It’s fair to say that after Carlo Ancelotti’s arrival at Everton before Christmas, things have taken a drastic upturn for the club.
The Blues were faltering under Marco Silva, who was struggling to get the performances expected out of a squad that should have been doing better.
Ancelotti has quickly turned that around, though, bringing a calm, composed air to Everton and turning around performances and results as a result.
It’s left Everton looking up rather than looking down, and Corriere dello Sport cover his impressive start to life at the club today.
A month and a half after the Italian’s appointment, now is a time for evaluations and a look at the table and ‘Everton’s game’ shows plenty of positives.
Everton are ‘regenerated’ under Ancelotti’s leadership, with more goals scored, fewer goals conceded and greater possession to boot. Indeed, this is ‘another squad’ despite there being no new players.
The Blues impressive form has seen them quickly rise up the table, jumping from 15th to 9th and dreams of qualifying for the Europa League.
Everton find themselves three points outside the top six, a win over Crystal Palace today would put them level with the Blades, and Ancelotti insists Europe must be the aim.
“For the moment, the Champions are out of our reach, Chelsea, four, eight points away,” he said.
“Maybe in a few days the situation will be different, but today our goal must be the Europe League.
“If we hit qualifying, it would be fantastic, but we mustn’t forget that there are many other quality teams aiming for the same goal.”
