Super League founders wrong to discard sporting merit, says Ancelotti

The founding members of the European Super League were wrong to form a closed competition not based on sporting merit and made a mistake by not considering the views of players, managers and fans, Everton boss Carlo Ancelotti said on Thursday.

The Super League project collapsed on Wednesday as most of the 12 founders from England, Italy and Spain abandoned the breakaway project after it drew the ire of fans, politicians, soccer officials and even the British royals.

"It was a strange day for every football supporter, a surprise. We heard about the Super League the past few months but I was sure it was not going to happen," Ancelotti told reporters ahead of Friday's Premier League trip to Arsenal.

"The 12 clubs were wrong. They didn't take into consideration the opinion of the players and managers and the supporters.

Unlike in the Champions League, where teams have to qualify through the domestic league, the founding Super League teams guaranteed themselves a place in the new competition every year.

"The most important part, they wanted to build a competition without sporting merit," added Ancelotti. "This is not acceptable... This is what they didn't take into consideration, they were wrong."

Everton are eighth in the standings, three points above Arsenal with a game in hand, but have been on a five-match run without a win in the Premier League.

However, Ancelotti is boosted by the return of top scorer Dominic Calvert-Lewin, Yerry Mina, Bernard, Fabian Delph and Andre Gomes who are all available to face Arsenal.

"It's a really important game, not decisive but important. I think we are ready," the Italian said.

"It's true that we didn't have a good moment in the last month, but now we are much better."