Simply put, it has been a dire season for Everton Football Club.
The team recorded their lowest Premier League finish for nine years with 11th, and went out of both the FA and Capital One cups at the first hurdle.
Even in the Europa League, the exit at Dynamo Kiev was diabolical, given the controversial team selection and the woeful performance in the Ukraine.
Player Problems
Individually, too many players weren’t good enough for the Blues this year.
For me, Romelu Lukaku was largely disappointing. Obviously for a young striker, a £28million fee would add an insane amount of pressure on you, but if you command that sort of price then you should be able to deal with it.
He may well have scored 20 goals this season, but when you actually analyse it then it isn’t really that impressive.
He scored seven goals against Young Boys and Dynamo Kiev alone, and actually only managed 10 in the Premier League; two of which were penalties.
Jermaine Beckford got that many for Everton in 2011. I’m not comparing the two but considering that Beckford was signed on a free, you have to wonder whether Lukaku really did enough this season.
Lukaku also failed to score against any of the top nine teams in the division, so he clearly hasn’t turned up in the big league games.
The Belgian went over five months without a Premier League goal in open play too, between his goals against Hull City and West Ham, and that is not the form of a £28million player.
Tim Howard has been another failure this season.
You can’t fault the American’s service to Everton over the years, but this season he wasn’t good enough.
Howard was ranked as the worst goalkeeper in the league by The Telegraph, and when you think about all his mistakes that have cost the Blues points, you can see why.
He flapped at both goals that Leicester scored at Goodison in February, allowed a cross to fly straight over his head leading to a goal in the 3-2 defeat to Crystal Palace, and somehow allowed Willian’s deflected effort to beat him at the near post in the last minute at Chelsea. The list could go on.
When your goalkeeper repeatedly costs you goals, the defence can have very little confidence in him, and in the end it affects their performances. The stats don’t lie either, with Everton making a league-high of 15 mistakes leading directly to an opposition goal.
You could go through the whole Everton squad and you’d probably be able to name three or four players at a push that have really delivered for the team this season.
James McCarthy obviously stands out with John Stones, as well as Player and Players’ Player of the season Phil Jagielka.
Even then though, all of these players have had their problems this year.
James McCarthy and John Stones have both had long spells out with injury, which influenced the team’s form, as they struggled to build up consistent performances without two of their most important players.
Phil Jagielka’s position in the team was under threat at the start of the season, after shaky performances against Arsenal and Chelsea saw the Blues leak 10 goals in their opening three games. The Everton captain has since pulled through with the help of Stones though, and was hugely significant in their upturn in form in March and April.
Simply, the team hasn’t had enough players in top form to be able to put in the performances that they did last year.
Bad Moments
There have been plenty of problems at Everton this year, and the penalty taker debacles stand out at the top of the list.
They missed three penalties in the Premier League, more than any other team, with Baines, Mirallas and Barkley all missing spot kicks.
The latter two were a cause for controversy though.
Kevin Mirallas’ penalty against West Brom ended up costing the Blues three points, with the Belgian unable to find the target from 12 yards.
However, the real issue was that Mirallas stole the ball off Baines and insisted on taking it. The winger was subsequently substituted at half time, although Roberto Martinez claimed it was for tactical reasons.
It showed a real lack of leadership, and at the time Everton were flirting with relegation.
Ross Barkley also took a penalty against Burnley, but in this case Everton did manage to earn a win after the England international’s miss.
Leighton Baines was again on the field for this incident, but handed the duty to Barkley.
It was really quite embarrassing for the Blues, and the Mirallas incident in particular picked up a lot of bad press.
The lowest point of the season has to be the 5-2 drubbing away at Dynamo Kiev in the Europa League.
Romelu Lukaku scored a scorcher to cancel out Andriy Yarmalenko’s opener, which left Everton 3-2 up on aggregate, having cancelled out the hosts’ away goal from the first leg.
Then Antolin Alcaraz took over.
The Paraguayan gifted two quickfire goals to Kiev, which completely changed the nature of the tie, and left Everton chasing another goal.
It was a completely embarrassing performance, not just from Alcaraz, and it meant Everton’s season was effectively over in mid-March.
Roberto Martinez took a lot of stick for starting with Alcaraz ahead of John Stones who was left on the bench. The Catalan claimed that he picked Alcaraz because of his man of the match performance in the previous game against Newcastle.
However, I would argue that if your best defender is available, then you play him. No questions asked.
To make matters worse, Alcaraz was far from convincing in the home leg, having nearly gifted a goal to Dieumerci Mbokani with Kiev already 1-0 up.
It was a complete disaster.
Highlights
The Europa League was fantastic for Everton up until that trip to the Ukraine.
The Blues beat Wolfsburg home and away, who eventually went on to finish second in the Bundesliga, eased past Lille at Goodison, and won their group after only five games.
A 7-2 aggregate victory over Young Boys was also special, with Lukaku netting a hat-trick in the first leg.
Domestically, only two games really stand out.
Obviously, the 3-0 win against Manchester United towards the end of April was fantastic, and the atmosphere around Goodison that day was incredible.
It felt like the Everton of last season were back, and they ran United all over the park.
And of course, who could forget Phil Jagielka lashing a half-volley into the top corner at the Kop in the last minute to equalise against ‘them’.
It deservedly won goal of the season, and that strike was celebrated far more than any other in recent years.
Next Season
If Everton strengthen in the right way in the Summer, then there is no reason why they cannot match the form of 2013/14, especially without the distraction of the Europa League.
With Alcaraz and Distin both leaving, and Luke Garbutt also appearing to be on his way out, defence reinforcements are vital. Another winger would be a boost, as well as a striker.
One thing is for sure; the Blues simply cannot afford to repeat the misery of this season.
