How Everton came to be a club forever yearning for a new dawn

How Everton would love to emulate their rivals this weekend, a Manchester City side that have shed their status as the second team in town and leapfrogged United on the pitch and in terms of trophies and glory

Manchester City are living Everton’s dream. In 11 short years the champions have achieved what some thought impossible. They have shed their status as the second team in town and leapfrogged Manchester United on the pitch and in terms of trophies and glory.

How Everton would like to emulate City. Tomorrow, when Pep Guardiola’s side visit Goodison, the majority of supporters in the stands will be able to live with defeat. Anything that could help stop Liverpool winning the Premier League is a positive development for a lot of Evertonians. That is what envy, pain and resentment does to a fanbase. Anfield, the ground built for Everton and their home when they won their first title, is now the root of all evil.

Farhad Moshiri’s involvement at Goodison was never going to have the same impact as Sheikh Mansour’s takeover at City but, three years on from the Monaco-based millionaire’s arrival on Merseyside, progress has been disappointing. Back in February 2016, Jurgen Klopp was only four months into the job across Stanley Park and just getting to grips with the mess that he inherited. Liverpool would finish eighth at the end of the season. Although Everton ended up three places below and the gap was 11 points, it felt almost like touching distance. Since then Klopp has led his club into the stratosphere while Everton remain rooted in mediocrity.

The new age never really happened. Steve Walsh, fresh from putting together the Leicester City side that won the title three years ago, arrived as director of football and Ronald Koeman – a man whose status in the game is undeniable – was installed as manager. Those appointments appeared to be the cornerstone of an optimistic new epoch and, with money to spend, the signings, while not spectacular, seemed positive. Eight players costing more than £20 million were purchased in the next two years but things only got worse. Koeman, who never understood the culture of the club, lasted barely more than a season and Goodison needed a fireman. Enter Sam Allardyce, who stabilised the situation in the most dispiriting way. Marco Silva was the first choice to replace Koeman but Everton were not prepared to pay the £15 million that Watford demanded. It was just as well. Within weeks Silva was sacked at Vicarage Road.

A new dream team was put in place, Silva in the dugout and Marcel Brands, whose work at PSV Eindhoven was hugely successful, replaced Walsh. Another six £20 million-plus players have joined the club with Brands doing his shopping at the sort of places that wins the approval of the fans – Barcelona and Juventus. The latest set of saviours have so far been as unsuccessful as their predecessors.

Silva lacks the confidence of his players. The manager is exposed and before the Carabao Cup win over Sheffield Wednesday the Portuguese used phrases like “no one can hide” and “take responsibility.” These are the sort of words that signal serious division in the dressing room. Everton have already lost three of the first six Premier League fixtures. Another defeat against City will not prove catastrophic for Silva but a bad October would probably seal his fate. If things go wrong against Burnley and Brighton away and West Ham at home in the league and Watford at Goodison in the Carabao Cup, there will be uproar on and off the pitch.

At least the long-term future seems bright. The designs and visualisations of the proposed new stadium at the Bramley Moore dock have energised Evertonians. Yet an application for planning permission has not been submitted. Funding is not yet in place. Everton have met every deadline connected with the stadium but there are still hurdles to overcome before building starts beside the Mersey.

In the short term the focus will be on the pitch. Two of the summer buys have suffered injuries. Andre Gomes and Jean-Philippe Gbamin, nearly £50 million’s worth of midfielders bought from Barcelona and Mainz respectively, have seen little playing time. Moise Kean, a £25 million signing from Juventus, is going through a period of adjustment to the physicality of the Premier League. The 19-year-old forward is far from the finished product but has plenty of promise. Silva – and Brands to a lesser extent – could do with some return on the investment soon.

The squad, at least on paper, looks strong enough to worry some of the misfiring ‘Big Six’ teams. Crafting a viable XI out of the talent available is the problem for Silva. He does not appear to know his best side. And they lack resilience – Everton have never come back to win after falling behind under this manager. They have conceded first 21 times and lost 17 of those game and recovered a point in the other four. Something is not right and needs to be corrected quickly.

City have what Goodison wants. Even more than craving success, Evertonians yearn for the ability to look down on their red neighbours from a position of power. That shift in Manchester happened not just because of money – United have more than enough of that – but because City have been cleverer on and off the pitch.

Everton are a club forever on the cusp of a new dawn (Getty)

Everton are no longer big and they have not been clever but they were closer to Liverpool when Moshiri arrived than City were to United. Finding the right manager is crucial, as the appointment of Klopp at Anfield illustrates. The chasm between the Merseyside clubs should have got smaller but it gets wider by the season. The nightmare continues for Everton.