http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/everton-still-waiting-see-just-12864943
Everton are still waiting to see just how ambitious Farhad Moshiri really is
Games at Liverpool and Manchester United showed that a crucial summer awaits the Blues in the transfer market
BYBARRY HORNE
- 19:48, 7 APR 2017
- UPDATED19:52, 7 APR 2017
Farhad Moshiri may have agreed to buy the Royal Liver Buildings and brought Everton close to achieving their new stadium dream but Barry Horne is looking for more evidence of ambition in the transfer market (Photo by Jan Kruger/Getty Images)
Everton had two huge fixtures in the space of four days this week but ultimately they showed how far the Blues still have to go when it comes to matching the real top sides and just how crucial a summer it will be for us in the transfer market.
The matches themselves proved quite contrasting yet they both served as a reality check because Everton fell short.
There are great strides being made off the field under Farhad Moshiri’s stewardship but it mostly remains promise for now with little tangible as yet when it comes to showing just how ambitious the club’s majority shareholder really is.
A string of big names were linked to the club last summer for huge fees but for now Romelu Lukaku – brought in before Moshiri’s tenure – remains the club’s record signing.
Three-year-old Elijah to read out teams at Everton v Leicester on Sunday
I’m not being pessimistic just realistic because unless you’re already in the Champions League you’re not going to attract the top players and most of the teams who are in that elite group in this country have more more going for them in that respect than Everton because they’re either in London or have more money like the two Manchester clubs.
Everton will be counting on director of football Steve Walsh working his magic this summer as he is credited as being the man whose shrewd signings inspired Leicester City to their shock Premier League title success.
The combination of his acumen along with Ronald Koeman who has a fabulous knowledge of continental football should ensure a suitable list of targets has been drawn up when it comes to strengthening the squad.
Steve Walsh the new Director of Football at Everton shakes hands with Ronald Koeman at Finch Farm
It could well be the case that we bring in some players who people are not really familiar with but who go on to have a good couple of years or so at Goodison.
While Evertonians will always see their club as being where they were for decades as part of the elite, we are now often viewed as a platform to move on from for players like Lukaku and that’s why it’s so difficult to try and break into that group.
Players will want to move on to established Champions League clubs, you just hope that you can try and bridge the gap and qualify yourself in the meantime.
Everton has got a fantastic history and fantastic fans but that’s just where we are.
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Don’t get me wrong, I’m proud of our team and it is great to see the likes of Tom Davies, Matthew Pennington, Mason Holgate and Dominic Calvert-Lewin out there but even combined with their more expensive team-mates, our side still cost a fraction of either Liverpool’s or Manchester United’s.
At Anfield we were poor from goalkeeper to centre-forward and everything in between.
Maybe we’ve got carried away at times in thinking the team just might be able to make a late push for the top four but the truly great players make their mark in these games.
Three's a crowd - I hope we don't see that system against a Leicester side with their mojo back
With Ashley Williams suspended against Leicester City I hope that Koeman isn’t tempted to go with safety in numbers and play three centre-backs.
Unless you’re really well drilled in playing a three-man defence I fear that nobody truly knows their role in the system.
Look at where Everton’s defenders were situated for Liverpool’s first goal in the derby, they all seemed to drift and think that the next man was going to pick Sadio Mane up.
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Ultimately none of them did and while there were about three players within a couple of yards of him when he shot, none of them were able to get close.
Saying that, the shot should not have been enough to go in and having seen it replayed several times now I still can’t understand how it’s ended up in the net - it was really poor from our point of view.
Don’t be mistaken, Leicester are going to prove as great a threat as either Liverpool or Manchester United.
Their confidence is sky high again and they’ve got their mojo back since Claudio Ranieri’s sacking, drawing upon that feeling of a year ago.