Michael Ball insists that Everton did not achieve anything under the management of Carlo Ancelotti.
The Italian left the club after his first full season to return to former club Real Madrid.
It was a shock move, given that the Italian enjoyed such a short spell on Merseyside.
Are you pleased Everton aren't appointing Benitez?
Yes, he could still come back
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Appointed in December of 2019, he guided the club to a 12th-placed finish in 2019/20, but in 20/21, he took them to 10th.
Ball believes that is undoubtedly a failure, given his pedigree as a manager and the expectations of supporters in relation to the money spent by the club.
Indeed, he was heavily backed last summer, bringing in the likes of James Rodriguez, Allan, and Abdoulaye Doucoure, but they ultimately ended the campaign eight points behind the top four.
It was particularly disappointing given the start the club enjoyed, when they actually climbed as high as second in the table.
Ball was left unimpressed with the former Chelsea manager’s reign overall, telling This Is Futbol: “But at the turn of the year, the players’ performance under a top manager… they haven’t achieved anything.
“The target was Europe, they did get close to it, they did get to the last game of the season so it could have been in their hands, so it is a slight improvement on the year before, but it’s not good enough with the outlay and the expectations of the Everton fans.”