Afterthought

Are Everton a better run club than us? Yes. They don’t sack their manager if they have a poor season and they always look to strengthen the positions where they lack depth and class. The concept is continuity. Something Levy and co have never quite grasped, but then – as a whole – neither have our fans.

With the amount of money we splash out on players season in and season out, along with the over-ambitious goals the club set themselves – it makes failure (which is always the result of each passing year) create convenient scapegoats, which help appease the disgruntled fans.

Maybe we need to be more like Everton.

Understated. Patient.

Sure, they splash out big money every now and again. But their basic and obvious work ethic around organisation and hard work/graft helped by a balanced team means they are not easy to break down and beat even if they are far from being anywhere near attractive to watch. Yes, they’re boring. And on Sunday, as far as Moyes was concerned, he was tactically spot on because had they attempted to open up and play – we would have found it far easier to score. They stopped our creative players from playing, and we had no way of countering this (which is a bit depressing really).

When you result to hoofing the ball because there’s no way through, it’s the very definition of depressing. But it happens. Under-par performances, lack of a Modric in midfield….it shouldn’t come as a surprise.

So, should we still be more like Everton?

Balance. We need a DM and LM, which will give us the required balance to out-think and play a 5 man Everton midfield who’s sole purpose is to stop US from played.

Patience. Well this one is doubtful in the way of managerial appointments, as Harry is only here for the short-term. He knows it and so does Levy. What happens after that is anyone’s guess.

Our players sometimes have this underwhelming presence on the pitch, casually running around, off the pace and with a lack of urgency and responsibility. We obviously have better players, with regards to ability, than most Prem club, yet sometimes can’t even compete against the likes of Hull or Stoke.

It’s the Holy Grail for Spurs fans this. Seeing a team evolve into one that can hassle and bully and run games. Jol, for a couple of seasons, gave us something that was not quite complete but was on its way.

January transfer window will be telling.