hard pushed to name many, as most are more interested in their opinions being aired than actually doing what they are paid for, which is to increase the enjoyment for the people watching.

Did you know Alliss taught Sean Connery to play golf for Goldfinger?

Calls for speed of movement were countered by the point that intelligent movement and guile is more effective. Debatable ? not for me, but others are more than welcome to debate it.

What I do know, is that the 85 team was not brought up, fueled by dewey eyed nostalgia. They were already brought into it by the claim one of the players was surrounded by pace.

Dribbling skills, heading skills, passing skills. first touch etc were not discussed. What was suggested (and the 85 team were a perfect example) was that intelligent movement and guile are and always will be, more desirable and more effective than raw speed.

Those who don't understand those points may dismiss them as emotional misty eyed nostalgia.
Those who REALLY don't understand will think the game as moved so far, speed of thought and intelligent movement is no longer the primary requirement for playing top level football....They'll be the ones who are looking at our position now and scratching their heads.

It seems I offended the senses of the TW police. But I don't think I've ever compared this team to any of the great Everton sides before.
Perhaps I should take a walk down memory lane more often. It wasnt just the team I loved. I loved the fact that the fans KNEW we had top players. These days we seem to be surrounded by people who only think we have

I'm glad he broke down on Saturday, we looked better when he went off. Godfrey was a little bit awkward with the football, because he kept having to come inside, but he definitely looks like a player who is going to relish getting stuck in and defending.

Ancellotti has got to make us pragmatic, and not by picking the most experienced players, but by picking the players who want to go and play on the front foot. Only then will things begin to change for the better imo!

Ray #152, a daring sentiment but it's true that the athleticism of players in all sports, not just football, is well beyond what it was 30-40 years ago.

In 1985, the world record at 100 meters was 9.93. Today it's 9.58. Different world.

But parachuting expensive managers and expensive players in will never work. At best, they will flatter to deceive, but finish mid-table if we're lucky. There is no commitment - not even to training. CA is hoping to get lucky - but is not particularly bothered either way.

You can see the complete lack of intensity in every moment of the games. Even our throwins lack conviction.

It's clear Ancelloti values time on the pitch, experience over youth, unless he has absolutely no alternative, Branthwaite springs to mind.

What I cannot get over is to use a player in the most dynamic position on the pitch in modern football, when they are not quick, injury prone and not even left footed. Let's say he was 100% fit he can still probably only play at 70% of his ability given his lack of attributes in that role. Ancelloti deserves both barrels for that alone!

He wandered inside, because naturally his touch and right-footedness took him there, slowing our tempo to a crawl. At one point he was almost at right back! He stands on the ball like some conquering general, then cowardly turns back. The instant burst of relief when he crunched the gears and tried to get out of first only to find there was nothing there, was a blessing in disguise.

I go back to the to-do he had with Holgate, his body language is often strident, and he never seems part of the team. One of the weirdest signings in many a year. Maybe he'll spontaneously retire to g run a country pub.

I didn't say "surrounded by speed"... I said "Sheedy and Pirlo didn't have much pace, but they had people around them who did."

You got a little creative there by inserting the word "surrounded" and repeating it multiple times, but that doesn't make it any less of an... exaggeration.

If you can't make a point without playing games with other people's words, maybe your point isn't worth making.

John #159, Delph is left-footed.

I've been a critic of Gomes of late, but I thought he helped to settle our play and showed some very nice control and interplay - although his propensity to take too many touches and labour in possession needs to be addressed.

I would like to have seen Nkounkou given a run-out on Saturday - either as a starter or as a sub for Delph - but experience has generally taught me to trust the management when it comes to young players. Koeman, Unsworth, Allardyce, Silva, Ferguson, and Ancelotti all persevered with Calvert-Lewin - even when it seemed like the majority of voices on here doubted his ability and potential, and we can all appreciate how that turned out. Holgate has gradually grown from a squad player into (before his injury in pre-season) a regular starter. Kenny and Davies - despite various chances - have never really been fully backed by any of those managers with a consistent run of starts, despite calls from many people on here for them to be given their chance, and now they seem further from carving out first team starts than ever before. Other promising youngsters who starred for our youth sides or out on loan - Antonee Robinson, Kieran Dowell, Callum Connolly, Ryan Ledson, Liam Walsh, Joe Williams, Conor McAleny, Anthony Evans (to name a few*) have all been moved on and seem at this stage to be no great loss to the football club. I like what I have seen of Anthony Gordon and Niels Nkounkou but there is a huge canyon of a leap to the Premier League, and hopefully they will both make it - but now is clearly not considered to be the right time (for whatever reason) and I'll bow to Carlo and his team on that.

*The only exception that I regret losing is Lookman; with the right treatment and backing I still think he has the potential to be an extremely good footballer.

2 quality signings in January or 2 kids that are not ready for Ancelotti to come through?

Bill is spot on about throw ins too. We have been the worst side from throw ins for years.

I only had to look at my son who had a 6 months trial as a goalie at the Academy to see first hand how everything has changed in the meantime. The coaching he received went far beyond anything that existed when I played.

I'm not expert enough to agree or disagree that the current squad would beat the '85 team, but I thought it was a daring thing to say in this company.

I do think in general it's time to move on from the 1985 team, as has already been stated it was years ago and things are different now, PL era is global and Everton are not. We somehow need to get in the CL league, Newcastle and Leeds have and I can see Leeds doing in again maybe next season.

I think the top clubs focus on this alertness and reaction time in training. The training is geared to not just pressing, but pressing almost upon instinct. It's this that is more likely to make the opponents spill possession and us to get a control on a game or to counter at pace. Our training needs to be focused on this big time.

Fractions of seconds can make massive differences, at the moment we only have Allan across the whole of our midfield who can lay claim to do this. A big part of the RS success is that they ALL do it and it leads to a goal or more for one of their front three, week in week out.

We need to better train our lads to do it, or buy quality players who can. Until then we will struggle to make any inroads on the top 6, especially a permanent basis.

I do think we are better off now than recent times and we also need to improve but players have to take some responsibilty and do something different.

Richarlison is 22 and if he has an off game we have no spark at all. That about sums our squad up.

We can't expect too much from the 2 of the 3 new signings in terms of fitness because they are not used to these demands and travelling for internationals hasn't helped.

There are players from premiership stock and players we expect more from just going through the motions and doing nothing different.

I think the manager has shown he'll give youth a go when the side is on form. Why damage them and teach them bad habits?

Check out the top few teams and their speed merchants:

Liverpool – Mane, Salah, Robertson, Jota, Minamino

Man City – Sterling, Mendy, Walker, Cancelo, Mahrez

Chelsea – Zouma, James, Werner, Pulisic, Hudson-Odoi

Spurs – Son, Moura, Bergwijn, Reguillon, Bale

Mainly these players are wide players who can stretch teams but also return to shape quickly.

By comparison, we have Richarlison, Calvert-Lewin and possibly Godfrey. It's why we struggle so much in Richarlison's absence. We struggle to stretch teams wide and behind and we struggle to recover shape quickly after losing possession.

Of course, this is just one of many problems but it is definitely a problem.

Rodriguez is absolute quality, but I'd swap his skill for work rate and a player to plug the gaps against Chelsea; otherwise they will destroy us imo.

I didn't know Peter Alliss taught Sean Connery to play golf. I know he was loved over in the States as much as he was here.

James might seem like a luxury, but he's not. For all people looking at his work rate etc, he put the 3 points on a plate for us on Saturday. Sigurdsson fluffing his lines to deliver the coup de grace. He forced Pope into a very good save with the curler. Last time we scored from outside the box?? Probably his goal v West Brom the only one I can recall.

Take him out against Chelsea and we lose the one player who can turn the game on his own. We might match Chelsea for work rate but will inevitably lose once we tire.

He's created stacks of chances in the last three games, Richarlison in particular has been woeful in front of goal, despite being well serviced by James. Given his stupidity started this unraveling, he owes us big time. I'm in a bad place with Richarlison atm, his performance Saturday was terrible.

For me, we simply have to find a right-back that will compensate for him. Allan and Doucouré are already playing 1½ positions to cover for the lack of a holding midfielder, which is compromising their ability to win the ball high up the field – something you both and Sam Hoare have eluded too. If one of the three centre-backs can't step into that space, then I guess you just have to play one there.

I might offer 4-3-3:

Pickford
Davies Godfrey Keane Nkounkou
Holgate
Allan Doucouré
James Calvert-Lewin Richarlison

I'd ask Tom to play like Hibbert and use Godfrey to cover in behind. Push the mids right on Kante and Jorginho. If you let those lads free, like Philips in the Leeds games, we'll get ruined.

Got to go, Carlo's on the blower! 😂

If you just run fast and try hard... you run fast and try hard.

It is a signal that the corner will be a hit and hope piece of shit and that those in the box should prepare immediately for a counter-attack.

Has anyone seen an Everton corner in recent times that suggests that they have ever been practised in training? Same with throw-ins. They are like a free-kick against us.

Won't be pretty.

Carlo obviously feels that is what he wants whilst keeping Nkounkou out, so that will be his downfall, as the ''wingbacks'' he has are just not helping. The lackadaisical way they gave away the Burnley goal so early was criminal. It gave Burnley the belief they could win and had Everton behind the eight ball until the equalizer. After that, the chances were limited and poorly taken. An all too familiar pattern that we saw last season and again over the last month or so.

It's clear that in the modern game the teams that can ''high press'', so to speak, and do it well, are the ones that will succeed. Of course, it helps to have the right players who have speed and ability which is not really a quality of this Everton squad.

The cream is rising to the top again and Everton are where they deserve to be on current form. Carlo has his work cut out now to get these players motivated again.

Anyhow, the recent results have been a pisser. The most frustrating part of the performances for me have been the wasted possession and loose passing. It's falling to watch the slow, methodical, ponderous build-up play result in a cheap give-away. It's even more galling to see how quickly opponents have been able to take those concessions and move the ball quickly and efficiently through the middle of the pitch.

I think if we had a Gana or Kante (dream) in the team mopping up, then there would be greater balance. Allan doing the harrying further up the pitch. I thought Calvert-Lewin's goal on Saturday was a good example of how Allan is effective in winning the ball in our opponents half and retaining possession.

With the exception of one rapid striker (for one season only) and a couple of very quick defenders, most of the players he played with in that all-conquering team would never be described as fast.

The claim is still ill-informed and it's still false.

Barcelona, were obviously not calm, but calmness looks to be one of Ancellotti's greatest traits, and he's going to need it if results don't improve quickly!

“Quality is great, but sometimes it's pragmatism that wins football matches, and helps the team to regain a bit of lost confidence” especially when playing against a team like Chelsea?

Zideych? Give him space and he will destroy you, Werner? Give him space to run into, and he will run you ragged, Chelsea? Deny them space and frustrate them, otherwise pay the consequences! Football is such an easy game on paper!!

Liverpool players look like they would die for each other, would break a bone if they had to. Some of our lot don't look like they would break sweat for Everton

Liverpool come to Goodison like they own it and expect to win. We turn up and hope to do okay and ease out a victory if possible

Our players have such little character. I can't stand Robertson or Henderson but I'd love their mentality in our dressing room

Salah has been amongst the leagues top scorers last 3 seasons and still sprint around desperate to win the ball back. James think sprinting is a dirty word

Mane has a strop and responds with goals. Richie's current strop is bizarre. This guy is more talented than Son but we never see goals from him like Son scored vs Arsenal

Why don't we shoot from outside the area? Why aren't we absolutely desperate to win matches?

Because there's something rotten in the club. And please don't say it's Bill. There's a real issue with our mentality

We should only be signing proper characters with strong mentality going forwards or we'll continue to see the inconsistent and rubbish dross we have currently

What Tony says is what is one of, if not the, most important aspects of football in my view; space. Create space when in possession (on and off the ball), deny space when you lose it (on and off the ball). And yes, that's obvious and simplistic to say and I doubt anyone here disagrees. But easier said than done on paper or an Internet forum.

Creating or denying space can be done by aggressive pressing through pace and speed or by intelligent reading of the game to be in the right space at the right time by a slower player. Most teams in my experience have a combination of both. Yes, you get the odd freak collection of Duracell bunnies like the current Liverpool team, but most have to make do with both.

Mentality, attitude, ability, desire and intelligence (which includes speed of thought / decision making) are what I've always considered the most important aspects of a good footballer. If they are fast runners, that's a bonus but I've seen too many fast runners who are shit footballers because they have none of the above.

His pass to Sigurdsson said it all to me, Vision, precision and skill under pressure in the late stages of the game.

I do think his lack of pace is the oddest case of slow I have ever seen and we do suffer because of it.

I think we can, or anyone can for that matter, afford a slow gifted player.
However, I don't think you can be a slow side in this day and age if you want to progress.

I feel that this is our problem. I was speaking with friends before half time v Burnley and everyone was frustrated how long we take to find James.

How often its played behind him. How often we hold it too long before releasing it to him.

Players need to be more direct and stop admiring what James is doing or letting Richarlison - Beagrie his way through defences.

Dacoure and Gomes we need more from but I think Allan has shown enough to suggest he is a responsible player.

Its really up to certain players to get their heads up quicker and use the ball better.

Digne and Coleman are also 2 losses most teams couldn't cope without.

Speed of thought and decision making has always been equally as important as sheer pace to avoid being a slow side. It's not solely about running fast.

I revert back to my Everton point on Sheedy. He wasn't blessed with pace and didn't have necessarily pacey players in front of or around him. Our pace then was at the back (I'll come to that next). But what Sheedy had was players in front of him who could read the game and read what he was going to do or deliver.

To your point, don't stand admiring James, just anticipate what he is going to do. That doesn't require Usain Bolt pace from the deliverer or the recipient, just speed of thought and anticipation from both.

To my defensive point. If we talk pace alone, Michael Keane is a lost cause. I am a massive critic but, if he learns to read the game, anticipate and be in the right place because of speed of thought, his lack of pace is compensated for.

It remains to be seen if Godfrey can step up but, other than that hope, I don't think we have a good central defender? Not a reliable one definitely.

I am trying to remain positive in all the debated flaws because I think what we are seeing in terms of chances and attacks will be better with quality signings.

That has often been the case, to be honest.

Don't sign 5 decent players, sign 2 quality players.