4 early observations of Everton under Carlo Ancelotti

The Carlo Ancelotti era with Everton is only a few games old. Still, there is excitement and belief that he will be able to turn around Everton for the better in the long run.

Carlo Ancelotti’s run with Everton is well underway with mixed results through five games.

Everton have recovered well in Premier League play with three wins in four league games under the Italian manager. As a result, the Blues have veered away from the relegation zone, into mid-table and possibly contention for a top six Premier League spot.

On the other hand, there are still a multitude of well-documented tactical issues on the pitch coupled with the disappointing loss to Liverpool in the FA Cup third round.

Depending on which Everton fan you ask, there are mixed feelings as to how they would grade Ancelotti through five games. The team is showing growth in some areas, but Ancelotti has a long way to go in rebuilding this team into a prolific side. Still, the resounding feeling within the Everton faithful is hope and confidence in Ancelotti.

Nonetheless, there is much to learn and takeaway from Ancelotti’s opening games with Everton.

Ancelotti’s carousel of formations

All new managers have different mentalities when it comes to how they would want to approach the first couple of games with their newly inherited squad. Some managers implement a completely new gameplan with a new formation and tactical setup. Others use several tactical components from the previous regime and incorporate it into their own gameplan. In short, managers and their coaching staff simply want to use the opening games to experiment with what works and what does not.

For Ancelotti, he has used his new side in a couple of contrasting formations.

In the Premier League wins against Newcastle United and Brighton & Hove Albion, Ancelotti elected to go with a defensive 4-4-2 setup that coordinated play through the midfield duo of Gylfi Sigurdsson and Tom Davies. In the Premier League win against Burnley and FA Cup loss against Liverpool, the Toffees played in a 3-4-3 formation. And in the Premier League loss to Manchester City, they went with a 3-5-2 setup that switched to a 5-3-2 when out of possession. To the surprise of many Everton supporters, Ancelotti has not elected to play under the balanced 4-2-3-1 setup, which was the main formation used under former manager Marco Silva.

Each contest has generated some favorable and unfavorable signs for Ancelotti.

Everton showed promise in their trio of Premier League wins while the Toffees played like a Championship side in their losses to Manchester City and Liverpool. But at the least, Ancelotti is not being stubborn by coming in and having his side play under a single tactical approach. Instead, the former Champions League winning manager is working to complement the personnel at hand. No player is being thrown into a new position and each talent on the pitch knows their exact role.

It is too early to give an assessment on which formation Ancelotti will solidify as the go-to setup. Everton have had plenty of of promising sequences under their 4-4-2 setup. With their three at the back formations, the Blues showed how well they can progress possession to the final third and find outlets to push play into the penalty box.

The next couple of Premier League contests will surely provide a much clearer picture into Ancelotti’s formation plans.

Dominic Calvert-Lewin is finally showing his potential

If there is one talent who has certainly been a fan of the Ancelotti hiring, it is Dominic Calvert-Lewin. Calvert-Lewin told BBC’s Match of the Day:

"“He [Ancelotti] is a man who knows how to win things and knows how to work with great players. To have a manager to have done what he has done in the game, you can’t be anything but excited.”"

For a player who was in and out of the starting lineup earlier this season under Silva, Calvert-Lewin is becoming a cornerstone of Ancelotti’s plans. The English international has started in all five games under the Italian manager. As a response, Calvert-Lewin has repaid the manager with a team-high three goals in those fixtures, which brings his season total up to 10.

The most impressive aspect of his play are his overachieving xG figures. Over his first three seasons with the Blues, Calvert-Lewin was a player known for missing clear goal chances — a key reason why he underperformed his xG numbers. To the relief of the Everton supporters, Calvert-Lewin is finally making the most of his goal-scoring opportunities. The 22-year-old has scored eight Premier League goals and is marking at a 7.43 xG rate, according to Understat — both of which are career highs.

For a player who was on his radar in previous seasons, Ancelotti must certainly feel pleased that the team have a viable and capable forward like Calvert-Lewin.

Needless to say, there is still room for improvement. The 22-year-old must be more careful when in possession; he has a tendency to lose possession in critical areas of the pitch. For example, the English forward lost possession on 13 out of his 27 touches in the league contest against Manchester City — a relatively high number for a striker.

Being the main target man on the team requires extreme patience on the ball and awareness of incoming pressure from the opponent. With a more precise emphasis on ball control, Ancelotti may unlock his potential as the next stout goal-scorer in the Premier League.

Final product is still a work in progress

One of the main reasons for Marco Silva’s demise as manager of Everton was his inability to formulate an efficient attacking game plan for his side.

In the 4-2-3-1, Silva was unable to find any outlet to continually create high percentage goal-scoring opportunities, whether it was via the two wingers or the main central attacking midfielder. Thus, possessional play often became lethargic with no clear plan in mind to create chances on a consistent basis.

Through five games under Ancelotti, the same old stagnant attacking sequences are becoming an issue once again. As they did under Silva, Everton seem impatient in the attack and continue to rely on a bombardment of aerial balls to establish any kind of presence in the penalty box.

This is not a style of attacking play that resembles Ancelotti’s managerial identity. As shown over his previous three managerial runs with Napoli, Bayern Munich and Real Madrid, Ancelotti likes to be creative in his attacking set ups rather than solely rely on a single outlet — like aerial balls into the box — for the entirety of the fixture.

To Ancelotti’s credit, Everton have shown slight signs of playing lively and creative attacking football, which was rarely ever the case under Silva.

For instance, in Ancelotti’s debut fixture against Burnley, Everton essentially had their way in all phases of the game. Although the 1-0 final score may indicate the game was a tightly contested defensive struggle, the fixture did not resemble such a contest. Everton were the aggressors on the attack with 42 positional attacks and seven shots resulting from them, according to Wyscout. The Toffees also went on to outshoot Burnley by a 21 to six margin.

And to the astonishment of those in attendance, Everton found ways to counter the opponent’s pressing setup and navigate their way into the final third, such as on this play.

However, they were only able to muster a late goal from Dominic Calvert-Lewin.

Ancelotti has much to answer in this area of play. Who will be the main creative force? How will Alex Iwobi be utilized? Can Richarlison be effective on the ball with better decision-making plays in the final third?

It will surely be a work in progress over in this department.

Everton are in desperate need for a midfield addition

Midfield play has always been the core emphasis of Ancelotti’s tactical philosophy. From the days of Luka Modric and Toni Kroos at Real Madrid to the duo of Fabian Ruiz and Allan with Napoli, the Italian manager typically builds his tactical approach around his midfield unit.

With Everton, Ancelotti is mainly relying on Gylfi Sigurdsson and Tom Davies in the middle of the park. Sigurdsson’s role as of late has centered on being the team’s main creative catalyst; he has produced a team-leading 2.66 key passes per 90 in four league games under Ancelotti, according to Understat. The 30-year-old sprays possession on both sides of the pitch and is one leading the charge in passing in between the lines. Meanwhile, Davies plays the role of the controller with a knack on contributing on the defensive side.

Still, Everton are in need of a workhorse midfielder that is capable of being the relentless force when distributing possession and when pressing. In short, this player would be a press-resistant midfielder and one who is poised to single-handedly win back the ball by any means possible.

Over Ancelotti’s past three managerial jobs with Napoli, Bayern Munich and Real Madrid, this role was handled by Fabian Ruiz, Arturo Vidal and Sami Khedira respectively. But now with the Blues, no player on the roster is capable of the daunting tasks that come with occupying such a complex role.

Everton have been rumored to be in pursuit of players who fit this profile, such as Juventus’ Adrien Rabiot. To the dismay of Everton supporters, no deal is imminent with any midfielder at the moment. With the end of the winter transfer window approaching soon, Everton’s board must act quick to identify and sign any midfield reinforcements.

For now, Ancelotti will use the rest of the season as an evaluation period. The focus rests entirely on finishing the campaign on a high note while looking ahead to what could be a chaotic next couple of transfer windows.