Everton manager Carlo Ancelotti reveals he will give Fulham the same respect as Barcelona or Inter Milan as he looks to avoid repeat of defeat against Newcastle
- Carlo Ancelotti is fully prepared as Everton get ready to face Fulham on Sunday
- Ancelotti was hugely frustrated with defeat at home to Newcastle last month
- Everton boss says his team need a different mental approach on this occasion
Everton manager Carlo Ancelotti will give today’s opponents Fulham the same respect he used to give Barcelona in El Clasico or Inter in the Milan derby.
Ancelotti is still smarting from the previous Premier League home game when Everton flopped 2-0 against Newcastle and says his players will be fully briefed on Scott Parker’s side even though they are in the bottom three.
‘In modern football you know everything about the teams because you have video and scouting,’ said Ancelotti, who has managed Europe’s biggest clubs including Real Madrid, AC Milan, PSG, Bayern Munich, Juventus and Chelsea.
Carlo Ancelotti says he will give Fulham the same respect that he used to give Barcelona
‘It isn’t just me who is working. We have other staff gathering information and watching videos that we can show to the players
‘We spend the same time whether it is Fulham or another club. In the game against Newcastle we didn’t have a good approach.
‘Fulham is a different team. We have to play differently compared to Newcastle – but the mental approach also has to be different.’
Everton will have to cope without top scorer Dominic Calvert-Lewin who tweaked his hamstring in the epic midweek FA Cup win against Spurs and is being held back for Wednesday’s visit of Manchester City.
Everton boss Ancelotti is wary of the problems that Scott Parker’s team could cause on Sunday
Ancelotti has embraced life in the north-west during lockdown, taking walks and bike rides around his home in Crosby but had upsetting news last week when masked burglars broke into his house.
From a football perspective, he is looking forward to a time when he can hear the Goodison roar.
‘I can not say it is a different job but it is a job with a different emotion,’ he says. ‘But what can we do? We have to adapt to this and we have to hope everything will be fine for everyone soon.
Ancelotti wants an improvement from Everton’s defeat at home to Newcastle last month
‘There is no other way to go. Just to follow what the Government say to us and hope everything will be fine for everyone. Because I start to think the people is really tired of this. Not only us.
‘And we can say we have the luck that we are working. Every day we can go outside and do our jobs. For this reason we are lucky people. There are a lot of people that is forced to stay home for a long time.
‘Evertonians are really passionate about the club. I can not imagine what would happen if the crowd on Wednesday night was full at Goodison Park. I couldn’t imagine how happy the fans could be after the (5-4) victory against Tottenham.’
