It seems like Carlo Ancelotti will slot in very nicely at Everton as he marked his return to the Premier League with a win.
In his first game in charge of the Toffees they beat Burnley 1-0 at Goodison Park on Boxing Day as Dominic Calvert-Lewin’s header sealed a big win which gets Ancelotti’s reign off to a perfect start and Everton looking towards the top 10 instead of the relegation zone.
Speaking to the club’s website after the game, Ancelotti revealed that the huge levels of support he received from Evertonians before, during and after the game had a huge impact.
“The result was the most important part of this day. It was a fantastic day for me, the fact that the fans gave me fantastic support at the beginning of the game and after the game, that was good,” Ancelotti explained. “It was a special game. Burnley played with a lot of intensity, we were good defensively and offensively we could play a bit better with more intensity in the first half and be more efficient with the counter attack. At the end it was a good game with a good performance and we deserved the result.”
An incredible atmosphere today and an important victory for a good start. #COYB #BoxingDay pic.twitter.com/HQvv3OtapL
— Carlo Ancelotti (@MrAncelotti) December 26, 2019
His analysis was spot on, and you’d expect that from a man who has won league titles in Italy, England, France, Spain and Germany and the UEFA Champions League three times.
Everton were great once again defensively, as they’ve now conceded just twice in their last four Premier League games, keeping clean sheets in the last two, and they’re unbeaten in four since Marco Silva was fired.
Ancelotti lauded the defensive effort but wants more from Everton as an attacking force as Richarlison and Bernard struggled to link up with Moise Kean and Calvert-Lewin in attack.
“In the game against Arsenal they defended well and today was the same,” Ancelotti said. “We tried to put more pressure forward, to try to press forward a little bit. I think we were solid. We need to be more efficient in attack, to complete good passes, to make good choices in front because we missed some counter attacks where we could be more dangerous. That was the only detail we have to improve.”
Next up, they face Newcastle United on Dec. 28 and Ancelotti, ever the perfectionist as he often looked expectant rather than hopeful on the sidelines, admitted he will have to rotate his squad for the trip to St James’ Park.
"[He learned Everton have] a good spirit in the team, very energetic and I think physically we are in a really good condition,” Ancelotti said. “We look forward to the next game. We don’t have much time for recovery. We are going to check the next day on the players who didn’t play, and maybe they will have more possibility to play against Newcastle.”
Ever the gentleman, Ancelotti was eager to thank the fans one more time as he received an extremely positive welcome.
“The reception was fantastic. I have to thank everyone for this. The fans are a key part of winning games at Goodison Park,” Ancelotti said.