Have The Toffees Come Unstuck?

rom

When Everton are in the mood, they are very good, with flair players all over the park. On form, they could sneak a European spot at the end of the season but that depends on two things.

First is that they need to put teams away when they are on top in matches instead of drawing games. The 1-1 draw with Norwich was their third straight Premier League draw.

With all due respect to the opposition, Everton should be going to places like Norwich and Bournemouth and winning, not dropping silly points, which could well come back to haunt them.

On top of that, they have also drawn 1-1 with Crystal Palace at Goodison in recent weeks, and if dropping points away is bad form then dropping them at home is a huge no-no if you want to finish in a European spot.

The Premier League is such a cut throat league, and especially this season. It seems that in this campaign the gap between success and failure is getting smaller and smaller every day, whereas before, it was a case of the big four (Manchester United, Manchester City, Chelsea and Arsenal) then the rest.

Now it seems like there is a shock result every week and one of the big boys always seem to come a cropper. Look at the travails of Manchester United and Chelsea.

Just as important as an improvement in form though is the question as to whether Everton can continue to improve their squad this season and how they can continue to build for the future. That will come down keeping hold of their prized assets when the vultures come sniffing in January.

If the rumours are to be believed, they may have to be ready for massive offers coming in for Romelu Lukaku, who is believed to be a target for Manchester United, and several others.

Everton had to repeatedly knock back Chelsea’s offers for John Stones in the last transfer window, when bids as high as £40 million were knocked back by Bill Kenwright and the club’s board. They definitely believe in the work Roberto Martinez is doing, but they have to keep letting him build up his young squad and adding some quality and experience to it.

It is obvious that players like Baines, Stones, Deulofeu, Barkley, Coleman and Lukaku ae going to have interest from other clubs. These are fantastic players as anyone who has watching this Everton team are aware. They have played some great football, especially big Rom who has grown into a great centre-forward for the Toffees and could play anywhere.

The big Belgian forward has been in quite sensational form of late and he scored for the sixth successive game against Norwich in the 1-1 draw to take his tally to 15 for the season. He is the club’s top scorer this season in all competitions.

With Wayne Rooney injured and Anthony Martial struggling in front of goal, United see the Everton hit-man as a perfect fit for their frontline.

Many would say that Jamie Vardy would also be a perfect fit for the United frontline, although it will be the Everton defence that have to deal with his special talent as the Foxes head to Goodison on Saturday .

They are league leaders after their 2-1 win over Chelsea on Monday night. That match saw the man Vardy net again as his and Leicester’s incredible season rolls on and on.

Everton and manager Roberto Martinez must have a plan to stop Vardy and the rest of the Leicester team, especially if they are going to end their own run of draws. The main objective for Everton is to come out of that match unbeaten before they end the year with matches against Newcastle United and Stoke City.

If Everton can keep themselves in the top half of the table over the Festive period, Europe may be a possibility. Alongside that challenge, they also have the small matter of a Capital One Cup semi–final against Manchester City to come early in the New Year.

There’s plenty for Toffees fans to chew over and look forward to.