It was supposed to be a match made in heaven that Everton could get in the legendary Carlo Ancelotti as manager but when we look at how Everton have performed under Ancelotti’s guidance it is alarming.
Of course the Italian needs a proper transfer window and one whole proper season to be judged although in today’s game everything moves so quick. For example the way Everton finished the campaign was quite appalling and if the club were to continue that form into the next season people will start talking by Christmas- that’s just the nature of how football is now.
Predictably Ancelotti’s time at Everton started well enough and there were plenty of encouraging moments. In the clubs first 7 games that Ancelotti was in charge they only lost once and that was against the then champions Manchester City. However in their last six games of the league title everything really started falling apart where they won just 5 points from their last 18.
It felt at that time knowing they couldn’t reach the Europa League that the players simply gave up and were playing on the dreaded ‘holiday’ mode. This was disappointing given that the Italian was in charge and maybe these players would have seen to have had extra motivation, that wasn’t the case.
Everton need to offload players and the worry is that with such a small transfer window and everything being squeezed up that the club will not be able to either get rid of the players that need selling and buy the players they need- the new season begins on September 12th.
What has been worrying has been the returns since Ancelotti took charge. Of course he has only overseen 21 games but still his win rate sits at 38% that is the poorest in Ancelotti’s career. From 21 league games managed he has won 8, drawn 6 and lost 7 and has a -4 goal difference. The % win rate is the lowest of his career by a margin, he hasn’t even dipped into the 40% marker since he managed Parma back in the late 90s.
This record does not bode well for the club, however he needs more time. At the same time it doesn’t feel realistic that he is going to dramatically turn things around at the club anytime soon. This has if anything else been an interesting experiment though that shows even some of Europe’s best managers cannot get that extra out of a team who simply do not have an array of talent and do not have owners with a blank chequebook.
Ancelotti will be judged again by the end of the year and whose to say that if Everton are in the bottom half of the table that the Italian’s job could be cut short. After all surely the objective here was to improve Everton to be a top 6 side. We will wait and see how this one develops.
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