With two games to go, Everton remain in the battle for the European spots.
Did you expect to be here at the start of the season?
I don’t think many — if anyone — expected us to be anywhere near the European conversation this season, but it shows some steady progression as well as inconsistency from many other sides compared to last season.
I think it will get away from us, with our form of late severely hampering our late charge. Regardless, I feel the season has been a steady one without any added
drama for the first time in a long time.
David Moyes’ return to Everton has proved to be an incredibly fruitful appointment.
Is it just a case of him ‘getting’ the club or how to get the best from it?
He has a great understanding of the club. When you’ve spent the vast majority of your managerial career at one place, you tend to get a great sense of how it operates and what the fans expect.
Don’t get me wrong: he has a few detractors in the fan base that can’t see past certain things from his first stint at the club and would prefer managerial change this summer.
Expectation changes like the wind and he has to deal with that all the time. I suppose that’s the nature of the job, but realism is needed given our recent chequered past.
From watching Everton this season, I feel you’re always in games and that results are always quite close.
What factors do you think make your team so resilient and difficult to beat?
I’d probably say it’s being disciplined in our shape.
Up until recently, we’ve been pretty difficult to break down. It almost helps defensively in having a back four that has no kind of forward-thinking intention.
Both Vitalii Mykolenko and Jake O’Brien are very defensive-minded, so they won’t often get caught out if the ball gets turned over in the final third — but it doesn’t help us in an attacking sense, however.
Looking at your form of late however, you’ve conceded at least two goals in your last five matches.
What’s been troubling your defence of late?
Poor game management for me, as well as the loss of Jarrad Branthwaite.
As much as he hasn’t been fit for a large part of this season, he’s an exceptional talent and a big leader on the pitch, and I always feel a lot more comfortable when he plays.
Ideally, next season needs to have a centre half partnership of Branthwaite and O’Brien, with two new full backs. Not only would we feel more solid, we may even be able to give a bit more support to our attacking players.
James Garner has been brilliant for Everton this season and could be set for a World Cup squad inclusion.
What makes him stand out?
His improvement this season has been obvious. He’s played at both left and right full back — as well as his preferred central midfield role — and has excelled across all positions.
His work rate, timing in the tackle and technical ability on the ball have meant he’s become one of the first names on the team sheet.
He deservedly got called up by England and for me, he’s a shoo-in for the World Cup, especially given his versatility.
The battle between Beto and Thierno Barry continues, but between them, they have seventeen Premier League goals.
Do you think that competition is bringing the best out of them?
To a point, but they’ve both been patchy throughout the season and been dropped for the other as a result.
Beto seems to come alive in the second half of the season, and he’s done the same again. Six goals in his last eight games has seen him become the the man to displace again.
Barry has certainly shown signs of promise, but has a lot to do to convince fans he’ll be the man to lead the line over the coming seasons. It wouldn’t surprise me if one of them isn’t at the club next season.
Aside from the players mentioned above, who do you think will cause Sunderland problems?
Iliman Ndiaye is still very much our danger man despite a drop in his performances in recent weeks — and his goal at your place earlier in the season highlighted his ability and brilliance.
He scored an incredible goal against Chelsea a few weeks ago and hopefully we can see a bit more of that in the final two games of the season.
He’ll want to be fit and firing before a busy summer at the World Cup with Senegal.
If you were Régis Le Bris, how would you look to exploit Everton’s weaknesses?
Defending set pieces has become a bit of an issue for us, despite having a fair few giants in our ranks.
I’m sure Le Bris will be well aware of our frailties and will look to exploit them in some way.
How do you think Moyes will set up tactically against Sunderland?
It’s very rare that we divert from our usual 4-2-3-1 formation, looking to turn the ball over and break when we can.
As mentioned above, we have a few tall lads in the side so as much as we’ve started to struggle to defend set pieces, we are a threat in the opposition box, with both O’Brien and James Tarkowski scoring in the last couple of games, from a corner.
Are any players missing, and who do you think will start?
Both Branthwaite and Jack Grealish are the main misses, with Idrissa Gana Gueye also missing the last two games through injury.
Assuming that’s still the case, I see us being unchanged from the draws against Manchester City and Crystal Palace.
Pickford (GK), Mykolenko, O’Brien, Keane, Tarkowski, Iroegbunam, Garner, Ndiaye, Röhl, Dewsbury-Hall, Beto.
The two sides have failed to beat each other in regular time this season.
What’s your prediction for the final score?
I’m hopeful we can end our home season on a bit of a high and cling on to our faint European hopes.
I’m going for 2-1 Everton.
