Carlo Ancelotti has said Everton need the support of their fans and is hoping for a positive, encouraging atmosphere inside Goodison for the visit of Brighton.
Some Everton supporters have singled out certain players for vocal criticism, and a few fans were so disappointed with the feeble showing against an under-strength Liverpool in the FA Cup that they visited the training ground and made their feelings known to Marcel Brands, the club’s director of football.
“I heard about that and spoke with Marcel about it,” Ancelotti said. “That sort of thing is not unusual in Italy, and of course I understand the frustration of supporters. It is normal when you lose a derby, and that is why we need a great performance at Goodison to give the crowd the chance to get behind us.”
The manager himself was not happy with certain aspects of Everton’s display at Anfield, but denied there had been cross words and heated exchanges at the training ground. “I didn’t say too much immediately after the game but we analysed the performance during the week and the players listened,” he said.
“There were no arguments, just an acceptance that we need to improve. We have the chance to show we can do that against Brighton, because nothing has changed in the league. We still have to look forward and we can still try and improve our league position.
“I am quite happy with what I have seen in training this week, I think we are going better. We have worked well over the last few days and I hope it shows on the pitch. We need to show some spirit and intensity. Last week we disappointed our fans but now we need their support.”
Having sent out Cenk Tosun to Crystal Palace for the rest of the season Ancelotti is hopeful one or two players might be brought in this month, but is keen to stress his priority is working with the players he already has, not concentrating on the transfer market.
“The market at this time of the season is a bit strange anyway,” he explained. “Most of the players you might want are not available but we are not anxious about the situation. We will try to improve the quality of the squad if we can, but the league games coming up are our main focus. We need to work on correcting our mistakes. The performance against Liverpool was not good enough.”
Asked to elaborate Ancelotti said he thought the players looked tired at Anfield, physically and mentally, after playing a number of high pressure matches. “We never really had control of the game, we could have been more organised in defence and we could certainly have been more efficient in front of goal because we had opportunities to score,” he explained. “We didn’t have a good spirit on the pitch but it had been a really busy period for the players before I arrived,” he said. “I think the next performance will be different.”
