Ancelotti’s Everton brings back memories of vintage Toffees

It’s early in the season, I know that. But, it’s hard to keep my Blue blood from boiling over with excitement!

Knowing my history means I should temper my enthusiasm, but something just seems right. This Everton team looks the real deal. A good midfield, goalscorers, a defence that seems pretty solid. I haven’t forgotten Jordan Pickford, who has come under seemingly justified criticism. However, he’s got Neville Southall in his corner and that means something.

Southall posted on Twitter

"This is a time to support him Just like u did me when I was going through a bad time With your help I did ok in end"

Southall was in goal when Everton lost 0-5 in the Derby. He recovered from it and well, you know what happened next. Back to the here-and-now, this, not the Everton team of a few months ago, one that seemed timid. A team that didn’t live up to the millions spent on it.

So what is the difference between this team and the Everton that didn’t live up to the money Farhad Moshiri spent?

Carlo Ancelotti is the difference. Going into his first full season as Everton manager, he has instilled a different attitude to a team that looked like it was going through the motions and the end of last season. I have to think Duncan Ferguson and his love for the Blue, his innate Evertonness, if you like, hasn’t hurt.

And there is the trio of players, Ancelotti has brought in. James Rodriguez, Allan and Abdoulaye Doucoure have made a big difference both off and on the pitch.

I’ve had a chance to see two great Everton teams (69-70 and Howard Kendall’s mid-80s legend) and those two squads had great midfields (Howard Kendall, Alan Ball and Colin Harvey; Kevin Sheedy, Paul Bracewell, Peter Reid and Trevor Steven).

There are still some more pieces needed, another centre-back for sure. Perhaps another right-back and possibly another striker, but I have the same sort of feeling I did back in the 1980s.

I can remember watching Howard Kendall’s team in its early incarnations. In fact, I can still remember the match when I realised this had the chance to be a special team. It was 15 January 1983 and Everton beat Watford, 1-0 at Goodison, with a goal from David Johnson, who came on for Peter Reid. A lot of the names in the team would become lodged in the memories of Blues who saw them and passed down to younger Blues, who hadn’t seen them.

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Gary Stevens, Kevin Ratcliffe, Reid, Kevin Sheedy, Adrian Heath, and Graeme Sharp, names that make Toffees the world over smile. I could just feel this was the making of a very good team and with a few new parts, it was.

Watching the Blues against Crystal Palace, yesterday. I had the same sort of feeling. OK, I admit I’ve had the same sort of feeling since the West Brom game. For too many seasons in recent memory, when Everton went a goal down it often seemed like the team’s confidence would drop.

Not this group! Dominic Calvert-Lewin (5 goals in 3 games) scored the first of his hat-trick to equalise and James Rodriguez open his account with a magnificent goal from just outside the area, WBA equalises in the early going of the second half and once again, Blue heads didn’t droop, they rose to the task and put three more past a 10-man WBA.

The same sort of thing happened in the mid-week Carabao Cup match against Fleetwood Town. Joey Barton’s bunch cut Everton’s lead to one twice (2-1 and 3-2.) In prior seasons, that could’ve meant dogged hanging on until the final whistle at best or the more likely, finding a way to lose and tumble out of a competition to a lower-league team. Not this bunch, goals from Alex Iwobi and Bernard, restored the two goal lead, before Moise Keen blasted home the fifth.

There are still some more pieces needed, another centre-back for sure. Perhaps another right-back and possibly another striker, but I have the same sort of feeling I did back in the 1980s.

It’s good to be Blue.