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Does Ancelotti not trust young Everton talent

By Matt Townsend

Everton's English midfielder Tom Davies (L) vies with Leeds United's Macedonian midfielder Ezgjan Alioski (R) during the English Premier League football match between Everton and Leeds United at Goodison Park in Liverpool, north west England on November 28, 2020. (Photo by PETER POWELL / POOL / AFP) / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE. No use with unauthorized audio, video, data, fixture lists, club/league logos or 'live' services. Online in-match use limited to 120 images. An additional 40 images may be used in extra time. No video emulation. Social media in-match use limited to 120 images. An additional 40 images may be used in extra time. No use in betting publications, games or single club/league/player publications. / (Photo by PETER POWELL/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)
Everton's English midfielder Tom Davies (L) vies with Leeds United's Macedonian midfielder Ezgjan Alioski (R) during the English Premier League football match between Everton and Leeds United at Goodison Park in Liverpool, north west England on November 28, 2020. (Photo by PETER POWELL / POOL / AFP) / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE. No use with unauthorized audio, video, data, fixture lists, club/league logos or 'live' services. Online in-match use limited to 120 images. An additional 40 images may be used in extra time. No video emulation. Social media in-match use limited to 120 images. An additional 40 images may be used in extra time. No use in betting publications, games or single club/league/player publications. / (Photo by PETER POWELL/POOL/AFP via Getty Images) /
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In the aftermath of yesterday’s 1-0 defeat to Leeds United, one question it raised was does Everton boss Carlo Ancelotti have enough trust in his young players?

The Toffees boss picked a funny side for Saturday’s match, which included bringing back a player Everton fans have seen little of this season: Tom Davies.

Midfielder Davies came into the team at right wing-back as Ancelotti shifted Alex Iwobi to the left side of the team to accommodate Lucas Digne’s absence.

It didn’t work, with Iwobi nowhere near as influential as he had been against Fulham while Davies couldn’t offer enough of the pace and attacking creativity that is needed from a wing-back in the formation Ancelotti is using.

So the Blues team was dysfunctional and failed to get a strong grip on a game that was dominated for long periods by the visitors.

The decisions over who played in the wing-back positions wasn’t the only reason Everton struggled to contain Leeds and failed to win the game, but it unbalanced the side and blunted the team’s attacking width while it also meant that Dominic Calvert-Lewin didn’t get the service he needs to be a real threat up front.

The question is why didn’t Ancelotti pick Niels Nkounkou or even perhaps Anthony Gordon to play in Digne’s place once the French international was out injured?  Does he lack faith in those young players ability or temperament?

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Nkounkou would have been the obvious choice to come into the team, given that he is a left-back and had shown he possesses some excellent attacking qualities in his appearances so far this season in the Carabao Cup and briefly, in the Premier League.

Playing as a wing-back might actually have helped the young Frenchman adapt to the demands of the English game.

In the 3-4-3 formation Ancelotti deployed, Nkounkou would have had the support and cover of the three centre-backs behind him if he got caught out. Well that’s the theory at least, although in practice that support wasn’t there too often yesterday.

Gordon wouldn’t have been quite as obviously well-suited. But he is an attacking player who is most comfortable playing on the left and offers plenty of pace as well.

So he would also surely have been a better choice then moving Iwobi back over to the left when he had seemed much more comfortable last weekend playing on the right where he could overlap and provide that natural width.

Ancelotti will no doubt have a long look hard at this match and be considering the other alternatives because his team selection on Saturday didn’t work.

The Blues also now have a massive match next weekend against struggling Burnley, a game they have to win with three difficult fixtures to follow against Chelsea, Leicester City and Arsenal.