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Win over Brighton a new start for Everton

By Matt Townsend

LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND - JANUARY 11: Leondro Trossard of Brighton and Hove Albion is challenged by Tom Davies of Everton during the Premier League match between Everton FC and Brighton & Hove Albion at Goodison Park on January 11, 2020 in Liverpool, United Kingdom. (Photo by Gareth Copley/Getty Images)
LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND - JANUARY 11: Leondro Trossard of Brighton and Hove Albion is challenged by Tom Davies of Everton during the Premier League match between Everton FC and Brighton & Hove Albion at Goodison Park on January 11, 2020 in Liverpool, United Kingdom. (Photo by Gareth Copley/Getty Images) /
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While most Everton supporters like me were probably just focussed on the team getting the three points against Brighton yesterday, could this win over the Seagulls prove a new beginning for the Blues?

I say this because in a way the Brighton game represented the real start of the Carlo Ancelotti era at Everton.

The Italian came in to Goodison Park on the 21 of December, and was immediately plunged into a succession of matches, back-to-back, with virtually no time between those games to begin to put his imprint on the team.

This breathless period of relentless fixtures around Christmas and the New Year culminated in that derby debacle at Anfield.

Because of this pressure, Ancelotti tended to make only minor tactical alterations to the basic formation that Duncan Ferguson had put in place when he temporarily succeeded Marco Silva.

Now with a bit of time between matches, Ancelotti can start to mold the side in the way he wants. The opening of the January transfer window also means he can now begin to sift out to the players he doesn’t want, and perhaps sign one or two new players this month.

One of the tactical tweaks that are noticeable about Ancelotti’s approach is the way that he has changed the defence to a more fluid system. Often starting with a flat back four, his Blues teams can shift into a back three with one or other of the full-backs pushing forward, without losing their basic shape.

This is something he’s done often in the past with previous teams. It does though ask a lot of the players and it’s debatable whether the current personnel can consistently manage it.

The new manager has begun to establish a more solid and defensively sound system. This is critical to any sustained improvement in Everton’s performances and results.

One outcome has been the fact that the Toffees have now kept three clean sheets in their last three home Premier League matches.

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This represents a good sign that the Blues are becoming a more resilient side. The next step is to find ways to strengthen the midfield in front of that improving defence.

It’s a massive frustration that Everton have lost both Jean-Philippe Gbamin and Andre Gomes for so much of this season. While Gbamin’s contribution is hard to gauge, Gome’s loss has been a huge blow. I’m sure that had they both been fit since the beginning of the season results would have been considerably better.

In the meantime, the Toffees probably do need to bring in some new players as a stop-gap before these two individuals are back and available.

Now Ancelotti has time to effect further changes to tactics and playing philosophy. Everton have a whole week off to concentrate on the upcoming match at West Ham next weekend. So I think we will now begin to see that impact the new manager will have going forward.

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