Ancelotti expects more from Everton stars
Everton boss Carlo Ancelotti has spoken of how he expects more from two of his big summer signings; Allan and James Rodriguez.
This is perhaps a little surprising to hear as most Everton fans will feel both players, as well as the other major addition, Abdoulaye Doucoure, have been outstanding since the start of the season.
In particular Rodriguez has been brilliant, adding a level of inventiveness and creative flair that has been sadly lacking in the Toffees team for a very long time.
For his part, Allan has provided renewed steel and aggression as well as fine and constructive use of the ball in the heart of the Blues midfield and an additional, very welcome layer of protection to the Everton defence behind him.
The two of them have been absolutely instrumental in the fantastic start that the Toffees have made to this season.
However, perhaps in recent matches, Allan has been a little under that excellent eight-out-of-ten performance level that he started the season in.
Those recent games have seen him slightly less influential than he was right at the start of the season. This is not to say he’s been anything other than very good.
In Saturday’s derby he wasn’t able to get to grips with Liverpool’s midfield early on and in particular his fellow Brazilian Thiago Alcantara, who was running the show for the Reds. Perhaps all the travelling back from South America blunted his edge a bit.
It wasn’t just Allan though, Doucoure had perhaps his least effective match for the Toffees since he signed in the summer.
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Allan did gradually become more effective as Everton recovered from a slow start to the game and he was able to help stem the tide to some extent.
As for the Blues Colombian superstar, he had another terrific game matching Thiago for creative influence and representing the Toffees best and at times, only attacking outlet.
It was his corner that led to Micheal Keane’s goal to level the scores at 1-1 bringing the Blues back into the game after Sadio Mane’s early opener.
He was also involved in the build-up, which resulted in Lucas Digne supplying the cross for Dominic Calvert-Lewin to head in the Toffee’s second equalising goal late in the game.
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If the two of them can still further improve their fitness and familiarity with their team mates and the particular demands of the Premier League, then Everton will reap even greater benefits.