With a fresh manager, fresh owner, fresh ideas and fresh ideologies, one thing remains the same.
Before Everton kicked off on Saturday against Burnley, the game was met with a slight bit of optimism, but those of us who have been avid supporters for years had in the back of their mind that we support Everton, and things just aren’t that simple.
When Scott Arfield scored the winner on the stroke of the 90th minute, not one of them bat an eyelid, because that was as ‘Everton’ as it gets. The ability to switch off or concede horrific goals late on is just in our DNA, and it has almost been passed down from manager to manager.
Even under the solid David Moyes, we always knew we would concede a scrappy goal against Norwich at home in the dying seconds of a game, and that became apparent throughout Roberto Martinez’ tenure.
Now, with fresh ideas under the footballing legend that is Ronald Koeman, it’s still prevalent. It’s something we’ve never been able to shake off, and maybe that is down to the fact that a lot of the players in our squad remain the same as those used to doing an ‘Everton’ for many years.
Leon Osman, Tony Hibbert and Steven Pienaar all left the club in the summer with ruthless Koeman showing the squad that no one is safe and that if you are not pulling your weight, then it’s time to show you the door.
Although that was a good start, there are still issues in the squad that need rooting out. After the game on Saturday, I put together a list of players that just haven’t done it for Everton, and maybe it’s time to freshen up the squad.
Agree with @Scott_MorrisEfc, Blues? #EFC pic.twitter.com/QBJ2fHZGHm
— Read Everton (@ReadEverton) October 22, 2016
It was met with a good response from Evertonian’s and it’s quickly becoming apparent that if we want to be successful again, It’s time to look deeper than just the playing staff, the boardroom and more. It’s time for a reshape of the playing staff.
Muhamed Besic and Darron Gibson remain consistently injured, Tom Cleverley is solid but not quite there, Kevin Mirallas and Gerard Deulofeu inconsistent and Joel Robles is as far from the first eleven as he can get.
These, among others mentioned by the Goodison faithful such as Seamus Coleman and Phil Jagielka were and are good players on their day, but when you look at the top teams you know what you are getting in terms of consistency.
Kevin De Bruyne will always show up, Dimitri Payet will always show up, Laurent Koscielny, you know they are going to be instrumental to their retrospective team on any given day.
At Everton, only three players stand out among a squad of out of hot and cold players; Idrissa ‘Gana’ Gueye, Gareth Barry and Ashley Williams.
These three, you know what you are getting every single game we watch the Toffees. They do the simple thing and they do it well, and we can always rely on them to show up each and every game of the season.
Only issue is they are surrounded by players who we just can’t rely on. We know the ability of Kev, Geri, Jags and Coleman but what have the big players got that they haven’t? Consistency.
In summary, before some think to blame Koeman and his higher ups, remember that the problem goes deeper than them. This squad is still very much used to doing an ‘Everton’ on any given matchday and maybe it’s time for a complete reshape of this squad. There are too many household names that just don’t cut it anymore, that we hope will come good or that we hope can recapture their form. Think of how long we gave Nikica Jelavic before we finally said goodbye.
We live in hope, us Evertonian’s. We were brought up on hope, told of the days we were the best team in the country, and we all live in hope that one day we will have another William Ralph ‘Dixie’ Dean, but it’s time to wake up. The reality is that this crop of players will not take us to the top, and maybe it’s time to shake it up.
Regardless, we continue to live in hope and there is no reason why we can’t continue to live in hope. That’s what keeps us traveling to Goodison every week, that’s even what gets some of us out of bed in the morning. We are on the right track with Farhad Moshiri at the helm, but it’s time to say goodbye to the stragglers.
After all; Nil Satis Nisi Optimum, and all that.
