IF EVERTON ever needed any convincing they are doing the right thing, then it came on Sunday.
Victory over Tottenham Hotspur was by far their best result of the season. And it proves that Everton are in for the long haul in the race for fourth place.
You take the top two out of the Premier League, and the rest are all much of a muchness.
That makes games between the rivals for Champions League qualification so important.
Bearing in mind David Moyes’s side have had so many what I’d call ‘winning’ draws, to have ended the game on Sunday without even a point would have been hugely demoralising.
It would have been difficult for Moyes to come into the dressing room and once again say ‘unlucky lads, we played really well and didn’t deserve to lose’.
Now he can say ‘we’ve shown we can now win these games’.
It tells you everything about Everton. Unlike certain Italian strikers, nobody gives up playing when they are at Everton. It isn’t allowed. They keep going and going.
They kept battering away at Tottenham and kept believing. The most impressive thing for me was that they played with their heads during those closing moments, it would have been easy to just launch the ball.
Darron Gibson was superb, and Everton are now starting to see the hallmarks of a very good player. Gibson has good vision, a great passing range and he knows what he can and cannot do.
He doesn’t get pulled out of position and that’s vital for a holding midfield player. He offers good protection to the back four and gives players passes where they want them, in front of them to run on to.
If Gibson was a snip, then so too was Seamus Coleman. The youngster is still learning the game, as was shown at Fulham earlier this season, but he has the ability to keep improving.
Everton are always strong down their left, but Coleman and, when he was on, Kevin Mirallas were extremely strong down the right against Tottenham.
The penny is starting to drop with Coleman regards when to take people on and when not to attempt dribbling past six players and risk losing the ball.
Because he is Irish, Coleman is as game as a badger and will run up and down all day. That’s the way they are made. You’d never accuse Coleman of not putting a shift in.
His delivery has also improved, as has his awareness. This was shown by the cross for Steven Pienaar for the equaliser last weekend – Coleman looked up and played a perfect cross.
Like Everton, he is on the up.
