Ancelotti still believes Everton are ‘in the fight’ for Europe
Carlo Ancelotti explains that Everton are still in with a chance of qualifying for Europe this season, despite their disappointing draw with Brighton on Monday.
The Toffees had been on the verge of breaching the top four a few weeks ago with games in hand making fourth place Everton’s to lose, but four games without a win in the Premier League has severely reduced their advantage.
The Blues now sit seven points away from fourth with a game in hand, although with fixtures against Tottenham, Arsenal and West Ham still to come Everton face an uphill battle.
Despite this though Ancelotti still has faith that his side can play in Europe next season, though he acknowledged that it will be a difficult task to qualify.
Speaking after the draw at the Amex, Ancelotti said: “I think that we are still in the fight.
“As I said it is more difficult but now in the next eight games we’re going to play against teams that are really close to us and that fight with us, but we’re still there.
“Of course it’s a difficult moment because we have a lot of players out but I hope to recover those players for Friday and fight against Tottenham.”
Go for broke
At this point it’s beginning to look less and less likely that Everton will qualify for Europe, and that would be a disaster.
The Toffees aren’t playing well at the moment and, coupled with how difficult their upcoming fixtures could prove to be, it would take something special for Ancelotti’s men to pip one of the sides above them.
That said Everton have performed better against the top sides this season, having beaten Arsenal, Tottenham and Chelsea, as well as having taken four points from both Liverpool and Leicester.
Everton strengthened in the transfer window last summer with the intention of qualifying for Europe this season and if they aren’t able to qualify it would negatively impact their spending at the end of the season.
In a sense the Blues are placing all their eggs on one basket. They won’t be able to keep talent, or attract new talent, unless they have Europe to offer. Ancelotti’s name alone has worked well so far but it won’t be enough to deliver silverware.
We need to see Everton work hard and give it their all in the remaining eight fixtures. We need to see them go for broke.
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