Season 2011-12 Fan Articles

DNP: Great Expectations

By Jamie   Levitt  ::  07/08/2011   0 Comments (»Last) DNP: Originally published on ballsybanter.com I think it?s always difficult to define your expectations for a coming season. If you support a team in the ?Big Four? (or is it ?Small Five? or ?Big Three??), I think in many ways your expectations are based on other top teams around you, and who?s spending what on who.

I?m an Everton fan and I actually don?t know what my season expectations are. The teams around us haven?t strengthened significantly and, with 50p in the bank, I don?t see much activity on the blue side of Stanley Park. Ask anyone and they?ll list somewhere between 6th and 10th.

Before I vocalise my expectations, I think I need to summarise Everton Football Club from my perspective. I think a lot of fans and the footballing media have quite a positive view of Everton. It is however, a weird, quasi-patronising admiration. We?re the plucky, tight-knit squad, punching above our weight on a shoe-string budget.

This is probably true but as an Everton fan it?s hard to not to level criticism at all areas of the club. Moyes has turned my club from a hopeless mid-table/relegation battling team into a strong, hard-to-beat, well balanced team of players who, when fully fit and playing well, can be competitive against any team in the league. However, I do think it is fair to criticise his tactics in the big games and his apparent unwillingness to change the system when it?s not working. Too many times last season I was frustrated with the same formation of players that lost in the previous game set-up in the exact same way.

I would hesitate though in criticising the signing of Bilyaletdinov. The player came in and has admittedly looked poor but, with such little money to spend on players and the players we?ve managed to obtain for nominal fees, I?ll let Moyes off on that one and hope rather than expect that the mercurial Russian can improve next season.

Moyes has however, shown a consistent inability to provide competitive pre-season campaigns for the club (arguable exception of this year). Some regard pre-season as a meaningless excuse for shirt sales and PR tours; others see them as vitally important in how a club starts its campaign. I think for me the most important aspect of pre-season is integrating new players into the squad and the club?s set-up.

Having signed no one, does losing to Werder Bremen and Villarreal in pre-season leave me worrying for our start to the season? No. We have developed a reputation of frequently starting poorly in the league. I don?t think losing to good European teams or beating lower league teams will affect that start. Assuming we avoid any massive injuries and battles to keep our players, I see no reason why we wouldn?t have a decent start to the season.

While many Evertonians have voiced their dissatisfaction with the manager and to a greater degree with the Chairman and the board, I do see some positives going into the new season. Firstly, as it stands, our squad is pretty much at full fitness. For the first time since joining the club, striker Louis Saha has had a full pre-season and Fellaini returning from injury is also a big boost for the team.

Midway through last season, there was a lot of speculation regarding Fellaini, Rodwell, Baines and Jagielka. By failing to perform at a high level for any significant part of last season, I think Rodwell will remain with us for the foreseeable future; if we get a full season out of him, I think we?ll get a good offer and sell him, giving us more funds for the squad depth we so sorely need.

Fellaini was playing at close to his peak midway through last season and was rife with transfer speculation only to get injured in the latter half of the season. For us to maintain a strong squad and move forward, I think securing a new contract for him should be the club?s Number One priority. Finally Baines and Jagielka both apparently snubbed Champions League clubs (Bayern Munich and Arsenal) which is encouraging given the stagnant nature of Everton (maybe they know something I don?t).

While there are many aspects of the club that concern me (the lack of any money and a failing search for investment being the main ones), I do feel cautiously optimistic going into the new season. I think on paper when our squad is fully fit we are capable of playing some impressive football.

I hope next season to see more of our youth players getting a run in the side. 17-year-old Ross Barkley has looked impressive and I can certainly see more game time for players like Gueye and Vellios also. Moyes has proven with Coleman that these players are capable of breaking into the squad and any competition for our first team can only be a good thing given our lack of experienced depth.

As much as I?d like to say we?ll finish 4th like in 2004 and this time win our qualifier, the realist in me is saying 8th, which would seem to fit most scripts nicely. Originally published on ballsybanter.com

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