Darren Bent and Ally McCoist debate Everton big club merits amid Arsenal and Aston Villa question
Darren Bent and Ally McCoist debated the ‘big club’ merits of Everton, Arsenal and Aston Villa during a talkSPORT discussion on Tuesday.
After an early mention of it on ‘Breakfast with Laura Woods and Ally McCoist’ [05/10/21], listeners messaged in to air their views on who the biggest club were out of the trio.
“Michael says that you two are so disrespectful to Aston Villa and Everton,” Woods said.
Ex-Villa and England centre-forward Bent hit back: “I said they’re big clubs.
“Who’s the biggest team? As a neutral Ally… Arsenal, Aston Villa, Everton?”
McCoist: “Arsenal. But I do think Everton and Aston Villa are bigger clubs than most.”
Looking forward, not behind
Everton have a proud history, with the 1980s proving to be particularly successful for the club.
Indeed, only three clubs [Manchester United, Liverpool and Arsenal] have more league titles than the Blues’ tally of nine.
However, there comes a point where constantly pointing to the past begins to become futile.
The last few decades have seen the club starved of any real success, with the last major honour coming 26 years ago with an FA Cup Final victory over Arsenal in 1995.
Since then, the Gunners have won numerous trophies while also enduring a lean spell of their own, facing huge criticism from supporters and pundits.
Villa, meanwhile, were relegated to the Championship in 2016 before working their way back to the Premier League in 2019.
It’s a interesting that Everton, Arsenal and Villa are being grouped together as they are all trying to inspire a fightback to their former glories.
The early signs for Everton are good with Rafa Benitez losing just once in his first seven Premier League games.
In other Everton news, his Blues star has branded a talkSPORT pundit ‘Mr Clickbait’ after sharing his verdict on Mohamed Salah.
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