Former Chelsea manager takes the reigns at Goodison Park – but is this a marriage made in heaven?

Saturday’s announcement that Everton had officially appointed Carlo Ancelotti as manager might not have come as a surprise after days of speculation, but it will certainly raise a few eyebrows – and not just that of the Italian coach himself.

Since sacking Marco Silva almost three weeks ago, the Merseyside club have been linked with a number of names to take over the hot seat, including the interim stewardship of the Toffees’ legendary centre forward and arch-bruiser, Duncan Ferguson.

In that time, the side may have seen an upturn in results but they are still 16th in the table and only three points from the relegation zone.

In fact, the Goodison Park outfit have endured such a poor start to the campaign – despite spending significant sums in the summer – that questions have to be asked about Silva’s next step, given that he has yet to really demonstrate the potential he showed in the early days of his managerial career.

Ancelotti: Made in Milan

Which brings us to Ancelotti, a coach of global repute with multiple domestic league titles and Champions League winners’ medals to his name, both as a player in Arrigo Sacchi’s all-conquering AC Milan side of the 80s and 90s, and subsequently in the dugout, leading, among others, the same Rossoneri side, Real Madrid and Bayern Munich.

The Italian’s travels have earned him something of a reputation for being a Galactico whisperer – coaxing performances from the highly-preened prima donnas of the modern football world (Neymar, Ronaldo, anyone?), and somehow piecing together sides despite them seeming to have zero potential for cohesion from the outside looking in.

However, he has also been through some tough times, including leading Petro-state funded Paris St Germain to second place in the league behind relative minnows Montpellier and, most recently, being at the helm as the Napoli built by Maurizio Sarri crumbled from being potential title challengers to lying miles behind the top teams – a position which ultimately led to his dismissal, despite positive results in Europe.

Stabilising Stamford Bridge

Much water has passed under the bridge since Ancelotti was last on these shores, leading Chelsea during an all-too-brief period between July 2009 and May 2011, where he stabilised the club in the wake of Jose Mourinho’s first tenure, picking up the pieces that Avram Grant and Luiz Felipe Scolari left behind. While at Stamford Bridge he earned a reputation as a dry and engaging speaker, and ultimately his departure was a disappointment, especially coming as it did less than 12 months after the club won the domestic double of league and cup for the first time in their history.

One thing that stands out from Ancelotti’s body of work is that, conversely, nothing stands out. He  doesn’t bring a definitive style or theory to his teams – there is no ‘Tiki-taka’, ‘Sarriball’ or ‘Gegenpress’. In this respect he is probably more akin to the likes of Mourinho or Max Allegri, in that he is pragmatic and adapts to the tools at his disposal, finding the best way to make the team function – although perhaps without the paranoia, histrionics and narcissism of Mourinho.

Quite what he will make of the squad he finds at Everton’s Finch Farm training ground remains to be seen. There are a number of highly talented players – Gylfi Sigurdsson, Richarlison and Yerry Mina, for example, would, on paper, be welcome additions to most sides – but there is also a fair degree of dross that remains from previous panic-stricken recruitment policies. There is also a reason why the side is languishing in the lower reaches of the table.

This is a coach who – almost exclusively – has dealt with the elite of the elite, spending short periods of time at the biggest clubs, working with the best players. It is hard to imagine how that experience will compare to his first days working with the squad at Goodison Park and it is unlikely that he will have significant resources to overhaul the squad in the upcoming January transfer window.

Is there a long term vision?

Looking further ahead, Everton are thought to be roughly two years away from moving to a new stadium, a process which always has a major impact on a club and can either be very West Ham or a bit more Spurs in its effect.

Given Ancelotti’s history of spending relatively short periods in post, a gambling man would steer clear of predicting that he would still be in charge when the ribbon is cut at the Toffees’ new home, meaning that there is an air of interim around his appointment.

Everton are a huge club with potential that should certainly be higher than their current position and the Italian is a popular figure as well as being a top coach. On paper, the appointment looks a positive one, but there’s just something about this union that suggests it might not be happily ever after.