We’re not far behind them though, we’ve had about 2 or 3 good signings in the last 5+ years. Their record hasn’t deterred them from trying to continuously strengthen either, whereas we keep twiddling our thumbs whilst hoping that Dele, Ndombele or Lo Celso will come good. A proper club would’ve binned all three by now and/ or signed someone to replace them.
They keep trying it's true but with worse and worse outcomes. Just demonstrates that it isn't easy to get better players than those three, all of which would improve Everton.
I probably wouldn't disagree with this too much...if the way in which we started this season was in any way acceptable, or even necessary...but it wasn't. We blew a really good chance of landing that 4th spot, by ****ing up the appointment of the coach, opting for a DoF only when Levy couldn't appoint any of his first choices as coach; failing to address the real and significant concerns of our best player; appointing a coach who was never sorting out the squad's problems and had zero respect from them, letting the DoF go shopping with scant idea as to what was needed to improve matters; etc., etc. I'm not letting Levy off with those failures because they were clearly and obviously going to lead us to underperforming. Now,it seems that we had the money to employ Conte and fund a significant rebuild all along, but opted not to do it in the summer. We kicked the can down the road, wasted more time and money and waited until things got worse. Had we employed Conte back in June and accepted that more was needed than was actually done, we'd be in with a really strong possibility to get back to the CL. We might still do it, if we're willing to grasp the possibility and invest in the players we so obviously need and have needed for some time. If we finish 5th, 6th or 7th, whether you term it as "not a disaster", it is an unnecessarily missed opportunity...something we seem all too keen keen to embrace.
They’ve made some good signings since the start of last season though, as PNP highlighted. So persisting with additions works, even if it comes with flops. Their main problem this season was hiring the wrong manager to take over from Ancelotti, Benitez is a spent force and has been for some time. None of our three would improve Everton on their current form. All three would struggle at most Premier League clubs.
I don't think that Benitez has done a bad job, he's just been crippled by injuries. Everton have overspent to the point that they're going to be ****ed by FFP. That meant a vastly reduced budget this season and bringing in Gray and Townsend for about 50p. They've both played pretty well and they were on course early on. Richarlison and Calvert-Lewin got crocked and that was it, basically. That's equivalent to us losing Son and Kane.
Conte himself has said that he didn’t feel ready to take another job straight away after Inter, the truth probably lies somewhere between that and us not offering the right situation for him (whether that’s promises of investment, remuneration, staffing etc). I can’t help but wonder if the plan was always to go back to Conte, Paratici in tow, after failing to get him the first time, no matter how well Nuno or whoever else was doing. Something must have changed between the summer and November for him to accept the job though, whether that’s in his own mind, or what we put on the table. I don’t think it’s so much a case of opting not to employ Conte in the first instance though, Levy clearly wanted him, but for whatever reason it didn’t happen.
That's what he said in a club press release AFTER he took the job in October. There wasn't a mention of anything like that in June, when he said... "I look for the projects instead and I am ready to stay at home if something is not convincing me. It has to do with vision, honesty and principles." He was looking at projects and they weren't convincing because of the vision, honesty and principles. It seems pretty clear.
It doesn't help that Benitez isn't exactly popular with the fans...but their injuries have really ripped a hole in their squad and denied them some of the best players. They're not frightened to sack managers but Benitez is still there, so he must be convincing somebody.
Yeah that’s a fair point point about injuries, that’d hurt anyone, we’ve known from experience too. Though I still don’t believe he’s the right manager for Everton. His career has been in a downward trajectory for some time; Newcastle and Dalian being his last two jobs would back that up. He wasn’t popular around Everton as it was either and his style of football is somewhat like that of Jose’s - if you win it’s ok but if you lose it’s a double whammy with regards to result and performance. Felt like a hiring that was doomed from the beginning and I’d be surprised if he’s there at the end of the season.
Whatever you think of Nuno and our performances his points total was 6 greater compared with the same fixtures from last year. So we didn't actually suffer from any underperformance. Indeed if Conte gets a similar improvement we will definitely finish in the top four.
The fact that Calvert-Lewin and Richardson are their equivalent of Kane and Son just further demonstrates how far they are behind us.
They're both very good players. Richarlison's a total twat, of course, but he'd improve a lot of sides.
That means nothing though. Son and especially Kane are two of the best players in Europe and would make the XI of a side like Chelsea, yet it wouldn’t be a reflection of where Spurs and Chelsea are at as Chelsea are comfortably better than us. It also still doesn’t take away that Everton are at least trying to strengthen each window, whereas we keep twiddling our thumbs and are often leaving deals too late/ changing our minds or hoping one of Ndombele, Dele or Lo Celso come good… we’re waiting for something that won’t happen in that regard.
But it's a lot easier to improve a side that is miles away from top 4 than ours which is borderline. There are only a limited number of players who are Man City standard and most of them already play for the top sides. I accept that Dele, Ndombele and Lo Celso are probably not at that standard but that doesn't mean we won't end up with worse.
I've never seen any relevance in directly comparing results against teams across different seasons. It discounts injuries, suspensions, runs of form, the competency of officials, sacking of coaches, when in the season you play the 2 matches and a whole load of other potential factors, including one of your favourites - luck. The fact is that Nuno was sacked, despite 3 good results at the start of the season, because as a whole, performances were dreadful and we got to a point where couldn't muster a shot on goal across multiple games and we had the laziest team in the PL. If you believe that he would have had us finishing above last season's 7th place, then you're actually not Daniel Levy, as I believed, because even he wouldn't have the chutzpah to run that one...
I didn't make that claim at all though. I said his reign did little damage to our expected points total.
Every team has their own barometer for success. Everton could spend £50m on three players and improve their XI/ squad. Tottenham could spend £80m on three players and improve their XI/ squad. Man City could spend £150m on three players and improve their XI/ squad. All teams though would be showing a similar amount of ambition. There are improvements out there for every calibre of team. What Everton are doing so far this window should be of inspiration to us to go and do similar. We have more money and more pulling power than they do, we also don’t need to sign Man City calibre players to reach the top four or top six. There are plenty of very good players in England/ Europe that would join and improve us, it’s the hierarchy’s job to get them in and then for Conte to ensure they hit the ground running. One thing’s for sure though, not acting in the market(s) will only guarantee that we won’t push on. The club needs to be proactive in this market more than most and one week in there’s very little happening. Realistically we should’ve had one through the door already.
I thought that it was implied in the comment about finishing in the Top 4. If that's not what you were driving at, I apologise...but Nuno was sacked because we weren't matching or exceeding the previous season's points total or finish by being the laziest team in the PL, who couldn't muster a shot on target. Nobody's that lucky...and he had to go as a result.
You’re right that the players are out there but it’s a lot easier for a PL club to pull players out of teams in Scotland or Ukraine than it is to get them from other top 5 leagues, which is where we’ll more likely be shopping. Similarly City have track record and resources that we don’t. If they really want a player they’ll probably get him, unless they’re dealing with a chairman like Levy. Shopping in the middle ground is the most difficult part of the market. Conte will hopefully be a pull but it’s not an easy market. But that’s why we employ more qualified and experienced people than me to do the jobs. You’re right though, inaction in this window is inexcusable and we should be proactive, because being reactive for years ****ed us.
