The arrival of Carlo Ancelotti as Everton head coach was met with understandable fanfare. The Italian is one of the most successful bosses of his generation. However, the job on Merseyside may be the veteran bosses biggest managerial challenge in a long-time.
The Merseysider’s are ambitious and have a rich majority shareholder in Farhad Moshiri, who has high hopes for the future of the club. The ambitions of the owner or indeed the fans will not be fulfilled with the current group of players. They simply are not good enough. Occasionally they will produce a decent performance, but they are just not consistent enough to challenge for a top-six place, which is their aim in the near future.
The recent 1-0 defeat at Tottenham was a prime example. Spurs failed to turn up, yet somehow the team from north London emerged from the clash with a victory, courtesy of a fortuitous Michael Keane own goal. Any top team would have taken full advantage of Tottenham laxity. Instead, the Toffees failed to create anything other than frustration for the staff and their fans of their team.
Ancelotti has stated that the club’s hierarchy has reassured him that he will be able to strengthen this summer, despite record losses in the 2018/19 season and the inevitable financial hit from the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Italian has revealed that he wants to improve the character and strength of his squad. That is something that the fans have talked about at length when it comes to the current set of players. They seem to wilt at any possible setback. There needs to be a change mentality, which many bosses have attempted to change but failed to do at the Merseyside club.
If any coach can oversee a change of mentality then it is the experienced Ancelotti. However, he is not a miracle worker and the club must give him every resource they can to help the Italian succeed. The Toffees will attempt to keep their slim hopes of European football alive this evening when they host Southampton at Goodison Park. It may well be another game that helps Ancelotti to decide the fate of many of his overpaid and underperforming players. Some may be in the dying embers of their time at Everton.