Everton: Ten best post war players part 4

On we go with another breakdown of my latest selection of the best Everton players that have pulled on the famous royal blue shirt since the end of WW2.

We now move into and beyond the 1990’s, which after all the success and near-misses of the eighties was not nearly so satisfying an era for Everton supporters.

When I’ve been thinking about this list, I’ve tried to focus on players who might not have always been the most talented or high-profile, but who I feel had a significant and sustained impact on the Toffees team.

So the ‘best’ might not always be the most obvious candidates but ones that I felt had been strong and consistent players, such as a player like Peter Reid.

That means that one player I’m not including is Duncan Ferguson. The big Scot is a legendary, talisman-type figure at Goodison Park. But although he sometimes had a huge impact on the team in individual games, he was too often injured and he didn’t ultimately score that many goals or prove a match-winner often enough.

And so it was with many players from the ’90s. Despite the fact that the Blues won their last major honour, the 1995 FA Cup during that decade, and had some fine players such as Andrei Kanchelskis and Anders Limpar, I’m not selecting any players from that decade.

The first player I’m focusing on today was brought to Everton by David Moyes a couple of years after he became Blues boss; Tim Cahill.

The ultra-competitive Aussie certainly wasn’t the most talented player ever to grace Goodison, but he was a player who made the absolute most of his ability and was consistently productive.

Cahill came to Goodison Park in the summer of 2004 for just £1.5 million after playing a key role in Millwall’s surprise run to the FA Cup final the previous season, where they eventually lost to Manchester United.

The young midfielder excelled at arriving late in the penalty box to score crucial goals and this quality made him a very useful and effective player, especially because the Toffees had just lost Wayne Rooney to United and lacked enough quality and options up front.

Cahill was also a strong, combative player in the heart of the Toffees midfield but having often won the ball, he would then time his runs to perfection popping up to get on the end of an attacking move to score, often with his head.

The Australian international again typified the type of player that Moyes was keen to bring to Everton when he was manager.

Given his lack of financial resources, Moyes sought to put together a team of hard-working and competitive players who would offer the energy and determination to overcome any perceived lack of talent overall.  Cahill was exactly that type of footballer.

However Cahill was also a more talented player than some might have thought. He had pace and great athleticism, (hence the number of headed goals he scored), and was an underrated passer of the ball. He was also a versatile footballer who could fill in playing in several positions.

His impact at his new club was immediate, as he finished as the leading goal scorer and was voted Everton’s Player of the Season at the end of the 2004-05 season. After just one season, he was already a firm fans favourite.

This campaign also saw the Toffees exceed all expectations finishing fourth and qualifying for the Champions League for the first, and so far last, time.

The midfielder had been a key addition, supplying energy and critical goals as the Toffees hard-working and committed team surprised the pundits and perhaps even themselves that season.

Cahill was a great servant at the club, consistently producing for the Blues over the next seasons, working hard and regularly scoring important goals from midfield.

His versatility proved especially important when Everton suffered a series of injuries to their strikers in 2007-08 and Cahill was moved up front to operate as an emergency forward. As usual he excelled in this part-time role, underlining his fundamental importance to the team.

One issue that did cause problems later in his career, was Cahill’s insistence on playing in virtually all his country’s international games. This meant he was often away on the other side of the world and sometimes came back with niggling injuries that impeded his effectiveness.

In 2012, after a terrific time at Goodison Park, Cahill finally left Everton to try his hand at football in the United States, as he moved to the MLS franchise New York Red Bulls.