I've been busy.
But figure that it's a good time to update this thread after Everton FC CEO Denise Barrett-Baxendale, MBE, buys me a pint and talks shop for awhile:
That's Prof. Barrett-Baxendale holding up the Everton NYC scarf. She was in town for a working session with Dan Meis, the architect in charge of Everton's new stadium effort, and visited on Tuesday night with NYC Evertonians at our home bar, Turnmill on East 27th St. Very, very cool that the head of the organization wanted to come out and have a pint. She bought a round for the whole group and went around asking lots of questions about how people followed the Blues, how they came to be fans, etc. We talked for about five minutes. I told her that I was planning a family trip to Goodison this year and she asked me to contact her about it. Tremendously impressive person.
Video of the whole thing is at 8:25 of this rather odd assortment of short clips spliced randomly together on Everton's YouTube channel:
http://www.evertonfc.com/evertontv/archive/2018/10/26/everton-unseen-27-gomesmina-dance-off-and-bernard-speaks-scouse
I am in that picture but you'll have to guess which one of these handsome fellows is me (except that I must point out that I am not Green Shirt Guy immediately right next to her).
Anyway: the Toffees. Things are looking up.
The season to date:
WOL 2-2 EVE - 1 pt
EVE 2-1 SOU - 4 pts (6th)
BOU 2-2 EVE - 5 pts (8th)
EVE 1-1 HUD - 6 pts (7th)
EVE 1-3 WHU - 6 pts (10th)
ARS 2-0 EVE - 6 pts (12th)
EVE 3-0 FUL - 9 pts (11th)
LEI 1-2 EVE - 12 pts (11th)
EVE 2-0 CRY - 15 pts (8th)
For good measure, the Carabao Cup:
8/29 Everton 3-1 Rotherham United
10/2 Everton 1 (3) - 1 (4) Southampton (SOU advance on penalties)
A good start followed by a rough few weeks. The most obvious cause was Richarlison's stupid red card against Bournemouth, when Cherries provocateur and free-market philosopher Adam Smith goaded the youngster into the slightest of head-butts, earning him three games off. It seemed less important at the time, but Michael Keane being stretchered off with a hairline skull fracture after a bad fall from an aerial duel was at least as important.
At that point the team hadn't gelled. New signings Bernard and Kurt Zouma had not yet played. In the first couple of games, the front four of Tosun up top with Richarlison - Sigurdsson - Walcott had looked fluid and dangerous, but with Richarlison out for three games, turgidity set in. Tosun struggled to get anything going.With Seamus Coleman troubled by a foot injury and Keane out, the back four scuffled and shuffled like last year, although new boy Lucas Digne was a bright spot at left back, unceremoniously dumping Everton institution Leighton Baines out of his starting job. Idrissa Gana Gueye missed time too, and Tom Davies struggled with additional responsibility.
It was clear that Marco Silva was trying to get the team to play his way, but with so many new players and injury/suspension problems, it was tough going. Symptomatic of the Toffees' troubles was an embarrassing glut of goals given up on set pieces, including to the lowly Terriers to drop points at Goodison. Silva imposed the "zonal marking" system of defending corners, and there was much grumbling among the fans when unmarked opponents kept putting balls past a hapless Jordan Pickford (who wasn't winning plaudits for his play in general anyway).
The low point was a butt-kicking administered at Goodison by West Ham, who went through the Toffees like the SS through Belgium. Everton had played successive home games against two teams in the drop-zone with a -15 GD between them and come out with one point out of six.
The turning point was a two-goal loss at Arsenal, funny enough. Everton hasn't won at Arsenal for something like 25 years. But with Richarlison back, the attacking unit suddenly looked dangerous again. They went at Arsenal with an aggressive high press and the Arsenal backs could not handle it. The Toffees ran the Gunners ragged for the first half and looked the far more dangerous side, with only heroics of Cech and a couple of just-missed chances standing between Arsenal and a multiple-goal deficit. Unfortunately, early in the second half Lacazette out of nowhere uncorked a golazo from well outside the box (xG had it an 0.04 probability of a goal, if you believe in such things). A second goal followed and that was that. But despite slipping further down the table, the team looked much more solid - including at the back, where Zouma and Keane, both restored to the lineup, started to look very solid. Keane had struggled since arriving last year and many considered him a bust, but he seems to have figured it out.
Since then, other than the hiccup of a bad cup loss to Southampton in a shootout, it's been all upward momentum, with wins over Fulham, at Leicester, and over Palace. Sigurdsson is once again looking like one of the best 10's in the PL, and has four goals, including a golazo of his own at Leicester. Bernard has been a revelation- his ball skills are unreal. There is still uncertainty up front. Tosun looked lost during the bad middle stretch and was eventually benched, for a lineup with Bernard out wide left and Richarlison up front that looked lethal at Leicester. Richarlison scored once and threatened all day. Wes Morgan could not keep up with him and got sent off for two yellows. However, at Goodison against Palace, Richarlison kind of ran around ineffectually and could not break through, and the wings struggled against a tough and compact defense. The game was scoreless until late, when Silva subbed in forgotten men Ademola Lookman, Dominic Calvert-Lewin, and Tosun. He looked like a genius when Lookman lobbed a perfectly-weighted ball into Calvert-Lewin's path for an easy header, and then a minute later Tosun got on the end of a clearance, dragged two Palace defenders fifty yards down the pitch, and coolly nutmegged the keeper.
It may well be that Everton are best with the Richarlison up front and Bernard-Gylfi-Walcott line away from home, but may need to sit Bernard (he's only 5'4") and go with bigger center-forwards at home against weaker opposition. That's fine. Andre Gomes (one of three acqusitions from Barcelona) played his first game last week and looks to become a fixture in midfield. Gueye continues to excel in the "N'golo Kante" role, and Davies, although still errant, has improved, so Morgan Schneiderlin has been stapled to the end of the bench. Digne is quietly becoming one of the better left-backs around, and the Keane-Zouma duo is so solid that hulking Colombian WC star Yerry Mina is going to have a tough time cracking the lineup.
There is still a long way to go. The consistency is not there. There are holes. But for the first time in a long time, there is cautious optimism among the fans that the upside of the team may not be known. Also for the first time in recent memory, it's not automatic to look across the park and have a sad because none of the Blues could ever possibly crack the Reds' starting XI. No one is expecting the Toffees to finish above Liverpool this year, or next, but right now Liverpool has only one more goal than Everton on the season, and Richarlison and Sigurdsson both have 4, just as do Salah and Mane.
Everton are at ManU on Sunday. Given the soap opera at Old Trafford, and that Everton have looked quite good away, I'll say it: Toffees win, 3-1.
It's fun to be an Everton fan right now.