Richard Buxton: Everton a transformed side under Carlo Ancelotti
Only Liverpool boast better EPL form since Ancelotti's arrival on Merseyside
Carlo Ancelotti knew he was taking on a poisoned chalice as Everton's latest manager.
Just as Ringo Starr was not even the best drummer for The Beatles, the three-time Champions League winner would not even be the best manager in his new adoptive city.
Anything he achieves, Liverpool will always surpass.
As Juergen Klopp's side close in on their first-ever English Premier League title, history appears to be repeating itself on Merseyside.
The right man in the right place at the wrong time - Ancelotti is the latest chapter of a hard-luck story that has seen Goodison Park's greatest-ever managers perennially overshadowed.
Yet, he is already threatening to transform the Toffees into this season's biggest success story, after a 3-1 win against Crystal Palace last Saturday elevated them into seventh position and firmly among the reckoning for a Europa League qualification place.
Only Liverpool have accumulated more top-flight points than the 17 racked up by Ancelotti's men in his first eight EPL games at the helm.
Ironically, the humiliation of losing to Klopp's kids in last month's FA Cup tie has served as a catapult for their current continental ambitions.
Although he may not be thinking about it, the 60-year-old is well-placed for an outside shot at the final Champions League spot occupied by his former employers Chelsea.
After a decade that encompassed a who's who of elite-level football, from the nouveau riche of London and Paris to bona fide giants like Real Madrid and Bayern Munich, Everton appeared to be a retrograde step following his acrimonious exit from Napoli.
Christmas came early for the club's long-suffering supporters, but many eyebrows were raised as high as the Italian's trademark expression.
INHERIT
Within 11 days, he had walked away from a club ravaged by in-fighting only to take over one languishing close to the EPL's relegation zone.
Ancelotti, however, has previous form with inheriting a team starved of recent success and desperately searching for a clear tactical identity with a squad of good yet listless players.
The last time it happened on his watch, AC Milan went on to dominate European football.
Simplicity was a staple of his formative months in the San Siro's hot seat that produced marked improvement. With Everton, too, that willingness to go back to basics is paying off.
Already he has overhauled the robotic target-man system deployed in the throes of Marco Silva's tenure to partner Dominic Calvert-Lewin with Richarlison in a fluent two-pronged strike force that has subsequently produced nine goals from its first eight domestic outings.
Credit for that ultimately goes to Duncan Ferguson, now Everton's assistant manager, whose foresight during a brief caretaker spell restored a sense of pride within the club that had been firmly extinguished by over 18 months of pragmatism under the maligned Silva.
Unlike his predecessor, Ancelotti also refuses to play percentages.
Enhanced statistics around goals, chance creation and points-per-game ratios are preferable to those pertaining to ball retention.
It is why his arrival as Silva's direct replacement in December ended Farhad Moshiri's lengthy quest to join what he described as "the new Hollywood of football" in England's north-west.
Everton's de facto owner had spent three years looking for a genuine box-office attraction, only to be deceived by a series of B-movie flops, from Ronald Koeman to Sam Allardyce.
In Ancelotti, they finally boast someone who can turn European potential into true pedigree.
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