Everton now in a real relegation battle

Everton boss Roberto Martinez is enduring a difficult period at Goodison Park

Everton started the season as a contender for the top four in the Premier League this season, albeit an outsider.

However, as the likes of Arsenal, Liverpool, Manchester United, Southampton and Tottenham compete for Champions League spots, the Toffees are looking over their shoulders nervously at the bottom three.

Poor

Roberto Martinez’s side suffered a poor 2-0 defeat at Stoke last night to remain just six points above the relegation zone.

It was yet another poor result and poor performance to add to the catalogue of endless disappointments for Toffees fans this season.

Give Stoke credit they deserved the victory and picked-up their first league double over Everton in 48 years. The Potters are now an incredible 14 points better off than the Merseysider’s, sitting comfortably in eighth place in the Premier League table.

It is anything but comfortable for Everton fans right now as they watch their team continually produce benign performances.

Older

To say that age is one of the main factors may be slightly obvious, but if you look at that Everton squad there is a lot of players who suddenly look their age. Last season the likes of Tim Howard, Phil Jagielka, Sylvain Distin and Gareth Barry all looked effervescent.

This season they look like they would struggle to get on a Stannah stair lift. That extra year and a Europa League campaign seem to have taken it out of the legs of the Toffees veteran stars and they are now struggling.

One of the best defence’s from last year in the Premier League is suddenly looking like one of the worst and it really is concerning for Everton fans.

Confidence

Confidence is a funny thing, not only football but in life in general. When you have confidence you believe you can conquer all. However, when your confidence is low it is a struggle just to get out of bed in morning.

Unfortunately, undoubted young talents Romelu Lukaku and Ross Barkley seem absolutely bereft of confidence. The pair were superb last season and looked to have a good understanding. In fact even in the Europa League this season they have looked superb, but struggled when it comes to domestic affairs.

Maybe Martinez needs to bring in a psychologist to convince the team that they are playing European football every week, then maybe we would see flashes of the Everton team that took fifth place in the Premier League last season and came so close to upsetting the usual top-four applecart.

Boss

Roberto Martinez has to take a huge slice of the blame for his team’s underperformance this season, just as he took the plaudits for last season’s campaign. The Spaniard is a nice man and has a clear football philosophy.

Unfortunately he does not yet seem to have the man-management skills to motivate the players when things are not going the team’s way. The current slump of one league win in 12 games is relegation form.

For all the positivity he likes to spout, Everton could be in very real trouble this season if his team do not start picking-up points, which at the moment looks difficult. The Toffees fans are starting to lose patience with their affable boss and team and want to see results on the pitch, not excuses off it.

Underachieved

This season has seen Everton massively underachieve, while some would say they massively overachieved last season. However, the Toffees were for a good while in and around the top six of the Premier League table under David Moyes, including in the Scot’s final season when they finished sixth.

In terms of finances Everton have punched above their weight as a football club for a long time, but in terms of tradition and history they should still be regarded as a significant club in English football.

They do not have the financial clout of their city rivals, the two Manchester clubs, or the clubs from north London and that has restricted the Toffees development, much to the frustration of their fans that have been starved of silverware for two decades.

Enough

They have played well in the Europa League this season and have been handed a decent draw in the last-16 football-wise, as they face Ukrainians Dynamo Kiev. However, it looks unlikely that they will be able to go all the way in the competition, especially if their confidence keeps taking a hit in the league.

The main concern for the Toffees should be winning enough points to stay in the Premier League this season and building again in the summer. They should have enough quality to do that, but Martinez is going to have to do something very special in the summer to rebuild the shattered confidence of his players.

Will Everton stay in the Premier League this season?