Everton Need To Regain Their Killer Touch

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Before the season had even kicked-off, the general consensus was that Everton were well prepared to build on their excellent performances from last season which saw them just narrowly miss out on a Champions League spot to Arsenal.

They had over-performed to a certain extent during the 2013/14 season as they took the league by storm and were the real real dark horse. In short they were last season’s Southampton, and deserved all the praise they got from what they managed to achieve.

Along the way, they overcame Chelsea, beat Arsenal, swept Manchester United aside twice, gave Manchester City a real run for their money on two occasions and won 21 matches in all, securing 72 points as they did so. It was a real improvement on the season before which had seen them win 16 games and pick up 63 points, giving hope that they had finally announced their arrival on the “challengers” stage.

And when you compare their status now with the same point last season, you can understand why their fans would feel a little anxious about a drop-off in progress. After 14 league matches in 2013, they had amassed a total of 27 points and were well on course to challenge the top four. Now, however, they only have 18 points after the same number of games.

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It’s not going to be an easy feat. but The Blues are going to have to try and rediscover that same killer touch that helped them see off so many top-quality teams only a few short months ago, because without a win against any of those teams this time around, they’re in danger of becoming yet another Arsenal-esque cliché.

Part of that has to do with how open the league is this year. Looking at it now, with so many clubs going through transitional changes, the chance has cropped up for a number of teams to take control of the opportunity – and it’s resulted in chaos up and down the league.

However, according to the Liverpool Echo, Roberto Martinez himself has made it clear that they are continuing to strive for progress, so fans will be relieved with that:

"“If you have success as a club you are going to get more games and have bigger demands. That’s testing. But that s what we want. That’s not a reason to drop our level. We want to develop a big club and a big club mentality and that means we have to be able to cope with the games we have in front of us.”"

And with the Spaniard himself insistent on building not just the mindset but the framework of a successful club, its clear the vision is of the long-term. But it’s also one that accommodates a certain degree of good fortune now as well.

So often teams get so bogged down trying to chase the dream of building a long-lasting image of a big club that they miss out any any degree of triumph in the here and now. For many years that’s what happened to Arsenal. They had the big stadium, the big names and the top-class manager, but for years nothing came – and then they won the FA Cup.

And while The Toffees have been on the fringes of the top four for quite some time now, it’s only recently that they’ve started to aim beyond safe mediocrity. Under David Moyes that’s what they got. He was good at what he was brought in to do – to keep them in the top half of the Premier League and slowly make profits by spending shrewdly. But under the stewardship of Martinez, their sights are set quite considerably higher.

And that’s something the purchase of Romelu Lukaku confirmed. They were no longer a club with a small mindset looking on at others giving it a go, they were now in the mix and not afraid to push on, to persevere.

With the Christmas schedule now upon them, it’s vital they stick together as a unit to try and get as many points as they can. From there, they can regroup and re-prioritise.

Do you think Everton can turn things around in the second half of the season?