Carlo Ancelotti claims that he never would have believed Everton would be where they currently are in the Premier League table if told about it a year ago.
The Blues currently sit sixth in the table, just four points behind fourth with a game in hand, ahead of Tottenham, Liverpool and Arsenal.
After the same amount of games last season Everton were 11th in the table, and any hope of qualifying for Europe had quickly evaporated.
Speaking ahead of Everton’s game against Burnley this weekend [evertonfc.com], Ancelotti acknowledged that his side are still very much in the fight for Europe this season.
Ancelotti said: “One year ago, if someone said to us, ‘Next year, you will be four points behind fourth, with a game in hand’, I could say, ‘You are crazy’.”
“The next step is to fight for the position in Europe. The ambition is quite clear. It was the ambition at the beginning of the season, we are not so close to the end but to be here [in contention] is really important.
“These players deserve credit because they are doing well. The defeat against Chelsea doesn’t affect this – we are motivated to be in the fight.
“The important games are coming – against Burnley and Crystal Palace – to fight for Europe.”
Bit our faith in Carlo
In a way we understand how such a radical change in league position must be strange, especially given the many weak spots in the squad last season that haven’t seen wholesale change and improvement over the summer.
Other than a few quality acquisitions, Everton’s current squad isn’t too dissimilar to the one that finished in 12th place last season, but Carlo stands tall as the man who has led the charge up to this point.
Great players, good players and poor players alike always dependant on quality coaching and leadership skills from a club’s manager to turn their fortunes around, and Ancelotti has done that at Everton.
We still don’t have one of the strongest squads in the league, but we do have one of the best managers in the league, and he makes all of the difference.
In time we can hope to see Everton challenging even higher up the table if we continue this positive forward momentum, and if we continue to see players learn and grow under Ancelotti’s tutelage.
In other Everton news, the Toffees have been handed a fitness boost with Yerry Mina having been spotted back in training this week.