In a week were the inevitable England World Cup let down came to life with a second 2-1 reverse in the space of 5 days, the Premier league fixtures announcement was a welcome reminder of what promises to be a hugely exciting season for Evertonians everywhere
Premier League Fixtures Announcement Ramps Up Sense Of Expectation By @Markthablue
The transfer window has barely got going and I’ll never be convinced with this board but presently hope springs eternal that we can get it right this window and bring unbridled optimism to the doorstep of every blue ahead of the 2014/15 season.
We start the 2014/15 Premier League at Leicester and this is going to be tough. A newly promoted side playing at home is awkward at the best of the times but under Roberto Martinez my initial thought was to feel sorry for Leicester.
This may seem arrogant and I am well prepared to look stupid if we were to get beat at the King Power stadium but such is the vibe around Goodison Park under Roberto the first match could have pulled out Real Madrid away and I would still feel confident. This Everton team, evolving rapidly under our Catalan genius is, for me, ready to take off this season.
The chance to lay down a further marker for our intent this season comes in two mouth-watering back to back home games against Arsenal and Chelsea. Two games Roberto has us embracing and not dreading. A huge chance for us not only to put one over our rivals but to leave August with nine Premier League points out of nine.
September breaks the mould as, in an occurrence rarer than a negative quote from Bobby, the Merseyside derby sees us walk out at Anfield first.
A chance to put right the nightmare of last last season. I believe the 3-3 draw at Goodison was a much truer reflection of how close the teams are and fearless but clued up Everton should represent a much sterner challenge for our neighbours.
Away to United follows Anfield and while they look tough fixtures on paper, I truly would not be surprised to see us come out undefeated. Purely for the fact that Moyes isn’t there will be a more serious threat, but the damage is already done.
Everton have removed the Old Trafford mental block and we can go and express ourselves once more. I realise this is all sounding rose-tinted and we will undoubtedly come unstuck. It’s merely a reflection of how confident I feel about this season.
Four winnable games follow against Burnley, Swansea, Sunderland and West Ham giving us the chance to enter the Christmas period in good shape.
The Europa League will have kicked in by then and I truly can’t wait for European football to be back at Goodison but writing this in June, with the squad currently looking threadbare, it just screams that we desperately need to attract the right quality and quantity of players for us to have a great season.
It is always great to have a Boxing Day game at home and Everton will welcome Stoke City. The disappointment of Sunderland at home last season in the same fixture was one of the great shames of our season. These holiday fixtures have the potential to excite and depress in equal measure.
I’ve witnessed Sunderland on the wrong end of a 5-0 thumping and Sheffield Wednesday making it a miserable Christmas with a 4-1 win at Goodison. Every chance this one and the minimum of the next five Christmases under Roberto will be a holiday season to enjoy.
January represents a month we can again look forward to with confidence. Visits to Hull and Palace combined with home games against Man City and West Brom means we have a chance to bring sunshine to a month that depresses the life out of me.
Thankfully the days of signing Terry Phelan and Claus Thomsen are over. Two signings that did not help my world-class level of influenza in one of the darkest months I’ve ever known back in 1997.
It’s moments like these that help you truly appreciate what Martinez has done for Everton. Yes things were a lot better under Moyes, considering where we had come from, but Roberto has offered us the chance to dream, to be confident as a fan base, everyone buzzing once more. Simply priceless.
I’m not going to go through the whole Premier League fixture list as everyone is aware of who we are playing but lets face it, it has been the only talking point of note in what has been an extraordinary quiet start to pre-season.
Evertonians have had nothing to go on – lets hope this is the quiet before the storm with hopefully a tidal wave of quality signings about to smash into Goodison – and while I’m on the crest of a wave with these ocean analogies, lets hope a tsunami of attacking power over bears our neighbours in the Goodison derby as we enter February.
The thing I loved the most when the Premier League fixtures were announced was almost every blue looked at our run-in. There is genuine belief amongst us that if we can get within touching distance of the top 4 or even higher, our run in, with games at home to Newcastle, Southampton, Burnley, Man Utd, Sunderland and Spurs combined with visits to West Ham, Villa and Swansea, has the potential for a glorious end to a season that is huge.
A Premier League title party against Spurs on May 24th at Goodison Park sounds perfect…….OK, OK I’m getting carried away now!
But fans are not thinking top seven anymore, were thinking Champions League places and even higher. Even the title! To start next season stronger as a unit than the season we have just left behind would simply be mouthwatering. The money is there, Roberto’s targets have been identified. Lets hope it all comes together.
We have seen what momentum can do to a club. If we have the squad, which we so desperately need to re-build this summer, then our dreams can become a reality.
Anything is possible under one of the most gifted Everton managers to ever grace Goodison Park. So important we get this summer right. In my last article I wrote about the board needing to back Roberto to their fullest, now we can see what lies in front of us; the impatience to see this great side under Roberto become stronger is growing by the day.
This team deserves some high quality coming in, do not let us down Bill. The fans are dreaming of a season of the ilk of 1984-85 and for me, this is within range. It cannot be halted by another window of boardroom ineptitude.
So lets get moving, we have four competitions next season, realistically we have a chance of a trophy in three of them.
Let’s finally end this ridiculous trophy drought this season. Even the League Cup would represent huge progress and could light the blue touch-paper on a trophy laden era for Everton under Roberto Martinez.
All we need is a good summer – and they have been in short supply under this regime – but the whole club is evolving and the board must change with it.
Ambition has to be shown and it will be repaid ten-fold if Roberto Martinez is given the tools to progress the club.
Let’s hope for a positive summer blues and if it is half as positive as the way Roberto has made us feel this past season, then we are in for a memorable time.
See you at Leicester!
Sin Miedo
Mark Ellis