07-09 Team

BillLovesRoo · October 5, 2017

sageyefc said:
The year we went out to fiorentina was probably the best side we've had in decades, very well balanced, had a bit of depth to it, and the axis of arteta pienaar and Baines was a joy to watch

If we knocked them out we probably should of gone on to win that competition, we would of had a run of PSV, Rangers & Zenit to the final (which was at Manchester incidently)

Brendan Janus · October 5, 2017

Yeh we beat Dougal in the previous round, then lost to Florence !!

Darth Toffeeman · October 5, 2017

Saint Domingo said:
It didn't seem to attract much praise at the time but have the subsequent years and the harsh reality of the premier league given you a greater appreciation of the 07-09 team and what they accomplished (relative to premier league Everton not historical Everton)?

They're never spoken of as fondly as the 95/96 vintage (even ignoring their trophy win) or even the 04/05, 13/14 teams. I'd argue however that they were probably our best prem side for quality of football, consistency, and individual player ability.

Jagielka is arguably still our best CB now even after countless efforts to replace him, a decade ago prior to a cruciate ligament injury you could argue whether he was even the best CB in the team! When you see some of the defenders playing for us now, and dare I say at the RS too, you can see what an absolute quality pair Jags and Lescott were back then. Ditto for Baines.

Lavish sums have been splashed on McCarthy Gueye Schneiderlin Klaasen Siggurdson, we've also seen Cleverley Barkley Besic in our central midfield too. Can anyone honestly say that any of these players during their time at Everton can even hold a candle to Arteta Pienaar or Cahill?

Whilst we watch 150 million being spent and we line up with Niasse and Calvert Lewin up front, remember a peak Yakubu and Cahill up top with Johnson, and young injury free Anichebe and Vaughan on the bench?

When you add in solid pros like Neville Carsley Yobo Hibbert and Osman plus Fellaini (ok I never liked him but he's still in every United and Belgium squad) you begin to see that what was derided as a squad of 'hard working servants' actually contained far more quality than the one assembled now and could probably toy with any Everton team created by Martinez of Koeman since.

Perhaps that is why they qualified for Europe 3 years in a row, saw off Liverpool over 2 legs, and reached a cup final.

Has your opinion of that team, the individual players, Moyes, changed over time after watching what has come after them?

A fabulous side that showed just what a brilliant job Moyes did from what he inherited from Smith.

The only real failure was the UEFA Cup in 08. We really should have won that, but poor tactics away to Fiorentina gave us too much to do in the return. We still absolutely battered them at home but they held out for pens and that was that sadly. Rangers making the final v a Zenit side we had already beaten :/

Domestically Man U had an astonishing side. Rooney and Ronaldo at their peaks, and Tevez in reserve. Arguably their strongest Prem side in an era littered with quality Ferguson teams. Chelsea where also an absolute monster back then too.

We just put the best side together when sides around us had even more. In any other period we might well have had some Silverware with that side.

adi dassler · October 5, 2017

Had some great times following that team, used to go home and away during that 07-09 period.

Very underrated Everton team IMO. It was unfortunate that there were 4 other very strong domestic teams around that period - Utd had probably the best team in their history, a very powerful winning machine that was Chelsea, RS containing peak Gerrard, Torres, Alonso, Mascherano etc. and even Arsenal who had some great players at that time.

I remember a period around Nov - Dec 07 where we won a silly number of games on the bounce, including 2 at West Ham, home and away wins in Europe, that 7-1 demolition of Sunderland. Think it all ended at Old Trafford around xmas, which was sadly symptomatic of that whole period as we just seemed to have a mental block when going to the "big" grounds.

Still take that team over the current incumbents every day of the week.

Brendan Janus · October 5, 2017

adi dassler said:
Had some great times following that team, used to go home and away during that 07-09 period.

Very underrated Everton team IMO. It was unfortunate that there were 4 other very strong domestic teams around that period - Utd had probably the best team in their history, a very powerful winning machine that was Chelsea, RS containing peak Gerrard, Torres, Alonso, Mascherano etc. and even Arsenal who had some great players at that time.

I remember a period around Nov - Dec 07 where we won a silly number of games on the bounce, including 2 at West Ham, home and away wins in Europe, that 7-1 demolition of Sunderland. Think it all ended at Old Trafford around xmas, which was sadly symptomatic of that whole period as we just seemed to have a mental block when going to the "big" grounds.

Still take that team over the current incumbents every day of the week.

Polite way of saying the current bunch of turds !!