Fan Comment

Everton v Spurs – A Passing of the Baton?

It’s easy to forget in the ‘Big 6’ era of the Premier League that Spurs were once like Everton. Perennial ‘best of the rest’ contenders, often punching above their weight but never truly challenging the top teams for European places or silverware. During the 2010s, however, Spurs have kicked up a gear. Spurred on by first Gareth Bale, and more recently Harry Kane, Spurs launched an assault on the teams above them, breaching the then Top 4 and reaching the promised land of the Champions League. Since then, they have finished in the Top 4 multiple times, been genuine contenders in the odd title race, and were involved in the small matter of a Champions League Final against our Merseyside neighbours. To the neutral, watching Spurs’ rise must have felt somewhat heart-warming. To myself as an Everton fan, it has been at best bittersweet and at worst gut-wrenching.

There was a time when Spurs and Everton stood roughly shoulder to shoulder. Both teams with incredible ambition that typically ultimately fell short when it really mattered. However, while Spurs took advantage of the sudden uncertainty plaguing clubs like Manchester Utd and Arsenal to cement their status as a top team, Everton’s fortunes in the 2010s took a markedly different turn. Following Moyes’s departure, Everton underwent a turbulent few years. Bottom half-finishes, questionable managerial appointments and frivolous spending led to the club experiencing something of an identity crisis. Martinez did lead us agonisingly close to the promised land of the Champions League in his first season but followed this up with our lowest finish since 2005-06. Koeman seemed to have the required pedigree but never felt like the right fit and based on THAT recent interview was clearly never convinced that Everton could become a top side. Allardyce steadied the sinking ship but was never a long-term replacement and again clearly saw 8th place as a triumph and the limit of Everton’s potential. Marco Silva had his heart in the right place but eventually seemed out of his depth as Everton experienced further regression under his tutelage. All the while, Spurs were living our dream; consistently appearing in Europe and finishing above their previously dominant arch-rivals.

When I think of games against Spurs in the last 10 years, two in particular stick out in my memory. The first, in the 2012-13 season towards the end of the Moyes era, was a smash-n-grab 2-1 win with Steven Pienaar and Nikica Jelavic netting in injury time. At the time, for me at least, this felt momentous in that we’d come out on top against a team with similar aspirations to ours. Spurs had finished 4th in two of the three previous seasons, and with this win we leapfrogged them into the Top 4. I truly believed that from here, we would kick on and progress as they had done in the years prior. Of course, it wasn’t to be, as we ultimately finished 6th; behind Tottenham who finished 5th behind Arsenal by a single point. The next season, 2013-14, these positions would be reversed as we finished 5th in disappointing fashion when our Champions League destiny was well and truly in our own hands. While I was disappointed that we didn’t push on and usurp Tottenham after that 2-1 win, I was at least encouraged by the fact that we seemed to be keeping pace with them. Surely a Top 4 finish would be inevitable?

Fast forward to the 2018-19 season, for the second clash against Spurs that comes to my mind. If the last game I discussed inspired hope, this game was a brutal reminder of the gulf in quality between the two teams. Spurs humiliated us 6-2, with any suggestion of the two teams being on the same level absolutely decimated. The chasm between our reality and our Champions League aspirations had never been starker than it was on that day, and it was a brutal reminder of the progress that Spurs had made during this decade. Unlike the first game I discussed, where we went toe-to-toe as equals, Spurs put us to the sword as though we were relegation fodder. This was a truly embarrassing result which laid bare the contrasts in fortunes between the two clubs. Everton laboured to a second consecutive 8th placed finish, rather embarrassingly missing out on Europa League football to Wolves. Tottenham secured yet another Top 4 finish and reached a Champions League final. The realistic ambitions of these two teams had never looked so disparate.

Enter Carlo Ancelotti. A man whose name needs no introduction, particularly to those of us who have seen him work wonders over the past year or so. The 5-4 win over Spurs was yet another indicator of the immense progress made since the Italian’s arrival. Our record against Big Six teams this season so far has been much improved, with two meek capitulations to Man Utd the only blots on our copybook. There is still much work to be done to solidify our European credentials, evidenced by an uncharacteristically shaky defensive performance last night. The recent miserable performance against Newcastle was another concern, and consistency is key if Everton truly wish to emulate Spurs’ success in recent times. It is important to remember that we are, hopefully, still in the early days of the Ancelotti era.

Carlo has brought the best out of the players he has at his disposal, with even much-maligned players such as Tom Davies, Gylfi Sigurdsson and Alex Iwobi drawing praise for their performances this season. Stating the obvious, Calvert-Lewin has been a revelation and signing James Rodriguez on a free must be the best piece of business since Seamus Coleman. He has also ruthlessly trimmed a bloated squad, disposing of perennial benchwarmers like Tosun and Bolasie as well as loaning out players like Walcott and Kenny who, while not terrible, are unlikely to help elevate Everton to the next level. Importantly though, he has instilled a winning mentality that we have not seen since the Moyes era. When a goal is conceded, you can suddenly rely on this Everton team to roar back. Regardless of the starting 11 we have on the pitch; they find a way to keep their heads up even when all hope seems lost.

Much was made of Everton fans ‘celebrating a draw’ after Calvert-Lewin stabbed home at Old Trafford. What rival fans fail to see is that we were not celebrating a draw, rather celebrating a complete shift in mentality which has seen us snatch results where we previously would have faltered. The Spurs game was the latest in a series of games that I feel previous Everton sides would have capitulated at the first sign of adversity. I can't help but dream that this victory was the passing of a baton; that we can now emulate Spurs and mount our own Top 4 challenge.

The end of the season is still a considerable distance away, but there have been enough positive signs this season to indicate that the future is bright. Duncan Ferguson’s jubilation on the touchline in recent games and Carlo nonchalantly blowing his cappuccino/bovril represent two opposing ends of a scale. I’d imagine most Everton fans lie somewhere in between, or understandably fluctuate week-by-week. Hopefully, we’ll all get a chance to channel our inner Duncan Ferguson between now and the end of the season.

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