Carlo Ancelotti left Everton on June 1, 2021
In 2019, Carlo Ancelotti was appointed to replace the sacked Marco Silva and took charge of the team, replacing the then interim manager Duncan Ferguson in the process. After one and a half season in charge of Everton, Carlo Ancelotti decided to join Real Madrid, once the Los Blancos came calling the Italian tactician left the Everton project midway without any hesitation.
A move that left a sour taste in the mouth of the Everton fans and hierarchy. It is no secret that Everton want to compete for European spots in the Premier League. Everton have been trying to find a coach who can bring stability to this club and build a winning team that can upset the top 6 teams of England.
Establishing themselves as a team that regularly plays in European competitions. So far they have failed to do that, Ronald Koeman’s spell was underwhelming, Sam Allardyce wasn’t a manager for the future, and Marco Silva’s tenure was a disaster. Hiring Carlo Ancelotti didn’t fare well either, finishing 10th in his first full season in charge of the Toffees. Here are a few reasons why Everton shouldn’t have appointed Ancelotti in the first place back in 2019:
Good Name, Outdated Game
Ancelotti may have an impressive CV when compared to all the managers currently in the Premier League but the fact is that he started his coaching career back in 1995, with only Roy Hodgson, Marcelo Bielsa and Sam Allardyce the only coaches to have a long coaching career than him. In terms of silverware he ranked 3rd just behind José Mourinho and Pep Guardiola respectively. Having a points per match (PPM) of 1.55 at Everton, he ranks 9th among the 20 coaches of the Premier League of the 2020-21 season.
There is an evident decline in his coaching which can be seen in his points per game. At Real Madrid, he garnered a career-high 2.36 PPM leading Real Madrid to the “La Decima”. But since then he has struggled with the clubs he has coached, amassing a 2.28 PPM in his ill-fated stint with the Bavarians where he didn’t even last for 2 whole seasons before being sacked after a string of poor results and losing the trust of his senior players.
His time at Napoli wasn’t fruitful either where a civil war began to unfold amid an alleged player mutiny, Ancelotti had lost the trust of Napoli president Aurelio De Laurentiis and was sacked, once again failing to complete 2 seasons at a club after being hired back in 2018 to replace Maurizio Sarri. His 1.82 PPM with the Partenopei showed a worrying decline for the once-revered manager.
Farhad Moshiri was looking for a big name to coach the Toffees since his takeover back in 2016, but this match wasn’t made in heaven and was the one to avoid for the Toffees who had just sacked Marco Silva after a 5-2 defeat at the hands of Merseyside rivals Liverpool, which brings us to our next point.
Snatched Duncan Ferguson’s Chance
Duncan Ferguson was named as caretaker manager of Everton after Marco Silva’s dismissal. With games against Chelsea, Manchester United and Arsenal up next, not many fancied him to last more than a few weeks at the helm. But, to everyone’s surprise he didn’t lose a single game in those 3 difficult fixtures and was also able to mastermind a 3-1 win against Frank Lampard’s Chelsea at the Goodison Park.
Following the win against Chelsea, Ferguson was able to gain a point after a 1-1 draw against a much more dominant Manchester United side. Sticking with his 4-4-2 formation it was clear to see that Ferguson knew exactly what he was doing. He was trying his best to help Everton escape the rut they were in since Silva’s appointment as head coach at the start of the 2018-19 season.
The sheer passion that Ferguson has for the club was evident in his celebrations after defeating Chelsea, this is something that the club hasn’t seen in a while where the manager is almost like a passionate fan sitting in the stadium rooting for his club to win.
His final game in charge was a goalless draw at Goodison Park against Arsenal, but where Everton played on the front foot looking for all 3 points against the Gunners. Ferguson helped lift the Toffees out of the relegation zone and into the 15th place in the Premier League, now this isn’t a great achievement but considering the circumstances that Everton were in, having spent over £100 Million and flirting with relegation wasn’t a good situation to be in.
Surely Duncan Ferguson should’ve been given a chance to prove himself as a manager rather than paying a £11.5 Million a year contract to Carlo Ancelotti which made him the third highest-paid manager at that time in the Premier League behind Tottenham Hotspur manager Jose Mourinho and Manchester City’s Pep Guardiola. Ferguson would’ve been a cheaper and better option to steady the ship before an elite level manager took charge of Everton in the space of a year or so.
Short Term Fix
The last time Ancelotti was in a job for more than 3 years was back in 2009 when he coached AC Milan from 2001 till 2009. He has become a short term fix for clubs since then. Having been sacked from the previous 3 roles that he was in before being appointed as an Everton coach, the signs were clear.
Ancelotti was no longer the man to be trusted in helping build a long term project. Something that Everton have been trying to do since Farhad Moshiri’s takeover. Having spent over £526m since the takeover, it is clear to see that Moshiri is willing to spend even when a new appointment is made. Seeing the likes of Ronald Koeman, Sam Allardyce and Marco Silva get the funds that they thought were needed to help build a winning team.
It is safe to say that all of them failed and due to this many unnecessary transfers were made that didn’t help the team rather cost the team millions in the wage bill. Everton could have done better by appointing a manager who was willing to work with what he has got and build the club slowly and steadily, similar to what Mauricio Pochettino did when we was appointed as the manager of Spurs back in 2014, guiding them to a UEFA Champions League final by his 5th year in charge of Spurs.
Good things take time. Ancelotti isn’t the type of manager you hire to build a team for years to come. Everton needed stability and patience, something that Ancelotti can no longer offer as a manager.
Who will be Everton’s next manager?