SOFT SPINELESS SHOCKING
Wolves rip apart Carlo’s pathetic Everton side
THERE were still 25 minutes left when Carlo Ancelotti shuffled back to the dugout, took a seat and folded his arms. Not a man for histrionics, this gesture spoke volumes.
Everton were trailing 2-0 at that point. Wolves had struggled to find their rhythm initially, but as soon as they took the lead in firsthalf stoppage time — thanks to a penalty from Raul Jimenez — you knew what was coming from a squad devoid of backbone.
The story of Wolves has been well told over the last two seasons. Their expert recruitment and common ambition have made them a top-six team, one who continue to be upwardly mobile. They may even contest the Europa League final later this summer.
They looked, in many ways, the kind of team you associate with Ancelotti, one who crave success and are filled with good players.
Yes, Wolves have spent money to get to where they are, but nobody quibbles about investment when it bears fruit. This is a club that is working to a clear plan.
So what about the club that Ancelotti manages? He has applied a plaster to Everton for the past six months, squeezing out some positive results.
But that plaster started to peel away at Tottenham last Monday, it frayed against Southampton on Thursday and it fell off completely here.
It was pitiful and pathetic, and it was no wonder he wanted distance from those on the pitch.
Everton eventually lost by three goals but it could easily have been six and Nuno Espirito Santo’s reaction to Adama Traore striking the bar from eight yards — he kicked a water bottle — showed his frustration as Wolves missed a chance to obliterate their feeble opponents.
For Everton to have a manager of Ancelotti’s skill and standing raises the club’s profile, but the task facing him is the equivalent of turning water into wine.
The squad he has inherited is wretched, which is what happens when your recruitment has failed for four years.
Marcel Brands, the director of football, has been responsible for the past two summers of excess and waste.
He must be under serious threat of losing his job, in the same way his predecessor Steve Walsh did, for sanctioning a series of failed deals.
Ancelotti tinkered with his formation, playing with three central defenders, but there was no end product to whatever possession Everton had — backwards and sideways, left and right, but rarely forward or with any particular purpose.
Wolves were unusually slow to find their stride and it was only when Daniel Podence forced a fine 31st-minute save from Jordan Pickford that they began to click.Podence, a £17million signing from Olympiacos in January, was starting for the first time in the Premier League and his eagerness to make an impression was not lost on his manager.
‘Sometimes players get upset and don’t understand our decisions, but it’s up to us to motivate them,’ said Nuno of Podence, whose trickery won the penalty from which Jimenez dispatched his 25th goal of the season. ‘It’s about how ready you are to help the team.’
There was the difference. Wolves had men who wanted to come in and make a difference; Everton had men who went through the motions.
They could consider themselves fortunate that the away section was empty as this was a display to invoke verbal lacerations.
Conceding on the stroke of half-time is never ideal but what came about in the second period from those in blue was an affront to their manager and supporters, an uninterested capitulation once Leander Dendoncker’s header — 46 seconds after the restart — had put Wolves firmly in control.
Ancelotti tried to help from the technical area but it became obvious that whatever he did was going to make no difference.
So back he went to his vantage point, arms folded, glowering. Why should the captain go down with this particular ship?
The third goal arrived for Wolves in the 74th minute when Diogo Jota thrashed a wonderful Ruben Neves ball past Pickford, whose afternoon was riddled with errors, and Wolves should have plundered more before the end.
As the old gold tide washed over Everton, Ancelotti shook his head.
The cull for this group is coming. Those who are cut adrift can have no complaints.