Pros: Everton have won again, which I have done against two Premier League powers, added their second duel without conceding a goal, balanced again, effective on offense, serious. Cons: Winning team is not played and that means that James, absent due to injury, could lose his status as undisputed.
The reality is eloquent: there are two victories against two title contenders like Chelsea and Leicester (1-0 and 0-2) after a baché of five games without winning, several of which had the Colombian as the axis of the attack. Why should it change? Alone to open a space for the left-hander? In light of the result, it does not seem likely. But other considerations play a role.
The first will be to say that the new model, which some describe as ultra-defensive, is actually very balanced. Returning to the four men in the background, improvising central midfielders, and betting on a midfield that first fulfills the task of scoring and then leaving, have been the key to what many describe as the great progress of Ancelotti: “the “Best of all, they have accumulated successive goals to zero, which for a time this season seemed to surpass Ancelotti. It seems to be a progress for the whole year.”
The second is recognition that the basis of the whole recovery is that, from the attack to the goalkeeper (who against Leicester was Olsen, against Chelsea Pickfod), there is a vocation of sacrifice that borders on the touching.
“Everton have left Chelsea and Leicester with zero goals, with a level and type of performance that generates confidence and conviction that Ancelotti is getting used to this squad. That he can one day fulfill his promise. He doesn’t have a perfect squad, he has shortcomings and he still lacks balance, he is also a private squad of some key players (Digne, Coleman, James and now Allan) but the coach and those at his disposal have found the way, “says the Liverpool Echo newspaper.
Every qualification, every merit that is recognized in each player is part of how much he strives to plug the spaces available to the opponent, which necessarily refers to the criticism of Gabby Agbonlahor in Talk Sports: “He is not offering the team as much as I should, and if Everton had more quality players on the bench, I’m sure James wouldn’t be a starter. ”
In light of the results it seems that it does have and, most worryingly, they are taking advantage of the Colombian’s physical problems to give remarkable results in a job that does not flow to the left-hander, selling poorly when he tries and has been his great lunar in Spain and England in recent years.
And here’s the key point, he’s now enlightened on the lane he must take if he wants to get back on the Everton winning train: he can’t believe Ancelotti’s story so much that he wasn’t signed. to do defensive work, because you just can’t adapt to the Premier League if you don’t. It doesn’t matter the number or the condition, in English football you suffer from minute one to 90 and you run non-stop, you sweat the same overalls that you tuxedo, you fight the headline every day with sacrifice, there is no option to to become bourgeois.
I have to take advantage of the total confidence of the DT but it contributes what I already gain with this improvised but deeply effective payroll: discipline. Everton has been able to raise its head against two heavyweights in the Premier League because it means implementing a mature game plan, without making mistakes of beginners, defending with organization, recovering the ball aggressively and demanding a background in the physical, to the point to make Chelsea’s youngsters and Leicester’s fast strikers pale in athletic ability.
The next challenge is Arsenal, this Saturday. James is supposed to be training again in the week under normal conditions, although Ancelotti has said he will go with the “day to day”. Every minute is final for the door ready if not who misses the train. Already Sigurdsson warned, with goal and assistance, that he is ready to take advantage of the slightest advantage. As always, it all depends on James.