Ancelotti on post-match adrenaline and self-improvement

I have often felt for managers and players in the modern era being interviewed in the immediate aftermath of a game. I get the entertainment value and it being part of the job, but those who have played the game to any standard (by that I mean park football up) will know and understand what Carlo is saying here. The emotion is still to raw. We see that in our own matchday posts on here which then transcend into more moderate assessments as the days wear on.

Last sentence very telling.

I don't blame him for not being able to sleep after the extraordinary 5-4 over Spurs. I watched it early in the day my time, and I never got to sleep that night either!!

For all his outward appearance as an affable 'uncle', I believe Carlo will keep aside sentimentality and take the harsh steps necessary to improve the squad.

I feel that it's unfair to expect a manager to be in the right frame of mind to discuss any incident that may have occurred during the game. What really gets to me is the ridiculous question put to a manager of a team in a relegation fight, of "How important was that result to you?" It can hardly be given the answer of, "Well it's not really that important at all."

However, I fear that this thread will offer yet another golden opportunity for the usual suspect to let fly again on his perceived failings.

Or is to provide an instant record of what happened in the game and get it up on the site, so that fans have somewhere to catch up if they need to, and a place to offer their equally instant impressions of what they've just seen?

Funny thing is, I see what I see, and I write down what I can, as I see it. Just common sense really. When I go back over it (and my typing is terrible, so my spelling errors put you to shame!) I don't find the need to change much else, and when I watch the game again, I don't find my reports inaccurate or wrong.

I'm also challenged to summarize the game in one pithy headline as it ends. That is actually the hardest part because it's the one bit everyone reads and a few sometimes will criticise, but on later reflection, I rarely see any need to change that instant assessment.

Perhaps if I was a manager and needed to go through the game with the players, blow by blow, then I would prefer to sleep on it and gather my thoughts. But as a mere fan who helps operate a website that needs to be bang up to the minute ... naaah!

Guess I got spoilt that way for a good few years when living in The States. The fact that this continued for me at exactly the time I returned to the UK was very fortuitous.

So I am really gonna struggle when (if?) we ever get back to 'normal' and the coverage is much reduced.

But I really don't understand what it means for the Premier League and its member clubs to have sold their souls to the television companies??

Yes, they have to do stupid interviews... is that it? They also have those annoying pundits. But I usually blank them (although I do watch Leon Osman), and only take in the game itself anyway.

And there's the awful kick-off times... Really? You love football but you can't adjust your life to catch your team in action?

I would offer that televison has led to goalline technology and VAR – both of which should be vital and brilliant additions to the game; unfortunately, our referees have ruined one of them in its implementation. Not televison's fault.

And the Premier League has grown massive feeding at the TV teet of an ever-increasing mammary gland (eek!) that has enabled the invasion of superstars and the escalation of the Premier League to world dominance. At the expense of the English game, you could argue.

But "sold their souls"? ... Naah! I don't buy it.

As for Carlo, I think it is better to let your feelings subside and wait until the next day to let them be known, although when he discusses the games with his coaches do any of them let him know where they think he has gone wrong, for instance in plenty of games he doesn't seem to get the substitutions right, well at least to me, and I suspect many on ToffeeWeb, also his selections in quite a few games have cost Everton points, yet the same selections have been repeated with the same results. To level his ability up he has surprised us in many games with his team and gained us points where they didn't seem possible. I think in the winnable games, on paper, he should always play his strongest team, where possible, and gather the points in.

He like the rest of us will know it's difficult to watch and reportat the same time. Fuck the spelling and the grammar. This is instant reaction. We all know what you mean.

Now if you just stopped talking shite about DCL. I think most of us would agree that you've pretty much got this down pat

I only do it to mess with you.

It's great. We get passion, heated debate and even some trying to see logic through the fog of emotion, be that overly hysterical elation or anger induced frustration.

Totally appreciate the challenge of getting the raw "as you see it" report out there for us to start the analysis in as balanced a way as you do. That takes time and effort on your part, which I for one appreciate.

I agree on the benefits of TV coverage although sympathise with how it has taken over the game; separate debate I think. But for me, someone who has spent many years off these shores watching Everton in some obscure places, it has been a god send. 9am with beers and breakfast tacos at Top Golf in San Antonio was cool if somewhat unusual.

Not that you need me to tell you. Keep doing what you do on these pages.

I say the fans are the life-blood, but it's the TV companies, who have kept a lot of clubs afloat, and been their only form of income, so without the television, the EPL wouldn't be so popular around the world, and so you could also argue that selling ones soul, has actually helped the game evolve?

It took a long while for me to work out that the poster M K who questioned and attacked my views was one and the same. It's a bit like playing in a game and finding yourself tackled by the commentator, who somehow got on the pitch to play.

I am not surprised that Ancelotti is an advocate of self-improvement and has a lot of nervous energy, which is a prerequisite for improving performance.

The rest of us have to put up with games switched to different days and kick-offs at all times of the day. Try planning away matches – never mind home matches!

I really do resent the stranglehold TV has gained and the way clubs have put themselves in hock to TV money to the benefit of the teleclappers but to the great inconvenience of the match-going fan. I refuse to pay for any TV game.

I appreciate your sentiments in saying, "for instance in plenty of games he doesn't seem to get the substitutions right, well at least to me, and I suspect many on ToffeeWeb. Also, his selections in quite a few games have cost Everton points, yet the same selections have been repeated with the same results. To level his ability up, he has surprised us in many games with his team and gained us points where they didn't seem possible."

However, the sentiment seems to perceive an element of infallibility in some fans. For example, how do you (or we), know (definitely) that any other team formation picked would have led to a different result on the day in question?

We can guess and speculate – but we can never know that to be the case.

Does anyone have any news of Ken? I enjoyed his "The view from my seat", column.

Back in the days of Moyes and the Moyes Out Brigade, when I was younger and not nearly so wise, I tried to cajole Ken into calling for Moyes to go. Fair play to him, that wasn't Ken's way.

For me, if I am working, or pretending to, ToffeeWeb is the way I enjoy the match. I used to enjoy football on the radio but I just can't bear it now. I prefer the total bias and passion of this site. Only Alan Green could ever match that.

I believe I am one of the very few people who found Alan Green, and his unashamed love for Liverpool FC, a reason for turning the radio on... when I was younger and not nearly so wise

Second - my biggest gripe with Michael's reports are (apart from Calvert-Lewin issues) is a lack of "Ah well, not everything works out perfectly" and an almost belief that, having created a shooting opportunity, the player says to himself "I can either bend it into the top corner and we are 1-0 up or I can scuff the shot and it will roll gently into the arms of the goalie. Yeah, let's go for the latter". Cut them some slack. I am sure they never try to get it wrong, just in the same way you don't try to mistype. I always say that if a ref made as many errors in a game as a player we would all switch off.

Just don't ask me to take over the writing job.

And yeah. Stupid interview questions. Yesterday. PM is this a mixed message. Allowing us to meet but telling us to exercise caution (Hugh Pym). Don't you just wish Boris had said "Hugh you're right. We do need to be cautious. Thanks. We can't have a mixed message as Hugh says so I am cancelling being able to meet each other. That better Hugh?" Why do interviewees never challenge the interviewer about it being a stupid question? Please someone - do it. We would love you even more.

That's exactly how it feels. I do admit I would have no trouble falling down and rolling about when tackled in the hope of getting them a Yellow card or, better still, a Red.

John (4) was so correct in his despair at idiotic questions just after a game. My best ever when the manager of a team who had just lost 6-0 was asked, "When did you feel that the game was beyond you?"

What was really amusing was his response, "We never gave up." His wimpy reply was really due to total confusion on his part. He just did not know what to say so he lied. No doubt he went back into the dressing room and gave the team "Bollocks" for giving up after the first goal.

To me Lyndon is more like Horace Rumpole, a barrister with a long-sighted view of the game/case he's dealing with, based on deep experience and measured reflection, albeit usually in league with Michael in terms of opinion, but presenting that opinion in a way that's more considered and therefore, to more open TW'ers, more acceptable.

Whatever, they're both readable, and we're lucky to have them.

1) The owner of the broadcast rights, giving their sponsors that airtime (their names and brands behind the screen);

2) The sports getting that airtime, to occupy mindshare;

3) Giving journalists that space to put out more publicity.

How many of us really think that there can be anything meaningful to say during such interviews? And I include all interviews, pre- and post-match.

It doesn't really matter how much time you give a manager after a game. Do we think they are really going to divulge too much, whether it's about the state of the team, fitness and tactics?

So, really, it's a lot of fanfare, with very little revealed actually. I would enjoy the insightful commentaries by journalists, but how much can one really say or write about a player's injuries?

Sure, it keeps the chatter of "will he, won't he?" or what tactics one can expect. So I suppose there is some value in that, in terms of what it brings to the fans, and the whole build-up... but beyond that, very little, if you ask me.

Nevertheless, I have always found Ancelotti a class act, in the way he deals with tricky questions thrown at him, and being honest where he can.

I was giving a lot of thought to cancelling my subscription because of the horrible bias of fuckwitted ex-Liverpool pundits.

Post 9 conjures up troubling images of Carragher chugging away on Murdoch's monstrous tit. Is there a psychiatrist in the house please?

BT, Sky, etc are always telling us what is coming up next or in three days or next weekend during the closing stages of the match that they had been bigging-up all afternoon. Then, as soon as it's over, a quick chat and on to the next.

Our media, especially radio, are obsessed with social media. The craving to jump from the latest to the next thing is actually fuelled by the media, in a kind of cyclic frenzy. Analysis is rare, and insight is in short supply. Sports journalists are being replaced by a politically correct quota of younger, ex-players, of the right genders and racial mixtures. It is a dumbing-down on a grand scale.

The boring, often useless pundits and commentators get away with banality because there is little depth required, merely description and reaffirmation of what we have already seen. "That was a great header from a great cross and the keeper should have done better."

I love ToffeeWeb for the honesty and breadth of opinions. Michael's match reports are usually right on the money and Lyndon then follows-up with his after time to absorb what he has seen. We simply never get this on the media. Once the big game is done, it is history.

I used to love going to the game, the 3pm kick-off, the excitement hearing how the other teams had got on. They were golden years... but now, I know far more about all the other teams in the league. We have never been so privvy to the whole scene.

I knew back in '85 that we were going to win the League way before the papers were talking about us. I had been to the games, I had seen with my own eyes. I knew how good we were.

Most journos back then might have seen us two or three times and made assumptions. Today, we can run the rule over every game. We can see so much of the other teams that we have a much better appreciation of the whole picture.

Ironically we have more info at our fingertips, have incredible coverage, and yet it is treated as disposable and instantly forgotten by the bread-heads running things.

The modern game has too many managers who moan, lose badly and win ungraciously. In contrast, Ancelotti is a model of diplomacy and sportsmanship. I believe he suits our club, with its rich history and tradition of being sporting, perfectly.

I agree with both your posts. They do both write great articles and do get involved in poster discussions. It'ds what makes ToffeeWeb unique and valuable to supporters, giving more information and knowledge.

If you were just dependent on the club to get insights, you would know nothing.

The family tradition was to watch matches on TV but on mute, so that we could listen to the radio commentary instead. The quality has definitely diminished. In time, I think a few of the banal pundits who've been accelerated into their jobs will become much better. But it's not a great viewer / listener experience at the moment.

He says, in his opinion, the most improved player has been Tom Davies. He went on to say that Tom took instruction very well and he took everything that was asked on board, and he said he didn't need instructions repeated, he picked things up very quickly. He said that both Digne playing wide left and Godfrey at full back had done well in new roles.

He also talked about the young players and said that Baines looks after the young players and he talks to Baines a lot. They together analyse each player after the game, not sure if he was talking first team players or U23 players.

In fairness, a lot of home fixtures in particular have been tedious affairs interspersed with a couple of great matches.

Note the absence of a million and one fucking back passes as well!.

Eddie Dunn (30), I really enjoyed that post - almost brought a lump to my throat recalling 3pm kick offs on a Saturday afternoon. I go back even further as I recall the half time scores being posted down the side of GP with alphabetical reference to the teams playing. Wow, how times have changed - I get instant news on my phone now!

A very, very close second is Michael's Match Reports right after the game.

The whole thing follows my emotional roller coaster when watching.
Live, then the reaction which is either over the top happy we'll win the league, or we're shit and we're finishing 17th.

Then usually, here where I'm at, around 9 to 10 pm that night when the natives are fast asleep in Blighty, I read Lyndon's report for a measured analysis to bring me back to earth before I lay me down to sleep.

Without Michael's report this site would be SO vanilla and sterile. Seriously it would be awful. You get all the raw reaction, the dudes and ladies who don't prefer the Live Forum's analysis, someone takes a dig which 500 comments later has turned into a virtual barroom brawl.

It's freaking gold. If you don't like Michael's reports, you really don't care for TW at all, and you should probably just go away and find one of those happy-clapping websites where everyone shits rainbows.

And by the way, the offering that Michael provides after every match is indeed a homing spot to get right with the path we're on. It is much appreciated for the heart on sleeve approach that is true to the club's ethos.

Don't actually think he says that. Okay he's on the "always learning" "CPD" message but he doesn't actually admit, as far as I can see, to any substantial nor indeed minor failing.

Alan Shearer told Match of the Day's Top 10 Podcast that Everton legend, Duncan Ferguson, is the ‘hardest' ever Premier League player.

I spent time reading the full Ancellotti interview on the Athletic. Very insightful.

He recognises the different challenges between his previous ones at the likes of Bayern & Real Madrid, yet has targets for Everton.

Other interesting snippets were that although his English is good, he prefers to do interviews in Spanish. And that English referees are better than those in other countries, particularly Italy.

Some nice comments about living on Merseyside and wanting to win at Anfield again, but in front of the fans. Also interesting him calling out the improvements in the young players; Calvert-Lewin, Richarlison, Godfrey, Davies & Keane.

What I found most intriguing was his view on the English player and having to work on them to not necessarily give 100% every day in training. Some will disagree, but I see the logic. Funny how he says you won't get that from the French players!

It must be a fascinating cultural mix at the training grounds up and down the country these days! I now have images of English lads doing continuous shuttles and slide tackling leaves blown in the wind. French boys sipping on a coffee whilst rolling eyes at the standard of croissant served in the canteen. Italians just looking good and keeping their hair out of the wind. Germans organising everything and making sure they are being efficient with their level of effort.

Mr Ancelotti enters the changing room, asks a couple of players if they want milk and sugar with theirs, agrees that there is time to take a pizz and then quietly; "Gentlemen, may I have your attention for a moment... Mr Ferguson would like a word."

Next day is for considering who might not play a part in the next game and when they could possibly come in for extra training and discussion on the good things to take from the last game. And then it kicks off?

Nothing beats a nice soundbite on the club's telly for not upsetting the benefactor on his yacht in Monaco.

Regardless of who our are Gaffer is,he just wants to play regularly and improve his game for US!.