DuncanRG

Not for me. He might light a bit of fire under the attacking players but he can't organise a defence, which is why Fonte's gone off a cliff and why West Ham's bad days are much worse than ours.

Eh? It's a reasonable interpretation but not the only one. Anyway, that's a seriously misleading headline and intro for what are non-event quotes.

We should acknowledge that Austin and Romeu had already arrived as replacements for Pelle and Wanyama. Mixed success on that front, but still.

Pochettino's awesome, Mourinho's one of the best in history. Hope that clears things up!

Not sure how even more competition would burst the TV bubble. To be clear, you think season ticket holders are deserting the team in a bad patch and it's the guys who take their seats that are fairweather fans?

Not sure that's good news for us. They won't forget how to organise themselves in the next few days and will want to prove themselves whether Dyche's gone or not.

Quite excited by that three behind Gabbiadini, particularly if it’s Tadic or Boufal in the middle.

I sympathise with Hoedt and Boufal. Hoedt may well have believed Van Dijk was off, and Boufal's seen that the players keeping him out of the team aren't really performing either. Doesn't necessarily make the team selection wrong in either case, mind. EDIT: Another thought - our players don't tend to speak out of turn to the press and these quotes are from an arranged interview rather than a press conference or post-match. Is the club laying some groundwork for moving to three at the back, given that line's found its way into the piece as well?

As per the Sunday Times. “This situation is not what I want, so it’s difficult for me,” he says. “I left a really big club in Italy where I could have signed a big contract and I was a starter. But I wanted to play in the Premier League and it was a precise decision to join Southampton. So I have to man up and show everybody what I can do. I have to choose my words, but I’m really, really frustrated.” Then: “I’m happy here,” he says. “I’m ready to play and I’ve shown I’m ready. I will be waiting but it cannot take too long. If I lose my place in the national team because I’m not playing for my club, then that’s really important.” No one's happy to be out of the team, but there's clearly an issue to be managed here. Is Van Dijk playing well enough to risk causing problems with our long-term replacement? NB: the piece suggests that we may switch to three at the back today, but it reads like speculation based on the players we have

We could also consider the opinion of somene else who works with him day in day out: the manager.

Derby were never really the same after Paulo Wanchope left.

He will, of course, win trophies, but I'm not sure that's required to prove yourself as more than decent. We'll see how he does when he gets to the top, but ending Spurs' decades of underachievement and turning them into title challengers is more than decent. Really don't get the anger towards him. Ulike Koeman, he never moralised about loyalty or said he would stay. I think people were angry because they knew how good he was and felt shortchanged by only getting a season and a half from him.

Yeah. Given enough chances he will take them! Teams are lifted by great players, but individual performances also suffer when the team's not at it.

Indeed. It's an imperfect measure but not invalid.

The reference point for all these guys is how they've fared since leaving Saints, ie pretty badly.

How far does three passes get you? That should tell you something. It's worth noting that Pochettino's pressing was particularly aggressive (and therefore memorable) against the top sides, who were sometimes taken by surprise. I think they're better equipped to deal with that workrate now.

Yep, he's still brilliant. Criticise him if that's still the case at the end of his career. It won't be.

There's no one to deflect the tactics onto. It was all him

I'd be interested to see our rate in the Pochettino season, or at that style's peak with Spurs/Liverpool. Subjectively it seems to me that no one's really eating teams like Pochettino did in his first few seasons in England.

Good for Claude and best of luck. Interested to see how Vardy fits into Puelball though!

To my knowledge Reed has always said transfers are a group effort, with the manager one of several figures involved in deciding who to go for. I've never seen Reed or anyone else at the club take personal credit for signing a player. Anyone care to show me otherwise?

Really wish we could have played and beaten this horror show team before they sacked him. Oh well. Interested to see where he goes next and who Everton go for/manage to attract.

That's probably true but doesn't make it any better, especially not for him.

I remember Pochettino gave the press a nod to that effect during Koeman's first season, but you can't discount what Koeman did for us. Rebuilding half a team and improving on Pochettino's results doesn't happen by luck. That said it's pretty clear that recruitment has been one of Everton's biggest problems and was one of our biggest strengths when he was here, particularly that first window. In both cases it's contributed hugely to what he's been able to do.

Got to be wary of the translation but it's pretty clear he blames the tactics for his lack of goals. Was there a big shift between his early run and the rest of the season?