August 31, 2013 - Everton coming off their third straight draw to start the season. The team scoreless in their last two. And questions being raised whether this was what life was going to be like post-David Moyes: exceptionally mediocre. It was hardly the start Roberto Martinez wanted for his Everton tenure. The product was altogether stale, with the headlines revolving around whom the team would lose in the transfer window. Two days later, September 2, became the most important day of Evertons season, the decisive moments, all coming in the last hour before the transfer window slammed shut. A last minute £27.5 million move by Manchester United for Marouane Fellaini seemingly plucked Everton of one of their most influential players. The return on investment exceptional, and the first domino had fallen. Within 60 minutes, central midfield duo James McCarthy from Wigan and Gareth Barry on loan from Manchester City had arrived. And the icing on the victory cake, Romelu Lukaku joining the ranks, preferring Goodison Park to the familiar confines of the Hawthorns. The moves lacked the prestige of Mesut Ozil to Arsenal, or even Fellaini to United. Upon further review, the moves were decisive, calculated and have transformed Everton from a team destined for mid-table mediocrity to a true contender for next years Champions League. Everton finished in the top four just once under David Moyes, the best Premier League finish in club history. It was a thin squad in 2004-05, with low expectations. The team finished with 61 points, a goal differential of minus-1 and absolutely over achieved. Tim Cahill was top scorer with a mere 11. It was a story of perseverance, hard work, and proof that every once in a while, the little guy could compete with the big boys. Everton remains a Premier League have-not monetarily. They have no Middle Eastern oil money propping up the club, nor an Olympic-sized stadium to call home. However, this time around, the team has genuine quality. The teams quiet confidence, patient approach and maturity was on full display in their 1-1 draw at the Emirates on Sunday. Even when falling behind, the game plan did not waver. Evertons resume speaks for itself. They are the only team with one loss, one of three teams undefeated at home and are on pace for 71 points. Theyve played a difficult schedule with a soft spot coming over the Christmas period. Everton play three of their next four matches at home, and play no team in the top seven until January 28 against Liverpool. While Liverpool and Spurs remain popular choices to finish in the top four, Everton is my choice. Five reasons why Everton can finish in the top four: 1) Centre-back consistency: Phil Jagielka and Sylvain Distin have been an under-rated duo in recent years. They have played every minute this season and are both in the top five in shots blocked, intercepted and clearances, leading a backline producing eight clean sheets. Both players have shown genuine comfort working the ball out of the back. The team, especially goalkeeper Tim Howard, is better off for it. 2) Defensive midfield strength: Managers all too often try to force their teams into playing a 4-2-3-1 despite not having the players to do so (ahem, Chelsea). Everton are a team built for this system. Lacking flash and flair, McCarthy and Barry have formed a complimentary partnership in the middle. The stay at home approach of Barry allows McCarthy to be more adventurous. Both are adept at tackling, with McCarthy a more creative influence. Its this all-important balance that allows the attacking midfield (Mirallas, Barkley, Pineaar) the freedom to get forward and play to their strengths. Role definition at its finest. 3) Lethal Lukaku: Every top team needs a game winner. Nikica Jelavic was that player for Everton 18 months ago, but has fallen off the deep end. Queue Lukaku. Eight goals in 11 matches for Everton, the 20-year old is a perfect fit. A true target man in every sense, he is as much a handful away from goal as he is inside the 18-yard box. The way he manhandled Nemanja Vidic, one of the most imposing defenders in the league, last week speaks to his ability to influence matches in a variety of ways. Jose Mourinho will not recall the Belgium international in January: a short-term coup for Everton. 4) Youth Development: Year over year, squad players need to step up and emerge as key contributors towards team success. Those players for Everton have been Seamus Coleman and Ross Barkley. Coleman always seemed a hybrid: a player without a true position. Whether hed become anything more than a depth player was a legitimate question. From the get-go this season, Coleman has made right back his own and few, if any, at the position have been better. Barkleys pedigree was never questioned. It was a matter of when, not if. His cutting edge, determination, and authority around the 18-yard box have drawn high praise. The 20-year old is an automatic starter and has put himself in the conversation for England in Brazil. 5) The manager: Many questioned Martinezs managerial worth, despite years of keeping Wigan in the Premier League with paper-thin squads and marginal talent. I never understood those doubting Martinez. No matter roster limitations, the approach of his teams remained the same: patience on the ball, commitment to possession and a tight squad rotation. With better players at his disposal, it has all come together at Goodison. Players know where they stand. Kevin Mirallas has been substituted in 12 of the 14 games hes started. And young Gerard Deulofeu has been eased into the team, emerging as a composed and confident player in recent weeks. Martinez has taken a hard working, blue-collar team and transformed them into an attractive side in short time. Martinez is the ideal man to lead Evertons evolution. Everton is not without warts. The possible January sale of Leighton Baines doesnt bode well, no matter how well Bryan Oviedo has played in his stead. The sale of Thomas Graveson to Real Madrid in 2004-05 had a likewise negative effect on the team. No team relies on the left side in attack as much as Everton with the English international in tandem with Steven Pienaar. As much as keeping Baines is a priority, adding secondary scoring is another area of need. Outside of Lukaku, no player on the team has scored more than two goals. Reinvesting the transfer window profit from September on another attacking player would be worthwhile. Chairman Bill Kenwright has acknowledged he must support Martinez. "The board has got to support the manager if we want Champions League." It may come sooner than expected, but Kenwright should put his money where his mouth is, come January. Theyve won at Old Trafford, beat Chelsea, and taken points from Arsenal, Liverpool, and Spurs. And the best is very likely still to come. Other Musings - A tough road lay ahead for Liverpool. The Reds play Spurs, Manchester City and Chelsea all away before the New Year. Compounding the issues of a difficult schedule are significant injuries in the squad. Captain Steven Gerrard is out up to six weeks (hamstring), in addition to the long-term absence of striker Daniel Sturridge and left-back Jose Enrique. Jordan Henderson (ankle) is also a concern for Sundays trip to White Hart Lane. These are huge losses for a team lacking requisite depth. The 33-year old Gerrard will be especially missed, keeping the midfield shape intact, as well as providing service from dead ball situations. Liverpool has scored 13 goals through set pieces three more set piece goals than anyone else in the league. Rather than turning to Joe Allen, perhaps Rodgers tinkers with his formation, preferring to play five at the back as hes previously deployed this season. - How poor was Manchester Uniteds home loss to Newcastle Saturday? United completed the fewest passes in the attacking third (93) of any team last weekend. No other team had fewer than 100. In fact, United have created the 12th most goal scoring chances overall this season and only four teams have a worse goal scoring record at home than the reigning champions. - Some good news for Manchester United; the group stage results in the Champions League couldnt be better. As a top seed, United avoided the big guns, setting up a knockout stage matchup against Galatasaray, Olympiakos, Schalke 04, Zenit St. Petersburg, or AC Milan. Manchester City and Arsenal meanwhile, are left tempting their UCL fates against the top seeds, and clear top contenders in the tournament. Can United make like Chelsea of 2011-12, struggling in domestic play en route to Champions League glory? - Newcastle has been an on-field feel-good story this season amidst dysfunction off it. The latest gong-show: the Evening Chronicle reporting the club will charge newspapers exclusive interviews with members of the staff. Pay for coverage. Seriously. - Sunderland may be at the bottom of the table but in fairness, they are better than their position. Gus Poyet has done a wonderful job since taking over, finding semblance with a team his predecessor nonsensically added 11 players to. The Black Cats have been victim to poor officiating and missed calls on multiple occasions. Sunderland was robbed of a penalty claim after Sandro clearly handled in the box in a 2-1 loss to Tottenham. Law of averages, things will turn around. Dont see this team being relegated. @WheelerTSNgareth.wheeler@bellmedia.ca Wholesale NFL Jerseys . The 6-foot-3, 302-pound Maryland alum started 20 games over the past four seasons with Dallas. Cheap Jerseys .Mouaad Madri fired Ajaccio to a 1-0 victory over Montpellier while Creteil won 2-0 at Lens with goals from Jean-Michel Lesage and Ludovic Genest. http://www.cheapjerseysstitched.us.com/ . Shaun Miller headed a dramatic winner for the third-tier club just a minute before the end of extra time of a particularly dour contest in the rain at Craven Cottage. United, which claimed its second Premier League scalp of the campaign after knocking out Aston Villa in the third round, is second from bottom in League One. Cheap NHL Jerseys . The Scotsman was dismissed only five days after being told by the club he would remain in charge for the "foreseeable future.SALT LAKE CITY - When the game is on the line, Trey Burke wants the ball. Even if he is shooting 38 per cent from the field overall this season, the Utah Jazz rookie always feels like his final shot is going in. "I still have confidence and believe I can make the big shot," Burke said. The rookie point guard scored 17 points, including a high-arcing 3-pointer with 1.6 seconds remaining, to push the Jazz past the Orlando Magic 89-88 on Saturday night. With the Jazz trailing 88-86, Gordon Hayward dribbled through the centre of the Magic defence and found Burke in the corner. The decisive basket snapped Utahs six-game losing streak and extended Orlandos skid to eight games. "I had an ugly game, turned over the ball a couple of times and felt like I really needed to make it," Burke said. Down the stretch, the game turned into a battle between Burke and Victor Oladipo, two rookies drafted in the top 10 of last summers draft. Oladipo, the second selection, scored 19 points for the Magic. He made a jumper and then added two free throws with 21 seconds to play to give Orlando an 85-82 lead. Hayward, who had 14 points, made two free throws and then assisted Derrick Favours and Burke for the game-winner, all in the final 20 seconds. "They understood the pace. Gordon made a great pass to Trey in the corner, and he made the shot. Its great to see the young guys show a lot of character. We could have fell apart there," Utah coach Tyrone Corbin said. Despite his overall inaccuracy, Burke is 15 for 26 from beyond the arc in the final five minutes of closely contested games (within five points) this season. Richard Jefferson scored 17 of his 21 points in the first quarter and Favours, Enes Kanter and Diante Garrett all scored 11 for the Jazz. Aaron Afflalo scored 19 points for the Magic. He made three free throws in the final 20 seconds but his miss with 12 seconds left opened the door for Burke. Favors knocked the inbounds pass away after Burkes shot, leaving just 0.4 seconds on the clock. The Magic inbounded to Afflalo, who missed a desperation 26-footer that may have left his hands after the buzzer sounded anyway. At times, it seemed neither team wanted to win. There was no exceptional defence on display but both squads struggled to hit open shots, neither topping 40 per cent from the field. Burke, who was taken ninth and had some battles with Oladipo in college, saved his best for last.dddddddddddd. He was embarrassed on a couple of Oladipos drives to the hoop earlier in the game and made only five of his 15 shots. Just as he did at Michigan as the consensus national player of the year, Burke showed hes not afraid to take the big shot with two 3-pointers in the final three minutes. "Its a shot I work on a lot, specifically in that corner, and it fell for me," Burke said. Oladipo, meanwhile, also struggled with his shot, going 5 for 14. But had a far better performance than his three points while shooting a season-worst 1 of 12 in the 86-82 loss at Orlando in this seasons first matchup on Dec. 18. "Trey made a tough shot at the end but I did a great job of contesting it. Hes been big with big shots like that for a long time," Oladipo said. "We both are going to continue to get better. Theres definitely going to be more interesting games down the road in our careers." The Magic are 4-23 against Western Conference teams, including 0-14 on the road. Jefferson made four 3-pointers and had 17 points in the first quarter to spark the Jazz to lead by as many as 14 points in the first half before the Magic cut it to 49-43 at halftime. The Jazz have won seven in a row against the Magic, one of the few teams they can consistently beat these days. Orlando came along just at the right time for the Jazz, who had dropped 11 of 12, including six straight by an average of 14.0 points. The teams ineptitude was on full display even as the game was up for grabs. During a five-minute stretch spanning the third and fourth quarters, the teams combined for 12 empty offensive possessions. Jameer Nelson rested his sore left knee for the second straight game, giving Oladipo more opportunity to play. But the Magic were absent one more playmaker when they needed to make just one more play. Notes: The Jazz honoured the franchises first playoff team, which featured scorers Adrian Dantley and Darrell Griffith, Rickey Green and shot blocker Mark Eaton. The 1983-84 squad won Utahs first division title and advanced to the Western Conference semifinals after years of futility. ... Utahs Alec Burks missed the game with a sprained left ankle. The third-year guard is averaging 13.8 points, second on the team. wholesale jerseys authentic wholesale jerseys store cheap jerseys Cheap Jerseys china wholesale jerseys ' ' '
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