It is 14 months since the last Merseyside derby at Anfield. For a brief moment in time after Everton’s 2-0 victory over Liverpool, it seemed that Farhad Moshiri’s half-billion pound spending spree at Goodison had paid off. Jurgen Klopp’s team were on the slide, Carlo Ancelotti’s side on the rise.
Twelve days after Everton’s first win in front of the Kop in this millennium, the shift in the balance of power appeared to be confirmed. On March 4, Ancelotti’s men recorded a 1-0 victory away to West Bromwich Albion. That put them in fifth place in the Premier League, just one point behind Chelsea with a game in hand. Liverpool were languishing in seventh place. The Champions League was beckoning for Everton.
The scale of the turnaround has been epic. The teams face off again tomorrow with Liverpool chasing an unprecedented quadruple of trophies. Their neighbours are staring down the barrel of relegation. This has been one of the most dispiriting years in Goodison’s history, their misery compounded by the brilliance of Klopp’s team.
Everton’s fall has been precipitous. They have won only 11 league matches since their short flirtation with the top four ended 13 months ago. If Burnley beat Wolverhampton Wanderers in the early game on Sunday, Everton will be in the bottom three before kick-off. Meanwhile, Liverpool have lost just four domestic games since that derby defeat.
In retrospect, both teams were in artificial positions when they last faced off at Anfield. Klopp’s team were racked by injuries, a crisis precipitated by Jordan Pickford’s scything challenge on Virgil van Dijk in that season’s Goodison derby. Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur were in a much worse state than they are now. The impact of the pandemic, with matches played in empty stadiums, skewed the dynamic of the sport. For Everton it was a rare opportunity. But they were never built to make the most of it.
Ancelotti, a superb manager of a fully-formed squad, had his tactical and organisational flaws exposed by an expensive but mismatched group of players. The lack of a coherent recruitment policy – where the owner and Bill Kenwright, the chairman, dabbled in transfer market dealings – left Everton in trouble with financial fair play regulations. The team finished tenth and the Italian jumped ship at the first opportunity when Real Madrid came calling. He had seen the writing on the wall.
Meanwhile, Liverpool got healthier and as Everton’s psychological robustness came under question with the campaign dribbling to an end, Klopp’s “mentality monsters” surged into the top four.
Still, for optimistic Blues, the dalliance with the top four meant there might be something to build on. Enter Rafa Benitez. With one decision, Goodison was thrown into turmoil.
The 62-year-old’s appointment was driven by Alisher Usmanov, Moshiri’s business partner and Everton’s main sponsor, against the wishes of almost everyone. This was one of the clearest symptoms of the dysfunction behind the scenes. One seasoned observer shook his head in wonder and said: “this is one f----- up football club.”
The fans, in particular, were outraged. Benitez had called Everton a “small club” when he was Liverpool manager. His Anfield connections alone made him anathema to most Evertonians. The never-to-be forgotten public insult exacerbated matters.
Benitez will be blamed if the worst happens and Everton are relegated but this collapse has been a group effort. Less than £2 million was spent in the summer window because of profligate business in the previous half decade. The reviled manager might have mused that he was handed a very small club’s transfer budget.
The Spaniard was shocked by the state of the squad but believed that his respected and proven coaching skills would make a difference. They didn’t. Still, he managed to eke out five league victories and four draws. Given the mess he inherited, that may not look so bad at the end of the season.
There was no margin for error for Benitez, though. There is even less for his replacement, Frank Lampard, the seventh manager of the Moshiri era.
Lampard’s tactical acumen – which has come under scrutiny – will be tested tomorrow but the reality is that the players available to him are not good enough. Dominic Calvert-Lewin has struggled with injuries and has not recaptured his best form. Richarlison has the air of a man who is slumming it. If he was as good as he thinks, he might have dragged his team-mates up a level. Anthony Gordon has impressed but the 21-year-old lacks support. The midfield are depressingly immobile and the defence shambolic.
Who should take the blame if Everton are given a shellacking tomorrow – or even worse, get relegated? The players tend to be the first port of call but this lightweight and leaden-legged squad never assembled at Goodison of their own volition.
No manager in Moshiri’s time was at Goodison long enough to cause permanent damage. Ancelotti’s 67 game tenure was the lengthiest. Benitez will be the whipping boy but that notion is irrational and tied up to his Liverpool past.
Marcel Brands, the director of football who was sacked last year, comes in for criticism but the Dutchman’s hands were frequently tied. The buck stops in the boardroom with the chairman and the owner – and their over-influential oligarch sponsor. Now that Usmanov has been sanctioned because of his close ties with Vladimir Putin, Everton’s cash flow will be even worse. The next transfer window will not bring redemption.
It is galling for the fans to see how much money has been wasted and then look across Stanley Park to see a club that has developed a system, an identity and a mentality of success. Even when things were going badly wrong 14 months ago, Klopp stuck to his principles and his processes. His bosses have spent wisely and avoided the influence of agents.
Everton’s last away derby was one of the high-water marks of the past 15 years. Tomorrow may be a nadir. However bad things get for Lampard’s team at Anfield, the fear is that there is worse to come.
