Mark Lawrenson: Real test for season awaits Everton now

Sep 18 2007 by Mark Lawrenson, Liverpool Daily Post

EVERTON’S deep-felt disappointment at failing to get anything from the game against champions Manchester United is being held up as a measure of their progress.

But the real test of what the season has in store for David Moyes and his players lies in the next few matches.

So closely bunched is the Premier League that a team cannot afford to slip into a run of two or three successive defeats.

So Everton’s trip to Aston Villa followed by the visit of Middlesbrough become the real games on which to gauge how they might fare in the league this time round.

Throw in the return of European football to Goodison Park this week and Everton face a run of crucial fixtures.

It would be nice if Everton can get a couple of goals ahead on Thursday to make the return leg in the Ukraine less taxing while progress to the group stages is a must if the club is to get anything worthwhile from their venture into European.

Last time round their hopes were cut short in both the Champions League and the UEFA Cup, although they were unlucky with the calibre of clubs they drew in both competitions.

The UEFA Cup has a bizarre formation. Clubs seem to have to play an awful lot of games before they see any return for their efforts. Even then the early games are not always money-spinners and clubs need to go a long way before reaping the financial benefits of being in Europe.

Everton can draw some comfort from the fact that they did not deserve to lose on Saturday and that nobody would have argued had the game ended 0-0.

In the end they were caught by a sucker punch from a set piece, but the result underlines United’s own credentials for the season. They won ‘ugly’ on Saturday – something most teams will have to do if they want to prise anything from Goodison Park, which Everton have made such a difficult place for other teams to go.

United are not playing well at the moment, but have won a couple of games despite that fact, and with so many potential match-winners in their ranks they are always going to pose a threat. Although Everton might not have been expecting Nemanja Vidic to prove the difference between the two sides.

However this was always going to be a difficult season for the champions as they will find it nigh on impossible to reproduce the flowing football of last year.

It has been a stop-start beginning to the campaign, with three England internationals so far and some teams having played only five in the Premier League, but for Everton it is important they do not lost momentum ahead of the next international break.

No need to carry on over fixtures

LIVERPOOL manager Rafael Benitez does not need to make too much noise about the Premier League fixture list.

He can let his team do his talking out on the pitch without worrying too much about what time the kick-off is.

One of Liverpool’s great strengths this season is the added depth Benitez’s transfer dealings have brought to the squad. They can virtually field two very strong sides – and that means they are better placed to deal with the demands of chasing success on so many fronts.

It may be the manager wants to rattle a few cages, to show Liverpool are not going to accept any kind of raw deal from the powers that be, but with a number of their Champions League forays being followed by a home match, there is not too much for the manager to be fretting over.

Over the course of the season not too many clubs are going to take much away from Portsmouth, so Saturday’s result was not one to get down about.

Over the years the more successful clubs have always been stretched by having to play more big matches than sides not involved in cup runs or the sharp end of the title race. It is something they take in their stride as part and parcel of doing well.

There is a risk of being too protective of players and taking that to the nth degree. Steven Gerrard, therefore, might have been worth a start – with a run-out for an hour perhaps being enough to give Liverpool the edge in a tight game.

Arsenal retaining Wenger must be the best signing of the year

ARSENAL have made their best signing of the season – but you won’t see him out on the pitch.

Instead the man in the dug out represents a good bit of business by the Gunners.

Arsenal are a club of great tradition in the world of football, but it is fair to say Arsene Wenger has enhanced that.

It was a case of ‘Arsene who?’ when he arrived, but he has produced sides that play an attractive brand of attacking football. And he has shown a superb knack of bringing in unknown players and developing them into top class talents.

He is also a great psychologist of the game and gets the best out of his players.

Arsenal have lost big name player over the years, like Thierry Henry, Patrick Vieira and Nicolas Anelka, but Wenger keeps on re-inventing the side and they are a genuine threat again this year.

Getting the Frenchman to sign a new extension is a huge lift to the club.

Manchester City are enjoying the limelight in second place, but I can’t see them sustaining their position in the top four. Teams that can keep Martin Petrov and Blumer Elano quiet will stifle much of City’s creative threat. I think they are in for a decent season under Sven-Goran Eriksson, who has got them defensively sound and playing with the confidence that comes from winning, but teams will work out how to stop them playing and that is when they may have problems.

Mark Lawrenson was talking to RICHARD WILLIAMSON