The 2020/21 Everton season started so brightly and looked promising for most of the campaign. Under Carlo Ancelotti, they looked a side transformed and transfixed on finishing inside the top six, maybe the top four. Yet defeat after defeat at Goodison Park soon turned a dream season into another one to forget as the Toffees finished as low as tenth.
For a team that looked likely to challenge for top four until the latter stages of February, a finish that low should be seen as the ultimate disappointment. With one of the top goal scorers in the league, one of the most experienced managers around and a summer transfer window worthy of success, Everton plummeted below newly-promoted Leeds United.
They’ll undoubtedly go again next season, that’s for sure, and make Goodison a fortress as they welcome back the fans. After all, there were still plenty of highs from this campaign including the ending of one significant record.
Everton Season Review
Moment to Remember
‘Since 1999’ the Anfield faithful would usually sing at the Evertonians as they condemned the Toffees to yet another Anfield defeat. The ground seemed cursed territory. No matter what they tried, Everton just could not get the three points. Even when they had a point to take, a bizarre moment such as Divock Origi’s last gasp winner would happen.
But, this time around, there was no Liverpool hero; there were no fans to cheer Liverpool on. And so the record came to a crashing halt courtesy of goals from Richarlison and Gylfi Sigurdsson. It is no longer ‘since 1999’. Instead, it was just a few months ago thanks to Ancelotti’s men.
The result put Everton in pole position to go on and finish above their Merseyside counterparts and continued Liverpool’s disastrous run at the turn of the year. Though, as we know by now, Everton did not cling onto that pole position for long because, in a season with the highest of highs, they still suffered some major disappointments.
Moment to Forget
Following the Liverpool game, Everton’s season spiralled as they went onto record nine home losses for the campaign, the joint most in a single season at Goodison Park. Like Liverpool, they suffered severely without the booming crowd which usually strikes tension into the opposition.
Without the fans, Ancelotti’s side lost against both Fulham and Sheffield United at home, two thirds of the relegated sides. The Sheffield United defeat, in particular, will be remembered as a low point; a point in which Everton’s European hopes faded. The loss, courtesy of Daniel Jebbison’s first ever goal to make him the youngest Premier League goal scorer of all time, saw Everton lose significant ground in the race for Europe.
All of a sudden, in the space of three months, they went from top four hopefuls and Europa League candidates in the worst case scenario to a stale mid-table finish. There were many moments that set the domino effect off, but the last domino fell against already relegated and bottom of the table Sheffield United.
Carlo Ancelotti, in particular, will be disappointed with the Everton season. He is a manager known for taking clubs to a new level, winning silverware and reaching the Champions League. In contrast to what Everton’s finish suggests, he is not a mid-table managers.
Everton Player of the Season
As alluded to before, the Toffees had all the assets needed for a top six finish. In the end, it wasn’t to be, but that didn’t stop Dominic Calvert-Lewin from having the season of his life. The forward scored 16 goals to earn himself a spot in Gareth Southgate’s preliminary England squad and finally show off his potential. The only two Englishmen to score more goals were Patrick Bamford and Harry Kane.
He certainly played his part in the side; there was simply nothing more he could do. And, now, another season without European football awaits. You have to question whether or not Calvert-Lewin’s future lies at Goodison Park if he produces yet another fine campaign next season.
The likes of Manchester United and perhaps Tottenham Hotspur- if Harry Kane leaves– will be in desperate need of a clinical striker. It will be interesting to see whether they identify Calvert-Lewin as an ideal target.
When looking at the Everton season on a whole, it was extremely disappointing to see them finish as low as tenth. They began the season with wins over Chelsea, Leicester City and Arsenal, but ended with defeats to the likes of Sheffield United and Aston Villa.
The potential is there for Ancelotti to take Everton into the top six, that much is clear. It’s just about consistency now; it’s about having yet another positive summer to mould what could turn into a top side.
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