Journalist claims Everton have right to demand more from Ancelotti
Journalist Seb Stafford-Bloor believes that Everton have the right to expect more from Carlo Ancelotti this season.
The Toffees have been especially inconsistent over the past few months, with positive results against Liverpool and Arsenal undercut by disheartening losses to Fulham, Burnley and Aston Villa.
Everton have suffered their fair share of injury issues in recent times too, with several integral squad members missing for periods of time, however Ancelotti has seemingly avoided much of the blame for the club’s poor form.
Talking on The Athletic’s Tifo Football Podcast however, Stafford-Bloor expressed his opinion that Ancelotti is perhaps lucky to have skated by without having received much criticism.
Speaking on Everton’s recent form, Stafford-Bloor said: “If this was Jose Mourinho, we’d be all over him I think, and it’s the tax that a manager pays for not being that likeable or for being antagonistic.
“I think it’s fair to ask for a little bit more [from Ancelotti], and it’s not just the results because we’ve talked about the glass ceiling, we’ve talked about what Everton need and what they have and don’t have, and those are all fair points.
“At the same time, the tone of the performance sometimes is less than encouraging. You don’t think with Everton ‘this is a team in progress’ or ‘this is a team that in a year to 18 months time is really going to be somewhere’.
“You’re thinking, ‘it’s okay if this player gets on the ball, they might do something with it, but if this player doesn’t then that’s probably a good thing also’, and that’s indicative of the holes that are in that first XI.
“I think it’s [the standard of performances] under-par at the moment.”
No free pass on Merseyside
In may ways, Stafford-Bloor is right to expect more from Ancelotti. Everton’s squad is lacking quality, but not enough quality that the recent results can be excused as such, and “class act” Ancelotti must do more with what he’s got at his disposal.
The Italian brought a certain pedigree never seen at Goodison Park before when he replaced Marco Silva in 2019, and though we’ve seen glimmers of potential through some of the signings made under the manager, we’ve yet to see cold, hard proof that Everton are on the path to success.
That said, Ancelotti hasn’t been immune from criticism this season, at least as far as the Everton fan community is concerned. Substitutions have been questioned and debated over, and questionable tactics have been slammed when they haven’t come off for the Blues.
Ancelotti isn’t criticised by many in the media however, and that comes down to the overall expectations of Everton. No one expects more from the club than the supporters do, but outside of the four walls of Goodison Park it seems as though expectations for what the club can realistically achieve are much lower.
Many might praise Ancelotti for leading Everton to within a few points of the Champions League places, and they won’t begrudge him his disappointing performances. Everton supporters aren’t so forgiving however, and while the attitude towards the Italian is still overwhelmingly positive, he certain has plenty more work to do.
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