Everton manager Carlo Ancelotti has spoken more about how the style of football he wants his team to play in quotes reported by The Liverpool Echo, and the comments should be music to the ears of Toffees supporters.

What did he say?

The 60-year-old was speaking ahead of the Premier League clash against Newcastle United at Goodison Park on Tuesday, which comes on the back of a 1-1 draw against West Ham United at the London Stadium at the weekend.

According to The Liverpool Echo, the Italian said:

"At this moment we are not playing vertical, we are playing a lot of balls back, instead of playing forward, and that is how we can improve. We can play more vertically.

"We want to build up but when you have the possibility to play forward you must play forward. Quick. If you are slow at the back you have less possibility to find space in the opponent’s half and that is something we have to improve.

"Sometimes when you say to a player that we want possession, they think possession is the target. The target is not possession. The target is always to score goals."

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Music to the ears of fans

The problem of Everton not being positive enough on the ball may come from a general lack of confidence given they were in the relegation zone when Marco Silva was sacked last month, but the players need to snap out of it if they are to be a regular starter under a coach like Ancelotti, who Seamus Coleman admitted tore into them at half-time against the Irons.

Individuals such as Coleman, Michael Keane, Gylfi Sigurdsson and Morgan Schneiderlin have certainly been guilty of playing the easy ball backwards at times rather than taking a risk in recent months, and more bravery is clearly what their manager wants now even in front of a demanding Goodison Park crowd.

It was interesting that the former Napoli boss picked out Theo Walcott and Fabian Delph in the same Liverpool Echo article as players that he wants to see step up and show some courage, in order to be more positive when they walk across that white line.

The fact that the former has one assist in 17 Premier League appearances this season from the wing is hardly a glowing endorsement of his quality.

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Ancelotti has laid his cards on the table as to what he wants to see from his players, and now it is up to them to deliver.

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