Dutch talent latest January link to Everton
As Everton face the daunting task of playing Chelsea tonight with yet more injury problems and enduring a terrible run of results, another speculative transfer link has emerged.
This time it’s a young Dutch attacker said to be on the wish list of Everton manager Rafa Benitez as he continues to prepare for the transfer window on the assumption he will still be in charge.
And, despite the awful form of his team over the last two months, it does look as though he has a limpet-like grip on the managers seat at Goodison Park.
It’s becoming hard to see what level of catastrophy on the pitch would prompt owner Farhah Moshiri to pull the trigger and sack him.
In any similar situation at another club the manager would almost certainly have lost his job by now. But, despite only one win in eleven matches, Benitez clings on.
I think part of the problem may be that apart from the lack of an obvious replacement, the owner has lost much of his commitment to the club and also perhaps even confidence in his ability to make these decisions.
It was clear he wanted Carlo Ancelotti to be the manager over anyone else and when the Italian walked away last summer it was a huge blow to his plans. Benitez represented the only coach probably prepared to take the job in the summer on the basis of having nothing to spend.
While obviously changing manager is not going to solve the fundamental problems at this club, it’s become an almost farcical position for the Blues to be in.
Benitez has certainly not had any luck, that is true. Injuries in particular have again been a huge problem exposing a weak and unbalanced squad he couldn’t really strengthen in the summer because of the club’s financial problems.
However, his recent tactical and team selection decisions and the whole approach he’s taken in setting up his side in a very negative and passive way, has failed again and again.
Last weekend’s dreadful defeat at Crystal Palace should surely have been the last straw. But, we head into tonight’s game with a manager who now seems to have little support left among a fan base who were anyway very sceptical about him, and who has also probably alienated key players in the dressing room too.
The saga surrounding Lucas Digne’s situation has underlined this. Digne’s form has been poor over the last year or so along with many others in this Everton squad, but he is a quality and experienced footballer and I still think he has a role to play in lifting this team up the table.
Well, it seems as though he’s apparently fallen out with his manager and it now looks more and more likely the French international could be heading out of the door, possibly as soon as next month.
This takes us to today’s January transfer speculation and Dutchman Til who is the latest player linked to a new year move to Merseyside.
The attacking midfielder is a young talent who has returned to his homeland after a failed move to Russia’s Premier League.
This in itself is a little bit of a warning sign that perhaps he’s not a good traveller. And, if he couldn’t produce his best game in Russia, he would likely have a much harder time impacting the English Premier League.
The Toffees’ certainly need more goals and attacking creativity and there have been plenty of stories about various forward players being on the club’s radar.
Anyway, all this speculative transfer stuff is ringing increasingly hollow. At the moment with all the seemingly overwhelming problems with this team and football club, I doubt any player will be all that keen to join Everton!
And, without at least four or five quality additions in January, which of course is not going to happen, and a manager able to find a way to inspire and drive this team on, I’m struggling to see any way out of this situation.