Assessing Carlo Ancelotti in this hiatus time

Adds a few stats on their goals and assists for the U23s. In my opinion, I thought it was really poor of Ancelotti to bring on Anthony Gordon for his Premier League debut when we were 4 goals down and really struggling at Chelsea. What was the point of that?

And that was an astounding three years after he was given a tantalizing taste of the bright lights one night under the stars on Cyprus... that would be a good hiatus article on the Lost Generation of Limassol.

At least none of these three have been farmed out on loan, which I feel is nowhere near as effective as people seem to assume. There may be enough meat for another article on that topic in the hiatus... for those of us who actually want to talk about football!!!

I guess he is discovering at Everton he has too many square pegs and too many unfilled round holes. Managers are not magicians. Our results have improved but it always seemed to me unlikely we would see the team suddenly start to win away games against teams in the top half of the table. We have not done that for several years. The problem may be partially one of mentality but I believe it is more about ability. We do not have enough players of top quality.

Can I ask which youngsters have "greater talent" than the " selection of non interested or over the hill or never were good enough players" please.

When or if we restart I really hope he can find another way for us to play. After all this squad was purchased with a 4231 formation in mind. I'd even suggest trying that again and trying to find positions for Iwobi to grow into and for Siggy to regain his mojo.

Going forward ld leave it the same in the striker positions so DCL, Richarlison & Kean can continue to improve, that's if Kean can get the minutes he needs. Behind them the shape is still wrong. We need a central midfielder that can win the ball back and some more creativity. A new and improved right wing back would also be nice.

We are not that far away. However if a game doesn't start well Ancelotti seems to be caught casting his eye over what will be after another transfer window instead of being able to change things to take control of the game. I have been a bit disappointed in his ability to tweak things when we obviously need to. He started well, especially playing Coleman in a 3 which l thought had potential. What hasn't helped him is Delph and Schneiderlin being injured and the up and down form of Sidibe. Pickford need to grow up.

Let's hope plans are already in place for the players we need... l wonder when the window will open?

It makes me smile when the very people who talk about what a wonderful manager he used to be and how good a job he is doing, after we have just beaten one of the Premier league also rans, Then claim it is unfair to judge him after we have been outplayed and beaten by one of the better teams.

You cant have it both ways if people don't want him criticised at this stage. they need to understand that the embarrassing OTT praise is simply the other side of the same coin

I don't care what he did in a former life. I only care what he does here.

Mindful of how abject those defeats were, by the time we reached December, few were confident Silva would deliver enough victories from games against Burnley, Newcastle (a), Brighton, Watford (a) and Palace to take us up to mid table. It has not been brilliant but it was never going to be with our very limited squad.

That being said, I think Martin's piece glosses over the quality and character of a few of those wins. Beating Newcastle on the road is nothing to sneeze at - they'd only lost once at home all season, and that was in August. There was also the nature of the victory itself - we conceded an equalizer early in the second half, but instead of buckling mentally, we regained control of the match, produced the go-ahead goal and then calmly saw out the result. And the Watford win, while a bit odd and flukey (what with Mina scoring the two stoppage time goals in the first half), showed a will and resilience that had been sorely lacking for some time.

I like Ancelotti but he's made some weird moves which if they'd been made by Allardyce or Silva would have caused instant outrage.

The Chelsea game was an outright failure for team and manager and though I would like to be optimistic, I am afraid that we remain very much a mediocre outfit.

I'm not at all sure either that this is a mere "hiatus". I don't think we're going to see meaningful football for a very long time.

From my perspective I observe Carlo's tenure in two parts.

Firstly results which I look more favourably than your assessment. Yes we have been beating largely struggling, off colour teams but have still done so and consistently when some of the top six have not been adept at finding solutions. Ancelottis tactical tweaks have certainly demonstrated a level of problem solving unseen from his predecessors. Dismissing these is harsh though I'm concerned that we also benefited from Carlo's bounce, the rub of the green and a dream fixture run so I do worry these results won't be replicated.

The second and most disappointing aspect of Carlo's reign has been the quality of football produced. Performances to my eye are obviously better than the standard of Allardyce but considerably inferior to the decent stuff we witnessed last spring under Silva. For me the showings against the neighbours youth team, City and Chelsea were worse than anything served up by any of his predecessors in such a short space of time. Even in victory our lack of control in games is alarming and is at odds with the better teams in the division.

Prior to Carlo's appointment I expressed misgivings and expectations which I feel have so far on the whole been borne out. The instant upsurge occurred with Carlo addressing the deficiencies of Silva as predicted based on his history of immediate impact. He built his team around his two potent attackers maximising their output and releasing their counter attacking threat, gave the players confidence and simplicity while improving their character, unity and mentality. We have become more effective and efficient if not inspirational. The surprise has been his failure to improve us defensively which I thought was a given.

Where I feel Ancelotti has so far proved my fears misplaced is with regards to fitness levels. Carlo stated he inherited a very fit side and his instillation of steel may masquerade as increasing longevity but regardless in observing the Watford, Arsenal and Utd games in particular we looked in excellent shape fighting to the final whistle. Carlo must be praised for that.

As for the rest of my fears I feel Carlo has done more to validate than disprove. I disagree with Martins assertion that Carlo is failing to address the 'mentality'. Many of our fan base feel we have a winner and Carlo has previous of toppling the best so this should translate to the players. Against Arsenal and City there was nothing wrong with the mentality. Control and Quality are the issues.

I believe we can topple the elite at Goodison because we can play them on our terms, our tempo and they get sucked into discomfort that they can't deal with nor suited to. When we play away we can't impose ourselves and their technical superiority shines through. I think we have regressed in terms of control and quality under Carlo and he is not able to fight fire with fire as with previous clubs and so we look like we are back in the Moyes era at times.

In assessing Carlos tenure we must remember what was asked him of him when appointed and to that end he has done well. This summer he will hopefully be supported to get the players to push us on and redress some of the weaknesses that were not remedied and indeed created in the preceding window. His status will ensure he gets his men, it will be then up to him to deliver.

Yes, we've had the occasional "door opening fart" of games. You know, the one that creaks along, lasts too long, and smells like utter crap.

But, macro!

Under Silva:

Everything down the wings
Like 3 shots on goal per game
Flaccid performances
Falling asleep
Narcolepsy
No hope

Under Ancelotti:

Hope
A bunch of shots per game
Actual football
No more down the wings predictable garbage
Kids getting played
Better results
Fun in the main to watch again!

He's not God. He's intelligent. He represents the Club well. He has a footballing brain and is accomplished. He will get us there, be patient.

Wash your hands.

Most sensible people will be doing the same.

And yes I think it infinitely more fair than OTT praise for him by some when we win and "reserving judgement" by the same people when we don't.. Thats just dishonest

I think we woudl need to get into next season or at least until much of the unwanted crap is out of contract or sold.

So, can our McNulties tell us who should we have in the hotseat going into 2021?

Tell us what Carlo must achieve and what the time frame is for him to be an unqualified success!

I don't, As you falsely claim, dismiss his whole career. I simply state I don't care about it.
Winning trophies with the world class players he inherited at other clubs will count for Zilch with many Evertonians if he leaves the club having won nothing.

When you earn that kind of money Ancelotti is getting, it goes one of two ways. You deliver or you fail.

Only when he delivers will he earn the sort of praise from me you seem to think he should get up front.

Sorry. its not happening

Chuckle - There's no hiding on TW

Ancelotti has made some howling tactical decisions. He will/ is being Judged on them and rightly so. it would be "foolish" not to

Its just so typical of this club to give a guy a 60m contract and a 12 month honeymoon period.

No wonder he likes it here

Some of his tactics have also been good, but with the last game always being the most fresh in our minds, then it's a lot easier to criticise Ancelotti because he had an absolute shocker at Chelsea, particularly because he said himself that it was all wrong from minute1.

I'd sooner have a debate on music at the minute though, because it's the only thing that's hopefully going to keep me sane, and the song I'm listening to right now is “In your eyes!” I love Gabriel, especially SAN Jacinto, and losing the line, is something we're all going to learn how to do!

Will put Dire Straights on later, I've heard you mention a few of their songs on T/W Darren, so I gonna play “Brothers In Arms” for you later!

Problem here is that 'Carlo Fantastico' WAS a great manager BUT nothing in his most recent record indicates his success has endured. I have little doubt that he and his clan saw Everton as the absolute dream pension plan and a meeting or two with the club's owners and its chairman will have convinced the tribe and their agents that they were on to a good thing !

Under Ancelotti we seem to have done the opposite...

Against everyone bar the top 6..
P7 W5 D2 L0 - average points 2.42
Against the top 6
P4 W0 D1 L3 - average points 0.25

Then there's the cup game as well, so lost 4 out of 5.

If we keep on like that next season, we'll end up with around 66 points, which would be a good improvement. 66 points is usually anywhere between 5th and 7th.

Our next step is then to start getting points against the better teams and, let's face it, we could easily have got victories against Arsenal or Utd.

I'm happy with him getting results against the teams we should be getting results against and giving us a platform to build on.

Make no mistake, Ancelotti inherited a mess of a squad, however he is absolutely the wrong man to take the club forward. He has not shown much improvement compared to his predecessor the year before. He will not develop young players, he will not coach the existing players to improve, he will not enjoy working with little spending with the clubs hands tied due to FFP rules. I cant see him lasting beyond next season, he hasn't stayed at the same club for over 2 seasons since Milan in the early 2000's.

Regarding music and Dire Straits, have you listened to any of Mark Knopflers solo albums? Some crackers.

Also re Dylan, have you listened to Slow Train Coming? The one he did at Muscle Shoals. Knopfler and Pick Withers from Straits are on that too.

Ancelotti seems to have improved the overall performance level, but with two absolute horror shows in there. We seem to have the same gaps in the team we had before the season started. A fast left footed centre half, a dominant central midfielder a left footed right sided attacker who scores and a central striker.

Also reading that we're looking at Thomas Meunièr again. I think he's out of contract in June.

"yer can't make a silk purse out of a sows ear"

This argument I see more and more from individuals that don't want to critique the manager and want to excuse mediocrity.

I am not expecting miracles nor have I been dismissive of our points return which has been decent on the whole. But I do want to see progression and getting the most from the players we have.

Silva is regarded as one of our worst managers yet Carlo is performing similar to him points wise last season, but without some of the thrilling performances like the Man U game. Even Watford enjoyed a victory of pure quality over our rivals. Should we not have had one by now considering we have had three horrific shockers?

"Some players just aren't up to it..surely the Ancelotti detractors can see that"

We have the England gk, one of the best rb this decade, the best young cb in England and two former Barca men as our back five. Do you think we should be giving away goals like confetti if you look at Arsenals and Utds individual players and how they have been defending? Are we unreasonable to expect improvement from the shambolic defending under Silva?

Mikel Arteta took over a similar job with a squad of quality,egos, misfits, deadwood and mental fragility. He has improved every player by at least 20% barring Lacazette. Xhaka is performing better than at anytime at Arsenal, their shocking defenders look competent and their overall standard is night and day from before. He hasn't bought a player and even when they started slowly their fans were already rejuvenated because the improvement on the pitch was obvious if not the table.

When we played them Twebbers remarked that this was Arsenals worst team ever. A month later the consensus was that they had the better players but we had the better manager. This was the impact of Mikel on that team.

"No manager in the world could improve our present squad to perform at a high level on a regular basis"
Is it too much to ask Carlo to get them to perform at a higher level on a singular basis?

Kevin 37- I would take that next season if that was assured but those results occurred when everyone was in a good place with the new manager effect and came on a roll. On another day against Watford, Brighton, Newcastle away or Palace I wouldn't be confident of taking the three points considering the way those games went.

Thanks for the advice Chris, I was actually going through my telly yesterday and there is loads of Knopfler's solo stuff on it so I might just put one of them on right now.

I never really liked Money for nothing, John G, maybe it was because it was that popular that I got fed up of it, but I could listen to latest trick, all day!

A lot of his solo stuff is folksy.

It was more a reference to posters thoughts on Ancelottis wages.

Get on Roger Waters.
Came on the moody yesterday

We have to give him time to sign a few players of his own and be accountable for his own team, not someone elses. He needs at least a full transfer window and a full pre-season.

The worry for me was the team he put out at Chelsea was a naive selection. The 442 in that instance with the players chosen was taken apart by rookie manager Frank Lampard's formation and tactics. Chelsea may well have won anyway that day but Carlo's set up handed the initiative to Chelsea on a plate. His deployment of tactics there worries me that he is able transform us, maybe it was an aberration, but it lends weight to the initial arguments that he is a big team manager with ready made players.

Transforming us into a regular top 6 side will need every bit of guile and tactical nous he has got. It will need a million times more than what we saw at Chelsea. Has he got what it takes? His long term record says he deserves time and a chance to prove it.

I love Radio Kaos, but I bet your own favourite would be the pro's and con's of an Evertonian hitch-hiker!

Got this on now and I'm enjoying “sailing to Philadelphia” Chris, I fact I might invite this fella to our campfire one day, all being well!

But this virus has over run the defenses. a major invasion to stretch the expenses and nobody's going down to the airport now.

Will you stand still for it..Or will you take to the hills

He doesn't seem a panic merchant. There maybe no totally correct path.

If He and we are in BMD by 2025 we can all pat ourselves on the back.

It's alway best to take these things one game at a time...when that one game at a time may be is as yet up for grabs...August seems likely.

Also - if Carlos average points this season were transferred into 38 games we would have 62 points - 8 more than Silva got last year.

I'm not saying he's perfect at the moment, however I think he's the best we're likely to get.

Even out of the bad defeats - The players let everyone down against Liverpool. Against Chelsea I think he lined up to counter their 3 in midfield and it was just poorly executed by our players. I think that Sigurdsson was meant to drift inside and support the 2 in the middle.

All in all...
better - definitely
Brilliant - not yet

Made up your lad is using his initiative, hope it goes well Chris, and all's I can say to John G, is if only mate! although my kids are keeping me entertained with this tik-tok!

People must be bored brainless to post shit about a man who we are very lucky to have got as manager.

If people cant see the improvements on and off the pitch since Ancelotti came they must be blind or biased.

Yes we have had setbacks but that is not unexpected until the man gets a proper grip on the club and brings in players HE feels will do the necessary.

People must be bored brainless to post shit about a man who we are very lucky to have got as manager.

If people cant see the improvements on and off the pitch since Ancelotti came they must be blind or biased.

Yes we have had setbacks but that is not unexpected until the man gets a proper grip on the club and brings in players HE feels will do the necessary.

People must be bored brainless to post shit about a man who we are very lucky to have got as manager.

If people cant see the improvements on and off the pitch since Ancelotti came they must be blind or biased.

Yes we have had setbacks but that is not unexpected until the man gets a proper grip on the club and brings in players HE feels will do the necessary.

Kevin- I don't know what anyone's expectations were then when Carlo was appointed. I believe Carlo's and Marco's records are similar against the same opponents in their first season. Not long back posters were bragging that Carlo was averaging 2.37 points per game and now you are claiming it's 1.63 with a few daunting fixtures on the horizon and Dunc was given a few of the nastier ones to begin with.

When Silva was sacked many were saying he was our poorest manager, he also took 3 months to give Holgate a go despite persisting with an unworkable centre half pairing thrown on him by Brands which haemorrhaged points. In addition some players like Siggy ignored him and down tools while others like DCL were not being used correctly. Many of the new acquisitions needed time to bed in and he persisted with his rigid system and unmovable players. By the end even Silva didn't believe in himself let alone the squad having faith.

For anyone to set the bar to where we were because we have improved from then is pretty tragic considering we were being sold a"World Class Manager" and everyone is falling over hoops. We were going to improve no matter who was appointed especially after Dunc raised morale and we still have a top eight squad. Normally new managers have a big upswing, if this is Carlo's then I'm slightly worried for what the future will bring.

Kevin I have no doubt Carlo will get the time and the players this summer to mount a top six challenge next season but whereas if we had the Arsenal supremo at the helm I'd be expectant, I'm more in keeping with the typical Everton blind hope.

I personally don't think we have got enough good players to be playing 4-4-2 against the better teams, and I think that's already been proven, although the second half against United was good, when everyone was working to the maximum, aaahhh what about that fuckin Sigurdsson?

I agree that a lot of our defenders are better than theirs and I think our front boys were superb on the day. My point about Mikel was that he has as much deadwood and weaknesses in his squad as us and they also need to recruit well in a lot of areas but purely by his coaching he has made them infinitely better.

I'm sorry for putting you in bad form by mentioning the S word. In defence of Carlo Tony I think he wants the two up top to hurt them and they certainly caused Utd and Arsenal plenty of problems. I wonder would he not try a diamond four in midfield, keeping two up top and that way we could also get more out of Siggy. Bollox I mentioned him again!!

I also like your idea of trying Sidibe centrally for his legs you suggested on another thread.

I don't think anyone could be described as disloyal really, because we are all Evertonians at the end of the day, even the ones who constantly browbeat!

Ha Ha Tony I think you have actually invented a new word for specifically picking on Carlo- to browbeat.😉

What Ancelotti has done is to coach the players in good footballing practice. In the forwards, he has tried to improve the positional attacking play and final-third interplay. In midfield, he has moved from possession play to providing swift through-ball passing and more positive forward play. In defense, he has encouraged better positional play and better ball distribution from the defense. Additionally, he has worked hard at set-pieces.

The truth is that some players have not bought into what he has asked of them and others are not consistent in implementing good footballing practice. This is against the background of a bloated squad and poor-performing footballers who no-one wants, never mind paying what they want.

One would think and many of us have hoped that the squad would rise above mediocrity and want to perform of their best and compete. But even Ancelotti has found to his embarrassment that this side can meekly put four feet in the air and give up. Something that has happened for years.

I have always felt the problem has been deeper, through successive manager reigns. Ancelotti has recently eventually achieved change in the backroom staff, establishing himself as Head Coach and in more control of the backroom operations of Everton than previous managers. It has taken him till recently to do this, in my opinion because of resistance to change in the backroom operations of Everton, the myriad structures at Finch Farm and the additional staff that seem to float between the clear backroom Management structure and the actual players, not to mention the ex-player contingent.

Player power is evident at many clubs, especially the top clubs, who have on occasions downed tools on prominent managers. But at Everton, it appears the power they have is disproportionate to their actual ability and motivation. This in my opinion arises as a result of a top-heavy backroom structure which facilitates an attitude that a player at Everton can get away with a bad performance and maybe decide not to perform. This is difficult to quantify, but the gist is that what you get on the pitch is born on the training ground.

The performance at Chelsea was the result of resistance to the changes that Ancelotti had recently implemented. Some will say we should have played the simple football of Duncan Ferguson, as was played at Goodison, but Chelsea played better football than Everton that day and Ancelotti knows that the only way forward is to build on his coaching. The side he put out a Stamford Bridge was to do this, but they did not turn up for him. Sigurdsson, our captain on the day, in his post-match interview, seems to admit that he knew after five minutes how the game would go. By his performance, it could be said he gave up after that. The truth is, his mind was made up before he set foot on the pitch.

Good Luck, Carlo, with the good work, you are going to need it.

I don't know the answer, only Ancelotti and the people closest to him will know that. We can guess, we could all guess something different, because it's definitely strange doing nothing, when you know your team is struggling, so maybe Carlo is already fed-up brow-beating them!

He needs better players who have the ability to play the way he sees fit.

Antony Gorden and the other young players comming through may work but might not.

If and when footie returns no one knows how the transfare market will be effected.

Arteta has better players to work with he has not proven he is a better coach because like Carlo has only been in the new job a few months. Time will tell. Oh and better players..