Everton Women have had a largely successful season in the WSL.
Having finished 6th in the 2019/20 season, and looking on course for a 5th placed finish this time round, there is real scope for optimism.
Despite suffering a lack of goalscoring, inconsistent results, and a stadium fire the Toffees are comfortable in their position.
There are only five more WSL games left to play, alongside an FA Cup campaign that gets underway in April.
Therefore, with the season winding down, we examine what went well and what went wrong alongside reasons for optimism.
Steady improvement
Everton were swimming in the doldrums of the WSL only a couple of seasons ago. The 2017/18 season saw them finish 9th and in 2018/19 they finished 10th.
Yet in 2019/2020 the club jumped to 6th in the league and this year look set to improve upon that again.
Steady and organic growth is often a by-product of a solid foundation and infrastructure at a club.
Since taking over in 2018, manager Willie Kirk has overseen this progress.
The side has moved from a counter attacking unit to a more controlled, possession-based side.
Kirk told everton.com that “controlling games is the only way you achieve long term success. Our buildup play is better and more considered.”
The philosophical changes on the pitch alongside the inclusion of better talent, a purpose-built stadium and top-class coaching leaves Everton with a positive foundation to build on next season.
Lack of goalscoring
A theme that has rung true for Everton’s current campaign is the lack of a true goalscorer.
All the teams above them in the league currently all have more prolific goalscorers than the Toffees.
In fact, you have to travel down to 16th in the goalscoring table to find Everton’s Valérie Gauvin with five.
Chelsea’s Fran Kirby and Sam Kerr have 12 each, with Ellen White for Manchester City netting 9 times and WSL top scorer Vivianne Miedema notching 14 times for Arsenal.
Everton have had a ‘do-it-by-committee’ approach. Gauvin’s goals alongside Lucy Graham and Izzy Christiansen’s four have provided a steady stream.
Amongst footballing circles it is mostly appreciated that a variance in goalscorers is usually a positive element in football.
However, without a striker in the mould of a Kirby or Miedema, it can be tough to find key goals in decisive moments, particularly when form or confidence is low.
Gauvin looked to be that talent, having scored 14 goals in 16 appearances for Montpellier in 2019/20 before her transfer to Everton.
Kirk will be hoping Gauvin can replicate those numbers and begin to reach double digits if Everton are to compete for the WSL title going forward.
Consistently inconsistent
If you simply analyse Everton’s last five games you can extrapolate the reasoning behind their 5th placed finish this season.
The column reads: loss, win, loss, win, draw.
The last five games are a Rorschach Test for the campaign. It’s easy to analyse this teams ‘personality’ and ‘functionality’.
Put simply, Everton have been consistently inconsistent.
They have routinely beaten the teams below them, yet convincingly lost to those above.
Resounding 0-6 wins against Aston Villa, and 4-0 wins against Bristol City stand out.
As do 4-0 losses to Chelsea and Arsenal in the process.
With results like those, whereby you beat those you should, and loose to those above, you are destined for a life of 4th-6th placed finishes.
Such finishes should still be applauded, as it was only a couple of years ago Everton were in the lower end of the table.
“Closing the gap” is the term Kirk used after his sides 0-3 loss to Chelsea yesterday, and producing consistent results moving forward is the method to that end.
FA Cup hope?
There is still hope for Everton to claim some silverware this season with the FA Cup up for grabs.
Runners up last season, Everton play Durham in the fourth round, a game they are expected to win.
The FA Cup may suit them stylistically.
Knockout football is built to provide a basis whereby anything can happen, and the team’s inconsistent results aren’t punished over the rigours of a season.
Therefore Everton are capable, and do have the talent to win the competition.
They must lean on the goals of French striker Gauvin and the midfield support of Izzy Christiansen, Jill Scott and Lucy Graham if they are to make any headway against the usual suspects.
