Season Preview - Everton

Quick Reminder, Real Life

Stop me if you’ve read this before but Everton didn’t start out the season particularly well. Shocking, I know. This time around, it took them a little longer to revert to being a top half team but they got there eventually with a late charge up the table well after there was any chance of them challenging for a Europa Cup spot. Still, they finished 7th in the table which is something for a team that hasn’t spent much money on their squad in a few years. Throw in the injuries to key players like Mikel Arteta, Marouane Fellaini, and Louis Saha (although the latter’s frequent absences can hardly be considered a surprise at this point). Of note during the season, Leighton Baines continued to be exceptional going forward while being a very solid defender on the left. Tim Cahill did what he always does with a brief injury interruption. Jermaine Beckford took a while to adapt to the Prem but ended the season with solid goal numbers that belied the reputation he earned early as “in over his head”. Finally, Seamus Coleman moved into a more regular starting role - split between right midfield and right back - and played pretty well.

Quick Reminder, Fantasy

Baines was an absolute stud with 5 goals and 11 assists and a ton of phantom points for the formats that count those sorts of things. Coleman was the unquestioned value play in the squad since he was listed as a defender but played in midfield more often than anywhere else increasing his chances at both attacking and defending points. Quietly, Osman had a nice run of starts in a more advanced role and good fantasy production late in the season that reminded us that he can be a valuable player if injuries provide an opportunity for regular starts. On the down side, Tim Howard (incredibly inconsistent as a fantasy keeper) and Arteta (not as productive as he used to be and still just as expensive) were disappointing to fantasy managers who fondly remember better seasons from both in the past.

Summer Changes

Asian Cup Arbitrage

Last year we had the drama surrounding Didier Drogba's participation in the African Cup of Nations. Or African Nations Cup. Whatever it was called. This year, Asia takes it's top teams to Qatar in January 2011, and it will have an impact on the Premier League.

Park Ji-Sung is already with South Korea, and Lee Chung-Yong will join him. Otherwise, it's Australia who will take the biggest batch of players including club stars Mark Schwarzer, Tim Cahill, Brett Emerton, and back-ups Brad Jones, and David Carney.

So what does this mean for fantasy managers? I think it means:

1) Stockdale becomes a viable option in goal for Fulham. Assuming Schwarzer's last game is against Spurs this weekend (I'm not 100% on that, but Cahill's last match is Stoke) then Stockdale at under 6 gets you matches against West Brom, at Wigan, and Stoke, before ending the month at Liverpool. I'm not sure we know who the real Fulham are right now, but those matches are comparable to the likes of Reina and Green who are around the same price.

2) Everton's attack is going to get even more anemic. Yesterday against West Ham, Cahill was Everton's lone forward and most incisive player. Arteta still looks lost and Pienaar has one trick where he runs with the ball into a blind alley. Moyes is going to have to hope that Anichebe, the only striker he seems to want to play, wants to play for Everton.

3) We could see the return of Martin Petrov to the right of the Bolton midfield. With Lee gone, presumably we'll see MPet and MTay on the flanks. I'm not sure either are worth their current pricing, but with a home match against Wigan upcoming it may be worth a look.

4) Sir Alex needs Nani back (as does my fantasy team). With Park gone and Obertan/Bebe not ready for prime time, Manchester United need Nani to provide that little bit of special that they lack elsewhere in the squad. Otherwise, as we saw yesterday, they'll labor against teams like Birmingham.

All this may get overshadowed by the upcoming transfer window.  However, I wanted to put out this food for thought before that happened, and before Neal takes over the blog with his "hot stove" gossip mongering.

Season Preview: Everton

Overall Outlook - I'll start the preview with the fact that I like Everton.  They have a quality team that tries to play entertaining football.  They manage their team within a budget that is supported by the revenue the club can generate.  They have a few of my favorite players in Tim Howard and Mikel Arteta and gave credibility to Landon Donovan's career which previous had "big fish in a small pond" written all over it.  It pains me to say this but last season was about as good as it is going to get for Everton in the current Premier League climate.  They'll likely finish somewhere between 6th and 9th depending on how Liverpool, Villa, Citeh, and Spurs perform against talent and expectations.  The chances of them taking the next step up the table when even a player like Donovan is out of their financial reach seems pretty slim.  Basically, expect more of the same from Everton unless something dramatic happens.