Neville Southall hails ability of Carlo Ancelotti after Everton improvements
Former Everton goalkeeper Neville Southall has hailed the influence that Carlo Ancelotti has had on the Toffees players who were at the club before he arrived.
Everton have seen a remarkable overall improvement since the Italian took the reigns at Goodison Park just over a year ago with the Toffees fighting for a Champions League spot this season.
Speaking in I news, Southall named several players who have improved greatly under the leadership of the Italian and credited the players who have worked to get better.
He said, “It’s the same with Gylfi Sigurdsson, who hasn’t always played where he wanted to play but has knuckled down and, like [Alex] Iwobi, has taken the challenge on board.
“My old mate Duncan Ferguson says Ancelotti’s a pleasure to work with and he’s definitely showed good man-management around Jordan Pickford, helping him come through his dodgy spell, while Michael Keane looks much more solid now.
“Mason Holgate’s another who’s only going to get better and in attack Richarlison and Dominic Calvert-Lewin are good players.”
Dominic Calvert-Lewin has perhaps improved the most under Ancelotti as his stats from last season show.
Before Ancelotti’s arrival in December, Calvert-Lewin had five goals in 15 Premier League appearances.
In his first 11 league appearances under Ancelotti, the striker scored eight goals and he has carried that form into the current season with the 23-year-old registering 11 goals in 14 appearances so far this term.
Gylfi Sigurdsson is one player who is currently experiencing a renaissance at Goodison Park after taking the captain’s armband in recent weeks.
The Icelandic international scored the only goal of the game in the win against Chelsea and produced a mercurial performance in last weekend’s win over Arsenal.
A lot has been made of the transfer business that the club conducted in the summer and rightly so as the moves for James Rodriguez, Allan, Ben Godfrey and Abdoulaye Doucoure look to be excellent pieces of business.
But, credit needs to be handed to Ancelotti for the work he has done with the players who were already at the club when he arrived as they continue to improve week on week.
In other Everton news, ‘Asking for trouble’ – Kevin Campbell weighs in on Calvert-Lewin Everton debate