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Everton FC 2005/06 Season Preview
By Anthony Evans
I woke up yesterday morning to find that my Everton shirt had been stolen from the washing line. After such a successful season last year, that kit meant a lot to me. I first wore it at Goodison Park to watch us getting torn apart by Arsenal, but for every other match I was in America – waking in the earlier hours to pull it on, listen to z cars, and then either tuning in to Radio City over the internet, or switching on the cable TV for the match live.
I wore it in New York to see us beat Birmingham 1-0, and was also wearing it in the Big Apple for the News Years Day debacle at White Hart Lane. For the classic encounters – the Goodison derby, Big Duncs header against the Mancs, the 2-0 victory against Newcastle – the spilt beer and jubilation was soaked by the Royal Blue jersey.
I took it everywhere, to share in an extraordinary season where a tide of determination and hard work saw us do the unthinkable: qualify for the Champions League.
We now stand at a junction, where the season-to-season inconsistency of the Moyes era thus far must come to an end. This year will determine whether the 2004 flirtation with relegation, or the 2005 brush with Europe is the truer indication of the direction we’re headed. With David Moyes we have a young, ambitious manager trying to build a legacy and with supporters and board confident of his stewardship we can afford to be patient. Whilst we all yearn for a return to the glory days, the infrastructure and management of the football club is currently inadequate. We need several seasons of UEFA cup qualification to imbed ourselves as a top 6 club, and for now that should be the aim of the team. If we finish in the top 10 for the next three seasons, then we’re moving forward.
Moyes has come under a fair amount of stick from the press over the summer, after Everton have missed out on a string of signings. Mikael Forssell, Scott Parker, Emre, Craig Bellamy, Sossoko and Ryan Taylor are just 5 players who would have undoubtedly strengthened our squad, but ended up elsewhere. An article in The Daily Mail is especially critical of “Dithering Davey” and echoes comments made by Radzinski last summer, about our managers ability to make a decision. But analyzing the summers transfer activity paints a better picture than the press will have you believe. The Forssell deal was vetoed because of a failed medical (regardless of how the Finn defines it, Moyes pulled out over fitness concerns) and after the Danny Williamson experience I for one am happy that the manager is careful with spending large amounts on injured players. It was exactly the same reason that meant we missed out on Sean Davis, and although I’d have loved to see him at the club it is better to be too cautious than simply frittering away scarce funds on huge risks.
Being snubbed by Parker hurt, because he’s a quality player that would have improved our midfield considerably, but Newcastle were prepared to pay him more. Whether Everton CEO Keith Wyness’ claim that our wage ceiling is voluntarily set by Moyes is hollow, I want players that choose Everton. The same applies for Emre, a talent for sure, but also an expensive risk. Bellamy (on the pitch) is exactly what we need: a pacey goal scorer, but he comes with all kinds of baggage. He’s a pretty unappealing character, and I can’t believe he’d chose Blackburn above us on footballing reasons. Perhaps he didn’t like Moyes, or perhaps Moyes didn’t like him. Either way, it’s his loss. With Sossoko it’s always an annoyance when your rivals hijack an exciting signing, but we can’t blame the manager for the player choosing Liverpool, and his former boss Rafa Benitez, ahead of us. As final embarrassment the press bring up the name of ex-Tranmere full back Ryan Taylor, and claim that he chose Wigan Athletic ahead of us. Maybe he wants first team football, in which case we couldn’t have offered what he wanted, but I’m sure that if Moyes really wanted him, he’d be here.
So we have suffered frustrations trying to bring players in, but they only count as failures if we’ve been snubbed by all of our targets. The fact is that David Moyes has managed to bolster the squad with a number of signings, and should be given the benefit of the doubt over the ones that got away. Simon Davies seems a “Moyes type” – skilful, hard working, intelligent and with something to prove. He scored in his first match at Goodison, and has a rare ability to run at players and send in crosses. Per Kroldrop is relatively unknown, but having helped Udinese to finishing 4th in Serie A and emerging as a first choice centre-half for Denmark, we should be excited. He has a physical presence but looks classy on the ball, and for over £4m we can expect an international class defender. Mikael Arteta has been secured on a permanent deal, having impressed on loan at the end of last season. He oozes class and can win a tackle, and will be a potent playmaker in midfield. Moyes could have panicked into giving him the contract he wanted at the beginning of the summer, but chose to play hardball and negotiate. Throughout the period where we thought he might get away (and Liverpool were rumoured to be interested) I was reminded of Kevin Campbell, and the inflated contract we offered him out of panic. Call it dithering, or call it cautious, but Moyes played it right. Then there’s John Ruddy, a young goalkeeper who together with Iain Turner means the future looks promising between the sticks. Recent signing Phil Neville might not be the name we were hoping for, but is a shrewd piece of business by Moyes. With Lee Carsley injured, Neville is an international and European cup winner who’ll lend experience and professionalism – precisely what we need in our first stab in the Champions League. Although Neville is often thought of as a joke, most of his career has been at full back since he’s been unable to dislodge Roy Keane from centre midfield. Over the last few years Neville has improved a lot, and will hopefully be played as an anchorman.
Moyes let several players go out of contract, and for a while it seemed we might have an exodus. As it is, the only players we’ve lost are club captain Alan Stubbs and utility man Steve Watson. Both are senior professionals, and since Stubbs is a boyhood Evertonian it’s a shame to lose those types of player. But it was sensible of Moyes to offload some of the old boys and even though it looks embarrassing to be forced into resigning Sandro Pistone, I’m sure he’s on lower wages than the original contract.
Many have wanted us to splash the cash, and bring in some big names. The truth is that we are still not an appealing club to many players, and that can only be changed after a few years of steady progress. It’d also be stupid to spend now the potential jackpot we’d receive if we qualify for the group stages of the Champions League. To gamble on winning a two-legged tie this early in the season is exactly the kamikaze management that has created such a debt problem. And now that we’ve drawn Villarreal the “wait and see” policy is even smarter – do you really think that having Scott Parker would make much of a difference? The fact is we’ll more than likely be beat in both legs, but with match practice, memories and a place in the UEFA cup as consolation.
On paper, the team has improved. The biggest problem is picking a formation, since the 4-5-1 was so instrumental in last season’s success. It worked because we had the right players to play three in the middle of midfield (allowing Cahill to get forward) and the perfect fulcrum in Marcus Bent: tall, strong, quick and willing to work his arse off. To improve we need to switch to 4-4-2 and since Beattie needs someone along side him, and Davies is a winger, it appears that Moyes wants to head in that direction too. The only problem is that we lack a second striker, and need desperately to bring in a quick forward with an eye for goal. Andy Johnson is over priced, Milan Baros would pave the way for Liverpool to bring back Michael Owen, and so the only solution seems to be Robbie Keane. Either way, we can’t facilitate Beattie in a side that packs the middle, and getting the most out of the £6m man will by Moyesies biggest challenge. Beattie can, and has, scored over 20 goals in a season and that is what we bought him for. Hopefully he can put last year down to experience, and come out of the preseason looking lean, sharp and ready to do whatever it takes to redeem himself.
Perhaps losing my shirt has been a blessing, because last seasons memories must be consigned to the past. When we kick off the new campaign it counts for nothing, and we have it all to do again. There can be no expectation to retain our 4th place, and so the aim must be for a UEFA cup spot. People will take us as a serious opponent though, and with the prospect of Goodison rocking – as only Goodison can – to some more European nights we can be confident that Everton Football Club are back. In Moyes we trust.
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