Everton yesterday recorded a win on penalties against what is traditionally known as a ‘solid’ and ‘resolute’ Stoke City side.
If you believe the press, are going to be the next top 8 side to swash-buckle their way to the Europa League places. Unfortunately for those who paid for a Sky subscription the traditional Stoke side turned up in Singapore for our cup semi-final which made the game a pedestrian typical pre-season affair.
Even the fact that, for the first time ever (we believe) Everton scored all 5 penalties in a shoot-out there were few celebrations amongst the team as we move on to play Arsenal in the final on Saturday. This can only be a good thing in terms of competitive practice as the alternative – playing against a ‘Select Singapore XI’ is probably not as good an exercise as playing against Arsene Wenger’s side. Even if he plays a few reserves and kids.
I’m pretty pleased that we got the win, but maybe not for the reasons some other Evertonians will think. Being in a ‘final’ and being in line to win a ‘cup’ may be nice – anything to replace the embarrassing trophies we’ve got on display inside Goodison Park to be honest – but for me the importance in building confidence and getting some wins under our belts should not be underestimated.
At the start of last season’s campaign I was pretty vocal in terms of us not winning any matches pre-season. I was informed by many Blues that results don’t matter, and I can take that on board. However, not winning ANY games had the opportunity to introduce a losing mentality in the players. That may even have transferred to the players in the first two league matches of the season when we drew 2-2 against Leicester and then Arsenal when in a strong position. Having a winning mentality could have pushed the team to have more self-belief and look to see the game out.
One of the other criticisms that I had last season was the lack of fitness that the players seemed to have, which was borne from the fact that they seemed to run out of steam every match. Again, this could have been connected to the mentality of the players. When you think that there’s a chance you can lose it can become energy-sapping to even the fittest of players.
The hope this season is that the players have had a Summer off and will come back fit and raring to go. Even those players such as Stones and Garbutt played very little football when away with the under-21s and they should be starting from a strong position. The climate will have been hot and sticky and may help with fitness too.
The only thing that could affect the players’ confidence would be if a bid came in for an important player and disrupted the club, but things seem to have gone very quiet on the ‘which Everton player shall we sell yet’ front. Maybe the Daily Mirror have forgotten about us or something. James McCarthy has been told he’s not for sale and, for now, it looks like little business will be done. I’ll take that for now despite the fact we need another striker and a central defender or two (we’re hearing that Johnny Evans could be on the way. I’d accept that – he’s better than Distin and Alcaraz at least…). Oh, and a goalkeeper… If you want to bet on him going back to the States here is a great MLS info and betting site that can give you some insight!
I’ll be honest, I can’t wait for the new season – hopefully we can start by bringing home the Singapore Humidity Bowl or whatever it’s called against the Gunners on the weekend. COYB!!
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