Everton ‘gift’ to be key to Premier League survival
Everton have had it rough over the last few seasons with the Merseyside outfit often battling against Premier League relegation.
While their relegation dogfights haven’t just been down to people such as Sean Dyche and Farhad Moshiri, it certainly feels like the Toffees have turned a new corner now that the Friedkin Group own them.
One of their first acts while owners of Everton was to bring back David Moyes, many questioned their thought process behind this but, at the moment, it’s a move that seems to have paid off for them.
The Toffees have had well-documented issues in front of goal this season but the beating of relegation rivals Leicester in a 4-0 rout showed there is goals in this team if used correctly.
That doesn’t just happen overnight and the reappointment of Moyes, thus far, has been a shrewd decision by Dan Friedkin.
After the tumultuous period that Moshiri has put them through over the last few years, it is a breath of fresh air for Toffees fans – who will still be proceeding with caution.
Everton have been handed a ‘gift’ with the addition of Carlos Alcaraz
Now that the winter window has passed, some fans are likely somewhat underwhelmed by the amount of moves the Merseyside outfit made as their only addition was that of Carlos Alcaraz.
However, even though the Argentine was the only new face to be welcomed through the Goodison Park doors, South American expert Tim Vickery believes the former Southampton man has a “gift” that could end up being key in their bid for survival.
“Southampton fans will be disappointed that he hasn’t come back to them, he did very well there, he’s an attacking midfielder who is good at ghosting into the box and has got a goal in him,” he said live on talkSPORT (5 February, 15:24pm).
“This is quite a strange one really as Flamengo signed him, he was at Southampton and then was on loan at Juventus and when he came last year, he was the biggest signing in Flamengo’s history and they’ve signed some big ones.
“He hasn’t quite fit in and on Thursday, he played and scored and it’s probably the best game that he’s had and then the news came in the next day that Flamengo wanted to get rid of him.
“There’s a few scratched heads going on but I think Flamengo’s loss is Everton’s gain, the fans should enjoy him, he’s fiercely competitive and there’s a strong personality there as well and he’s got that gift of grabbing goals from midfield.”
Does Carlos Alcaraz have what it takes to be the difference-maker?
It’s hardly surprising that Everton’s fans are disappointed with the addition of Alcaraz being the only new face added to Moyes’ ranks.
Within the Toffees’ team, there are a fair few areas that could be bolstered, however, the addition of an attack-minded midfielder with a keen eye for goal and a bit of pace about him is arguably the main area they needed to strengthen.
Iliman Ndiaye has been the star of Everton’s show this season and with a player of his calibre added to the team next to him, it feels like they could be in a good place.
Only time will tell what the future holds for Moyes and Everton but as long as the Argentine can hit the ground running, it feels like they should be able to retain their Premier League status this term.