Not unexpectedly the English Premier League have announced today a further suspension of the current season until 30 April, leaving great uncertainty over when or if, Everton, along with all clubs will be able to complete their fixtures.
This follows a conference call today in which all Premier League clubs including Everton of course, took part. The decision always seemed inevitable once the initial suspension was announced, as 3 April seemed from the off too short a time to assess properly the impact of this situation.
The full FA statement carried by the Liverpool Echo is as follows:
"“The FA, Premier League, EFL and women’s professional game, together with the PFA and LMA, understand we are in unprecedented times and our thoughts are with everyone affected by COVID-19.“We are united in our commitment to finding ways of resuming the 2019/20 football season and ensuring all domestic and European club league and cup matches are played as soon as it is safe and possible to do so.“We have collectively supported UEFA in postponing EURO 2020 to create space in the calendar to ensure domestic and European club league and cup matches have an increased opportunity to be played and, in doing so, maintain the integrity of each competition.“The progress of COVID-19 remains unclear and we can reassure everyone the health and welfare of players, staff and supporters are our priority. We will continue to follow Government advice and work collaboratively to keep the situation under review and explore all options available to find ways of resuming the season when the conditions allow.“We would all like to re-emphasise that our thoughts are with everyone affected by COVID-19.”"
Although the Premier League have said they are determined to finish the current campaign, we are left in a state of limbo due to the fast-moving nature of this outbreak and so there is still uncertainty over whether the Blues will have any more games in the 2019-20 season.
Obviously the first game the Toffees were due to play was the Merseyside derby at Goodison Park. Given how wretched Everton were at Chelsea in their last match, how poor their recent form has been against Liverpool, and how well the league leaders are playing, I’m not too unhappy that particular fixture has been suspended!
Of course I would feel, as many Evertonians might, that it would be more than a little amusing if the season wasn’t completed and Liverpool weren’t able to be awarded the title!!
However, if the season were to finish now, how would Blues fans assess Everton’s 2019-20 campaign and the prospects for next season?
The bald facts say that this season has been another failure. The Toffees are stuck in the bottom half of the table and given recent results, hopes of European qualification for next season, are almost certainly over.
In fact technically the Blues are not out of the relegation mix, probably still needing at least one more win to be sure of safety. And the last time Everton finished a Premier League campaign in 12th position, the manager at that time, Roberto Martinez, got the sack.
There’s obviously no question of a similar outcome for Carlo Ancelotti! However there are a lot of issues that the manager has to find answers to and quickly if the Blues are to make a better fist of things next season, whenever that might be.
In some ways the 4-0 thrashing at Chelsea, while hard to stomach, was a positive thing, bringing fans back down to earth after the heady first few weeks of Ancelotti’s reign and re-emphasising the perennial weaknesses in the squad that must be addressed.
Defensive frailties, a lack of midfield combativeness and creativity and wastefulness in front of goal were all on display at Stamford Bridge.
This is certainly a lot of problems to tackle! In order of importance, in my view these are; improve the midfield’s energy and creativity, strengthen the defence all round and perhaps also find an experienced, consistent finisher to help mentor the Blues young forwards.
Finding the kind of dynamic and forceful midfielder to partner Andre Gomes, (or whoever else might start there), will also shore up the defence at the same time. I’ve already listed as number of potential candidates that I think the club should be looking at and Ancelotti seems very aware of this issue.
Of course if Jean-Phillipe Gbamin were ever to return to full fitness he might still provide that additional drive, energy and work rate in the middle.
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Gbamin can also play central defence but here it seems the Italian has identified who he wants to bring in this summer; the Brazilian Gabriel from Lille.
I feel though that in some respects the full-back positions are more of a concern defensively than who plays at centre-half. Right-back is especially problematic, with Djibril Sidibe failing to convince he can defend properly and Seamus Coleman no longer the player he once was.
And while Lucas Digne at left-back is a better defender, he has been way below his best for most of this season. A sort-term solution that would help here is to give Leighton Baines another year’s contract extension, something I think the Toffees will seriously consider.
Up front, although I don’t think Everton need to spend big on another high-profile player, if they could find a veteran 30-something striker to provide that nous and experience alongside all the Blues young forwards, it would I’m sure help to improve the goal conversation rate.