Boss Demanding Key Change From Everton

Carlo Ancelotti is promising a front-foot Everton performance in a bid to unlock obdurate Burnley at Goodison Park on Saturday.

Everton have won three of their past four Premier League matches – but relied on a single goal to overcome both Southampton and West Bromwich Albion.

Ancelotti’s side sacrificed creativity to contain Chelsea on Monday but couldn’t convert any of their limited opportunities and were beaten 2-0.

That strategy at Stamford Bridge, insisted the manager, mirrored the approach which handsomely paid off when Everton went to Liverpool and won last month.

The attacking onus is on the home side this weekend, however, with Sean Dyche’s notoriously dogged team standing between Everton and three points that would elevate them to fifth position.

“Patience will be important but also to play with intensity and focus on the game,” said Ancelotti.

“We have to try to have good control of the game and find solutions in front.


“In the last game [Chelsea] we didn’t have a lot of opportunities and we want to be more creative.

“We don’t have to change the style of our play – but play forward more and press higher.

“Chelsea was really difficult… for the next game we can press farther forward and keep our defensive line higher.

“From this, we can have more opportunities.

“If you press a bit higher, you have the possibility to win the ball closer to the opponents' goal, so we have more opportunities, with two or three passes, to create opportunities in front.

“The quality in the final third has be better and the midfielders need to go forward on the final pass.”

Ancelotti is boosted by the returns of Seamus Coleman and Yerry Mina from short layoffs, while Tom Davies is available after playing at Chelsea following a two-match absence.

Everton remain without James Rodriguez, however, the Colombian nursing a calf problem which Ancelotti wants fully corrected before counting on his brilliant forward.

Abdoulaye Doucoure is missing, too, but Ancelotti is maintaining his policy of refusing to complain about injuries – an inevitable consequence, he insists, of a necessarily breathless season.


The Italian is taking heart, too, from recent history.

Everton survived the absences of Allan and Lucas Digne, among others, to sustain a tilt at European qualification.

And that target will draw closer if Everton repeat the victory over Burnley they achieved when Ancelotti took charge of his first game on Boxing Day 2019.

“That is a good memory, we won, Dominic [Calvert-Lewin] scored a fantastic goal and the reception I had was one of the best moments of my career,” said Ancelotti, talking in his pre-match press conference on Friday.

“The team improved [since that match], we are in a better position in the competition, fighting for a position in Europe and signing good players to improve the squad.

“We are in the right way for what we want to achieve in the future.

“We are not happy to lose Doucoure but we are not the only club that has to manage injuries… and we were able to manage the absences of Digne and Allan for a long time.”

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03:49 Fri 12 Mar 2021

HIGHLIGHTS: BIRMINGHAM CITY WOMEN 0-4 EVERTON WOMEN

Lehmann hits first Toffees goal in convincing WSL win.

Joshua King played the final 20 minutes at Chelsea, joining Calvert-Lewin and Richarlison in a three-pronged forward line, and injecting impetus and thrust.

The Norwegian is waiting to begin a game after signing from Bournemouth last month and Ancelotti raised the intriguing prospect of King, Calvert-Lewin and Richarlison starting together.

But, insisted Ancelotti, the versatile King is comfortable in multiple systems.

As for Burnley, Ancelotti knows precisely what to expect.

“I like their style of play... a clear 4-4-2,” added Ancelotti.

“I was born in 4-4-2, with [former AC Milan and Italy manager] Arrigo Sacchi, as a player, then his assistant.

“I respect their style of play and like it a lot.

“They are not inventing new football but they are playing really good 4-4-2.

“Football was invented a long time ago, the managers who think they can invent football are wrong.

“It [Richarlison, Calvert-Lewin and King all starting] can be an option, Joshua is ready to start the game.

“The shape could be 4-3-3, but in a 4-4-2, Joshua can play as a winger on either side.”