It has been a seismic Monday for Everton and their supporters as Carlo Ancelotti shockingly joined Real Madrid. The supporters are left disheartened, feeling numb and even angry.
The fanbase had wholeheartedly backed Ancelotti and were hopeful that such a decorated man will be the one to lead them back to glory after a series of unsuccessful attempts by managers like Ronald Koeman and Marco Silva.
The departure of Italian leaves Everton in a confused state in a grand scheme of things with too many variables to solve. What happens to the plan of action set by Carlo Ancelotti and Marcel Brands? What happens to signings like James Rodriguez who came to Merseyside thanks to the Italian’s pulling power? What happens to the transfer strategy for this summer? Does the club go backwards from here?
Everton board is going to meet to discuss Ancelotti’s replacement and a number of names will be considered. While the fans remain in a state of shock, the club needs to act quickly and minimize the time lost as the summer transfer window looms in front of us.
Just in terms of passion and love for the club Duncan Ferguson could be a strong candidate, probably the strongest but in modern football, you need a big name in the dugout to attract world-class players. Ancelotti and James Rodriguez are a prime example of it. Secondly, the results on the pitch have not been in Everton’s favour either, so if the Toffees are to attract exciting names at Goodison, the manager needs to be well known and revered.
Here are five options that Everton must consider to replace Carlo Ancelotti:
Antonio Conte left Inter at the end of this season
1. Antonio Conte
Antonio Conte is probably the most high profile manager currently without a managerial job. The Italian parted ways with Inter Milan recently after guiding them to their first Serie A title in 11 years. Discrepancies with the club board over the project led Conte to leave Inter.
He was touted to take over Real Madrid but in reality talks never took place and Carlo Ancelotti returned to Madrid. Tottenham Hotspur are searching for a manager too after sacking Jose Mourinho but they are hoping to see Mauricio Pochettino return which leaves Conte.
Now, there could be a certain argument that Conte is way too big an entity and he may not take the Everton job because the club is not playing in Europe and doesn’t fight regularly for top six or top four. But, that were all the points put forward in December 2019 when Marco Silva was sacked and Ancelotti was appointed.
Carlo Ancelotti is one of the most decorated managers in the world and he came to Everton and made us believe that he was here to stay and take the club back to the glory days. It is a different story that he didn’t stay true to his word but that’s what football has become today, a bunch of mercenaries and true loyalty is very hard to find by.
If the Toffees can offer what Conte wants not only in terms of monetary sense but in terms of the liberty and freedom of the sporting project, the 51 year old might just find it enticing. Conte has overseen success in the Premier League with Chelsea and did it his way, giving a certain identity to the Londoners.
He’s proven himself at the biggest of clubs where he had the resources he needed. Farhad Moshiri’s endless pockets aren’t drying anytime soon. The owner has backed every manager at Goodison and Conte would also get the same assurances.
Perhaps, for Conte, if he takes the Everton job and manages to stabilize and move Everton in the positive direction, chasing trophies and bridging the gap to top six and top four, he exhibits his top managerial qualities and proves once again that he’s one of the best coaches in the world. He can not only do it with the top clubs in the world who have abundant world class talent but also with clubs who are aiming high but need proper direction and tutelage.
The fans will be extremely happy if an esteemed manager like Conte arrives at the helm.
Nuno Espirito Santo left Wolves at the end of this season
2. Nuno Espirito Santo
Nuno Espirito Santo has done a fantastic job with Wolves in last four years. NES has taken a club convincingly to the Premier League in 2018, a club that had spent 26 seasons out of last 30 outside of the Top Flight.
He guided Wolves to Championship triumph in 2017 and then managed to take the sleepy town of Wolverhampton to two back to back seventh-place finishes and also to the quarter finals of the UEFA Europa League in 2020, helping Wolves make a return to European competition after a generational absence of 39 years. It is worth noting that, all of this happened with Santo managing one of the smallest squads in the Premier League.
The 2020-21 season didn’t go as per plan but we have to take into consideration that the side lost Raul Jimenez for most parts of the season due to injury, sold Diogo Jota and Matt Doherty in the summer, which straight away accounted to losing close to 55% of the total team goals of the 2019-20 season.
Santo has a distinct style and wants his team to use intensity and be extremely physical. Everton have been smothered for not playing with intensity and pace. Santo predominantly used the 3-4-3 formation with attacking wing backs like Doherty and Nelson Semedo and pulled off some big wins.
Yes, at Wolves, he had one of the biggest football agents, Jorge Mendes, helping him and bringing in talents like Jimenez, Jota, Neves, Rui Patricio, Joao Moutinho, Semedo and others. In fact, Santo’s profile is also managed by Mendes and the duo are very close friends.
If NES arrives at Everton, there is no reason to believe that Mendes won’t conduct business with Everton and offer young and exciting players to the Toffees. This could probably be one of the added benefits of having Santo in the Everton dugout. He’s different from Carlo Ancelotti and has a distinct style of using physicality and force in his teams and could be a strong candidate
Paulo Fonseca saw out his contract at AS Roma
3. Paulo Fonseca
The second Portuguese manager on this list is Paulo Fonseca. Fonseca has seen out his contract at AS Roma and is on the hunt for a new opportunity. Fonseca couldn’t quite take AS Roma to glory in Italy but he kept the Giallorossi in the mix. Before his adventure in Rome, Fonseca had a highly successful time in Ukraine with Shakhtar Donetsk.
Now, Fonseca isn’t a high profile manager like Carlo Ancelotti but he is relatively very young in his managerial career. The 48 year old is from a slightly newer generation of coaches who adopt simple attacking minded, brave footballing philosophy rather than sticking to a pragmatic approach. That is the simplest way to define Fonseca’s identity as well.
Fonseca principally lines up his teams in a 4-2-3-1 or a 4-4-2 formation. Fluidity is one of the strongest traits in Fonseca’s sides and a lot relies on wide players. Everton do not boast talent on the flanks so if Fonseca arrives, we can expect a lot of attention being given to the flanks. Advanced, attack hungry full backs also are key in his system which would bode well at Everton considering Lucas Digne as one of the most impressive full backs in the league.
Fonseca keeps a patient approach rather than just instructing his teams to thread the ball forward in a hope that one of his attacking players will get hold of the ball. His sides construct play through a closely knit network of players playing short passes, involving the defenders as well in the buildup process.
Everton have been blamed for not having a proper identity for years and Fonseca could be the man to solve this crisis. He not only brings a set of principles to the team and makes them play a particular style of football but is also a brilliant man-manager and extracts the best out of players through his coaching.
Rafa Benitez is another big managerial name that could arrive at Everton
4. Rafa Benitez
Now, this could be a controversial choice because of his association with Everton’s arch rivals Liverpool in the past. But, the fact that a manager with an impressive CV is available in the market at least puts a strong case for him to be considered.
Rafa Benitez is out of a job after leaving Dalian Professional in January 2021. Benitez is a manager with ample Premier League experience and he knows how to guide the teams. At Newcastle United, Benitez and his troops were sent into the gun battle with knives as owner Mike Ashley simply didn’t spend enough.
It is a fact that in order to simply survive in the Premier league you need to spend and strengthen the team every season. At Everton, Benitez will have the backing of the owners for sure. They have done it in the past and backed even the mediocre managers with plentiful funds.
The only issue that can arise is that Benitez could take the path of a pragmatic approach rather than playing goal hungry, attack based style, something that might not bode well with the fans who want the club to play expansive football.
It has been seen that his systems relay on central midfielders a lot. Steven Gerrard and Xabi Alonso at Liverpool, Frank Lampard and Ramires at Chelsea, Esteban Cambiasso and Wesley Sneijder at Inter Milan, Jonjo Shelvey and Jack Colback at Newcastle. Benitez’s teams often attack directly rather than building the attack.
Benitez does bring stability to his sides if given adequate time and Everton does need stability in the team and hence he could be a possible candidate to replace Carlo Ancelotti.
Roberto Martinez has previously managed Everton from 2013 to 2016
5. Roberto Martinez
Roberto Martinez is currently in charge of the Belgium national football team but he will surely be a name that will be considered and there are reports that state Martinez will be considered. The Spaniard has previously managed Everton for three seasons and also taking Everton to the Europa League after finishing fifth in his first season in charge.
He wasn’t able to replicate the same results in his later seasons but during his reign, Everton did actually manage to be recognized for playing a certain style of attack based football. Romelu Lukaku was flying under Martinez, scoring goals for fun. The Toffees also were devastating on the counter at times, something that we never saw under Carlo Ancelotti as the team always lacked speed.
Martinez also has enough knowledge about the club and even though the director of football has changed, Martinez has enough friends in the Everton offices. The Spaniard has spent a lot of time in England and the Premier League and is well aware of the methods and the organization of the league.
He’s right now coaching the golden generation of Belgium with the likes of Kevin De Bruyne, Eden Hazard, Romelu Lukaku and other fantastic players at his disposal and he may not want to leave the Belgium side before guiding them to some glory which looks very achievable in the next few years. The Red Devils look pretty strong candidates for this year’s Euros.
If Martinez gets the backing he needs and the players he wants, Everton could actually make a leap forward, something we saw in the first year of his managerial career at Everton.
Which manager would you prefer as a replacement for Carlo Ancelotti?