Sunderland success poses question to Friedkin’s as Everton failure highlighted
Sunderland qualified for the Europa League on their return to the Premier League, while Everton will face another campaign of mediocrity.
The Toffees had their European hopes ended by Sunderland at Hill Dickinson last week, though, in reality, their actual chances were ended weeks ago.
Everton finished the season winless in their last seven Premier League games, resulting in a 13th-placed finish.
Overall, you can, just about, sense the progress that is being made on Merseyside, though that will not be in anyone’s thinking right now.
And questions must be asked of The Friedkin Group when comparing it to what Sunderland achieved against the odds.
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What is TFG’s ambition for Everton?
To reiterate the above, there has been some progress made, but nowhere near enough to diminish the concerns that have emerged over the last few months.
Quite frankly, when a team finishes the season winless in seven, they don’t deserve the chance to play their football against some of Europe’s greats.
But all it does is beg the question as to when it will be Everton? The recruitment over the last few years has been poor, and again, when comparing it to that of Sunderland, it’s night and day.
It was only five years ago that Everton sat two divisions above Sunderland, which speaks volumes about the trajectory of both clubs.
The Toffees are lacking the ambition needed to reach those heights across several departments of the club, and a repeat of that next season will raise suspicion.
David Moyes’ future examined
A seven-game winless run is enough to cast doubt over the future of any manager in the Premier League when the end goal is European football, and for David Moyes, it’s no different.
The Scotsman has done a fine job, but whether he is the man to take Everton to the next level is certainly up for debate.
He will almost certainly be handed the next campaign, but if results and performances don’t improve within the first few months, a change could be on the cards on Merseyside.
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