Carlo
Ancelotti said 'everything went wrong' for Everton in their 4-0 defeat to
Chelsea, with Frank Lampard hailing the contribution of Billy Gilmour.
It was Ancelotti's first return to Stamford Bridge since his departure as
Chelsea boss in 2011, but it resulted in the joint-heaviest league defeat of
his managerial career, equalling a 4-0 loss against Atletico Madrid as Real
Madrid manager in February 2015.
It was an unusual result for Everton under Ancelotti, who have seen an
upturn in performances and results since his arrival, but the Italian blamed
most aspects of Sunday's performance for the defeat.
He said: "What went wrong? Everything was wrong! From the first minute until
the end, we were not in the game. We were slow, we were not compact and it's
difficult to say something [specific] because everything was wrong today.
"It is not difficult to analyse this game. We were not good enough
defensively, we were too open and with the ball, we made a lot of mistakes
with passes so it is not a good day.
"We were too slow, we lost a lot of duels in middle and we were not in the
game. Usually, we are used to playing a different game but today, we were
not good enough. We didn't fight and everything was wrong, the strategy, the
fighting spirit, the attitude.
"But what we can do is learn from our mistakes because it is the first game
[since his arrival] where we didn't compete. Usually in the other games, we
didn't win but we competed until the end of the game.
"We have to be focused, to analyse the game with what we did wrong... We
have to look forward to another game [against Liverpool on Monday Night
Football] that will be difficult but it can give us motivation because it's
a derby and try to do our best. Everyone will take their own responsibility
and try to do better."
Lampard praises impressive Gilmour
One of the surprises of the day was a second successive start for
18-year-old Billy Gilmour, who followed his sensational FA Cup performance
in midweek with another star turn against Everton.
There was plenty of praise from Frank Lampard as he discussed Gilmour's full
Premier League debut, saying: "With Billy, I always felt that the more he
trained with us, the better he got very quickly so for me, when he plays,
he's just going to get better.
"I'm not going to jump the gun because it's two outstanding performances in,
but when you watch his intelligence and his receiving of the ball, even for
the second goal with how he swivels on the ball, he's always checking his
shoulder, he plays a simple pass but he plays it right and with the perfect
weight and he'll put his foot in.
"The confidence of him today and his personality, it's been a great start
for him. I'm not too worried about him because I know what he's like as a
boy, he's a good one and he'll know the right things. He has a big future, I
hope.
"He's receiving the ball in difficult areas of the pitch where if you don't
move it quickly, our play could break down or if you give it away in those
areas, it's dangerous. You need confidence to do that and Jorginho and Billy
have it.
"The most pleasing thing for me with Billy today was that he showed those
balls in the first half but when he stepped up and played as one of the
higher midfield players, he instantly took it on board, arriving in their
box and playing balls higher up the pitch.
"He showed that he can do both, which is a great thing for me in thinking
about how the midfield looks at times."
The race for Europe
Chelsea added more points to the board in their race for Champions League
football and remain in fourth, with Everton also keeping themselves in the
hunt for a spot in Europe next season.
However, Lampard has remained cautious about a potential top-four finish,
saying: "It can change very quickly [being in the top four] as it has this
season. We can't look around too much, we just have to worry about
ourselves.
"We have to keep ramming home the point that we're in the driving seat in
terms of fourth position but it means nothing if we take our foot off the
accelerator and after the last two performances, we have a little template
that we need to carry on with.
"There's still a long way to go. Manchester United are in great form, their
acquisitions in January have given them a nice spring in their step so
they're going to challenge but so are quite a few teams. Even if it looks
like a small cushion, I don't feel that way. I feel like we need to focus on
ourselves and get ourselves right and fight to the end for it.
"It's in our hands and when I described us as underdogs, I was looking at it
in the big scheme with quite a few games to go and points to fight for. I'm
not going to jump in and say we're favourites [for fourth] because there is
a lot of work to be done.
"At times, we've had inconsistencies for different reasons and we have to
fight against that ourselves and hope we can get enough points. I don't know
whether we're underdogs or not but it certainly doesn't feel like we're
favourites because there's too far to go."
Speaking about Everton's European hopes, Ancelotti said: "We think that we
can compete to fight for Europe for the next season, we are still there and
of course, with this kind of performance, we have to forget [it].
"I think we can come back and as we usually do, show fighting spirit and
good attitude on the pitch and good football. Today, we were not at the same
level as Chelsea but a week ago, we were at the same level on Manchester
United so you cannot judge the team for only one game.
"You have to wait until the end of the season and we will see where we
finish but in the future, this club wants to be competitive in the Premier
League and in Europe."
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