For five seasons I have said a dip will come. It had to. It has come and we've lost our nerve as fans, some players (it seems) and a board.
We scored 63 points last season, if Everton were to win today then they'll have 64 in 7th. I'd argue three of the teams we've seen this season have been better than any of the previous title winners since our return to the PL. Only the table can differentiate the strengths and weaknesses of the other teams. We've had a dip, no doubt, but keeping up with last seasons points tally was always going to be a struggle. Leicester and West Ham have suffered the exact same fates. What do we have in common? We lost our best player
Indeed. But we have demonstrated that we can attract elite-level players, and we have also demonstrated that we can re-sign elite-level players to longer-term contracts. From there, it's just a matter of demonstrating the resolve to actually keep them. Doesn't mean we might not have to give in at some point, but the goal is to have a critical mass of talent at one time, rather than quickly cycling top-level players in and out.
Better probably is out there. But I think if we give Claude a chance then he'll get better. I have been talking to a couple of French football fans who are both adamant that the guy is a shrewd tactician who will win things if given the tools to do the job. Also that he is very much his own man, which is something I always respect. This season he has been living in a new country, learning a new language and playing in a new league, with a few glaring holes in his toolkit. We didn't just pull him out of a hat, we researched this appointment and I'd like to see us have a bit of faith and a bit of patience - if either of those qualities still exist in the modern world.
But we are competing week to week in football terms with Chelsea, United, City, Arsenal, Spurs and Liverpool. it is hard to keep agents and players away from those clubs.
Come on Schad. If one of those teams come calling for a player we have or a player we want to sign, it's game over. My point is that only one other team has out pointed us so far and hence I question the fans expectations. Last season spoiled us and even that had a two month period where a huge number of fans wanted he manager sacked. Fans make me scratch my head, but I'll get accused of talking bollocks if I say that too much. Edit. We matched them last season and the season before. This is the first time we've not kept gaining on the gap... surely people understand that progress isn't a straight upward curve.
First, we're competing for players at a different time than those clubs: namely, we're taking them in before they have become super-duper-mega-stars, and consequently those risk-adverse clubs with limited roster space are not willing to buy them. All of the players we have signed have, I'm sure, been scouted by bigger clubs. They were probably also deemed to be quality talents, but also deemed not to be at a point where they could slot in to their lineups. Consequently, we made offers, and they didn't. We signed them, and they didn't. Second, if we move quickly to hand raises to players we have acquired who have come good (and players with four years of a deal left tend to be amenable to getting paid more in exchange for an extra year or two on the deal), as we failed to do with the first generation but did do with Van Dijk, we have all the leverage. Unless there's a release clause in his contract, the player and agent can bat their eyelashes as much as they desire, but we determine when and if that player moves on. Everton kept Stones for a full two productive seasons after Chelsea first started throwing offers their way; we are not exploring new ground here.
Archers, I'm right with you on this, but sadly we are in a time of mega demanding fans whose expectations are too high. i really don't understand the expectations of a lot (not all before people get upset) of our fans. This was clearly going to be a difficult year. We are not facing relegation. We've just not had the "challenge" nearer the top we wanted or the goals we crave. This is the first difficult period and too many people have thrown their arms up in the air and want a change.
So simplistic schad. Stones productive in his last season? I read everton fans moaning about him speaking out about wanting to leave and not being as good (hence everyone agat when they sold him for nearly 50m) Your first point is just what happens in football. Of course we sign those players and it's probably why they go so quickly... remember when Mane signed for us? His agent said in the first week this was a stepping stone. Do we not sign them because we might lose them? We kept Vic, Mane and Morgan for productive last seasons, but in the end they go. As did Stones. We also all know how the club was going to be run. not quite sure where this conversation is going. It's talking over old ground again. All I'm doing is trying to say that we are doing quite well, fans expectations are too high and it's crazy that we are likely to change a manager after this season.
At one point we scored 10 goals in three matches (Suderland, United, Watford) playing 4-2-3-1 and these three matches we've played the best football attacking wise this season. We had Gabbiadini as a stiker, Tadić in the middle, Redmond left wing, JWP right wing. Later Puel moved Tadić to the right and pulled JWP back in midfield and subsequently we've looked far less dangerous in attack .
I think Puel deserves another season. His flair players (Boufal and Tadic) have been ineffective - Tadic is inconsistent, and Boufal when fit doesn`t deliver very much. Not his fault we miss loads of chances, including penalties, a fixture pile-up, and injuries to key players. Give him a full transfer window, then lets judge him. I`d hate for us to be a hiring/firing club.
It's equally simplistic to argue that we're nothing but grist for the mill and hand-wave away the rather substantial changes that have taken place over the past decade. How does a club like Atletico Madrid, in the shadow of their two bigger rivals, attract top notch players and challenge for titles/CL? Because, while they might lose out on some transfers, and lose some players, they are still far larger than most clubs, and consequently can pursue the talent necessary to compete. We are closer in resources to the likes of Spurs and Liverpool than they are to Real Madrid and Barca, after all. Doesn't mean we can expect to rival them annually, but to dismiss competing with them as fantasy requires one to willfully ignore the fact that it has been done rather frequently in recent years.
In your post I replied to you suggested he had changed to be less attacking. I said "what about Hull?" when he played all the attacking players together which to me suggested he wanted us to be attacking.... thus, I don't think Puel tried to make us less attacking as was originally suggested... and what I asked. The Hull game suggests he didn't want to make us less attacking. Just a conversation Croatiasaint.
Simplistic but realistic. You seem to have answered your own question with the bit in bold. They also only have two big clubs in their league. The players not signed in that league by the big two make At Madrid the next most attractive to sign for. We potentially have 6 clubs in our league more attractive to sign for.
League doesn't matter terribly much anymore. Players move from nation to nation like they once did from town to town. We aren't competing with Chelsea and Man City for transfers...we're competing with Lyon and Benfica and Gladbach and any number of other clubs. And, increasingly, we have more money to spend than they do. I can assemble a team from lesser sides that could take on and probably overtake the best in the Premier League. It would be hideously expensive to buy ready-made stars -- this is a thought exercise, after all -- but the world's footballing talent is not wholly contained in a select few squads.
