Man Utd Ensure 6th Would Be Enough

Manchester United’s penalty shoot out win over Tottenham in the ‘more boring than watching paint dry’ Carling Cup final (as it will affectionately be known), ensured that any team that finishes the season in 6th place will be in the Europa League next season. This is music to the ears of a few clubs in and around that spot. Villa, Arsenal, Everton and even potentially Liverpool and Chelsea are all vying it out to finish in 3rd and 4th but anyone of them teams given a poor run of form could find themselves dropping in to the UEFA Cup spots.

Of the 5 clubs Everton arguably have the easier of the run-ins playing only Chelsea and Villa from the group, but injuries have decimated David Moyes’s already threadbare squad, that has seen 4 youth team players make it into the first team. The return of Saha to fitness has given the squad a needed boost, but as ever we cannot be sure how long we have him for. With injuries already this season to Yakubu, Vaughan, Arteta, Yobo, Saha, Cahill, Pienaar, Anichebe and Hibbert, and with 4 out of that group being out for the season, another injury in midfield or attack would almost certainly end the chase for Europe and become a damage limitation exercise.

Talk of players arriving in the summer has arrived a little earlier this year at Goodison due to Arteta’s extended injury, but again do not believe most of what you read, as just over a month ago we had no money, and I expect that remains the case, although the board has allowed Moyes to break the transfer record year on year recently, we would have to sell to do that same this year.

May I just go on record and also say that I am the most proud to be an Everton supporter this year, more than any other. The way the team have gone about their jobs, faced with early season poor form and the sheer amount of injuries to key players has been truly magnificent, and I wouldn’t mind betting that there may well be some national awards for David Moyes and Tim Cahill at the end of this campaign.

About Dan Taylor

Dan Taylor is the founder of Peoples Blog. Working in the Internet Marketing industry gave Dan the platform he needed to produce what he hopes will become an invaluable resource for Everton fans around the world.