After years of toil, David Moyes appears to have played the transfer market perfectly over the past 18 months to create an Everton team capable of challenging for the top four positions.

Overview

For more than ten years now Everton manager David Moyes has been engaged in the ongoing mission that is the footballing equivalent of a Rubik's Cube. Through thorough scouting and frugal spending he's repeatedly tended to one part of his team only, upon completion, to find another part needs rebuilding because the club isn't in a position to refuse big offers for its best players and they’ve moved on.

Only once in that period has the puzzle been completed and remained so for a long enough period of time for the Toffees to make the Champions League. That was the 2004/05 season and the class of 2005/06 was singularly unfortunate to pull Villarreal, the best opposition they could have faced by some distance, in the preliminary round. Even then it needed some highly questionable refereeing over the two legs, and an incorrectly disallowed goal in the away game, to knock Everton out before they were ever really in.

Since the end of the 2004/05 season the lack of a rich sugar daddy in the boardroom or a shiny new stadium with lots of restaurants has hamstrung Moyes' best efforts to repeat the feat. Wayne Rooney went to Man Utd for £20m, Joleon Lescott to Manchester City for £22m, Andy Johnson to Fulham for £10m, Mikel Arteta to Arsenal for £10m, Steven Pienaar to Spurs for £4m and so it has gone on and on. Every season the same: a slow start as the team attempts to recover from the loss of a star name and integrate the cut price replacements followed by a superb second half to the season in which various players catch the eyes of other teams and then leave in the summer thereby starting the cycle again.

So what's changed this season? Why have Everton only lost one of their first seven games? Why are they playing such wonderful football? Why are they fourth in the league once more and looking a really good outside bet for those Champions League placings?

On the face of it the pattern has been the same as always. They started last season poorly before picking up after Christmas and going on a flying run of form that carried them to the FA Cup semi final. In the summer Manchester City turned up and paid £12m for one of their brightest young talents. So far, so normal. But this time it's worked in their favour because where as last summer’s departure Mikel Arteta was a crucial part of their team and his loss was keenly felt when he moved to Arsenal, Jack Rodwell is a crucial part of little more than his own lunch break.

Rodwell has always been a little bit like the emperor's new clothes for me. We're told all the time by the learned scholars of the game that he is one of the brightest young prospects in England, a future mainstay of the national team, a tower of strength and skill for the centre of any midfield. And yet I just don't see it. This all conquering Rodwell waiting to sweep the world game before him is a myth as far as I'm concerned and the £12m paid by Manchester City this summer is about £9.5m more than I'd have been happy to see QPR pay for his services. Apart from attempting to scrape up Wayne Rooney's sloppy seconds by texting prostitutes pictures of his dick, and passing the ball straight to Borussia Dortmund players in goal scoring positions, it's difficult to see what Rodwell does really well – if anything.

So rather than losing a Lescott or an Arteta-type figure this summer, Everton actually got a massively over inflated transfer fee for somebody who wasn't that important to them, or that good, anyway. Bank and chairman satisfied, David Moyes has set about the transfer market with his usual shrewd adeptness. Steven Naismith came from the Rangers train wreck for nothing, following Nikica Jelavic whose £5.5m price tag looks better with every appearance. Moyes must be good if he can find decent players in the SPL.

Darron Gibson, much maligned and laughed at during his Man Utd days to the point where they were happy to bung him off to Everton for a pittance has been a revelation in the centre of midfield, contributing far more than Rodwell ever did. Kevin Mirallas top scored in the Greek league last year and was picked up from £6m to play wide right and cut inside to support the attackers who can now feed on a veritable feast of service from the left where Leighton Baines is the Premier League player of the season so far and Steven Pienaar is making Harry Redknapp look very stupid indeed for not using him more at Spurs.

It's all come together basically, and they must make hay while the sun shines because if they keep going like this the likes of Baines, Marouane Fellaini who has been a revelation this season, Jelavic, Phil Jagielka and others will be the next to attract interest from elsewhere. Short of a takeover, over which fan protests seem to have cooled, it's hard to see how this team can be held together for more than a season unless it makes the Champions League. It could be another seven years before they crack the cube this well again.

Interview

Welcome back to LFW Everton fan Matt Clegg who we plucked from Twitter before this fixture last season and who kindly agreed to spare us some time for some insight this week.

A superb start to the season for Everton, who are normally slow out of the blocks - what's different this season?

It’s hard to put a finger on exactly what is different. A positive summer with an unexpected amount of transfer activity freshened up the squad and undoubtedly helped. We still lack a bit of depth but the 13/14 players around the starting 11 are some of the best we’ve had in the last 20 years. We carry a greater threat going forward with the addition of Kevin Mirallas and Jelavic has continued from where he left off last season

How far, realistically, can this team go this season? What were the aims among the fanbase before the first match and what are they now?

Prior to the start of the season I think the majority of fans would have been pleased with the Club competing around the European places. We finished 8th last season having pretty much only started playing from Christmas, so an improvement on that is expected. Having had such a positive start I would say fans are now optimistically eyeing a top 4 finish. That would be a big ask, but we have a starting 11 that can now mix it with the top teams in the league. Top four is probably a step too far but if we can keep getting results, who knows? The year we finished fourth we were mainly playing Marcus Bent up front on his own so anything is possible.

Is the fear that great performances and high league positions will just see the likes of Baines, Fellaini and others picked off in the coming transfer windows as has happened before?

Everyone is aware of Everton’s financial situation so there will always be that fear. Neither of their contracts are imminently due to end, which stops the club being held to ransom to an extent. I think depending on our performance over the season, next summer is likely to be the most testing time as regards those players. I would hope regardless of this, the club would resist any offers in January for either. Barring huge offers, I would expect them both to be at Goodison on February 1.

The dissenting voices against the board/demanding a sale seem to have died down a bit. Is that because things are going well on the pitch? Is that movement still active? Is a sale of the club likely?

This has generally been the pattern over the last few years. Despite not spending much money in real terms, the fact that we were able to do any business in the summer alleviated a little of the doom mongering. Performances on the pitch also definitely help fans keep a positive perspective. As far as I am aware the movement is still very much active and Everton have come no closer to finding a new owner. I would imagine when things take a turn for the worse on the pitch the groups will become more active/vocal and will receive more publicity again.

In an ideal world, what would David Moyes need to add to this team and squad to make it a regular top four contender?

We are not a million miles away from that; squad depth is generally the issue. First priority I would say would be another centre forward to support Jelavic. If he were to be ruled out for a significant period I think we would really struggle for goals. Anichebe is an effective substitute but is a little limited when asked to play up front alone. Vellios looks promising and a good prospect, but he cannot be expected to provide the brunt of the team’s goals. Although we have found a good balance in central midfield, with Gibson particularly being a revelation, it would be nice to have a player who can play centrally and provide creativity. This is something lacking since the sale of Arteta.

Scout Report

When Neil Warnock’s makeshift QPR team took a 1-0 lead at Goodison Park last August David Moyes’ final roll of the dice in attempting to retrieve the situation saw him put Marouane Fellaini into the attack where he proceeded to do the QPR rearguard action more good than anybody in the hideous orange away shirts that afternoon. Constantly offside and - on the rare occasions the flag didn’t go up - leaden footed, he looked like a hairier and whiter version of Danny Shittu when he’d been tried in attack by Warnock towards the end of the final match of the previous season.

That’s not to say that Fellaini isn’t a superb player – he clearly is – he just didn’t look suited to a striker’s role at all on the evidence of that game. Fast forward 12 months and I sat in barely concealed awe at the way he systematically demolished Manchester United in the opening Monday Night Football match of this season, playing in attack off Nikica Jelavic.

Everton were as near as damn-it perfect that night and deserved to win far more comfortably than the 1-0 they managed. Alex Ferguson’s snarled post-game comment about them being little more than a long ball outfit was a prime example of why, despite his achievements in the game, many will always view him first and foremost as a sour faced shitgibbon.

In defence Sylvain Distin was as good as I’ve ever seen him, providing pace and guile alongside the more rudimentary and physical presence of Phil Jagileka. United tried Rooney, Welbeck and then Van Persie, and received no change from any of them. The midfield was all energy, with Steven Pienaar outstanding and Leon Osman similarly impressive. It seemed an impossible tempo to maintain throughout the game but they kept it up for the majority and were rewarded with three points.

Much was made of Rio Ferdinand’s absence from the United defence, and Everton clearly targeted the heart of the visiting backline because he wasn’t playing, but even had he been there it was difficult to see how any team could cope with Everton playing accurate, diagonal balls into the penalty area and its periphery looking for Fellaini to nod down for Jelavic. Fellaini was simply unplayable that night, and scored the winning goal from a corner which was taken as an outswinger towards the penalty spot where several tall players were free to attack it as their team mates packed the six yard box and penned in the opposition defenders and goalkeeper.

After taking the lead they sat very deep, which was a little unnecessary given their performance that point, but they continued to commit both centre backs forward for all set pieces in the United half. They looked mainly for Jagielka with those with Jelavic and Fellaini coming in on the knock downs. It was a little like the Paul Robinson set pieces Blackburn used to use – only more cultured.

Having dropped deep they conceded more chances to Man Utd in the last 15 minutes than they had in the previous 75 and the visiting team was able to get in down the Everton right several times – Moyes sent on Seamus Coleman to stop this and eventually they saw the win out but last weekend at Wigan the home side had some joy targeting that side as well and Everton were lucky to escape with a point.

I caught up with Everton again a couple of weeks later when they hosted Newcastle, and having laid down a marker against Man Utd they furthered their reputation in this game with another outstanding performance.

The game plan changed slightly to face Alan Pardew’s men. Gone were the early, diagonal balls to Fellaini, replaced instead by a total focus on getting the ball moving up and down the left flank with Leighton Baines and Steven Pienaar. Not since Lee Cook propped up the God awful QPR side of 2006 have I seen a team so shamelessly send the ball to the left side at every given opportunity, and it have such wonderful effects. They played Kevin Mirallas ostensibly on the right wing, but he was a striker in Greece last season and pretty much played as an additional central attacker here as well – he had to, had he stayed on the right wing his kit wouldn’t have needed washing. It should be noted that he’s a little prone to taking on a long range shot when there’s a better pass on - if he’s within 30 yards of the goal expect a shot.

The havoc Pienaar and Baines wreaked was amazing. Newcastle were without Danny Simpson and picked James Perch at right back with Sylvain Marveaux in front of him. That lightweight pairing was all the invitation Moyes needed and Everton absolutely battered Newcastle down that flank for the entire first half. Baines was even able to score a goal in open play – his previous nine had all been from dead ball situations. Pardew removed Marveaux and moved Perch into the centre of midfield in the second half which, in a normal game, would put him in firing line even more but with Everton so purposefully lopsided it actually moved him out of harm’s way. If Mark Hughes can take a lesson from this match it’s that an early change must be made if Everton have spotted a weakness because they’ll just shamelessly keep going back and picking at it until he does.

How that one finished 2-2 I’ll never know, and the Toffees should have won at Swansea by a good deal more than the 3-0 they managed when I next saw them play too.

On this occasion Jelavic was out injured so they played Victor Anichebe instead – body of a lion, self belief of a field mouse – and had Fellaini much more advanced alongside him. Again Mirallas cutting in from the right was a big factor and all the width was provided by the left side. Clearly Baines and Pienaar down that flank are the key men, but the fear has to be that Hughes responds to this by picking Shaun Wright-bloody-Phillips again for some perceived defensive benefit he brings to proceedings. Lord give me the strength not to lose the plot over decisions I have nothing to do with and cannot change.

The problem in all three Everton games I’ve seen this season is them not scoring enough goals when on top. Newcastle roared back to draw in the second half having been outplayed in the first, Man Utd could have done likewise, and after 40 minutes at Swansea during which Everton held 80% of the possession, 50% of the play had been in Swansea’s half, and the shots were 12 to two in total and six to one off target the score was still only 0-1. This was the second game in a row I’d seen a team totally abandon their initial plans for Baines and Pienaar at half time – where Newcastle substituted Marveuax Swansea sent on Nathan Dyer at the break but he promptly got himself sent off ending the game as a contest and scouting exercise.

Perhaps Newcastle and Swansea had it wrong all along. Pienaar and Baines are the eye catching performers and the obvious threat, but West Brom beat Everton 2-0 by ensuring that Yacob at the base of their midfield kept Fellaini on a short leash. The Belgian international is allegedly injured for this game but if he does play Rangers should focus their defensive efforts on him primarily, especially as I’m not sure they actually have anybody capable of nullifying the Everton threat down their left flank.

The big concern is that in all three matches I’ve seen Everton played in a slightly different way designed to remorselessly pick upon weaknesses in the opposition they’d spotted in previous matches. David Moyes won’t have needed to watch QPR that often this season to have a dozen or more go-to areas this weekend.

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Match82 added 23:17 - Oct 18 Nice write-up, nice analysis of Alex Ferguson, what's not to love with this piece?
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Kaos_Agent added 07:08 - Oct 19 It does not look promising for the R's but then again they seem to raise their game for better opposition. I await MH's selection with unease.
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WokingR added 09:28 - Oct 19 "sour faced shitgibbon" How much time do you spend each week coming up with a new combination of different words to form a new insult?
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QPunkR added 11:52 - Oct 19 Highlight of that, as usual, brilliant piece is 'sour faced shitgibbon' without a doubt. Had me spluttering at work and people looking at me strangely
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TacticalR added 00:41 - Oct 20 Everton have spent more time in the top flight than any other team, so they must be doing something right. However, it does seem strange that such a historic team, and one that is still relatively successful in the present day has to sell players so regularly. Time spent thinking up new insults for Ferguson is time well spent in my opinion.
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