Football Season Guide

Everton finished last season in a respectable seventh position in the table and sadly for their fans this seems to be the glass ceiling for the current Toffees side as they are just unable to compete with the financial bullies occupying the rarified regions at the top of the Premiership. David Moyes has been quite desponded for long periods of last season with the team frustratingly inconsistent but he quashed any rumours of leaving and will stay on and try to somehow push Everton onto the higher level in the upcoming campaign. Yet, his hands are tied as there are no transfer funds at all and he needs to offload players before bringing any. None of this has happened and this has been a supremely quiet summer even for the standards of the Merseyside club. Keeping hold of prized assets like Phil Jagielka and Marouane Fellaini is likely to be successful and thus the backbone of what is generally a very good squad remains. The worry is that an injury crisis will leave once again the team badly exposed and thus unable to consistently generate points. Once again, Moyes will be wary against a slow start, something that has become anonymous with the Toffees over the last few years, as it cost his team too much lately. Yakubu Aiyegbeni is back in the team after a spell at Leicester on loan earlier in 2011 that seems to have refreshed him. Saemus Coleman will look to further his progress after a great season while Leighton Baines faces the challenge of having another consistently excellent season because if that happens, he may well start pushing Ashley Cole for a place in the England team. The best that Everton can hope for is the Europa League and they are more than capable of making it there provided that the start of the season is not absolutely dreadful and the core of the squad stays reasonably fit.