1:20 Charlie Nicholas feels Everton could have given Duncan Ferguson a longer period in charge, but believes the club’s hierarchy wanted a ‘big name signing’
In bringing on Tom Davies to tighten up the middle during the 3-1 win over Chelsea, the Scot also showed he possesses tactical nous alongside all the passionate touchline theatrics.
Ferguson will remain on Ancelotti’s coaching staff and, having galvanised both players and fans after Silva’s departure, Ancelotti would be wise to lean on him heavily as he gets to know his new squad. Ferguson must be kept close to the players in a bid to maintain their momentum.
Get the best out of Sigurdsson
Ancelotti will have his ideas of how the squad can be improved in January, but his immediate concern will be getting the best out of those at his disposal, and he inherits a Gylfi Sigurdsson-sized conundrum.
The Icelander was the club’s joint-top goalscorer last campaign with 13 goals, but he has so far notched just once during a disappointing season.
0:34 Everton caretaker Duncan Ferguson says the players were boosted by the presence of new head coach Carlo Ancelotti at the match against Arsenal.
Marco Silva withdrew the 30-year-old from his starting line-up due to poor form, while a recent bout of illness has added to his frustrations.
But on his day, Sigurdsson can be a match-winner. Having taken on the captain’s armband following the departure of Phil Jagielka and the absence of Seamus Coleman, Ancelotti must get the best out of Everton’s most creative player.
Charm Goodison
Duncan Ferguson’s fortnight as caretaker manager served as a reminder of how intimidating Goodison Park can be.
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The Gwladys Street has had a reputation for sucking the ball in the net when it gets going, indicated by both Leicester and Arsenal opting to turn the teams around at the coin toss in the last two home games.
The Goodison faithful are scholars of the game, and can be hard to please at the best of times, and while Silva found out how it can certainly work against a manager under-fire, Ferguson provided the blueprint for how to turn the ‘Old Lady’ into a bear pit for the opposition.
Ancelotti has shown his pragmatism in previous roles, and while supporters will want to see attractive football, he would be wise to harness the raw atmosphere Goodison can generate.
Find a partner for Mina
When it comes to recruitment, Marcel Brands has experienced several misses and not enough hits in his role as director of football since being unveiled on the same day as Silva in June 2018. But his business with Barcelona that summer has proven a success, with Lucas Digne and Yerry Mina establishing themselves as vital cogs in the defence.
But Everton’s consecutive league clean sheets against Arsenal for the first time since August 1978 says more about the Gunners than the back-line Ancelotti will get to work with for the first time against Sean Dyche’s organised Clarets.
Last summer, it felt as though Everton put all their efforts into making Kurt Zouma’s loan move permanent without any contingency plan, and coupled with Jagielka being allowed to depart, those fears that Everton would fall short at centre-back have been realised.
Mina has overcome an indifferent first season in which he made just 13 Premier League appearances to become a mainstay of the Toffees’ defence, but the identity of his defensive partner is certainly open to debate.
Michael Keane has struggled with consistency and confidence, not returning to the England fold since the first international break of the season.
Holgate emerged as a leader and has shown signs of fulfilling his potential, but having been promised funds to spend in the January transfer window, Ancelotti should target a commanding presence.
Kick-start Kean’s Toffees career
Ancelotti has won 20 titles in his managerial career – and many will point to the personal relationships he developed as being key to his league titles in Italy, England, France and Germany.
The 60-year-old inherits a squad that has plenty of talent but has under-performed and needs direction, and Moise Kean can be classed as the poster-boy of that lingering feeling.
Kean arrived at Goodison to a fanfare in the summer as the club’s marquee signing. The teenager had found the net eight times in 21 appearances for Juventus and burst on to the international scene by scoring twice in three games for Italy.
2:14 Former Everton striker Tony Cottee believes new boss Carlo Ancelotti needs to change the mentality at the club
But he is yet to score in 15 appearances for Everton and his struggles reached a new low at Old Trafford earlier this month when he was substituted just 18 minutes after coming off the bench.
Ancelotti must quickly get inside the 19-year-old’s head to find out what makes him tick and unleash his undoubted potential.
‘Ancelotti can be the catalyst for change’
Analysis from Sky Sports’ Ben Grounds…
When Moshiri made Ronald Koeman his first appointment, replacing Roberto Martinez the following summer, it was with an ambitious view of acting as a springboard for Everton to compete in the “new Hollywood of football”, England’s north west, alongside Guardiola at Manchester City, Jurgen Klopp at Liverpool and Jose Mourinho at Manchester United.
Koeman was unable to live up to his stellar billing, but in Ancelotti, a manager who has been at the top of his profession for 20 years, Everton have appointed a game-changer that shifts the club’s status overnight.
His arrival has caught many off guard, believing that a return of David Moyes or Eddie Howe, a progressive manager ready for a new challenge, would have been the more sensible option.
It is not hard to understand why. Everton were in the Premier League’s bottom three at the start of the month, but should now be looking up, and not down a congested table with a manager boasting three Champions League titles on his CV.
Only six points separate the Toffees from eighth-placed Manchester United and if momentum can be maintained over the Christmas period, Ancelotti’s aspirations for the rest of the season will be in stark contrast to those of the club’s fans after Silva’s final game in charge.
3:46 Sky Sports News reporter Alan Myers says Carlo Ancelotti is a ‘top-class’ appointment for Everton and club owner Farhad Moshiri
The FA Cup third-round tie against Liverpool on January 5 offers Ancelotti the chance to attain instant hero status at Anfield, with over 7,000 supporters making the short trip across Stanley Park.
A first away win in the Merseyside derby since 1999 would dispense quickly with any notion that this unlikely arrangement is a vanity project, but the catalyst for change Everton have so badly needed with their new state-of-the-art stadium on the horizon.
Sourse: skysports.com
