Motson fancies Everton to finish fourth

Yes, it's rare but we are being talked about in a kind of positive fashion and on the BBC but long may it continue.

Coyb

Always liked Motty, a man that wears a sheepskin always knows his onions. The world is his lobster, innit rodders. COYB

Let's hope he's right for once, It's important we do the business at Reading on Saturday , what with Spurs playing Arsenal and WBA at home to Man City.

I always preferred Barry Davies myself in the old MotD days, Davies gave a good commentary and said what he saw, good or bad. Motson was too dramatic for my taste and definitely loved Hoddle and all things southern.

Just listening to the show, listen what Ian McGarry says about Gerrard, it is hilarious!

I know Iam McGary's a twat as well tho, but ykno... both as bad as eachother

Maybe we should be aiming even higher.

David Hallwood that's the spirit. ;-)

Saw the show. Motty pointed out that since January Everton have lost 3 times in 29 games. That is Champions form for 2/3 of a season. One of the young blokes then went on to say the Everton did not have the squad strength and would fold sometime between Feb and April.

Er...maybe we do have some squad strength issues but we have lasted 29 games on this streak with this squad with the usual sprinkling of injuries - and frankly our squad is deeper now than it was when this run started. No reason to think that this squad can't continue for a full year. We have no League Cup or Europa league cup to worry about. No one playing for African sides in January. The ducks are all aligned.

I'm not completely sure I agree with you Dave but I admire that kind of optimism. We're in 4th after 11 games with Darron Gibson having played in only 2, Jelavic not really firing on all cylinders and Mirallas half way fit. We have Phil Neville playing holding mid.

I mean, I totally see where you're coming from but I'm not going to share that optimism just yet. If we are really as good as we have been playing, we are within touching distance of the league title but at this point, it could just be an unlikely run of form for all we know.

I'm not making any predictions, just watching... and enjoying immensely.

I could and will go on.
No Gibson since 1st September. No Hibbert since August. We have missed both but have still carried on. Jelavic off form - we still kept going. And both are back playing now.

Fellaini is hot at the moment and will have a down patch - but this has happened before and we now have lots of options. Hopefully by then Jelavic will be back to his best.

Mirallas out for 3 weeks - not too bad. Again we have cover (by which I mean Oviedo/Coleman rather than Naismith) and we did not have him last season and survived well. 3 weeks off now will make him less tired later in the season. Fellaini has already had a mid season break.

But Pat I meant that we can go on to finish 4th - higher than that I agree would be highly unlikley

The force is with us, although it's a bit of a lottery, we could just as easily get 3rd as 6th.

I don't look that far forward at the fixtures unless making holiday / Christmas / Easter type decisions. But I hope that the fixtures are kind to us and we get some of the teams above us and just below us as evening games. Nobody likes playing at Goodison under the lights.

Re the 3rd spot I have written off the top 2 places, because at game 1 we were 3pts ahead of Untd, 10 games later they have those 3pts back and 7 more besides.

Chelsea, however are there to be caught.

Never underestimate the power of the force.

It's going to be hard to maintain this form for another 30+ games (FA Cup included) without some fresh faces in the transfer window. I've said it before that, if Donovan was on the bench, it would add more depth; and there are murmurs regarding Cahill coming back on loan.

My preference would be for the likes of Duffy and Barkley to be more involved and for the Greek kid to displace Vic in the pecking order. The much derided Naismith is very effective defensively but a bit off the pace going forward. It could be match fitness; each game he has played I've thought he has improved. He could cement a place in the team with KM out if he can learn to finish. I feel he works better with Jelly much more than KM does.

For me Pienaar and MIrallas on the pitch at the same time is not working. KM likes the left side as does SP. It's a headache Moyes can sort out.

I think our problem will be up front, and it might stop us from finishing fourth.

If Jelavic ever gets injured we're down to either trying Naismith or Mirallas up front on their own - might work, might not, but I think Mirallas is better used on the right and I'm not yet sure if Naismith is much good - or else using Anichebe, who is next to useless in my humble opinion. We've already seen the limitations we have just when Jelavic isn't quite on his best form - we struggle to put away teams we otherwise dominate. Take him out of the team entirely and we suddenly look very toothless I think.

We're also heavily dependent on Fellani and Baines of course - again, if either of those two go down injured we'll be very badly weakened. But those players have both proved very durable and consistent, and I do worry that up front will ultimately prove our undoing.

The saving grace might be that all of our main rivals for 4th also have serious weaknesses, in many ways more serious than ours. If we do have a good run with injuries, we've probably got the best chance we'll ever have of making the CL this year, which itself is a nice feeling!

Hope he's right but can't be doing with his commentary, well annoying!

4th isn't impossible but its very unlikely. We've been playing well and creating chances but I think our start has just as much to do with the fixure list which has been kind to us. We still haven't played Man City, Chelsea, Spurs or Arsenal and still have to go to Old Trafford, St James's and Anfield.

I'm confident in our best 11 to get results against these teams but if we're missing a couple of players I have no faith in the likes of Gueye.

I REALLY believe that the difference between the start of this season and the start of the last few has been natural width on the right.

Mirallas will be a crucial miss... mark my words!!

Think about it, our good spells came with a good right winger (ala Donovan every Jan).

As soon as Mirallas leaves the pitch, I feel were a completely different side.
Donovan as cover in Jan is a must!
Naisy isn't good enough...end of.

Matthew 524.

All the teams, who are aiming for the 4th spot, do not have an abundance of players who create chances or put the ball into the net - we are scoring more goals than any other team who are aiming for 4th and for me neither Spurs or Arsenal have a striker better than ours. We play both these teams at GP very soon so lets see what happens, if we beat both then we are in for a good shout at top 4.

To me what will make a big difference is what money is available to managers come January - it would seem Arsenal are already making vibes that they are going to spend big, that is when we will see where Everton are heading. IMO you can guarantee that someone will make a bid for Fellaini (maybe even Arsenal themselves) but we need to keep him and add some quality to what is a very exciting team.

The fact is that we have been relatively lucky with injuries over the last year or so and have rarely lost more than one or two of our top players at the same time for any considerable length.

If Jelavic and Fellaini for example were both to get injuries ruling them out for two to 3 months then I think we might struggle to replace them as competently as other teams challenging for the top 4 could as we don't have quite the same squad depth as the likes of Chelsea, Arsenal or Tottenham.

That's a shocker isn't it, the team in fourth place and playing alrightish is tipped for.......wait for it!..... a place in the top 4. brilliantly insightful piece by Motty!!

Cheer up people,my Mrs da' always used to say "Don't worry till it happens... cos then you've worried twice." A meteorite might smash into earth and then we won't give a fuck if we come 18th.

So let's not imagine Felli and Jelli being out for 3 months, I mean, what's the point? Baines is another one people are worrying about; well he's fine so we can all sleep well.

OK, we probably all agree that the squad ain't deep enough to win the league... but 4th, I see no reason why that can't be achieved. We won't be the only team to suffer injuries and I see nothing in the chasing pack to make me change my view.

Now over the years I've give my fair share of criticism to Mr Moyes but I believe this year will be one to savour, so come and enjoy the ride! If injuries do arise, then Moyes will deal with them as they happen. I'd be more worried about that meteorite... I mean, you do know how close it is, don't you?

Sam (#536), good point. The injuries this season and last season have been minimal compared to the massacres of 09-10 and 10-11 (I recall a particular period around November 2009 where there were 15 1st team players missing from a game at West Ham away (although we actually won that game) and we were still on the verge of progressing to the later stages of the Europa League.

The strength in depth issue is the obvious factor that could potentially bring the decent start to a halt. Paul Merson says the same thing every Saturday lunchtime, something along the lines of "Everton have 13/14 players maximum who they need to use every single week."

I don't envisage anyone leaving in January; the January market is much tougher and slower than the summer market. However, a minimum of two incomings are required to add strength in depth.

A backup goalkeeper to put actual pressure on Howard (something Mucha seems to be unable to do in 3 years) and potentially slot into the 1st team straight away if there are any more Howard howlers. I'm not sure about Butland, but a new GK is imperative as is another striker.

Anichebe has the impact sub super touch for 2 or 3 games every season but we need someone more consistent than him and also less injury- and problem-prone. I'm sure every team is looking for that Ole Gonnar Skolskjaer (or Dzeko with regards to this season) as a super sub who will be able to turn draws into wins.

And another central midfielder.

I think the key to finishing 4th or above will be to win the next few winnable games, try and get something from the run of hard games that immediately follow (Arsenal, Spurs, Man City), and if we are still within the top 4 (maybe 5th) on Jan 1st and we can build upon the squad with loanees (not sure how much there will be to spend?) then I think we can do it.

I think Spurs and Arsenal will struggle and I don't really fear them. I also hope Chelsea manage to throw away as many points as they did last season. If Chelsea drop off as they did last year then 3rd is a possibility. I don't see any way 1st and 2nd will not contain the word Manchester...

I would go for Donovan and Cahill as loans for a few months mid season. Just to add dept to the squad. Donovan to cover for either Mirallas or Pienaar injuries. I would not like to see one of them out for two months and then having to start a game with either Naismith, Oviedo, Coleman or Anichebbe on the wings. So Donovan as a back up please.

And then bring back Cahill for a cover as well in case Felli or Jelly misses out. And then at least he will play one or two matches as impact sub and get a proper farewell from Goodison. He would play through even a broken leg.

Unless we find cash to but Messi and Ronaldo, then I think these two additions would be smart and inexpensive.

Mirallas is out 10 days so everyone back off the ledge...

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story/_/id/1225629/everton-handed-kevin-mirallas-injury-boost?cc=5901

In truth it's fun to speculate but from 11 games and only one team above us (Man U with no Rio and RVP coming on in the 70th mind you) we don't know much. We've only played one other team in touching distance and we got turned over so lets not call our travel agents just yet...

It's there for us though, thats for damn sure.

I don't think higher than 4th is undoable, the truth is with better reffing we could easily be 6 points better off (Newcastle disallowed goal, Wigan pen, QPR red for Pienaar) strip out the defensive lapse at Fulham and we're a point clear at the top!

Ifs and buts aside I think Derek Thomas is right in that 3-6th could be very open.

Chris Kelly 609.

Depends how you look at it regarding the 11 games we've played. We went to Fulham and trashed them, I know it was 2 all but we did trash them. Fulham then went to Arsenal and gave them a good game and got a deserved point. We will find out soon enough though as the Arsenal pay a visit to GP - that game will point to where we are heading.

Why all this panicking about how we haven't played any big teams? You can drop points to anyone in this league. Some teams (RS) have played lots of the big teams but if you don't win against any oftem then what's the point in saying 'oh but at least we've played them'. They got one draw out of Man U, Arsenal and City at home. Our record is already better than that. Tottenham bat Man U away then lost to Wigan at home. Last season we beat City, Chelsea, and Tottenham at home, and should have seen off Arsenal (thank god RVP has gone now). These games will be a barometer of where we are at. Arsenal should be nervous about playing us, we could pull away from them. If we're as good as we think we are we have nothing to fear from any of these sides.

Because your more likely to drop points to the top teams, thats why their top teams.