So, remember all that optimism and positive thinking that I wrote about last month? Yeah, that’s gone now.
Although possibly overdramatic, things have certainly taken an unwanted turn down miserable memory lane on Merseyside over the past month. Too many unwanted memories of Roberto Martinez’ tenure have begun seeping back into the immediate consciousness, and that is due to a severe dip in form from the majority of Ronald Koeman’s squad.
The Dutchman has experimented with a number of different formations and personnel changes recently to no avail. A squad very recently dubbed ‘the best Everton squad of the Premier League era’ has failed to live up to its moniker for too long and many fingers are being angry gestured in a multitude of directions.
As a general consensus, a lack of commitment and drive has been identified as one of the primary reasons Everton have found themselves on a slippery slope, along with a lack of the desired quality.
B. C. Forbes, creator of renown American business magazine Forbes, once said, “Enthusiasm is the electric current that keeps the engine of life going at top speed. Enthusiasm is the very propeller of progress.”
Philosophical? Absolutely, but it does relate to Everton’s situation. Simply, things just won’t work efficiently unless everyone supports the overarching goal – the players must buy into Everton’s project and work hard to achieve it. That just doesn’t seem to have been the case this past month.
In truth, fans are guilty of this too. Goodison Park is not what it once was. The Bear Pit that used to frighten and intimidate the opposition into submission now doubles as a stark warning to the home side, a promise that they’ll receive the same treatment if things don’t go exactly the right way.
In all fairness, this has been born out of the club’s recent history. There is only so much enthusiasm and belief you can expect to receive from a fan base beaten into pessimistic submission over several years of severe underachievement. It becomes a difficult situation; the players need the fans to support them and get off their back, but the fans need to see some physical improvements before they can start to do that.
So where do we start? Ultimately, Koeman needs to do what he is paid to do and manoeuvre his squad around to find a winning formula. Several days ago he commented on the excessive age of his squad, whilst also shutting down the immediate possibility of youth involvement. Although Koeman Is vastly more intelligent when it comes to judging footballing talent than myself, I find it difficult to believe that after several confident and impressive displays, the likes of Tom Davies aren’t ready to at least play a small part.
Realistically, January will be a huge month for the club as Koeman looks to dip back into the transfer market and strengthen in a number of positions. He cannot however, stick to a single formula and ride it out until January without risking a potential drift away from the pack.
Miraculously, Everton are only eighth in the league despite winning only once in the previous nine games and they’re somehow only one win away from sixth place. If things don’t turn around for the better, Everton could well begin the new year far out of touch.
Like last month, Everton contested just three fixtures in November. Well, I shouldn’t really say contested, saying they appeared in three fixtures would be much more apt. Chelsea was diabolical, Swansea was massively disappointing and Southampton, awful. Everton were lucky, let’s be honest, to get a draw against Manchester United last weekend, and our fixtures for the rest of this month are: Watford, Arsenal, Liverpool, Leicester and Hull. Realistically, where do we see the points coming from?
Ultimately, the players need to stand up and make themselves count. It seems that it’s inevitable that a large number of players will be shipped out when the window reopens, for some they’re too far gone to forge a career in Everton colours. For others, though, if they can fight to bring positivity back to the club, they may just redeem themselves before they depart.
Quality is imperative for success, but a positive mindset goes a huge way.
