Marco Silva was named Everton manager in May 2018. In November 2018, Everton was banned from signing academy football players from its youth clubs for two years. Silva led Everton to finish 8th in his first season in charge, but after a poor start to the following season which left the team in the relegation zone on 14 points, he was sacked on 5 December 2019. His last league match was a 5–2 loss to Liverpool at Anfield. Former player and first-team coach Duncan Ferguson stepped in as caretaker manager for the next three games before his replacement, Carlo Ancelotti, was appointed on 21 December 2019, with Ferguson being appointed as assistant manager.