It would have seemed a little pointless to send glowing praise Everton’s way had they started this season in their usual manner. Slow starts, big finishes, but not quite making the grade. This season, however, David Moyes has taken his squad of players onto a new level. They should have been knocked back by the disappointment of losing another one of their products from that incredible youth system, but they soldiered on and made this a squad that can beat anyone on their day. With a rocking Goodison Park, who’s to say Everton can’t make Champions League football?
The thing with Everton lately is that everyone wants to jump on the bandwagon to praise David Moyes and his team. Iain Macintosh wrote a great piece—and fully deserving—on the unsung hero that is Tony Hibbert. It was fitting and not just a testament to some good work shown over the past month. If anything, Hibbert is the poster boy for Everton Football Club. The full-back is incredibly hard working, gets up and down the pitch without a fuss, and typifies the no nonsense attitude of his manager. Isn’t that the real embodiment of English fighting spirit?
It’s easy to talk about Marouane Fellaini as this beast of a player who can brawl with the very best and somehow manage to throw some continental style into the mix, too. But what about that ever-reliable goalkeeper between the posts? The best goalkeeper in Merseyside at the moment? Certainly the most consistent. What about that back four that can see players come in and out but maintain it’s hard working ethos? Goal-line clearances are the norm, but it once again sums up the never say die attitude of the manager and his players. And then there’s a forward line led into battle by a real predator in the box, a player who would fit right in at any of the bigger clubs in the Premier League, an absolute bargain of a buy from Rangers, and a player who should leave many, many managers and scouts wondering how they ever missed his undeniable class.
If that’s not a squad that can form a strong charge on the Champions League for next season, then what’s the point? Is this a league that has it’s mind made up in October or November like, say, La Liga? Should we dismiss Everton and what they genuinely are capable of just because it’s not really the norm? Tottenham challenging for the league title isn’t the norm, but people fancied a ride on that train for a while. Who told Chelsea they were allowed to overcome internal struggles, beat the best team in the world and see off a fantastic Bayern Munich in their own stadium to win the Champions League? It can’t be done, it really shouldn’t have been done. Shouldn’t we exercise a little caution when dismissing teams like Everton from making a real impression in the league?
David Moyes is one of the finest managers of the Premier League era in England. He could manage Manchester United one day, one day when he feels the time is right to move on. But taking him out of the Everton fold would really smack of something wholly disappointing. Why break up a project that’s been in the works for 10-years?
Wayne Rooney’s move to Manchester United should have set the club back, even with the injection of cash the player saw going in the opposite direction while on his way to Old Trafford. What about Mikel Arteta leaving last year at the last minute and with no hope or time or even cash to find a ready replacement? What does it tell you of Moyes and the great togetherness of Everton when Kevin Mirallas turns down Arsenal and Champions League football and big crowds in the capital for the blue half of Merseyside? It isn’t really a fluke or a mistake. It wasn’t when the club found Fellaini or Nikica Jelavic and snapped them up before the big guns of Europe.
What’s the point in sports if we tell clubs or athletes that it can’t be done? This is a group of international players who are good enough to play at the pinnacle of club football in Europe, and definitely not only because there might be one spot in the top four that’s up for grabs. What kind of message will it send out to the rest of Europe about English football? What sort it message will it sent out to the rest of English football if Everton can land another Champions League place?
Everton are working to a budget, they don’t have the biggest stadium or anywhere near it. They will have to sell in order to move on, but that’s no worry, Moyes will just find another gem to add to his squad and carry on. But there are no real internal struggles at Everton, they are not dealing with players flirting with the big teams in Europe and, importantly, they’re all buying into the idea that David Moyes is selling.