The Toffees suffered a heavy blow in their chase for a European spot finish in the Premier League as they lost 2-1 to Aston Villa at the weekend, failing to take advantage of an opportunity to close the gap on the top six.
Everton are currently going through a poor run of results, picking up only six points in their last seven outings, casting serious doubts on their chances of finishing inside the European positions.
Ex-Toffees star Ball admitted he is getting sick of seeing the Toffees’ best players letting the club, the fans and their boss Ancelotti down time after time in crucial games by not turning up.
However, Ball noted that Ancelotti is getting the best out of his squad and the dismal form of late shows Everton need better quality players on the pitch, as all but two of the players who started against the Lions were not signed by him.
“We’ve improved slightly from last year”, Ball wrote in his Liverpool Echo column.
“We’ve had really great highs, but really low lows.
“I’m kind of getting sick of what we’re seeing, because the boys are letting us down.
“They’re letting themselves down and letting the manager down.
“We want these big players to turn up at the crucial moments, it was possibly Carlo Ancelotti’s biggest game of the season – and the players have let him down.
“It’s his job to get the best out of his squad and he is.
“It was only Allan and Ben Godfrey on the pitch who were signed by him, which just shows the quality we haven’t got.”
Everton are in for a crunch clash on Sunday when they take on European spot rivals West Ham United at the London Stadium in the top flight.
