Fans Comment
Chris Marks

When skies ARE blue - for now
06/03/22

In light of our recent success on the pitch, particularly at Goodison, I thought it would be appropriate to sum up our current position and analyse some of the reasons for it. We all know about the problems the club had at the start of the season, and we all have our own reasons why that disastrous period occurred — but it is surely of paramount importance to put these events into context.

Everton lost seven of their first eight Premiership games, but let us not forget the circumstances of that run. Aside of the injuries to key players (Beattie, Van der Meyde et al) and the obvious hammering the players’ confidence took after the European disappointments; we also had a difficult run. We had to play Man United and Arsenal early on, as well as visit the more mundane places we always lose at like Craven Cottage and White Hart Lane.

The flipside of this difficult start is that we now have an eight game run-in where we ‘only’ have to travel to Liverpool and Chelsea, and have home games against Sunderland, Birmingham and West Brom. Being only six points behind Blackburn in sixth gives us a realistic chance of returning to Europe next year, although a lot can happen in those eight games.

Further credit is due to Moyes and his boys when we look across Europe to our former colleagues in the Champions League. In Italy, Udinese reached the top table for the first time just like us. Although the size of their club and its history do not compare with ours, they were also new to the Champions League. They did qualify for the group stage and finish third, sending them into the UEFA cup’s latter stages (which is probably the most we could have hoped for had we beaten Villarreal). However, Udinese currently have 28 points from 30 matches and lie one place above the relegation zone in Serie A – and have changed managers.

The situation is much the same in Spain, where Real Betis have struggled all season long. A more comparable club to EFC in terms of size and prestige, they too reached the group stage and finished third, beating Chelsea along the way, but have had no luck in the Primera Liga, and currently languish 18th in the table – in the relegation zone. The only one of the Champions League newcomers to enjoy their new status has been our own conquerors Villarreal. We all saw how good a side they were back in August, and Man United and now Rangers have now found the same thing to their cost. The ‘Yellow Submarines’ are now through to the quarter-finals in Europe, and while they may not return to the Champions League next year, they currently occupy a very respectable seventh in Spain. In retrospect Everton did very well to push them as far as we did, and losing to them is certainly no shame. Let’s not talk about what happened in Bucharest.

The Everton squad looks stronger now too. Beattie and McFadden are somewhere near their best, and hence we have two strikers capable of finding the net. There are also goals from midfield, with Cahill and particularly Osman impressing of late. When were Everton last able to field a team as strong as they did versus Aston Villa last Saturday, with players of the calibre and experience of Kilbane, Simon Davies, Lee Carsley, Joseph Yobo and Andy van der Meyde either on the bench or in the stands?

That’s not to say there’s not a lot of work to be done. Our first choice goalkeeper is 39 and has a broken ankle. Whether Nige will don an Everton shirt again remains to be seen. He has been a fine servant to the club over these last three years (oh how I wish we’d signed him in 1996 when we had the chance), but inevitably he will need replacing sooner rather than later. The task of finding a new no.1 will not be easy. A list of ready-made (affordable) replacements doesn’t exactly spring to mind.

In front of the keeper, our centre backs, bless them, can claim 69 years and 900 career matches between them. Stubbs and Weir are still good defenders, but clearly their time will be up soon and signing at least one centre-half is a summer priority. I’ve heard there’s this Danish chap at Fiorentina… A speedy goal-getter is another must, as we all know.

Aside of this the playing staff is the strongest it’s been in years, when they’re all fit. There is undeniable skill and commitment in blue shirts today, and versatility too. Osman, Arteta and van der Meyde can all occupy a variety of roles within our system, as can Ferrari and Neville to a certain extent. There are also two or three options for most positions in the side (aside from the attack), and an abundance of left-backs. Only really Tony Hibbert can say he has no direct rival (Ferrari and Neville can fill in for him, as could a fit-again Pistone), and he is arguably one of our most consistent performers anyway.

All in all, I see the club being in a fairly healthy position at the moment. We need to capitalise on this by finishing strongly and make the relevant signings in the summer, otherwise we will start to lose ground on the clubs around us. The future’s bright, the future’s…royal blue?

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