Daily Mail journalist Dominic King tweeted after Everton’s defeat against arch-rivals Liverpool on Sunday that the latter’s starting XI only cost £43.95m to assemble compared to the former’s £221.06m, and it shows the mammoth task facing Carlo Ancelotti at Goodison Park.
The Toffees looked to have a great chance of beating their local neighbours at Anfield to advance to the fourth round of the FA Cup when the team-sheets were announced, with the Italian picking a full-strength side and Jurgen Klopp making multiple changes and blooding a number of youngsters.
In the first half it looked as though it would go that way as the visitors dominated, but after failing to take their chances they were made to pay in the second half when Curtis Jones found the net.
The blue half of Merseyside were pretty abysmal in the second 45 minutes, and the shocking post-match stat from King only accentuated the misery of the travelling faithful – especially as Adam Lallana cost £25m of that total.
To put into context, the team Liverpool started with cost less than £45m Everton midfielder Gylfi Sigurdsson on his own, with the Iceland international taken off in the 63rd minute following another anonymous display in the middle of the park.
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The 30-year-old has come under criticism from fans previously this term for his performances, and he now has two goals and one assist in 23 outings for the Toffees in 2019/20.
If Ancelotti had any hope from his first two matches in charge when his men recorded wins against Burnley and Newcastle United, they have been largely extinguished in the following clashes against Manchester City and Liverpool – albeit against probably the two best teams in the country.
That said, Everton weren’t at the races at the Etihad or at all in the second half at Anfield, and it simply isn’t good enough for 11 players who cost the club more than £220m to buy even if the schedule has been physically demanding.
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If their new manager was unsure of the huge task facing him to turn this club into top six or top four challengers in the Premier League, he will certainly be under no illusions now.
The one bit of good news for the 60-year-old is that he now has a full week to work with his players on the training ground following the busy festive period, and boy is it needed.
In other Everton news, The Toffees reportedly don’t want to sign a 24-year-old midfielder they’ve recently been linked with…
