Less than two months after he agreed to become the new Everton boss, the Merseyside club has seen dramatic transformation in its fortune and majority shareholder Farhad Moshiri, the British-Iranian businessman is beginning to see the pieces come together at Goodison Park.
Everton ability to persuade the three-time UEFA Champions League winning coach and league title winner in Italy, England, France and Germany to lead the club means the club’s 24-year wait for a trophy is around the corner with Carlo Ancelotti at the helms. The 60-year old Italian signed a four and half year deal in December and is one of the highest paid managers in the Premier League has wasted no time infusing his calmness, humor and warmth into the club and more importantly to the players. It is no surprise that since his arrival, only city rivals – Liverpool have earned more points than Everton in the division. The 17 points haul has put Everton within European football qualification with slightly over a quarter of the season to go.
In his eighth game as Everton manager, he delivered something Marco Silva never achieved in 18 months – a comeback win in the Premier League. Everton were two goals down at Vicarage Road against a battling Watford but they turned the game around despite going a man down. His leadership style of calm, combining a human touch with a hunger for improvement is already producing galvanising effect at Everton. Theo Walcott likened him to his former manager at Arsenal – Arsene Wenger. “Both of them consistently says things that make you think.” Richarlison is performing better and he has got the eye of his manager who acknowledges the Brazilian’s talent. “He has to improve,” said Ancelotti. “He has to play with more consistency but he shows fantastic quality at counterattack and as a striker. It depends on him but he can be a world-class player.” Dominic Calvert-Lewin is the club’s leading scorer in the league this season, he is another beneficiary of the Italian boss effect.
It has been a good start to his career at Goodison Park and he is arguably the biggest manager ever at the club but Ancelotti has his critics who believe the Italian has never really had to build a club from scratch like he is likely to do at Everton. He disagrees, “It depends. You can compare [the situation at Everton] to Parma. When I was at Parma, I had different experiences. I was really young. In that period I also had really young players: Gianluigi Buffon, Fabio Cannavaro, Lilian Thuram, Hernan Crespo. So it was a young team with fantastic quality inside. I don’t think we have to put a line. We work day by day to improve.”
The foundations being laid down by Ancelotti is instilling confidence and trust in the players, which could yet prove decisive. Everton have lost only once in Ancelotti’s eight Premier League games in charge but they will be tested after their break where they face Arsenal, Manchester United, Chelsea and Liverpool in successive games.
Confidence is restored back in the team and they can build on that for the remainder of the season. Carlo is doing an Italian job on the Toffees but it is still early days to ascertain how much success will come along. “Nothing special; I am not a magician” Ancelotti said when asked to assess his work. Everton fans can only live in the present while being enthused about the future.