Momentum The Key For Everton

There is a lot to be said in football, and in sport in general, for momentum. Everton haven’t had two consistent performances yet, be it poor, average or good. Draw, Win, Loss, Win, Draw, Win. That’s the tale of the season so far in all competitions. The performance levels overall have been quite good, especially coming off a poor pre-season, but hopefully now we can string together a run of results.

After the fantastic performance vs Chelsea, there is a chance to build some momentum and turn a promising start to a great one. Great starts are a very rare thing for Everton, but a win at the Liberty Stadium is a chance to not only achieve one, but to continue the positive atmosphere around the club after such a damaging season.

After the Watford match, the atmosphere around the club was in danger of turning very sour. The John Stones saga was in full swing, we were pessimistic about a possible poor start and there was the obvious discontent with the board, manifesting itself with the first plane banner flying over St. Marys before the second match vs Southampton.

Since then we have kept Stones, beat Southampton and Chelsea, and with success on the pitch, the off field protests are failing to capture the interest of the majority of Evertonians. Adding to this, the “money can’t buy you Stones” song seemed to be a celebration that we can keep our best players and be optimistic about the future. Martinez and Kenwright made very strong statements clearly showing an intent to build on something special rather than just build up a player to sell him for profit.

That’s why a win on Saturday would be so vital. Our next 5 fixtures are very difficult, as were our first 5. If we can match our points total of 8 from those matches then it would be an excellent start, and means we would of played a lot of our hardest fixtures already. For the whole of November and December, our hardest fixture appears to be West Ham away. It’s a run of games that could see us riding high into the new year.

Ross Barkley is also riding a wave, a confidence player who is currently looking every bit the player we want him to be. It is looking more and more that when Ross Barkley plays well, Everton plays well. At his best he is demanding the ball and making the right choices. Two assists last Saturday matched his total for the whole of the 2014/15 season. It could be a big season for him and more importantly, a big season for Everton if his form continues.

There is still skepticism about Martinez from some quarters, with many doubting whether he should have remained as manager in the middle of last season, it’ll take a bit more time to restore the confidence levels he achieved in his first season where the possession football was exciting and beautiful, rather than the slow and boring football of last season.

That is why positive momentum is key for Everton. A football club works best when the fans have confidence in the manager, the manager has confidence in the players and the players have confidence in themselves. That confidence always stems from winning. A perfect example at the moment is Chelsea, where doubt is starting to creep in which makes everything worse and it’s hard to snap out of the negative spiral, the likes of which Everton found themselves in last season. When results go your way it can equally be hard to snap out of the good feeling and positive momentum, I feel Everton are close to achieving a confidence that could see a season like 2013/14, and a return to Europe. What we need are a few more good results, starting with Swansea on Saturday.