With injuries to Mikel Arteta and Tim Cahill and variable results lately, the Goodison challenge for fourth place is running out of steam. No surprise there, the club are not Champions League material.
'Everton are yet again paying the price for being a small club, with what they euphemistically call a "tight unit"'
So many Evertonians were gleefully chortling at Liverpool’s plight on Sunday that you would be forgiven for thinking that they already have fourth place wrapped up and are on their way to their latest European adventure (and heartbreak). Let me just remind them again, they don’t.
Right now Everton are in the mire. Their Premier League results this month have gone from good (beating Portsmouth 3-1) to decent (winning 1-0 at the Stadium of Light) to bad (losing 1-0 at Fulham and only managing a draw with West Ham at Goodison).
Mikel Arteta hasn’t been himself since mucking up his groin, Phil Jagielka is having what is technically called “a mare” of a month, and the latest news is that Tim Cahill has knackered his metatarsal for the umpteenth time.
Everton are yet again paying the price for being a small club with what they euphemistically call a “tight unit” - what in reality is a woefully meagre squad unprepared for anything beyond playing in one competition a season.
Scratch below the surface and inflict a handful of injuries and Everton have nothing in reserve. Actually I suppose that’s not 100 per cent true. They do have such glorious superstars as Anthony Gardner, a player so addled with injuries that even Spurs lost patience with him, and Andy van der Meyde, the clown prince of inconsistent wingers.
I am rubbing my hands with glee at the prospect of taking out last week’s frustrations on a very overrated Everton side, and I expect Steven Gerrard and Fernando Torres to resume normal service at Anfield.
It has come to quite a few Merseysiders' attention that both clubs can boast links to famous boxers, but while the fantasists over in Goodison have Sly Stallone’s Rocky as their best claim to celeb-fandom, Liverpool had Joe Louis - the mean Detroiter with his piston-like fists - as a past ‘player’ on their books. At some stage in WW2, Louis came to Liverpool as part of a morale-boosting exercise for the GIs assigned to England, and during a press conference he ‘signed’ for Liverpool.
These two teams reflect their two pugilist mascots – and whereas Everton’s is a fantasy figure, always the underdog – Liverpool’s is someone real and tangible. This comparison perfectly describes the Everton dreamers and their failure to realise just how huge the Anfield club's history really is.
I predict that Liverpool will deliver a knockout blow to Everton’s deluded chase for fourth.
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