Everton are the big underachievers this season and they are now sitting at the wrong end of the Premiership table. Nobody knows what is happening to the team that achieved a fifth-place finish last term thanks to some impressive performances in the second part of the season and the only logical answer is that numerous injury problems are finally getting the best of them. But not everything is logical in football today. You could argue that the situation was the same last term, but let me remind you the Toffees had been eliminated from Europe early into the season. At the moment, David Moyes’ team are largely struggling to cope with the busy schedule.

The team didn’t see too many changes this summer, although the excellent defensive partnership between Jagielka and Lescott was broken with the former picking up serious injury and the latter leaving the club. Nevertheless, if anyone can repeat the heroics of the pair, it’s Distain and Yobo so I don’t see the problem there.

Midfield area was boosted with Diniyar Bilyaletdinov, while the attack gained a lot with the return of Saha and Yakubu from injuries, which leaves the hectic schedule and continues problems with injuries as the main reasons for the poor results.

David Moyes didn’t have a big squad to begin with and when injuries started mounting, it was always going to be a problem. Due to the aforementioned injury problems, the boss didn’t have the luxury of rotating his players during the hectic schedule since he often had 10 or 11 players unavailable. The fans had high hopes for the first big European game after a while and they flocked to Lisbon to see the Toffees play might Benfica and you can imagine their disappointment after their team conceded five goals. David Moyes had fielded a very strong squad in that game but his side never stood a chance against fitter, sharper and fresher Eagles.

Everton simply don’t have big enough squad to balance between Europa League and the Premiership, not with so many players on the sidelines. Elimination from the Carling Cup was a blessing in disguise, but I feel the boss need to fully commit to one competition this season or risk turning this season into a big disappointment. The things are bound to improve once they come to terms with all the problems but I really can’t see how Everton could save this season. I hope to be proved wrong.

Everton have enjoyed a very good England Premier League campaign last term and if it hadn’t been for the numerous injury problems, the Toffees would have probably challenged for the Champions League places. Nevertheless, David Moyes showed that he didn’t need a big squad or a lot of money in order to record great results and Everton fans are cautiously optimistic about team’s chances of breaking the Big 4 this season. Even though there are still no new signings, apart from Jo, who returned to Goodison Park for another year, it is even more important that there have been no departures.

The first thing David Moyes had to do when making plans for new season is to keep his key players. Some players have really impressed wearing Everton jersey last season and it wasn’t easy to keep hold of players like Joleon Lescott or Tim Cahill. Nevertheless, as it now seems the players will be staying at Goodison and those are some great news for the fans. On the other hand, David Moyes have been looking for ways to reinforce the squad but he hasn’t had a lot of success so far. He did manage to bring Jo back to the club on yet another loan deal and with Saha and Yakubu fit, the Toffees will have one of the best attacks in the league.

Sheffield United’s Kyle Naughton is thought to be very close to joining Everton and the promising right-back would definitely be a great addition to the squad. It is in midfield that the team need strengthening as Moyes doesn’t have enough cover should some of the starters pick up an injury. Nevertheless, young Jack Rodwell will certainly be given more playing time as he is slowly growing up into a great player. Moyes has been chasing Sporting’s Jose Moutinho for quite a while but it seems that the price is simply too high.

Starting 11 looks very good as it is but the boss will have to sign new players as they need strength in depth. Everton will be playing in Europe and they are unlikely to miss out on Europa League group stages, which means they will need at least few more new players.

One of the big positives for Everton is that the team will not suffer big changes and I expect them to do even better than last season. Moyes is likely to reinforce the squad before the transfer window closes and maybe this is the right time for them to make a push for the top 4 finish. Manchester City will have problems after signing so many new players, Arsenal will be even weaker than last season and Tottenham, need I say anything about them? Therefore, The Toffees stand a chance in the Champions League race and with Unibet offering 10.00 on Everton to finish in top 4, this offer looks too good to pass.