There hasn’t been any European football at Goodison Park for 18 months now and after seeing Stoke City and Newcastle United do it in recent season’s, the aim for the club is to at least qualify for the Europa League. After the signing of Belgian striker Mirallas though, Everton can aim even higher – for Champions League qualification, something they last achieved in 2005.
Before Everton’s one-nil win over Manchester United on Monday night, new signing Kevin Mirallas was presented to the Goodison crowd. He was not signed in time to make his debut against Sir Alex Ferguson’s side but will be available for the Toffees’ next game away to Aston Villa on Saturday. Mirallas will be keen to get off the mark for his new side – Can his goals help Everton finish in this season’s top four.
Mirallas has won the Greek title twice with Olympiacos and finished as the league’s top scorer last season with 20 goals to his name. He has also won the Greek Football Cup and has played over 20 times for Belgium, scoring five goals.
The striker has experienced European football at its highest level, having made 13 appearances in the Champions League during his time at Olympiacos and French side Lille. Mirallas has also made a further 16 appearances in the Europa League (formerly UEFA Cup) so he will be bringing a wealth of experience and goal-scoring know-how to Everton as they try to bring back European football to Goodison Park.
Against Manchester United, Marouane Fellaini, an international team-mate of Mirallas for Belgium, showed that as long as he can stay fit, he can slip into the role left clear by Tim Cahill as a goal-scoring midfielder or even play as a second-striker. Then the Toffees have Nikica Jelavic who scored an outstanding nine goals from only 13 Premier League appearances last season after joining the club from Glasgow Rangers in January and Steven Naismith who also joined from Rangers – Naismith scored an impressive nine goals from 11 appearances in the Scottish Premier League last term before a cruciate ligament injury ended his season at the end of October. So Everton shouldn’t find goals hard to come by this year.
After the victory over Man United, club captain Phil Neville spoke of how David Moyes brought back his squad from their summer-breaks before any other in the league with the hope they can get off to a good start, unlike in previous campaigns. Neville also said how in previous seasons, new players have been brought in late, giving them no time to settle – this time, the likes of Mirallas and Naismith have been brought in nice and early.
Everton are known for giving the big clubs a run for their money at Goodison Park and whilst much is said for the spirit around the place and the atmosphere created by the Evertonians inside the ground, a lot must also be said for the quality of which the side possess. With the likes of Steven Pienaar and Leon Osman, Everton have players who can keep the ball, players who in the same side as the goal-scorers in Everton’s ranks, will win you games.
Neville has said the club will use the efforts of Newcastle from last season as their marker as they qualified for the Europa League in fifth. If Everton can sign one or two more players before the end of the transfer window, just to add that little more strength in depth then they can match the Magpies’ exploits, if not better them. Surely there is no harm in aiming high.
Everton fans, what do you think are realistic targets for this season, having started so well against last season’s runners-up?
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