For the past few years, I've started this thread with a burst of enthusiasm over Everton having won the transfer window, a projection of earning a place in Europe, and an altogether un-Evertonian sparkle. Of course, as the days would get shorter, the winds would get colder, the festive period string of defeats would get longer, the cup exits would follow one upon the next, the expensive acquisitions would strain and struggle, and the manager would be sent packing, I would be left to sift through the wreckage and convince myself that we really didn't want that last European spot anyway.
Well.
A bit different now with Carlo F'n Ancelotti at the helm.
Everton were bright last season after Carlo took over, but began to run out of gas just before the COVID shutdown. Several injuries and departures in midfield left that unit painfully thin in the restart, with only Gylfi Sigurdsson (terrible), Tom Davies (worse) and Andre Gomes, still not fully recovered from being maimed by Son,who was subsequently awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his performative anguish over his dirty play. The opposition routinely ripped the Toffees apart in the middle of the park, butThe Toffees limped to a 12th place finish.
You know what happened. Carlo, rather improbably to many, brought in James, who had been languishing on the bench at RM, but who had been a Carlo favorite there and at Munich. Carlo also went pilfering at Napoli, his last stop before Merseyside, and brought in Allan. Watford, who have been the Kansas City A's to Everton's Yankees in the past few seasons as far as a development farm, obligingly coughed up Abdoulaye Doucoure. I didn't want to get too far ahead of myself, but secretly wet myself a little because if this new group gelled, the Toffees could have one of the better midfields in the league.
And here we are.
Carlo has lined up in a 4-3-3, with a midfield three of Gomes, the attacking-minded mid; Allan, the relentless ball-winner and dirty-worker; and Doucoure, the high-energy box-to-box guy, with a good shot from distance. These three have been very good.
But the secret sauce has been James. Lots of folks thought that he was past his prime, or couldn't adapt to the PL game, and they were dead wrong. James is ostensibly on the right of a front three with Calvert-Lewin in the middle and Richarlison on the left, but he has a green light to drift at will. If you haven't seen him play yet - make a point of it. More than one commentator has called him "silky." Everything he does looks effortless. His passes are perfectly weighted - and Richarlison and DCL are getting on the ends of them. He has 5 goals to lead the PL (Vardy just tied him I think)? Carlo has ordered DCL to stop running the channels and to stay in the box to poach and he is doing a bang-up job. Richarlison has only one to date, but has looked very bright (to be fair, Calvert-Lewin vultured two goals that could have been Richy's).
Carlo joked, sort of, that he wanted 20 goals from both Richarlison and DCL, since even he could score that many with that midfield behind them, and Calvert-Lewin is already a quarter of the way there after three games.
Lucas Digne is up there with the best left-backs in the league and is a great assist man and set-piece taker. Seamus Coleman, on the right, is having something of a renaissance; he compeltely shut down Zaha in the Toffees' win over Palace yesterday (first time in four seasons that Zaha had 0 dribbles past an opponent). A bit thin at CB, with Mason Holgate's injury. Michael Keane is maybe the most improved player on the roster since Carlo took over and has been rock solid, even chipping in with a couple of goals. Yerry Mina is talented, but still raw and does some goofy things (against Palace he fell to ground and twice tried heading the ball along the floor, before handling it).
The disappointment has been in goal. Jordan Pickford is a great reflexive shot stopper, but an immature boob. He commands his box poorly and rone to the big lapse in concentration, as Divock Origi will tell you.
So with this start:
Tottenham 0-1 Everton
Fleetwood Town 2-5 Everton (League Cup)
Everton 5-2 West Brom
Everton 3-0 Salford (League Cup)
Crystal Palace 1-2 Everton
Everton have won their first five domestic games, all comps, for the first time in 80 years.
The win at Palace was aided with an iffy handball call on Joel Ward, but while the result was harsh for Palace, Everton were the better side IMO. Palace were physical, Everton were tired, so it was a gut-it-out second half and they got it over the line. James gave way for Sigurdsson, who seems to be doing OK as a deeper-lying midfielder when called upon.
It's a good time to be a Blue, for now.
Well.
A bit different now with Carlo F'n Ancelotti at the helm.
Everton were bright last season after Carlo took over, but began to run out of gas just before the COVID shutdown. Several injuries and departures in midfield left that unit painfully thin in the restart, with only Gylfi Sigurdsson (terrible), Tom Davies (worse) and Andre Gomes, still not fully recovered from being maimed by Son,who was subsequently awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his performative anguish over his dirty play. The opposition routinely ripped the Toffees apart in the middle of the park, butThe Toffees limped to a 12th place finish.
You know what happened. Carlo, rather improbably to many, brought in James, who had been languishing on the bench at RM, but who had been a Carlo favorite there and at Munich. Carlo also went pilfering at Napoli, his last stop before Merseyside, and brought in Allan. Watford, who have been the Kansas City A's to Everton's Yankees in the past few seasons as far as a development farm, obligingly coughed up Abdoulaye Doucoure. I didn't want to get too far ahead of myself, but secretly wet myself a little because if this new group gelled, the Toffees could have one of the better midfields in the league.
And here we are.
Carlo has lined up in a 4-3-3, with a midfield three of Gomes, the attacking-minded mid; Allan, the relentless ball-winner and dirty-worker; and Doucoure, the high-energy box-to-box guy, with a good shot from distance. These three have been very good.
But the secret sauce has been James. Lots of folks thought that he was past his prime, or couldn't adapt to the PL game, and they were dead wrong. James is ostensibly on the right of a front three with Calvert-Lewin in the middle and Richarlison on the left, but he has a green light to drift at will. If you haven't seen him play yet - make a point of it. More than one commentator has called him "silky." Everything he does looks effortless. His passes are perfectly weighted - and Richarlison and DCL are getting on the ends of them. He has 5 goals to lead the PL (Vardy just tied him I think)? Carlo has ordered DCL to stop running the channels and to stay in the box to poach and he is doing a bang-up job. Richarlison has only one to date, but has looked very bright (to be fair, Calvert-Lewin vultured two goals that could have been Richy's).
Carlo joked, sort of, that he wanted 20 goals from both Richarlison and DCL, since even he could score that many with that midfield behind them, and Calvert-Lewin is already a quarter of the way there after three games.
Lucas Digne is up there with the best left-backs in the league and is a great assist man and set-piece taker. Seamus Coleman, on the right, is having something of a renaissance; he compeltely shut down Zaha in the Toffees' win over Palace yesterday (first time in four seasons that Zaha had 0 dribbles past an opponent). A bit thin at CB, with Mason Holgate's injury. Michael Keane is maybe the most improved player on the roster since Carlo took over and has been rock solid, even chipping in with a couple of goals. Yerry Mina is talented, but still raw and does some goofy things (against Palace he fell to ground and twice tried heading the ball along the floor, before handling it).
The disappointment has been in goal. Jordan Pickford is a great reflexive shot stopper, but an immature boob. He commands his box poorly and rone to the big lapse in concentration, as Divock Origi will tell you.
So with this start:
Tottenham 0-1 Everton
Fleetwood Town 2-5 Everton (League Cup)
Everton 5-2 West Brom
Everton 3-0 Salford (League Cup)
Crystal Palace 1-2 Everton
Everton have won their first five domestic games, all comps, for the first time in 80 years.
The win at Palace was aided with an iffy handball call on Joel Ward, but while the result was harsh for Palace, Everton were the better side IMO. Palace were physical, Everton were tired, so it was a gut-it-out second half and they got it over the line. James gave way for Sigurdsson, who seems to be doing OK as a deeper-lying midfielder when called upon.
It's a good time to be a Blue, for now.