Everton 2020-21 review: a massive opportunity missed

The 2020-21 Premier League season has ended and following their fine start Everton again ultimately disappointed, failing to qualify for Europe or break their quarter of a century without a trophy.

So what are we to make of a campaign that saw the most away wins since the last season Everton were champions, but also a bewildering number of home defeats too?

This was surely the most unusual season in football history with the whole Covid situation of course playing a fundamental part in that. No fans in stadiums for most of the season and a hectic schedule of fixtures with games at almost any and every day and time, made for a series of results that probably won’t ever be replicated.

At the start of the campaign, perhaps for the first time in a long time many Blues fans had a cautious optimism that maybe, just maybe, we were seeing light at the end of the tunnel.

After so many dreadful seasons of at times utterly embarassing failure and consistent underachievement, perhaps now with a coach who had won virtually every prize in the game, the Toffees might at last begin to turn the corner.

Carlo Ancelotti’s appointment was still enthusing most Evertonians and the general consensus was he and the club had spent well in the summer.

Critically, they had added steel and athleticism to a chronically weak and underperforming midfield with the signing of Allan and Abdoulaye Doucoure.

While the addition of a genuine global superstar in James Rodriguez, although somewhat of a gamble, seemed symbolic of the new profile and pulling power of the club now that Ancelotti was in the dugout.

With all the upheaval and uncertainty of the whole season this was a huge opportunity missed by Everton that we might well regret in future years.