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Premiership Football News: Everton - Crisis of confidence

by Marc Fox

While straight losses to Benfica will certainly have rocked Everton's confidence, it is the Merseyside club's daunting domestic schedule through November which will surely be giving manager David Moyes greater cause for worry.

Like many of this season's Europa League participants, being twice outshone by the classy Portuguese heavyweights is likely to be the least of Everton's concerns. After all, the earlier wins against group rivals AEK and BATE mean Everton have retained their own destiny ahead of December's trip to Athens.

But Moyes' most immediate headache this month is not cracking the next phase of the Europa League, but rather a Premier League line-up timed to test the depth of Everton's injury-riddled squad and Moyes' managerial talents.

Fourteenth-placed Everton travel in West Ham this Sunday having not won in any competition since October 1, a five-week period during which they've lost their place in the League Cup and endured home draws with Stoke City and Wolves in the Premiership.

After the Hammers, their next domestic fixture is against Manchester United at Old Trafford before a third successive away game against Hull City. Everton's next match at Goodison Park is the Merseyside derby at the end of the month.

Confidence looked low against Benfica, and not just from the players. Asked afterwards if second-placed Everton could still progress to the knockout phase, Moyes replied simply: "We hope so."

However, creativity was in even shorter supply, if that was possible. For all the club's positives – their group of promising youngsters, the unfaltering contribution from stand-in skipper Tim Cahill – the glaring absence of Spanish string-puller Mikel Arteta because of repercussions from serious knee surgery was placed into further focus by the individual displays of Angel di Maria and half-time substitute Pablo Aimar.

Arteta has suffered his second setback on the long journey back to fitness – this time an infection in the wound – and might not now return until the New Year. Of the catalogue of Everton absentees because of injury, his name causes the most angst.

As Moyes chided: "Tonight we did lack quality (going forward). We are trying to talk about the players in the team and give them some confidence and some of them did OK. There were one or two good performances."

Naturally, the manager's tactics without the 27-year-old Spaniard are more direct, placing even greater emphasis on the side's frontmen to provide a spark of creativity. But the absence against Benfica and possibly this weekend against West Ham of leading scorer, eight-goal Louis Saha, has again provided a timely reminder of the club's plight without him.

Moyes has constantly struggled to strike the right balance between his strike force and attacking midfielders, and this season has been no different.

Neither Jo nor Yakubu has found the net since they both scored in the Carling Cup rout of Hull City in late September. The Brazilian is an ever present this campaign, but has struck just twice in 18 games.

Yakubu, meanwhile, hasn't scored in either the Premier League or Europa League. The Nigerian striker said: "I think the goals will come. I will keep working in training.

"We have to keep working hard. Everyone is down because everyone wants to win," he added.

Add to that the fact that countryman Victor Anichebe hasn't played since February following a horror tackle by Newcastle's Kevin Nolan, the club has been forced to rely on local product Jose Baxter, England's under-17s captain, and 20-year-old former Arsenal trainee Kieran Agard, who came off the bench against Benfica.

Marc Fox

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