Gylfi Sigurdsson has opened up on his relationship with Carlo Ancelotti and highlighted the man-management skills behind an upturn in form at Everton.
The Blues extended their winning run in the Premier League to four games with a hard-fought 1-0 win over Sheffield United on Boxing Day.
Ancelotti’s side have accrued an impressive 29 points in their first 15 Premier League games of the season, and have beaten the likes of Tottenham, Chelsea and Arsenal this year.
It is a far cry from when the experienced Italian took over Everton just over a year ago, with the Blues looking nervously over their shoulder at the drop zone.
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And Sigurdsson believes the Blues have made impressive progress under Ancelotti’s guidance during 2020.
“I’ve enjoyed working with the manager a lot,” the Iceland international said.
“Man-to-man, he’s fantastic, dealing with different kinds of situations. He is very calm, probably because he has seen it all before and knows exactly what to do. He’s just a great person to be around.
“He didn’t make 10, 20 changes around the training ground when he came in. He just added certain things that he’s been doing in the past.
“The work we do on shape before every game is very important for us.
“I think everyone agrees he is a fantastic manager. All the players feel very comfortable with him on and off the pitch.”
The Blues go in search of a fifth straight Premier League victory when West Ham United visit Goodison Park on New Year’s Day and the Icelandic international has spoken of the 'positivity and confidence' in the Everton dressing room ahead of the game.
“The results we’ve had back-to-back have been very important for us,” he told evertonfc.com.
“Those points have given us a big lift in the table, as well as off the pitch with our confidence and the mood in the squad.
“You can feel the difference, the positivity around the dressing room. It looks good at the moment for us but we need to keep going.
“Going into January, it is going to be very busy and it will be another very important period.
“It’s a very open league and there are not many points between the team in first place to the teams in sixth or seventh. You need to be at it every game. It is very demanding.”
