Spurs 2 Everton 2: Blues finish season eighth again

There we go so the final match of the 2018-19 Premier League season ended with Everton taking a point at Tottenham Hotspur this afternoon.

First of all before we talk about Everton, let’s congratulate back-to-back champions Manchester City – well done to them AND for stopping Liverpool winning the league!

As for the Blues they have finished the season in eighth yet again although with a higher points total at least.

The Toffees travelled to London for the final time this season for a game against the Champions League finalists that was very hard to call.

Would Spurs still be on a high after that great result on Wednesday or would they struggle to concentrate and focus on the Premier League game?

As it happened Spurs started well and they took a quick, early lead as Everton struggled to get going.

It was an open game as these last week fixtures often are. Everton gradually grew into the game but didn’t create too many chances.

However in the second half the Toffees improved and eventually equalised through a lively Theo Walcott. And the Blues then went ahead as Cenk Tosun scored what might turn out to be his final goal in an Everton shirt.

Spurs responded and in their turn equalised through Christian Eriksen so the game finished 2-2 with the points shared.

So after all that what can we say about Everton’s position and prospects for the next season?

There has been an undeniable improvement in the team’s performances and the quality of their football.

The Blues overall efforts have underlined what seems to be genuine and sustained changes in the team’s form.

It is defensively where Everton have made the biggest improvement. At the turn of the year the Blues were struggling badly with the team letting in a succession of cheap goals, especially from set-pieces.

With an attack that was also sputtering at that time, that meant the Toffees were on a terrible run of results. The nadir was reached for me with the defeat at Southampton followed by a dreadful FA Cup loss at Millwall in January.

It seemed at this point that the Blues season was in free fall. There were three more defeats that followed, however especially in the game against champions Manchester City at home, there was evidence of improvement.

In that match the Toffees actually defended pretty well and held out for almost the whole of the first half against a dominant City side that is setting new standards of excellence in the Premier League before finally conceding two goals at the end of each half.

Everton then continued to show increasing improvement after the international break in February.

There seemed to have been concerted efforts to tackle the defensive frailties and set-piece vulnerability during this break and it brought reward quickly. The Toffees looked a lot more consistently solid and reliable side at the back.

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And at the same time Marco Silva had stumbled on a much more effective attacking formation as he brought in Bernard and shifted Richarlison to the right side of the attack.

As a result and although there were hiccups along the way with the losses at Newcastle and Fulham, the Blues went on a fine run of form at home against supposedly superior teams such as Chelsea and Arsenal.

So although the Toffees have finished in exactly the same position as last season, there is a markedly different sense of cautious optimism apparent.

And as we turn our attention to the summer and Everton’s transfer plans, there is it seems a firm foundation established that the Blues must successfully build on next season.