Seamus Coleman has admitted that the Everton squad previously didn’t think European qualification was possible this season, although it is now their sole target, talking to Everton TV.
At their lowest point under Marco Silva in December, Everton had looked to be in danger of relegation, and had looked far more likely to go down than to have finished in the top half of the table.
However following Duncan Ferguson winning five points from three games, and with Carlo Ancelotti having won 17 points from his eight matches in charge so far this season, the Europa League is now a real possibility, with Tottenham able to move just four points above Everton in fifth place with a win over Aston Villa.
While the club aren’t getting their hopes up by targeting the Champions League, Everton’s Irish captain claims that the Blues are desperate to reach the Europa League. Coleman said:
We’re trying to catch those European places. A few months ago, we probably didn’t think that was possible.
But we’re playing well now and just looking forward to every game.
We’ve got to push for Europe. I think this club needs European football and we all want that.
Where this football club wants to get in the next three, four, five years, it has to be wanting European football every year and if we can get it this year, that’s a bonus.
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Coleman is spot on with his assessment of Everton’s need for European football. With an elite coach like Carlo Ancelotti, and bankrolled by an owner like Farhad Moshiri, Everton have the platform to play European football, they just need the players to do so.
For Everton to move to the next level, as both a global brand and a football club, they need the additional platform that the Europa League provides.
It did seem almost impossible midway through the season, but now that it is in reach, the players need to make themselves count and give it their all to ensure the club get back onto the continental stage.
