Everton: Foundations laid, bricks to follow..

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Abertonian

Player Valuation: £20m
Everton: Foundations laid, bricks to follow in time

Date published: Thursday 28th July 2016 8:17

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Less than three weeks before Everton’s first league game of 2015/16, supporters were expressing their outrage at the lack of investment in the club’s first team. Tom Cleverley had arrived on a free transfer from Manchester United and Gerard Deulofeu arrived permanently from Barcelona, but the usual rumours has produced nothing concrete.

In the Daily Telegraph, Chris Bascombe wrote how ‘Everton faced a ticking transfer time bomb as Roberto Martinez tried to defuse fans’ frustrations’, while fans protested on the streets outside the stadium in late August over the club’s transfer market inactivity. ‘Kenwright and the board, you’re holding us back. If you love the club, set it free; we need investment,’ their banner read.

One year later, and not much has changed. The only addition to the playing staff from last season is Maarten Stekelenburg, a 33-year-old goalkeeper with 18 league starts since March 2014. Add the exits of Tim Howard, Leon Osman and Steven Pienaar, and it is no exaggeration to say that Everton’s squad is weaker than in May. Both John Stones and Romelu Lukaku are both more likely to leave this summer than last, with the former finally to be granted the big-money move he craves.

Should Stones go, Everton’s first-team squad will be reduced to 29, with untested youngsters accounting for seven of those positions. Of the remaining 22, Oumar Niasse, Darron Gibson, Aiden McGeady and Arouna Kone are generally unwanted. That leaves 11 starters and a bench of seven substitutes; cross your fingers for no injuries. Finally, 21-year-old Shani Tarashaj could feasibly be Romelu Lukaku’s only back-up/competition/support. Have the lessons of last season not been learnt?

It’s a funny thing, perception. For while last July and August 2015 brought pique and protest, Everton could reasonably be described as a feel-good club again. The appointment of Ronald Koeman from upwardly mobile Southampton stroked the ego of a support worried at how far their mighty had fallen; the bank balance of new owner Farhan Moshiri persuaded them that everything would be okay.

That doesn’t change the reality, of course. The problem with Moshiri’s wealth is that it increases expectation and ambition, but doesn’t actually mean a great deal until some of the money is spent. Everton have been linked to Kalidou Koulibaly, William Carvalho, Georginio Wijnaldum, Juan Mata, Moussa Sissoko and Axel Witsel, but should be warned against shopping in an unrealistic market. Deals for Lamine Kone and Idrissa Gueye might not make mouths water, but Everton must avoid trying to sprint before pacing out the marathon course at walking pace.

Two weeks until the season begins with a home fixture against Tottenham, and one goalkeeper signed, yet the manager’s mood of relaxation is mirrored across the club. “Things will start happening in the coming days and weeks,” Koeman said on Tuesday. “Everything will be fine.” What’s more, supporters believe him.

While Koeman’s appointment was a statement of intent from Everton, it is the arrival of Steve Walsh from Leicester that offers the most promise for the future. Walsh is the new Director of Football at Goodison, and will oversee the club’s transfer activity in conjunction with the manager. The Director of Football role is still viewed with suspicion by some in English football, as is Walsh’s own use of data analysis, but his work at Leicester makes for an overwhelming argument. Koeman’s own experiences with Les Reed at Southampton were equally positive.

“It’s really good for the club to have someone in Steve who has shown his quality in his job at a number of clubs over many years,” Koeman said after Walsh’s appointment. “That’s the experience and quality he will bring to us at a good time in the season. He has a great deal of knowledge about building for the long-term.”

It is that last phrase that best encapsulates the mood around Goodison: “Building for the long-term.” Everton have existed on the Premier League’s periphery for so long that supporters are happy to remain patient in the search of sustainable success. When a sleeping giant has fallen into a semi-coma, waking it up is a slow process. With Walsh on board, Everton are aiming to be shrewd, not showy. That’s the strategy that made them successful in the first place.

A lack of signings will always frustrate in an age where buying in rather than bringing through is the increasing norm; nobody wants to be spurned by Marko Arnautovic. Yet amid newspaper talk of £100m war chests and £30m signings, there lies a club laying the foundations for a brighter future. The bricks will come, in time.

http://www.football365.com/news/everton-foundations-laid-bricks-to-follow-in-time
http://www.football365.com/news/everton-foundations-laid-bricks-to-follow-in-time
 

What foundations? We have a squad of left backs and right wingers.
Terribly imbalanced. It's all well and good to say let's be calm, but there is a drastic revamp needed, of which we have seen nothing more than a back up keeper.
I'm not panicking just yet but ambition means jackshit if it isn't married up with end product. We need those quality signings in and quickly to allow partnerships and team chemistry to form.
 

Ive read that article on 365 and I agree with the gist of it. It is about perception, many blues have a "feel good factor" at the moment. But its about 3 weeks to the start of the new season and its looking more likely that Stones is gone, not sure about Lukaku, but the squad is down on numbers and the last thing we need is a shitty start with a 1st teamer injured early doors and no cover. Its great to have loads of cash in the bank but we need premier league quality players in asap.
 
Admittedly I'm not as familiar with how transfers come together and fall apart as many of you.

From an American sports perspective, names for various positions get put in the press, but when they don't happen, the consensus doesn't always seem to be "he chose X (Stoke here) over Y (Everton)." A lot of times it's that the interest wasn't ever actually there, the interest was there but the new team wasn't willing to pay a premium for the player or get into a bidding war, etc.

Seems every time a potential transfer is mentioned for EFC, and doesn't occur, both GOT and the media make it out as though we've been spurned. Are those conclusions just for clicks and a "woe is us" perception, or should I really be convinced that Marko chose Stoke straight up?
 

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