By Bulldog Drummond
- Everton v Arsenal: Arsenal are being fouled considerably less than last season
- Everton v Arsenal: why fair play and balance is not what we can expect from the referee
For Everton the issue of the day for some supporters might well be one of injuries to the club rather than injuries to the players. Take for example the headline in the Guardian, “Farhad Moshiri plots exit after ruinous reign but Everton’s future still unsure,” with the sub-heading “777 Partners in line to replace current owner but Americans have a reputation of not improving their other clubs.” It is not a heading to give one confidence if one were an Everton fan.
Mind you they are not the only north western club in a mess, for the Guardian also runs the headline: Manchester United had sights set on title charge – but right now it’s chaos.
Meanwhile The Telegraph weighs in with, “A contaminated cloud hangs over Everton – fans are left wondering why 777 has bought them.” But indeed it does seem as if the American investment firm 777 Partners has taken control, and that ought to be worrying to anyone. Although to be fair The Independent is more modest in its headline saying “Unpopular owner Farhad Moshiri will sell the club to 777 Partners, who have invested in a number of other football clubs all over the world.”
Which is of course true as 777 owns bits or all of Sevilla, Hertha Berlin, Genoa, Vasco da Gama, Standard Liege, Red Star and Melbourne Victory – and any Everton fans who have stumbled on this little article (perhaps by mistake) would be strongly advised not to look at how well (or rather badly) those clubs are now doing (if they don’t already know).
Of course there might be some celebrations that Moshiri is leaving, although not for the usual reason that the club hasn’t spent enough on players. He has seen Everton spend getting on for three quarters of a billion pounds on players across seven years, and the result is a relegation near miss and a league table that currently reads…
| Team | P | W | D | L | F | A | GD | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Manchester City | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 2 | 9 | 12 |
| 2 | Tottenham Hotspur | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 11 | 4 | 7 | 10 |
| 3 | Liverpool | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 9 | 3 | 6 | 10 |
| 4 | West Ham United | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 9 | 4 | 5 | 10 |
| 5 | Arsenal | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 8 | 4 | 4 | 10 |
| 18 | Everton | 4 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 8 | -6 | 1 |
| 19 | Luton Town | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 9 | -7 | 0 |
| 20 | Burnley | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 11 | -8 | 0 |
Meanwhile, elsewhere in the 777 camp, Hertha Berlin and Genoa have been relegated and Genoa also has had points docked for failing to pay its taxes. Sevilla is involved in a boardroom dogfight which is effectively stopping to club doing anything much. Standard Liege haven’t won a game all season, Red Star fans are in open revolt.
So quite a good fit then, especially for a club struggling to finish building its new ground, although to be fair the latest on that suggests it might be ready for next season, but not everyone agrees. Except Josh Wander, the managing partner of 777, who is reported as saying, “We are truly humbled by the opportunity to become part of the Everton family as custodians of the club, and consider it a privilege to be able to build on its proud heritage and values.”
So let us consider that heritage of late. In the last nine seasons Everton have not finished above eighth, and in the last two seasons they have finished 16th and 17th. The last time they made a top-four finish was 2005 although to be fair the last time they qualified for Europe was 2017/18 with the Europa League when they were knocked out in the group stages. For the last four seasons they have ended up with a negative goal difference – the last two seasons that being -23 both times.
And things are not really improving for them, as if we look at the last ten games (which obviously includes part of the end of last season) we find them sitting in a very uncomfortable position in the Premier League.
| Pos | Team | P | W | D | L | F | A | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 17 | Wolverhampton | 10 | 3 | 1 | 6 | 8 | 22 | -14 | 10 |
| 18 | Chelsea | 10 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 13 | 17 | -4 | 9 |
| 19 | Everton | 10 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 12 | 19 | -7 | 9 |
| 20 | Bournemouth | 10 | 2 | 2 | 6 | 10 | 16 | -6 | 8 |
Indeed when we come to our usual home and away comparison for the last six games we find something even more uncomfortable which is a home record even worse than Arsenal’s away form over the last six games…
| Pos | Team | P | W | D | L | F | A | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 20 | Everton home | 6 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 3 | 12 | -9 | 3 |
| 9 | Arsenal away | 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 8 | 9 | -1 | 8 |
If we combine home and away games for the last six we find
| Pos | Team | P | W | D | L | F | A | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tottenham | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 16 | 8 | +8 | 13 |
| 2 | Arsenal | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 13 | 5 | +8 | 13 |
| 3 | Man City | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 12 | 4 | +8 | 13 |
| 4 | West Ham | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 13 | 7 | +6 | 13 |
| 13 | Newcastle | 6 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 8 | 8 | 0 | 5 |
| 14 | Chelsea | 6 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 7 | 10 | -3 | 5 |
| 15 | Everton | 6 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 9 | -5 | 5 |
More anon…
