FIVE-POINT PLAN

1 PUT THE ‘ GOOD’ BACK INTO GOODISON

Depending on which way you interpret the numbers, Everton had either their worst or second- worst home record ever last season. Either way, it was bad, and the dire return may have cost them Champions League football. With the fans back, they need to rediscover the habit of beating weaker sides at Goodison.

2 USE THE BALL BETTER

“We are not a possession team,” said Ancelotti after Everton lost to West Ham. Quite – only six teams saw less of the ball. But Everton were often at their most ineffective when they had the ball, as they did in those aforementioned home defeats. With the players they have, they ought to be able to create more.

3 REVIVE RODRIGUEZ

James Rodriguez’s signing was genuinely exciting for Toffees fans, and many of the highlights from their 2020- 21 stemmed from his class. Yet it ended on a sour note, the tactless playmaker posting photographs of himself bound for the Copa America – which he then missed – even before Everton’s season ended with a 5- 0 thrashing by Manchester City. He’d skipped the previous game through tiredness, as his absences grew longer and more frequent. Minus his mentor Ancelotti, does he have a future?

4 DELIVER MORE GOALS FROM MIDFIELD

James Rodriguez and Gylfi Sigurdsson netted six league goals apiece, but the rest of the midfield was remarkably impotent: Allan, Andre Gomes and Tom Davies failed to score, while Alex Iwobi and Bernard each nabbed one goal and Abdoulaye Doucoure two. Four goals in a combined 148 games was an underachievement.

5 WIN AT ANFIELD… WITH FANS TO SEE IT

The greatest result in Carlo Ancelotti’s reign came across Stanley Park – yet despite goals from Richarlison and Sigurdsson, Everton fans still haven’t been at Anfield to see their side triumph since 1999. A repeat of February’s performance and 2- 0 scoreline, only with a packed away end this time, would be much appreciated.