Carlo Ancelotti hails Everton players after winning monthly Premier League award

Carlo Ancelotti was keen to share the credit for Everton’s first manager of the month award in seven years with his players.

The Italian has picked up the accolade for the fifth time, having won it on four occasions while in charge of Chelsea between 2009 and 2011, but he is the first Toffees boss since David Moyes in 2013 to do so.

He has guided Everton to the top of the Premier League after winning their opening four league matches for the first time since Harry Catterick in 1969-70, when the club went on to win the league – but felt his squad warranted recognition.

“I am really pleased to win this award,” Ancelotti told evertonfc.com.

“I think it is a great achievement for this month. I have to share with my team because they started the season really well.

“We hope to continue and to win this award again. I think the key point was the first game against Tottenham.

“Tottenham is a really good team, but we did well and won away. That victory increased our confidence and belief for this season. It was a really good start.”

New England cap Dominic Calvert-Lewin made it a double success for Everton by claiming the player of the month award, the club’s first since Romelu Lukaku in 2017, after scoring in every league game to take the joint early lead in the race for the Golden Boot with six.

“Dominic had a fantastic month. He deserved to be the player of the month. He is young but he has had a lot of improvement,” added Ancelotti.

“This last month, he has been really focused in the box and this is the reason he scored a lot of goals.”

Off the field Everton have strengthened their links with South America after signing a new partnership with their Chilean namesakes.

The Latin influence at Goodison Park – helped by the summer transfers of James Rodriguez and Allan to join Colombia and Brazil compatriots Yerry Mina and Richarlison respectively – has helped propel the Toffees to the top of the Premier League.

Rodriguez’s arrival has helped raise the club’s profile across the Atlantic and they have built on that by signing a partnership with Chilean side Everton de Vina del Mar and its owners Grupo Pachuca, one of the leading football organisations in South and Central America with a stable of five other clubs based in Mexico and Argentina.

“Our international strategy is a core-pillar to our growth plans and this strategic partnership opens up Everton to the vast football community in one of the most football-passionate regions in the world – built on a long-standing and unique relationship with our Chilean Everton family,” said chief executive Denise Barrett-Baxendale.

The partnership with Everton de Vina del Mar, formed in 1909 by Anglo-Chilean footballers and named after the English club, has established a formal relationship for player development and talent identification and will help develop international marketing and commercial opportunities across South America.