ThewolfEverton FC correspondent Joe Thomas looks ahead with hope to the return of Premier League football next weekend in this week’s Royal Blue column
This international break came at a good time for Everton. The start to the season has been a tough one and a small squad, blighted by injury, has endured some frustrating results and performances.
There is a lot of room for improvement and work this fortnight at Finch Farm will focus on doing whatever is possible, with the players available, to give Everton every opportunity to hit the ground running when they return to action with the long trip to Ipswich Town next weekend.
Here are some reasons for hope that the coming weeks will see Everton continue to grow into the campaign.
With that being the case, Everton entered this season with a squad that was still vulnerable to injury and that has been clear over the last two months. Jarrad Branthwaite lost his summer to the groin issue that required surgery after his England debut and has been missed. It is little coincidence his comeback coincided with the club’s first and only Premier League win to date and the quad issue that ruled him out of the following game against Newcastle United was a source of frustration for everyone in the Blues bubble.
But while his comeback will be managed carefully, he is closing on sustained fitness and Everton will benefit from having the starlet back in action.
In Branthwaite’s absence, James Tarkowski‘s own fitness issues have been more problematic than ideal. He is still yet to miss a league game for the Blues but glute and back issues have led to him having to manage his training programme and play through injury, a challenge that is a new one for the club’s Mr Indestructible even at the age of 31. He has been in training over the first week of the break and is another player, like Branthwaite, who might benefit from this interval.
Meanwhile, Nathan Patterson has played three matches for the Under-21s, including two in five days last week, and with Seamus Coleman and Vitalii Mykolenko, is making progress towards a return to first-team action. After a summer blighted by injuries, Everton are close to having a fully fit backline available, something it is hoped will enable the club to return to the solidity that underpinned their best spells last season.
Alongside the players who are getting fit, there are the players who are settling in to life at Everton. Sean Dyche places a high value on new arrivals getting up to speed with his approach and is typically careful about exposing them to the first team while they gather an understanding of his ways and the setup they will form part of. That has been showcased once again with the delayed introductions of the likes of Iliman Ndiaye and Jesper Lindstrom.
Those players should now have settled in and there have been some encouraging signs. Ndiaye has been one of the team’s standout players this season and, save for the moments of individual brilliance from Dwight McNeil, has probably been Everton’s best player. He looks a threat whenever he gets the ball and, while Dyche has persisted with playing him out wide – and may well continue to do so – he has added a new dimension to an attack that struggled last season.
Lindstrom has so far lacked the end product displayed by Ndiaye and McNeil and was removed at half-time against Crystal Palace. But the Denmark international has shown signs of the pace and intent that he can bring to the team.
Meanwhile, Orel Mangala, a deadline day signing in midfield, has added a vital extra body in an area the BLues were light in and he has started to form a partnership with Abdoulaye Doucoure that has shown signs of promise.
A fixture list with potential
Those growing relationships are particularly important given the fixtures that are coming up for Everton. Dyche would be the first to say there are no easy games in the Premier League and he is, of course, correct. But having failed to take points from home games against Brighton & Hove Albion and Bournemouth, the Blues have matches that they have to see as big opportunities coming up.
They are already three unbeaten after the useful points against Leicester City and Newcastle that sandwiched the Palace win and they have the chance to continue that run.
Two of the next three matches are at teams that are winless in the league. While both will be long away days – first to Ipswich then later to Southampton – they will represent a chance for Everton to put daylight between them and some teams beneath them.
In between those games is the home clash with a Fulham side that has started the season well and which has been a thorn in Dyche’s side since he moved to Everton.
Marco Silva’s men have inflicted two damaging defeats at Goodison Park in the league and then won on penalties in the Carabao Cup quarte- final on Merseyside last year – now would be a good time to break that spell.
Those matches are followed by a trip to West Ham United and the visit of Brentford before December’s run of tough fixtures starts. Each game will be a challenge but none should be as hard as some of the tasks Everton have already faced having hosted a Brighton side that had spent £200m this summer and travelled to Champions League hopefuls Aston Villa and Tottenham Hotspur.
Learning from experience
No-one needs reminding of the past few years endured by supporters but the fact the Blues have come through tough starts over recent years means there is experience in the squad and dugout at building into a campaign.
Everton actually have one more point than this time last season and it was 12 months ago that they beat Bournemouth to secure a first league win at Goodison of the season.
While the Blues would have finished on the cusp of the top half without last season’s points deductions, there were difficult spells that were eventually overcome. Many involved in those therefore have experience to draw upon and know that an upturn can be achieved.
BadboyMusty
Thewolf
