Against all odds: Everton defy injury crisis again

Just when it looked like the 2010/11 season was going to fizzle out as meekly as it fizzled in Everton have only gone and woken up. A stellar sequence of five wins, two draws and just one defeat from the last eight games have resulted in a move up to 7th place in the Premier League and given the blues an outside shot at qualifying for Europe.

Criminally underrated Osman is on great form

And yet even more astoundingly this purple patch has coincided with a crippling injury crisis which has seen Fellaini, Arteta, Saha, Rodwell and Cahill all absent. Amazing! Or it would be, were it not frankly completely predictable.

Year after year, when the chips are down, when the team is on the ropes, when the star player injury hoodoo has struck David Moyes' Everton teams have gone on phenomenal runs of form. So why is this?


Does the character of our squad mean that they thrive in adversity? Do they perform better when their place in the team is less under threat? Are our 'star' players vastly overrated and our 'squad' players underrated? Is Moyes just exceptional at motivating in this scenario? Does he find it easier when his tactical options are limited?

They're impossible questions to answer. It's doubtful whether Moyes and the players even know, but it would be interesting to consider whether there is a way for Moyes to artificially create this scenario in the future. I don't mean that Steve Round should be diving in two-footed on King Louis during a 3v3 at Finch Farm of course, but maybe they could foster an 'us against them' culture. He wouldn't be the first, i'm pretty sure Mourinho did it at Chelsea. If it's what the players need to be motivated then it can certainly be justified.

Maybe it's nothing to do with the team's character. It could just be that with limited options we are playing a more direct style of play that has worked better against lesser teams than the more patient style we used at the start of the season. I definitely think we need to learn that lesson and be able to play different ways against the lesser teams and the top 6 next season.

Or maybe, after all of that, it turns out that we are just the 7th best team in the league and the fair test of a full Premier League season has eventually evened out form and rewarded us with the position we deserve.