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First impressions are always the most important, especially in a place like Merseyside. If it starts off badly, there is bound to be a long way back.
For Carlo Ancelotti, however, that was never going to be a problem. The Italian had charmed Everton’s majority shareholder, Farhad Moshiri, the first time they met during a meeting in Munich last December and showed him that he had an appetite to restore the club’s luck.
Securing Ancelotti’s was an outstanding blow on Moshiri’s behalf, a genuine declaration of intent. Everton also spoke to Ralf Ragnick and David Moyes about succeeding Marco Silva but, for Moshiri, the possibility of naming a three-time Champions League-winning coach could not be missed.
Coach Carlo Ancelotti celebrates his first year at Everton after winning over players and fans
Ancelotti is the royalty of football, a man who has brought out the best in the best players and who has a resume like few others. He has moved in rarefied circles, which is why he was so attractive to Moshiri, but it is the impression he has made on the Everton fans that has been even more endearing.
There are no airs and thanks with Ancelotti, a point that this story proves. In the first week of March, before the lockdown came, she was on her way home to Crosby, an area of town she had fallen in love with, when she needed to stop by to do some shopping.
He chose to visit Bootle Strand. It’s an honest venue with working-class patrons, not the kind of place you would see a Premier League coach. But, on this particular day, there was Ancelotti, pacing and happily stopping to pose for photos with the incredulous Evertonians.
Crosby flanks the River Mersey and its beach is home to Another Place, Sir Antony Gormley’s work of 100 Iron Men gazing out to sea. Ancelotti regularly walks his three dogs here with his wife, Mariann, and you can’t have a conversation with him without him asking if he knows the area.
Securing Ancelotti was a genuine declaration of intent from majority shareholder Farhad Moshiri
For the record, he’s the first Everton manager to live in Merseyside since the 1990s.
“I think that helps,” says Duncan Ferguson, one of his trusted assistants. “It gives you the connection with the fans, with the city.”
It does. Ancelotti, whose first game in charge of the club was on Boxing Day 2019 against Burnley, is a man in whom the Evertonians have placed their trust. When the results have gone bad, for example, they look elsewhere to spread the blame.
However, there is more to it than just being seen around town and speaking kindly of its charms. The Evertonians want to win and, during these last 12 months, possibly the most important date was July 12 in Molineux, the afternoon of an embarrassing 3-0 defeat.
Ancelotti was reunited with James Rodríguez after his time at Real Madrid and Bayern Munich
He may sound like a patronizing man, a man who builds warm relationships with his players, but Ancelotti is a winner and he took that performance as an affront. In a frank post-game meeting, together with the club’s captain, Seamus Coleman, he explained what would change.
When Everton’s first team met again in the summer, after their short break, the message was reiterated: He told them that if they really wanted to be winners, it was time for a new attitude and approach. What happened at Wolverhampton would not be tolerated.
“We talked about what we wanted to change and how we do it,” defender Michael Keane said. He wants us to play with confidence; tells us that if you make a mistake, have the confidence to move on. We have one of the best managers in the world. We have no excuses. ‘
It certainly helped that Ancelotti was able to make recruits over the summer, spearheaded by James Rodríguez, the Colombian superstar with whom he had worked at Real Madrid and Bayern Munich. Injury has proven his contribution lately, but his quality is undeniable.
Ancelotti suffered his first setback with the Carabao Cup defeat against Manchester United
Of course, there is still work to be done. The Carabao Cup defeat to Manchester United highlighted the areas where the squad needs to be improved; Ancelotti felt it deeply as well, having set his heart to lifting the club’s first trophy since 1995.
But there is no reason to put that dream aside. Everton have shown they can mix with the teams they used to challenge historically, with Ancelotti overseeing a first away win against a top-six rival since September 2013 (1-0 at Tottenham).
During that first meeting with Moshiri, Ancelotti made it clear that he was coming to Merseyside to win. It won’t happen overnight, and there will inevitably be obstacles along the way, but it has made the club start to believe, and that’s crucial.
“I found a really good atmosphere here, nothing was a surprise,” said Ancelotti, whose team faces Sheffield United tonight. “We have improved as a group and the squad is competitive. We can go further. I’m sure.’
