It?s fair to say potentially this could be the Blues' best season in years. Although they have just come off their worse season in 3 years, a run of 2 defeats in 24 games saw them shoot from relegation fodder to European challengers, only missing out by 2 points but without the distraction of European football and for once having something near a fully fit squad, the supporters can feel they are on the tip of something special, something glorious, something to remember.
The Blues have just completed a successful three-game tour of Australia, largely off the back of Aussie superstar Tim Cahill, and, even though he only completed a half in both the first two games, it was enough to attract the local ?Soccer? fans to come out in their thousands to see their National hero and to see Everton win all three games. It was also an ideal setting to bed in three of the four new summer signings into the Everton way.
Jermaine Beckford , a free transfer from Leeds United, had a troublesome calf injury which held him back but at times looked sharp; João Silva, a 20-year-old from Portuguese side Desportivo Das Aves, also showed some nice touches but not enough to establish if the young Portuguese forward has what it takes to handle life in the English Premier League.
But it was another 20-year-old that had most Evertonians talking: Magaye Gueye, a left sided winger who was brought in barely days before the Blues flew out, arrived from Strasbourg and, although very early days, the Frenchman displayed all the attributes needed to shine in the increasingly fast and physical world of EPL and even capped the tour off with the winning goal in a 2-1 victory over Brisbane Roar.
So with all this, why does it feel like it could all fall apart before it even begins?
Like every summer without the millions of pounds other clubs possess, Everton must keep the wolves from the door and this summer is no different. Before the World Cup, the prospect of losing Player of the Season, Steven Pienaar, was the largest danger on the horizon, with the proud South African ready to shine on home soil. Although this didn?t happen, the list of suitors appears to have grown larger, with Spurs, Arsenal and now Inter Milan all leading the pack. Pienaar is down to his last year of employment with the club and no sign of a new contract being signed...
if that wasn?t bad enough, now Everton must confront the prospect of also losing arguably their best talent, Mikel Arteta. Conflicting reports suggest the uncapped Spaniard wishes to return to Spain because of the health of his son or to play at a Champions League club, whether in Spain or England, for the sake of his International career. Whichever it is, or whether either are true, it has not put Manchester City off from securing his signature if a deal for James Milner falls through.
The club have also confirmed a bid has been turned down for the services of Phil Jagielka from Arsenal; with Johnny Heitinga?s pre-World Cup quotes regarding welcoming a move to a bigger club, the fans face an anxious wait to see who starts at Blackburn Rovers on the first day of the season.
David Moyes has some massive decisions to make if any of the clubs come knocking, knowing the team can ill-afford a repeat of last season's Joleon Lescott fiasco. But he cannot afford to lose any of the players with little if any budget to replace them with knowing it would be a massive dent to the club's aspirations of reaching the promised land of a top four finish and Champions League, the club's only real way of attracting investment and generating revenue.
The coming months could be some of most sufficient in the clubs 132-year history.
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I do think Pienaar is a very important player but, come next season, you know we won't have any money to spend ? even if we do break into the Champions League ? and when we watch Pienaar walk away for nothing, there will be a sour taste in our mouths (just another bit of negativity before the season starts, that's something we don't need as we've had more than our fair share of it).
Of course, Moyes might let Arteta go abroad out of loyalty to the player in return for the loyalty and commitment he has given us... and who could blame Moyes if he does? Moyes has always conducted himself in the right way; I think Arteta has another two years left on his contract so I'm hoping Moyes can convince him to stay. We break into the Champions League the following season and Arteta signs for life (well, we can hope and if there's a chance of it).
I look at all three players and I think who is easier to replace? As I said before, decent centre backs are hard to find and it is Moyes's priority to have a solid defence with options. Arteta, with the qualities he has, is almost irreplaceable but, as for Pienaar, as good as he is, I think Moyes could find a replacement as good, if not better.
I wonder whether Gueye can play there... I know he is an attacking midfielder/striker but he is left-footed and some strikers start their carreers in midfield (Thierry Henry springs to mind, starting on the right wing before moving to sriker and Anichebe's prefered position is as a striker and now he's on the right of midfield).
I do think like many others that this could be a good year for us and that, if we're constantly selling players before the season starts, we will always be a work in progress and to some extent a feeder club that never realises its true potential. But I'm also aware that we never have any money and never will under Kenwright, so we have to sell to buy.
It used to make me so angry that at the end of every season I used to play this game called 'Where's Evertons money gone' and you know what ? I never finished it feeling just as confused as when I started. Now I accept we are paying huge sums of money just to manage the debt and we pay huge sums on wages so we have to sell to generate money.
It's not right but it's what is being fed to us so, with no money and players linked with moves away, we have to decide which players would we miss the most and find harder to replace... and for me they are Jagielka and Arteta.
I for one would like to see the picture clarified about our star players. The creeping anxiety about Lescott last year did for our season. If Mikel wants to see out his contract ? fine, if Pienaar wants to see out his contract ? fine. If they want to move on ? fine, let them move over so we can get some proper replacements. The speculation and uncertainty is killing me some days. When is one of these star players going to commit to the club?
In my amateur club Healing Hotspurs U-13s, we wouldn't put up with this, lines would be drawn in the sand. I fail to see how Mikel or Steven will have a better career at any other club, they are handsomely rewarded at Everton with long contracts and are roundly adored by the fans. They could get more money, yes... but there are big risks to moving ? as both of them know from poor moves in the past.
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* Everton deducted 8 pts; †Forest deducted 4 pts for PSR breachView full table
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