Sigurdsson targeting seventh spot

But certainly beating the two W's to 7th would be quietly satisfying.

The big challenge for the weekend though is making sure we turn up at Selhurst Park and don't allow it to become another Fulham.

We need to get the bare minimum at Palace a draw but I think if we turn up like we did against United then it's a game we really ought to be winning.

Our final 3 games will be as much an indicator of our progress as the Man Utd game. Selhurst Park is a tough gig, a home game against an organised Burnley, finishing with one of the toughest fixtures going at Spurs.

While I can never wish any misfortune upon us, perhaps the greatest measure of progress would be for us to go a goal down in a game, and to come back to win.

I have been very sceptical about Marco Silva's ability to organise a defence. He has been proving me wrong over the last few weeks, and I am delighted by that. Now, Mr Silva, build in resilience when we are in a losing position and there really will be a strong foundation for next season.

A bad, or indifferent, season for us is the same as a good season for anyone else outside the top six. To claim 7th would bring more than European football, it would cement our position as the leading contenders to the elite group, which at times this season has looked a long way off.

Finishing 7th would be a good achievement I believe considering the amount of players we've had to bed in and changing style from Allardyce to Silva which are opposite ends of the spectrum.

I suspect we may have to get at least 6 or 7 points from last 9 to finish 7th which will be tough. I see us ending 8th or 9th. Which will do for me as a foundation especially given the football on display recently.

I think we have turned a corner and can continue to improve, but I thought that before the Fulham game.

For me Wolves have deserved the plaudits but now at the end of the season it proves what a long hard season the competitive Premier league is and every teams form has yo-yod somewhat baring the top 2.

In terms of performances and actually playing proper football it's been a leap in the right direction helped by some great attacking signings, the type of player's we have been missing for a decade or more.

Pace, skill, vision, creativity and a willingness to work hard for the team. Both Richarlison and Bernard are showing what it takes to make a mark in the Premier league. Teams can't have lazy wingers and forwards, they need to run, tackle and cover just as much pitch as the rest of the team.

This is where I'm hoping Silva can make a marked improvement over the Martinez teams. Same attacking intent but a much more team oriented method.

A trip around Europe can be fun and it would be good exposure for Everton. But with serveral players futures to be resolved and at least two positions to be upgraded an early July start to the season may not be helpful.

We could give the reserves /u23's an opportunity but getting knocked out by a no name team wouldn't be help anyone's confidence. But I'm happy what ever happens. Just glad to see prioress being made.

Next season's premier league kicks off on 10th August. So for all those thinking it's an early start to next season for us, I don't think it is. It's two weeks, (or two days), big deal. Play four (or two) EL games rather than four (or two) pre-season games.

However, as I said on another thread, I personally don't think we will qualify for the EL, but I hope we do.

7 points would do it 5 might be enough. But lets see. We need to keep playing

At Everton we have been starved of European exposure for far too long with only a handful of appearances when we have been in the main very poorly prepared.

The Europa League is not a burden if you prepare yourself for European football, as Arsenal and Chelsea have proven and to a lesser extent the Everton team under David Moyes in 2007-08.

It was only a problem under Koeman because soft arse spent more time on the golf course instead of working and preparing for the season that awaited us.

We aren't getting Champions League football anytime soon so for me, any kind of European adventure is worth it.

We have a point to prove against Crystal Palace, after our last visit to London. Anything less than a win and we will be needing to win against the dogged Burnley and away at CL chasing Spurs on the last day to have any hope of it.

We have a big squad probably too big but it could be
turned to our advantage with the judicious use of
some of the U23's.

Everton needs to be testing itself. If we are out on
show to Europe it will also help with us being in the
window for the signing of future players.

Remember the parable of the man who buried his
talents.

I hope we tell Gana he is going nowhere in the summer irrespective of who comes in for him, treble his money if we have to, he and Sigurdsson are so integral to the way we play. I don't see anybody in the Premier league who could replace him except possibly Kante and we have no chance of getting him.

I also think Richarlison has had a very good season, 13 goals from a wide player is a great return on his first season here.

Let's assume we beat Palace and Burnley, that's 6 points and up to 55, with one left to play.

Let's look at the other contenders.

First off, Leicester. They are on 48 points and have the following games left:
36. Arsenal at home
37. Man City away
38. Chelsea at home
Verdict: ouch! 51 points at best

Secondly, Wolves. They are also on 48 points but have 4 games left:
35. Arsenal at home, tonight
36. Watford away
37. Fulham at home
38. Liverpool away
Wolves are a good side and you can see them surprising someone, but 7 points is about their limit, so that's 55.

Finally, Watford. They are 1 point ahead on 50, and have 3 games left:
36. Wolves away
37. Chelsea away
38. West Ham at home.
They could easily take 6 points, by beating Wolves and West Ham. this would take them to 56 and leave us needing to get a point at Spurs.

I think that Watford are a hard-working team, who have had success due to this. Whilst they do have quality players, it is their endeavour that has carried them forwards. Now, if their players approach games with slightly less intensity, with one eye on the cup final, then Watford's performances, and by extension results, could tail off, meaning that you could easily see them taking less than 3 points from those games. For example, would you really go full force into a 50-50 ball, knowing injury could deny you the chance of playing in the cup final? Most of these players will be in their first Cup Final, their only Cup Final. This is a massive factor and likely to lead to them tailing off.

Wolves are more likely to beat Watford in the tussle between the two, but as long as they don't beat Arsenal today, then if they match our results in games 36 and 37, then I would say we have the better chance of beating their result on the final day. Can anyone really see Wolves winning at Anfield and making us have to beat Spurs?

For me, 7th is ours now, we just need to win our next two games. Palace are an excellent side away from Selhurst Park, but they've struggled at home. They prefer to counter-attack and being on the front foot does not suit them. However, if we take the game to them, it will play into their hands somewhat.

Burnley at home is a game you would expect us to win easily. They are safe now. They have nothing to play for, but this is Everton, right. We can't forget that! Last season we drew 2-2 away at Palace and lost at home to Burnley. So we are expecting to improve on results by a factor of 5 points, which is a big ask.

7th is very achievable, but a lot depends on tonight. I know we all be focusing on the big game in Manchester, but one eye on the big game at Wolves, blues. Let's hope Arsenal turn up, and play like they really do want to finish 4th, nothing less than a win will do for them. If Wolves win, then they are very much in control for 7th.

The EL should be our priority at the moment in my view - I've hared on about this for years, but if we want to be a top team we need to be able to handle European football and the league across a season.

Any team with aspirations to challenge for the top 4 requires this mentality within the club and all our players. We need to attract players who want European football as well, and the EL is a realistic target for Everton at this point in time.

If you've watched Spurs in recent years, their transition from a team on a par with us, to an established CL team with a fabulous new ground has been really well handled in my view. We should be keeping pace with them.

Barnes and Wood are a threat from long balls and set pieces, they could easy sneak a goal and defend with 11 men. They did it quite easily against Chelsea. It will be a right old battle of a game and there have been a few teams we have failed to break down over this season.

It will come down to our wide men breaking through their defence, and Burnley double up against that threat. Bernard could be the key for us.

A tough game, but a winnable one.

You just hope that we have a plan of how to break down their rear guard and take the points. We should be capable of winning this now.

Another 2-3 additions in the summer plus retaining Gomes and Zouma will help us.

Happy to miss it this season and get the team settled and ready for a big push up the league for 2019-20. Chelsea, Utd and Arsenal are there to be challenged judging by how we put them to the sword this season.

Is it dependent on Man City wining the FA Cup that 7th is a Europa League spot?

Without wishing to state the bloody obvious here, the key is indeed consistency and scoring more than you concede across a season will see you in the top places.

They used to give the Europa League spot to the FA Cup runners-up if the winner was in the top 4 (Champions League) places, but now it goes to 7th spot in the Premier League.

So... to capture 7th (which I believe should be the goal), Blues will need to win the next two games and get some help from Watford and Wolves. Ideally they draw their match against each other - that's the easiest path. If Watford win that match, then we need a result for West Ham vs. them.

If Everton drops points in either of the next two, my guess is that the hope for 7th would be gone.

I think getting Europe is a massive positive and something we NEED to grow. Europa offers the winners a CL spot after all, which would be foolish to turn our noses up at.

I think if Wolves beat Arsenal, we need to win out. We'll know a lot more about a push for 7th later today.

There's also that other game going on which might decide the title.

This afternoon / evening will be an enjoyable one for me at work, listening to two really important games with impactful implications.

Also, three weeks ago I started playing the "x plays y" game and tallying predictive points. I said then it would take a minimum of 57 points to hit 7th. I think that number stands. And if Wolves win today against a fairly flaccid Arsenal, we're behind the 8 ball for sure.

C'mon Gooners. Get it together and beat this upstart team led by the Holy Spirit.

Greatest managerial name ever by the way, that Wolves fella.

Many have said we are not ready, and others have quoted the last time under that saboteur Koeman, proved to be a bit of a disaster. Yes we are ill-equipped in terms of quality, but not in numbers, hopefully Marcel Brands can weave his spells in the Transfer Market in the summer and bring in more quality additions while also shipping out the surplus (not easy I know) players.

Integrating a few of the young hopefuls and adding genuine talent will give us the balance required to be firing on all fronts, in the bread and butter Prem, Cups and Europa too.

I doubt whether the mistakes of Koeman will ever be allowed to be repeated, and the opposition will be thoroughly checked out, before just throwing any mixture into the fray.

Fast forward to the end of the season, and as a few have mentioned 'that Fulham result' could well be the 'shot ourselves in the foot moment' as regards getting the required points. As Steve Ferns so eloquently listed the various scenarios involving the teams in contention, nothing but almost 100% effort and results in our remaining games will get us into 7th.

Making it back into Europe would be a vital next step, and I'd love to see us take it now, although I'm not at all confident that we're going to get to 7th. All the "win out" scenarios require us to play three more excellent games in a row, which we haven't done all season.

Palace will be a tough win even if we're not down three starters (I would expect both Richarlison and Digne to miss out), and the idea of getting points at Spurs is pretty optimistic.

I'll still on balance stick with my opinion that we are better out of it at this time though.

Mike - I thought the pair had minor knocks? Has there been an update? Digne was on the pitch and moving ok after the game.

United won it, Chelsea or Arsenal are likely to win it this year, so why not us? With the strength of English clubs of two English clubs in the final of the Champions League, it looks like another potential era of English dominance. We need to participate.

This is the main problem I see when they playing in another competition. For a number of years Everton have been out of all competitions after Xmas. This is why so many seen the lack of interest in the League Cup and FA Cup as it builds stamina in the squad, a poor strategy.

Everton playing in two or more competitions next season is alot different than out of two competitions before Xmas and struggling in the Premiership, like this year.

Gk - Pickford, Stekelenburg, Virginia
Rb - Coleman, Kenny, Connelly
Lb - Digne, Baines, Robinson
Cb - Keane, Zouma, Mina, Holgate, Jags, Pennington
Cm - Gueye, Gomes, Schneiderlin, Davies, McCarthy, Williams
Am - Sigurdsson, Dowell, Vlasic
Wing - Bernard, Richarlison, Walcott, Lookman, Henri
Cf - Calvert-Lewin, Tosun.

31 players, 28 outfield, only 2 strikers.

That will be Brands and Silvas starting point for next season, who goes and who stays?

And yes, you're correct about the "win out" Yank-ism.

Kevin #41, you've got Connolly listed at RB, but I believe he almost never plays that position. Mostly a DM.

Only 25 can be registered plus u21's for the Premier League as well, so it's pointless having more than 25 registered players aged 21 and over. There are also rules for 4 trained at club and 4 trained in England for Europa, but we have plenty to satisfy that rule. So I expect to see at least 4 leave on loan or permanently, plus one in one out for new signings.

Koeman's gaffe of naming a squad for Europa Cup with only one left back still baffles me, especially when he let Robinson, Garbutt, Galloway, Connolly go on loan.

Hope you get can watch it, Talks about how he hands over his twitter account to to help others, great man

Can we not sign him and announce it now though, after all Wolves have signed Jiminez on a permanent deal and he too, is or rather was, only on loan at Wolves.

But right now Calciomercato is reporting that there is a buy option in the deal for that 㾾M, which would give us the inside track if true. I doubt it, but I hope so.

Either way, it'll ultimately be up to Gomes. If you and Steve are right and he loves it here, money might not be the deciding factor for a player to whom fan acceptance is so important, especially after his nightmare experience in Barcelona.

If we win we are a step closer to Europe, but we need Watford to slip up, so hopefully Everton can sustain their form, and stay in the battle for 7th place.

It would be a good achievement all considered if we do qualify for the Europa and enhances the club profile and hopefully decent away days.

Let's hope the players turn up on Saturday.

Then Man City beat them 2-0 and it's all, "They played okay."

We've beaten Chelsea, the Arse, and Man Utd in the span of what, 5 weeks or so, and very little credit to us?

Maddening.

That little fire of contempt is starting to burn in my belly, and I have an insatiable desire to have a massive season in 2019-20.

Things are starting to line up well. God please make this happen. I'd give an arm and a leg to break 70 points next season, show some consistency, and scare the living fuck out of the "big boys".

Frank 45 - I wasn't advocating a squad of 31 - merely pointing out the starting position for Brands and Silva to whittle it down, even before new signings. Some decisions will have to be made on a number of them.

Let's concentrate on what we need to do next season:

Get rid of the shite players on mega wages;
Stop paying top dollar transfer fees for gobshites;
Bring through some of the youngsters;
Sign a top striker!

So I have to keep checking myself against that. My sense is that it's been a disappointing season yet we could still finish 7th. And we've got some players in the squad who I really believe could be successful at the club.

Jury still out on Marco. I can see his positives. He seems a good coach - players and insiders speak so highly of him. He sticks to basics. On the down side he's very basic in matches! But maybe that's ok.

This summer is massive. The structure has been in place for a year so should be ready to jump into action. We know what we need. We also have some potential issues around midfield if we can't secure Gomes and keep Gana - that would put us back a long way. But I'm optimistic - more than I've been for a while.

Now watch us drift through these last three games losing points.

Our current squad is nowhere close to being sufficient to compete in the Premier League and a successful European campaign. The so-called "lure" of EL qualification might just seem attractive to dynamic YOUNG footballers but most of them will understandably be looking to sign for Champions League teams, obviously.

We still have a plethora of dead wood to get rid of, more than a few being on mega-buck wages/contracts, so as far as I'm concerned no Europa involvement next season, providing we then end up in the top six, minimum, will be very acceptable indeed. Only then will it be that we can start to hope we can begin to strengthen our pitifully inept, over-sized, over-paid squad (but there are some gems there, honest!)

And the chief architect of this debacle is out self-professed truest fan ever of course as he ponders what to do with his tens of £millions from Moshiri.

Unless you have a top 4 squad its too much of a drain to be travelling back from the arse end of Europe on a Thursday night to then play on Sunday.

At the moment, we don't know what kind of Everton will turn up week to week... the Europa League would simply kill us next season, it really would. Our Premier League form would fall off a cliff.

Let the media darlings Wolves get it then they can kill themselves next season and end up in mid-table obscurity.

Having said that, Wolves have been better than us this season. We've shone in a handful of games, mostly at the back end of the season, but generally have been hugely disappointing, whereas Wolves have been the opposite.

I can see both sides of the debate but my view is still to treat this restoration project as a two-season job and then really reap the rewards.

In the end, it's about what we all want – Everton back at the top table – it's never about a losing or negative mentality, it's about planning, building and waiting for the mortar in the first storey to set before we add the second floor.

I see Wolves aren't out of it yet after last night.

Anything other than that, it is clearly out of our hands, both Watford and Wolves seem to be in a decent run of form, with Wolves possibly edging it. The way they beat Arsenal last night was fairly impressive. Although Arsenal have been pretty woeful away from home this season.

I still think the result at Fulham will come back to haunt us, but when you think back to the points we have squandered throughout yhe season both at home and away, we shouldn't really be in this position at all.

Myself? I am not really bothered either way because I can see both sides of the coin. Just that it means we start being involved in meaningful games a bit earlier after the summer break.

If we could be confident of a good tilt at this competition I would feel different but to be honest, as we stand right now, I'd rather we tried to construct a good assault on our own domestic competitions.

This does lend a bit of credence as opposed to being linked with every player on the Planet, so presumably he found homes for the waifs and strays, including the wage sapping non-playing ones on our books.

Should we make it into the Europa, (I hope we do) and the above 'deadwood clearing' takes place I would imagine that Moshiri has given the green light to adding some quality to our ranks.

Our involvement in the Europa would obviously help in attracting players, okay it's not the Champions League, but any team in CL not progressing, will possibly end up in the Europa anyway.

I like some of the names that we are being linked with too, but all the plates are still spinning till the end of the season.

If we are having a boot sale (or yard sale as our US cousins would prefer it called) of our accumulated junk then hopefully that will go well, and the cash will be put towards plugging the holes we all now about in the squad. The last few games have given me hope so onwards and upwards team B & S. I am already looking forward to next season, EL or not.

^^Interesting read

"Again, it is interesting to look at the Spanish teams that have performed well in the Europa League over the last three seasons. Sevilla, Athletic Club and Valencia have all had a drop in points in their domestic matches prior to Europa League games – again suggesting they may be taking the Europa League more seriously than some of the clubs from other nations."

...is very salient.

It actually debunks a few myths about 'fall off', both before and after a EL game, with English teams actually scoring more points than their average over that season.

Everton's own record is more mixed: seemingly a marked above average points return in domestic games before a EL game, but less points won after a EL game.

Me? We can't cherry pick the seasons or competitions to play in Europe. It should be a bare minimum for Everton to qualify every single year to compete in Europe. It's down to the board and management, thereafter, to ensure we have the resources to compete on all fronts.

Isn't that what ambitious 'big' clubs do..?

I have also seen that Chelsea are unlikely to sanction the Zouma transfer, both while the transfer ban is on, and also that they have several ageing CB's and in the last year of their contracts.

Obviously they can't recruit any new players but maybe if the ban is altered, restricting recruitment of youngsters, but allowing them to buy senior players, it will change, but again they are talking, should that happen, the fee would be about £30M. Considering they only paid £12M, they will have almost tripled their money.

I have seen the links to Tammy Abraham, apparently Brands is a big admirer, but again the Chelsea Transfer ban could affect that one. I do like the lad and one thing he has over any possible foreign imports is that he has actually been consistent while on loan, Bristol City, Swansea and now Aston Villa and knows what the Prem is all about.