Top 4 ?

[Jamesblue90]

Been a comically bad season. Worst one out of the last 6 or 7 for me. Why? Because it's the hope that kills you.
Fact is, if for some obscure reason 8th was granted a place in Europe, it's an absolute certainty we would crumple over the next few games and finish 9th.
Supporting Everton is like a reoccurring bad dream sometimes, like trying to punch but you look down and your hands are pillows.

 

[ForeverBlue92]

Been a comically bad season. Worst one out of the last 6 or 7 for me. Why? Because it's the hope that kills you.
Fact is, if for some obscure reason 8th was granted a place in Europe, it's an absolute certainty we would crumple over the next few games and finish 9th.
Supporting Everton is like a reoccurring bad dream sometimes, like trying to punch but you look down and your hands are pillows.

Its the fact we started off so well which has annoyed me + quite a few games where Carlo got it massively wrong with his team selections.

The worry for me is he's become a Tinkerman and Tinkermen dont win trophies - ironically the one time Claudio Ranieri stopped being a tinkerman and played the same team whenever possible he won the title with Leicester!

Absolutely no reason for Keane and Mina to be on the bench against Villa for example.

 

[jamieni]

Been a comically bad season. Worst one out of the last 6 or 7 for me. Why? Because it's the hope that kills you.
Fact is, if for some obscure reason 8th was granted a place in Europe, it's an absolute certainty we would crumple over the next few games and finish 9th.
Supporting Everton is like a reoccurring bad dream sometimes, like trying to punch but you look down and your hands are pillows.

We’re probably not far off where this squad should be. In and around top 10 but there are plenty of teams with better squads than us. James, Allan and Doucoure were exciting signings but weren’t going to get us top 4 overnight.

Very disappointing and very frustrating recent performances though.

 

[EFC78]

Been a comically bad season. Worst one out of the last 6 or 7 for me.

The fact you've said "for me" means I can't argue with that as it's your opinion, but do you not think the first bit is an overexaggeration?

We are on 52 points and in 8th. With 6 games to go we still had a chance of 5th, but obviously blew it the other day. In the last 6-7 seasons we've had a final points total of 47 (twice under Martinez) and things got so bad under him that Big Sam's relegation threatened Sunderland hammered us 3-0 in front of an Everton away crowd of around 700. For me that was comically bad, not this season...

A season where we have improved on last season's position and points tally with 5 games to go, and beaten Spurs, Leicester, Liverpool and Arsenal away whilst being managed by one of the best Managers in European Football.

I'm not suggesting it's been a great season but there have been some positives. And 8th place feels about right for this side, especially taking in to account our injuries all season.

 

[diggerdestroyer]

I can understand why this thread was opened. We had a fantastic opportunity to break into that top 4. Not through our own performances but due to the fact that everyone outside the current top 3 either had a woeful start of the season or like us very very inconsistent.

I didnt get fooled by our performances though and overall I thought we are nowhere good enough for top 6.

Jermaine jenas was asked a couple months back. Will everton get into europe?He said no. They dont work hard enough.
It is the main reason I feel we will finish 9th or 10th as I expected. You get out what you put in. The lack of intensity in our game and the waiting for a goal from a throw in etc is laughable . I would put above squad quality, poor management calls and injuries as the reason we didnt make europe this year.
Can the title be change to a more relevant top 10 now to stay in reality?

 

[Runub]

The fact you've said "for me" means I can't argue with that as it's your opinion, but do you not think the first bit is an overexaggeration?

We are on 52 points and in 8th. With 6 games to go we still had a chance of 5th, but obviously blew it the other day. In the last 6-7 seasons we've had a final points total of 47 (twice under Martinez) and things got so bad under him that Big Sam's relegation threatened Sunderland hammered us 3-0 in front of an Everton away crowd of around 700. For me that was comically bad, not this season...

A season where we have improved on last season's position and points tally with 5 games to go, and beaten Spurs, Leicester, Liverpool and Arsenal away whilst being managed by one of the best Managers in European Football.

I'm not suggesting it's been a great season but there have been some positives. And 8th place feels about right for this side, especially taking in to account our injuries all season.

This is a fair comment It is just how the season panned out that is so disappointing. With even average home form European qualification would have been nailed a long time ago

 

[tommytowne]

Been a comically bad season. Worst one out of the last 6 or 7 for me. Why? Because it's the hope that kills you.
Fact is, if for some obscure reason 8th was granted a place in Europe, it's an absolute certainty we would crumple over the next few games and finish 9th.
Supporting Everton is like a reoccurring bad dream sometimes, like trying to punch but you look down and your hands are pillows.

A very perceptive post that rings true in every way.

 

[tommytowne]

A short while back I had our upcoming game against West Ham as the decider between the two of us as to who got a European place. I tried looking on the bright side and thinking Champions League. A couple of defeats and game in hand played later and wondering if we go Europa League. Now all the stars are aligned for the Ginger one to rip us a new one. Out of all the games left I just hope we stand our ground against them at the weekend.

 

[Alanbileysfeathercut]

 

[God Benfrey]

Its actually amazing that we were technically within making top 4 for this long tbh, feels like we actually havent dominated a game all season. I mean seriously apart from second half against West Brom (with 10 men) have we actually won a game convincingly? I bet we now somehow sh*thouse our way to wins against West ham and villa then lose at home to Wolves and Sheff when the expectations is back on us to win again.

 

[smileychap]

No team that loses to Fulham, Burnley, Newcastle and scrapes a win vs Baggies can consider itself ready for Europe. The reason we started OK and flagged was simply 2 things:

1. We were 'crap' enough for decent teams to have a go, and we had OK players to hit on the break
2. BUT - we have no grit and spirit to break down the bottom half. Put a decent 'organised XI' behind the ball and we fade.

Both groups of clubs have worked us out. If you're 'better' sit tight and out out play us. If you're bottom half, sit tight and out battle us.

I despise other clubs with our mgt philosophy. That's the worse thing about being an Evertonian these days.

 

[ToffeeTim]

The players didn't want it enough.

I remember Ashley Cole doing punditry on one of our games (I think maybe West Brom away?) and he called out our players for the lack of effort and movement off the ball. He said it wasn't good enough for a team chasing top 4 and I respect his opinion because he was a winner himself. That has stuck with me over the last couple of months and I think it's the main issue for our poor home form. Other teams have wanted it a lot more than us on several occasions and I'm pretty sure the manager will have noted this. I hope he has anyway.

 

[Carlito]

It's better to just enjoy the periods of form, eg the opening weeks of this season, and treat anything actually memorable as a bonus.

The club has no direction, and barring an incredible stroke of good fortune, its piecemeal approach to recruitment will never be enough to close the gap on the serious teams.

 

[messymascot]

The contradictory nature of this team and the way the season has gone means we could beat West Ham away as we are decent away get back into it then lose to Sheffield United at home as we are awful at home and fall away again.

 

[Runub]

I know it would be very good to get into the top four for a number of reasons....attract better players, finance etc. However, I am just watching City v PSG and we are light years away from this quality which is not such a surprise but a sobering thought