Ancelotti laments Everton’s poor record at Goodison Park
Carlo Ancelotti laments his side’s disappointing home form following Burnley beating Everton 2-1 at Goodison Park on Saturday.
Everton have been extremely efficient on the road this season, having gone nine games without defeat away from home prior to losing against Chelsea last Monday.
However the Toffees have not fared nearly so well on Merseyside, having taken just four points from seven Premier League games at home since the New Year.
The Blues had the opportunity to move closer to fourth-placed Chelsea with a win over the Clarets after Thomas Tuchel’s side dropping points against Leeds. However, a loss leaves them with just ten games remaining to make a late charge for a top-four spot.
As quoted by BBC Sport following the game on Saturday, Ancelotti bemoaned the club’s recent home form, demanding that his side see an improvement following the international break.
Ancelotti said: “It is difficult to explain that we win a lot of games away, it is difficult to explain, but of course the home run was not good enough.
“Unfortunately we’ve lost a lot of points at home. It’s true that we catch a lot of points away but this is the reason that we’re still in the fight.
“But of course we need to improve at home, no doubt.”
Ancelotti must find fix
Everton’s home form is certainly a mystery because supporters of the club can’t even blame fan negativity for being the root cause of our own downfall anymore.
Perhaps the Toffees feel as though they can play with greater freedom on the road because stadiums just aren’t as intimidating without hoards of raucous supporters occupying the stands, but the same could be said about Goodison Park.
It most likely comes down to coincidence that for whatever reason we just don’t seem to be doing so well whenever we’re playing home, but it still remains something that Ancelotti is going to need to remedy in some way or another.
Being clinical and ruthless is what separates the great teams from the good teams. If Everton want to be a great team, they need to clinically dispatch teams like Burnley and Newcastle, they can’t allow winnable points to pass them by.
It remains to be seen whether we’ll see the Blues back in Europe, and we very much could still see that happen, but either way Ancelotti is going to have to work on his side’s home form and find a solution before the final stretch of the season.
In other Everton news, Manchester United could rival the Merseysiders for AC Milan centre-back Alessio Romagnoli this summer.