Joyce Article:
Back at the start of Farhad Moshiri’s tenure as Everton owner, he wanted a manager he felt could hold his own with the group of superstar coaches which had turned the northwest into the “Hollywood of football”.
It speaks volumes for the trials and tribulations which have followed that after three permanent appointments in Ronald Koeman, Sam Allardyce and Marco Silva, and two interims, David Unsworth and the present incumbent, Duncan Ferguson, he is closing in on his man.
Carlo Ancelotti held talks with Moshiri in London on Monday and barring any late issues is set to return to coaching just days after his dismissal from Napoli. However, he will find the landscape different to the one Moshiri surveyed back in the summer of 2016 following the sacking of Roberto Martinez.
José Mourinho is no longer at Manchester United. Pep Guardiola needs to show his powers are not dwindling at Manchester City and it is Liverpool’s Jürgen Klopp, who is now the brightest star on the touchline.
That Ancelotti is the only manager to outmanoeuvre Klopp this season with Napoli’s 2-0 Champions League success in September (there was also a draw at Anfield in November) will automatically appeal to Everton supporters.
Yet the task which would confront the 60-year-old Italian is also vastly different to those where he has previously tasted success in management.
At Chelsea, where he won the league and cup double in 2010, Real Madrid and Bayern Munich, Ancelotti had to tweak established sides who had already enjoyed success. He delivered Paris Saint-Germain’s first French title since 1993-94 in his first full season in 2012-13, but the club was flushed with Qatar riches by then.
It is true AC Milan were in a state of disrepair when he took over in November 2001. They had finished sixth the previous season, while also reaching the Champions League second group stage, and Ancelotti would go on to rejuvenate the club with a Serie A title in 2004 and two Champions League victories in 2003 and 2007 (with the defeat by Liverpool in 2005, also).
But that was almost two decades ago and Everton’s gamble is that Ancelotti has the appetite and capacity to turn around an ailing giant and point them in the right direction.
Everton is a club in need of direction from top to bottom and it would be interesting to gauge the thoughts of Marcel Brands, the director of football, on the prospective appointment because the route in which they are now proceeding seems a deviation from what the Dutchman was brought in to oversee 18 months ago.
It is fair to assume Moshiri has told Ancelotti he will have money to spend despite the Premier League’s profit and sustainability rules having previously cast a shadow over the club.
Is Brands going to tell Ancelotti which players he can and cannot buy? What remit does Brands have when it appears the agent Kia Joorabchian is working almost in an advisory capacity for Moshiri.
Everton, of course, is a club ripe for improvement. The caretaker manager Ferguson has shown in the win against Chelsea, and the draw with Manchester United, that this is a squad which was underperforming under Silva and with the right guidance can rouse itself.
The furore over the substitution of Moise Kean only 19 minutes after coming on at Old Trafford, during which time he attempted three passes, of which one found its target, lost five duels, gave the ball away six times and committed three fouls, has overshadowed illustrations of Ferguson’s tactical nous.
The switch from Silva’s staple of 4-2-3-1 to 4-4-2 has brought more out of Dominic Calvert-Lewin. There have been instructions to the midfield two to sit in and not find themselves caught upfield leaving their team-mates susceptible to the counter.
Defenders who do not appear totally comfortable playing out from the back have been told to defend first and take no chances. Michael Keane looked a better player against Manchester United for that simple guidance.
There would be a low base for Ancelotti to work with and Ferguson has surely guaranteed himself a place in any new set-up. Perhaps even Kean will improve with some soothing words of his compatriot.
Ancelotti, who was sacked in a corridor at Goodison Park within an hour of a Chelsea defeat at Everton on the final day of the 2011 season, is a natural fit for the touchline if you rewind back to Moshiri’s original plan.
He must prove he is a good one for dealing with the problems which invariably rear on the pitch.