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Carlo Ancelotti was all smiles as he walked up the stairs at Goodison Park to be greeted with a warm hug in the boardroom from his new Everton employer, Farhad Moshiri, and President Bill Kenwright.
The date was Saturday December 21, 2019, and Ancelotti had flown to Merseyside from Italy to sign a long-term contract to succeed the fired Marco Silva before seeing a terrible goalless draw against Arsenal, who had just named a new coach at Mikel Arteta.
Ancelotti was the ‘Hollywood’ manager Moshiri had been looking for since he became Everton’s main shareholder in February 2016, having struggled to fulfill his dream and after firing Ronald Koeman, Sam Allardyce and Silva.
Moshiri was launched after Ancelotti was harshly fired by Napoli, and almost a year after the day the Everton owner can reflect with satisfaction on his first 12 months after a 2-1 victory over Arsenal put the Toffees in an outstanding second place at the table.
It capped off a magnificent week for Ancelotti and Everton after winning against Chelsea and now Arsenal at Goodison Park, flanking a midweek victory at Leicester City.
And when Ancelotti garnered applause from the 2,000 fans inside Goodison Park, especially those on Gwladys Street, the 61-year-old’s status was confirmed.
If Ancelotti had planned a week to celebrate his first year, three months of which were without action due to football being crashed as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, then this would have been his perfect script.
Everton’s victory was tough, but it’s worth remembering that it was achieved without first-choice full-backs Seamus Coleman and Lucas Digne in Everton’s starting lineup, the latter facing a long spell after ankle surgery, and without the signings. very influential summer season James Rodríguez. and Allan missing due to injury.
And yet they fought when they needed to and it is a tribute to Ancelotti and the players involved that these recent successes have come after deciding to ditch a five-man defensive system to return to four defenders, which are effectively four central defenders in Mason Holgate, Yerry Mina, Michael Keane, and Ben Godfrey.
Mina got the winner this time around, Holgate got it right at Leicester City, while Keane has been arguably Everton’s best player this season and 22-year-old Godfrey, a £ 25m signing from Norwich City, was man of the match here. , combining some bone. – soulful challenges with a surprising change of pace for such a large figure.
Everton stayed in 15th place after that draw with Arsenal last December, with Ancelotti sitting just a few seats behind Arteta in the director’s box on that cold lunch break.
And how happy Moshiri and Everton must be that the cards fit perfectly in those decisive days when both they and Arsenal were looking for a new coach, as the Gunners had fired Unai Emery.
Ironically, Arteta had a following of her own within the Everton boardroom and her appointment may have been very well received by fans, while Arsenal was linked to Ancelotti due to his world stature and previous success in the capital with Chelsea. , where he won the Premier League and Double FA Cup.
Arsenal walked away with the rookie with roots in the Emirates Stadium, while Everton pressed for Ancelotti, both clubs satisfied with the result.
Arteta brought the FA Cup to Arsenal last season, but this season has been an unrelenting misery as they rank 15th in the table after their worst start since 1974-75.
Now he is even being asked what was the unthinkable before: could Arsenal find themselves caught in a relegation fight? If they do, they will have to fight harder than here, their struggles exemplified by the lightweight display of the costly Willian summer contract.
Ancelotti’s cold dominance of events at Everton, where some questioned whether his experience dealing with superstars the likes of AC Milan, Chelsea, Paris St-Germain, Real Madrid and Bayern Munich would make him the ‘fit. ‘suitable, he has warmed up for his task on and off the field.
He has guided Everton to the top end of the Premier League table while engaging in ‘People’s Club’ culture, extolling the virtues of his life in the Crosby area of Merseyside, and delighting fans with personal phone calls during the confinement.
Ancelotti’s humble modesty and dry humor, intact even after his stellar run amongst ‘Galacticos’ egos, has struck a chord with Everton’s fanbase, while the results have helped his case as well.
He was the main driver of the summer acquisitions of Allan, with whom he worked at Napoli, and Rodríguez, who regards Ancelotti as a mentor from his time at Real Madrid and Bayern. Abdoulaye Doucoure has been outstanding, as has Godfrey, making for an impressive hit rate so far in the markets.
Everton hope that Ancelotti’s presence will attract more players who previously might have been out of reach, as it did with Allan and Rodriguez.
Also, with the help of assistant Duncan Ferguson, he achieved a remarkable transformation in forward Dominic Calvert-Lewin, while defender Keane speaks with great respect and the younger Everton players are learning from his vast experience.
Calvert-Lewin scored the first goal of the Ancelotti era in a 1-0 win over Burnley on Boxing Day and has scored 19 in 34 league games under the coach’s direction. He claimed a goal against Arsenal, but they took it from him and gave it his own goal to Rob Holding, but gave a performance from another complete striker.
It was interesting that during the second half of the victory against Arsenal and with Everton under pressure, Ancelotti listened to long tactical instructions from his son Davide, who is highly regarded as a smart operator by the team, a brilliant young coach who is learning in his father’s house. side.
Ancelotti generally refuses to let go. He has seen it all and knows tough times may still be around the corner as he watches Wednesday’s EFL Cup quarter-finals against Manchester United at Goodison Park.
“We did very well in our last games – brilliant performances and fantastic results,” he said. “We showed more consistency. This season we started well, then we had a difficult time, but right now I am very happy.
“The position in the table is really good. But like I said last week, it is not the end of the season, we have to keep fighting, but this was a great performance.”
A year later, Everton and owner Moshiri have every right to be ecstatic about the acquisition of a man considered managerial royalty.
