Fans are in a poisonous mood. There have been many bad moments for Everton over the past few years, and many derby defeats, including the 5-2 loss at Anfield a month ago that was the last straw for Marco Silva. But I have never seen the fanbase as angry and disgusted as it is now, after the 1-0 FA Cup loss at Anfield where a first-string Everton lineup went through the motions and were bullied and cowed by a bunch of LFC academy teenagers with spring-training shirt numbers.Everton are to speak with Fabian Delph after the midfielder appeared to become embroiled in a social media spat with a fan.
The Blues are dealing with the issue internally to try and gain a full understanding of the validity of the exchanges and what the midfielder has, and has not, said to the fan.
The exchange, said to be on Instagram, came in the wake of Sunday's humiliating derby defeat at Anfield which prompted a small group of angry fans to descend on the club's Finch Farm training ground the day after.
Director of football Marcel Brands was forced to speak with the supporters who were outside of the entrance to the training complex, demanding to see the players.
Brands would go out and see the fans and listen to their grievances following the 1-0 loss against a Liverpool side that was made up of under-23s and fringe senior players.
It is said that he was with the supporters for around 20 minutes.
The incident comes as Delph, a second-half substitute in the defeat, looks to have become involved in an exchange with an angry supporter, with the messages being shared online.
Everton are to speak with the summer signing about the matter to fully understand what has happened.
The Athletic article doesn't name the senior players, right? Those four do seem like the most likely culprits. And frankly, I could do with seeing all of them gone.There's a piece in The Atlantic that senior players - Sigurdsson, Schneiderlin, Walcott, Coleman, all of whom have been varying degrees of bad this season, and all of whom stunk out the joint on Sunday - snapped back at Ferguson when he read them the riot act after the game. Supposedly they thought that the managers' tactics were to blame. It's paywalled so I have to get to it and I'll post about it when I read it.
Ferguson’s tirade was met with an element of defiance, with some strongly disputing the allegation they had thrown in the towel in the last 45 minutes at Anfield. Instead, these individuals chose to blame the setup and tactics for the crushing defeat.
There is already a feeling in some quarters that Carlo Ancelotti’s style is limiting the impact of certain players, even if most have found the experience of working with a manager of his status to be inspiring.
“It’s hard for individuals to help the team as they cannot keep the ball and play three or four passes to each other. They are playing bad football,” a source close to the first team told The Athletic.
“Who on earth goes from Big Sam to Marco Silva and then from Silva to Ancelotti?” said another source. “When players don’t trust decisions and direction from management, they get frustrated and lose respect. When that happens, players look at all management as the same thing, from a new manager to ownership.”
Ancelotti was managing and Ferguson is an assistant - the "tirade" supposedly occurred immediately after the game before Ancelotti had made his way back to the dressing room.Why was Ferguson managing the game? I thought Ancelotti had taken over already. Was it a transition situation or was he given the reins for the Cup? Or am I missing something else entirely?
Thank you for the clarification. I read it the first time as the players being upset with Ferguson’s tactics, but I read it again and see I misread it. Dunc is being the company man.Ancelotti was managing and Ferguson is an assistant - the "tirade" supposedly occurred immediately after the game before Ancelotti had made his way back to the dressing room.
This is what happens when you change managers as often as Everton has the past few years - players brought in to play one system become much less effective under a new regime, and more broadly players can't settle into a role when the team's preferred tactics are changing seemingly every season or even more frequently than that. Everton is kind of like a college football team that has had three coaches in four years - players brought in/recruited under one coach are now superfluous/not ideal/not happy under the new coach. Here's hoping Ancelotti sticks for at least a few seasons because they really can't keep doing what they've been doing manager-wise and expect any different results.
Agree 100%. The players have gone from Martinez to Koeman to (interimly U23 coach David Unsworth) to Fat Sam to Sliva to (interimly Ferguson) to Ancelotti. Lots of different styles and temperaments in there.Ancelotti was managing and Ferguson is an assistant - the "tirade" supposedly occurred immediately after the game before Ancelotti had made his way back to the dressing room.
This is what happens when you change managers as often as Everton has the past few years - players brought in to play one system become much less effective under a new regime, and more broadly players can't settle into a role when the team's preferred tactics are changing seemingly every season or even more frequently than that. Everton is kind of like a college football team that has had three coaches in four years - players brought in/recruited under one coach are now superfluous/not ideal/not happy under the new coach. Here's hoping Ancelotti sticks for at least a few seasons because they really can't keep doing what they've been doing manager-wise and expect any different results.
Moreover, how many of those guys actually won anything? Sidibe? How valuable was he in Russia?(I)f the likes of Coleman, Sidibe, Mina, Schneiderlin, and Sigurdsson, with dozens of years of top-flight football and a couple hundred caps between them, can't thread two passes together through players who have never stepped foot on a PL ground before, it takes big brass ones to blame the tactics.
Some of his wandering isn’t necessarily his fault. He got the heave-ho from Chelsea, so RA could hire AVB, who didn’t last a season. And neither Real nor Bayern are renowned for their patience with managers. He won major trophies at each of those stops (CL w/RM, Bundesliga with BM), and they still shitcanned him. Yeah, he’s inherited outsized rosters, but you still need a coach that commands respect in the dressing room.Ancelotti hasn't stayed anywhere too long since his Milan days
not for me. You’re right.Moreover, how many of those guys actually won anything? Sidibe? How valuable was he in Russia?
Or, is that the wrong lens through which to view this?
Carlo was also an excellent player in his day - and w/r/t the current issues with Schneiderlin and Sigurdsson, was a midfielder for Roma and Parma, winning several league titles and domestic cups, two European Cups. He also played in two WCs for Italy. So just on that alone he's got ample ground to either a) work with them to improve their play, so they don't get bossed by a bunch of teenagers, and/or b) tell them to go scratch.Ancelotti hasn't stayed anywhere too long since his Milan days, so he may not be up truly committed to a rebuilding process. But I think he will do good things, even if he only stays a couple years, simply because he has worked with the best in the world and won't stand for any bullshit from substandard players who think more highly of themselves than they really merit. Everton need a shake up and he has the stature to basically tell the likes of Sigurdsson, Schneiderlin, and Walcott that they are nothing special and will either work their socks off and buy into what he is selling or get fecked.
Really?I don't know, if the assistant manager - who just got demoted after an interim stint - came in and started yelling at me after a loss, I'd be tempted to snap back, too.
I think demoted is not the best word choice. Sure, you can say that, but in truth, he stepped into the breach short notice from his coaching position, as a favour until a replacement for Silva was found and put in post. He then retains a job on the coaching staff and, as we all know he cares deeply about the club and is a true servant of the club - love him or hate him or otherwise. When the current crop of players have gone to better or worse things my guess is Ferguson will still have a job at Everton. He's old school, yes, and old school doesn't mean good or better, but as a player he always put a shift in, and it has to hurt him seeing the die on field displays of late - especially in a derby match against local rivals who put out a second string team.I don't know, if the assistant manager - who just got demoted after an interim stint - came in and started yelling at me after a loss, I'd be tempted to snap back, too.
Agree 100%.I think demoted is not the best word choice. Sure, you can say that, but in truth, he stepped into the breach short notice from his coaching position, as a favour until a replacement for Silva was found and put in post. He then retains a job on the coaching staff and, as we all know he cares deeply about the club and is a true servant of the club - love him or hate him or otherwise. When the current crop of players have gone to better or worse things my guess is Ferguson will still have a job at Everton. He's old school, yes, and old school doesn't mean good or better, but as a player he always put a shift in, and it has to hurt him seeing the die on field displays of late - especially in a derby match against local rivals who put out a second string team.
I didn't see you in the FA Cup thread during the game - so I'm going to guess you didn't watch it. I did and was in the thread, as were several others here. I've documented the Toffees' ups and downs here (ad nauseam you might say) and to my best memory I haven't missed a minute of an Everton game in the past 2 years.I’m not saying they’re right, but I can understand why some players would snap back. It’s been a lot of spinning wheels at Everton recently and players probably don’t feel like they have been put in a position to be successful. The whole team got embarrassed out there, and then they have to take stick from a guy not good enough to be your manager? I get that it’s sport and players are supposed to show passion and desire - and that’s kind of Ferguson’s thing - but it’s also a professional setting. Do there have to be “tirades”?
I agree.To me, the real issue is why and how this story leaked out. I’m of the mind that internal conflicts are best kept internal.
In Ancelotti's early coaching years (after being an assistant to Sacchi), he stayed with Sacchi's 4-4-2 and had no interest in a no. 10, which led to Zola leaving Parma for Chelsea and Ancelotti vetoing a signing of Baggio for Parma.Sacchi revolutionised Italian football by ditching the much-loved system of man-marking with a spare man behind and insisting upon a “flat” four-man defence, which held an aggressive offside trap. This concept was controversial enough in Italy and traditionalists mourned the loss of the classy, intelligent libero. But because Sacchi’s approach depended upon cohesive, compact pressing as a unit, he had no place for the trequartista: the No 10 given freedom to create from between the lines. Sacchi’s emphasis upon compactness meant he wanted three lines of players, whereas a 4-3-1-2, for example, meant a “longer” side.
Hopefully Sunday's match provides more entertainment than the 0-0 draw before Christmas when Ferguson and Ljungberg were both wrapping up their time as interim managers.It was Ferguson, in his caretaker stint, who had introduced the 4-4-2 system but Ancelotti has stuck with it and made Everton more cohesive. Under Marco Silva, there was a debate about whether Gylfi Sigurdsson or Alex Iwobi was a better fit for the No 10 role. Ancelotti has scrapped the role entirely — Sigurdsson has only been used as a deeper midfielder, Iwobi on the flank. Up front, Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Richarlison are combining excellently, particularly on the break. Calvert-Lewin offers strength, physicality and the ability to run in behind, while Richarlison offers speed and invention in slightly deeper positions.