A season where Everton will ponder what might have been

Everton’s improvement under David Moyes is pretty clear for all to see. In 2005 the club finished 4^th ahead of their city rivals but failed to make it into the Champions League proper after losing to Villarreal in the third qualifying round and just last season they finished 5^th as well as making the FA Cup final, losing to Chelsea 2-1.

It was thought that they would be able to build on that this season but things have not quite gone according to plan as they currently find themselves 11^th with 7 defeats already.

Yet it is not because Moyes has not suddenly become inept.

The squad were rocked by Joleon Lescott’s attempt to engineer a move to Man City at the start of the season and were duly hammered 6-1 at home by Arsenal in the opening game. Yet there have been more prominent factors in the team’s performances than Lescott and his attitude to a move away from Goodison Park.

Everton have had a torrid time with injuries. Their squad has been decimated and have missed key players for large parts of the season. Everton’s official website lists Victor Anichebe, Leon Osman, Tony Hibbert, Jack Rodwell, Dan Gosling and Sylvain Distin as injured with Phil Neville having just returned from a long layoff from a knee injury. Yet the two players I’m sure most fans can’t wait to see return will be Phil Jagielka and Mikel Arteta.

In April the Toffees lost Phil Jagielka after the defender ruptured knee ligaments against Man City. It was thought that Jagielka would be back in November but the defender suffered a setback, having a second operation on the knee, and Moyes is now hoping to have him back in the coming weeks.

Whilst Mikel Arteta, whose performances for the club attracted attention from Arsene Wenger, also suffered a knee ligament injury in February that saw him miss the remainder of the season and the start of this one.

Both are scheduled for February returns but by then it may be too late and Everton’s fans as well as Moyes will rue the missed opportunity.

This season has seen the one of the most open races for fourth place for years with Tottenham, Man City and Aston Villa all competing but next season may not be as open as it is likely teams like United who have dropped points to Villa, Liverpool who have dropped points to Tottenham and Arsenal who have dropped points to Man City will strengthen in order to ensure the top four remains the way it is, whilst Man City with their unlimited funds and Roberto Mancini at the helm will be looking to ensure that they are the team out of the chasing pack that finally breaks the top four.

Everton can only regret the fact that it is injuries that have seen them miss the boat this season.