Landon Donovan needs to leave the US to further the beautiful game in his country. This may sound counter intuitive but even as his country rides on a post-World Cup high, soccer still only attracts high numbers of fans through TV – and even then it is watching European Leagues – and especially the Premier League – rather than Major League Soccer.

Mike Teevee: Definitely American. Quite possibly a NASL fan.

Donovan then, could become more of a household name in the States by playing abroad rather than staying in Los Angeles. It’s obvious that we still pull at the little man’s heart strings – even his Twitter page still contains a profile picture of him in his #9 Everton shirt. Love child or not, he’s still left a little piece of him on Merseyside – and with Steven Pienaar procrastinating over his contract, and Dan Gosling running away from his – it is no wonder there are lots of longing glances across the pond towards Landon. With most sources dismissing yesterday’s transfer rumblings about Mancini being “interested” in Donovan, coupled with the Californian’s previous comments about not wanting to play for another English club aside from us – makes me think that we could see a Christmas arrival of Landon on Merseyside.

Landon Donovan's Twitter Profile: in our number 9 shirt.

 I’ve said it before: Landon Donovan is no Li Tie, a stooge brought in to simply sell shirts in a foreign land through his celebrity, but there is also no doubt that Donovan would raise awareness for Everton in America.

Preki - In his Everton days.

Aside from Donovan, there are a huge amount of US Links to Everton: – John Spencer, Mo Johnson (Colorado Rapids), Dixie Dean (reportedly turned down a hefty offer to play baseball for the New York Giants in 1928) , Steve Sergeant (Detroit Express in NASL) , Jimmy Gabriel (Seattle Sounders and others) , Terry Phelan (played for Charleston Battery) , Preki (and all star MLS player several times, now manager of Toronto FC), Robert Warzycha (played for and now managing Columbus Crew), Alan Ball (Vancouver Whitecaps and Philadelphia Fury) , Peter Beardsley (Vancouver Whitecaps). Also of note are Brian McBride and Joe-Max Moore - and I’m sure I’m forgetting others…

"Wazza" in salmon pink for Everton, before he became manager of Columbus Crew

With this kind of history we should be drawing American fans in droves, and with Landon Donovan still hinting that his flame still burns blue, we could be forging even more links…

 He’s done well to come this far considering the state of his foot this time last year. Seamus Coleman’s blistered foot was such an infected mess that it was considered career threatening by Everton’s medical staff.

Having glistened in both his handful of appearances for Everton and his part in Blackpool’s promotion charge, he is now looking very lively in our pre-season tour of Australia.

After years of waiting for a good right back, it appears that we may have got even more than we asked for; this boy is  ruthlessly direct – like a mouthy child that spouts awkward home truths – and he has the fearless effervescence of youth. Coleman, an explosive and skillful player, is a full back itching to roam higher up the pitch.

 Attacking full-backs can be very effective when everything clicks. Baines was the perfect example of this as his relationship with Steven Pienaar ripened, but I’d love to see Coleman cutting even deeper into the opposition than Baines has on the other side.

 When Phil Scolari first came to Chelsea people were falling over themselves to praise his attacking full backs – and just before this summer’s World Cup one famous journo was openly declaring that only a team with truly accomplished full backs would win the tournament.

Although it may sound stupid – and premature – to compare Coleman with some of the best that international football can offer – that’s exactly what I want to do. 

Right backs can be very hard to find, especially at Goodison – where Hottiger, Burroughs, Jackson, Barrett, and even Hibbert have all auditioned and ultimately failed to get the right back position. After Inter Milan (stupidly) sold Roberto Carlos to Real Madrid they went through twenty-eight left backs while the Brazilian was starring at the Bernabeu.

Roberto Carlos was also used in a very attacking manner at Real Madrid, especially when Capello took charge there. The Brazilian was part of an ingenious routine which flummoxed the opposition continually. Hierro would pass the ball out of defence to a charging Roberto Carlos, who – through a number of clever movements and screens from his teammates - proved virtually unstoppable. The purists at Madrid looked down their noses at this tactic but it was hugely successful.

Interestingly, Capello also employed a very attacking full back when he won the title with Roma, using Cafu so high up the field that he was often level with Batistuta.  Another important factor to note, in both these examples, is that Capello used well drilled and stamina laden players like Redondo and Delvecchio to close down any open spaces. Everton, a team brimming with hard workers, and also a unit that closes down space, could be perfect for a really attacking full back.

Moyes is blessed with a squad that is enormously hard working and also very versatile. As Coleman attacks – players like Jagielka, Heitinga, and Neville could easily cover for him. This could be an excellent option for Everton, especially if Moyes really gives him license to attack – the last time we had a player who scared the opposition on the right it was Andrei Kanchelskis – if Coleman can get anywhere near that level of performance I’ll be ecstatic.

Tony Hibbert – Some Managers Do Have ‘Em OR How I learned to stop worrying and love our right back.

Take a sprig of Baldrick, just a dash of Eminem, throw in some David Burroughs, Marc Hottiger, and Earl Barrett, as well as a nervous field rodent and a shoe. You have both a recipe for disaster and Everton’s erstwhile right back, Tony Hibbert. The current holder of the club record for European appearances – beating even Brian Labone and Colin Harvey – is also my player of the season.
 
Spare a thought for Tony Hibbert this summer. As we drool over the World Cup he’ll be sitting at home twitching. Not that Tony has anything particularly wrong with him, twitching is just Hibbert’s natural state, like Drogba’s is lying prone on the floor, and Rooney’s is screaming. This and every summer is the summer of Hibbo’s discontent, a close-season silence, that is filled with nothing but transfer chatter. As our worst player, Hibbert’s head is on the chopping block every close season. Even if he survives the line of suitors for his job, he has to also successfully traverse rare tropical parasites attacking him.

Last year, Hibbert had to deal with Moyes’ roving transfer eye, a husband leaving the house and coming back with not one, but four new wives. The Scot started the season frantically searching for a new right back, but at the end of the campaign Hibbo was again last man standing. Our chief target Kyle Naughton went to Spurs instead and flopped, Lucas Neill left for Turkey, Seamus Coleman went out on loan, and Heitinga settled in a different position, leaving Phil Neville as the only other contender.

It has been a strange see-saw season at Everton, the first half was spent staggering from one injury to the next, while the business end was spent clawing our way back up the league. Only one player is such an infuriating blend of positive and negative: Tony Hibbert, the good, the bad, and the ugly all rolled into one. For that reason, Hibbo is the perfect player of the season, and here are some examples of his brilliance:

I. His penalty winning dive at Turf Moor – deftly executed and largely ignored by the press, as this is Tony Hibbert of “face like a shoe, the scouse Cafu” fame – not the actual Cafu (in which case he would be derided as an invertebrate diver)…

II. Like “Cripplegate” the lame dancing master , there is something incredibly endearing about panicked hang-dog Hibbert with his long, loping, Land’s End to John O’Groats passes…

III. So great was our ruinous injury list that the poor sod even played centre half at the Stadium of Light against Benfica’s sharp and hungry goal-getters. A match report at the time told of Benfica’s faithful Eagle ‘Vitoria’ that lands on an on pitch podium before the game. It was pointed out that with Everton’s injury crisis, there must have been a vulture feasting on crippled Toffees above Moyes’ dugout…

IV. My favourite Tony Hibbert moment, the few seconds that sum him up perfectly, was when he scored an own goal at West Ham. With the ball swept past Howard, a goal for the Hammers seemingly inevitable, our Tone charged back to heroically clean up. Hibbo managed to catch up with the ball, but as he tried to clear he fell back into the goal and sliced into the roof of the net in an awkward pratfall.
 
With Tony it isn’t about Goodison Park being the 12th man, but about Hibbert being the 40,158th fan; a prole player sitting amongst the pros. As he scuttles up the pitch with his perma-glum face, the time bomb of a long ball pass ticking away in his head,dodging verbal bullets from the fans, and usually messing up in a host of ways. You have to admire Tony, he’s a survivor,  a footballing cockroach that would still be around even after nuclear armageddon.

Tony Hibbert, some managers do have ‘em. Put in single file, Hibbert’s critics would stretch around the world, twice, but after this train-wreck of a campaign – he’s the only choice for player of the season, especially after his man of the match award against Portsmouth on the last day. He was all swinging crosses, half volleys, and nippy darting runs, it was a last match epiphany for Hibbert and I hope it can last for our right back with two left feet.

 Why we should’t be too upset about losing Pienaar.

"I will now sell 15 copies of Steven Pienaar"

Rob Gordon: I will now sell five copies  of “The Three EPs” by The Beta Band.
Dick: Go for it.
[Rob plays the record]
Beta Band Customer: Who is this? …

Rob Gordon from High Fidelity reminds me of David Moyes from Goodison Park. Our manager has lovingly assembled a cheap collection of classics. Arteta, Pienaar, Cahill – all bought for around £2million each.

Moyes proves again and again that you can find hidden unheralded gems if you nose around small shops, you dont have to shop at Harrods if you know where to look.

Steven Pienaar. He’s 28, he has one large contract left in him, and he’s a good player. We bought him for £2.3million, and he has a year left on his current contract. Every discussion on the merits of Steven Pienaar should screetch to a halt with that figure. £2.3million is a minuscule amount of money, and shows clearly just what an excellent judge of talent and potential David Moyes is.

Evertonians are already grumbling about another barren summer with little movement but the truth is that we don’t need anyone. This season’s deficiencies were caused almost entirely by our nasty run of injuries. We dont need any new signings, keeping our current squad as-is isn’t a step backwards, it just gives a team already overflowing with team spirit a chance to gel even more.

If Pienaar stays (either for one season or longer) we will have got incredible value for a couple of million quid. If we do end up losing Pienaar we will get good money, excellent money, probably at least 6 times our initial outlay.

Pienaar has been excellent for us, but he isn’t irreplaceable. In fact, we may already have a more than adequate replacement in Bily, who – despite having played the best part of two seasons back-to-back - has made a postive impression at Goodison.

We need to have faith in Moyes’ judgement. He is the ghostwriter behind these men, turning people like Arteta, Pienaar, Cahill, Baines, Jagielka – into some of the best in the league. Dusty flea markets and bargain basements are where Moyes is in his element, if Pienaar goes – expect him to unearth another shortly after.

The Premier League’s ecosystem took a big hit yesterday with news that Cesc Fabregas will be leaving Arsenal and heading back to Barcelona. The first I heard of this was when Oliver Kay gave his opinion on Twitter saying: “If, as G Balague implies, Barca feel Arsenal “owe” them after using legal loophole to sign Cesc in 2003, they’re misguided”The press will have us believe that Cesc running off into the arms of Pep Guardiola and his chums at Barca will mean that Arsene Wenger will turn to Mikel Arteta as a replacement. Don’t believe everything you read in the press.

Most Gooners I have spoken to since the news broke feel that they are losing the jewel in their crown and are utterly crestfallen, but there are some good opinions emanating from the Emirates with regards to Evertonians and our beloved Mikky Arteta (who is being incessantly linked with a move to Arsenal). First off, as a Gooner friend pointed out, when was the last time Arsene Wenger bought an experienced, well-known, Premier League performer? The answer is Sol Campbell, who was nabbed on a free transfer way back in 2001. Clearly it isn’t Wenger’s style to buy like this, and he’d have to pay big money to prise him from us. Obviously the press hacks who are linking Arteta with a move to Arsenal don’t realise (or don’t care) that Wenger patently doesn’t operate like this. It isn’t because Wenger doesn’t have the funds, it is because he has a strict ideoloy that he adheres to: Arteta is too old, not good enough (in Wengers eyes at least – he came out last season and admitted that whilst Arteta is good, he isn’t good enough for Arsenal). So thankfully, Wenger is a stubborn man and unlikely to bend his transfer policy for Arteta.

The second huge factor as to why Arteta will not be moving to Arsenal comes from our end. Arteta has plenty of time left on his contract, has only just come back from injury, and his consistent claims to be happy at Goodison have become louder and louder as the season has progressed.

  The miserable news about Dan Gosling is that he won’t be back until Christmas. This is a blow; whilst injuries to Arteta and Jagielka hurt the current side immeasurably, Gosling’s injury is in some ways more painful. 

  We know what Jagielka and Arteta are capable of, but haven’t yet seen Gosling at his peak. We have witnessed first hand how injuries can cauterize a career about to jump into full flow; James Vaughan’s cruel catalogue of knee problems have kept him off the score sheet and have clipped his wings. A serious cruciate problem at such a young age – just 20 years old – is saddening.

Everton’s triumvirate of injury addled young talent :

 I. James Vaughan – 21 years old.

The Premier League’s youngest goalscorer but blighted by knee problems, Vaughan is a born striker. His refusal to change his high octane approach to football combined with some ruthless setbacks, have hurt his career. Currently on loan at Leicester, Vaughan has played just half an hour for them. His indelible talent has been squashed by lack of fitness.

II.Vic Anichebe – 21 years old.

At his best Moyes calls him “unplayable” but he has only come back from a year out after being on the receiving end of a Kevin Nolan tackle (see here: http://timesonline.typepad.com/fanzine_fanzone/2009/11/everton-one-reflex-movement-two-career-directions.html), an assault which could have put a full stop on his career. According to physio Mick Rathbone, if it wasn’t for Anichebe’s huge legs he would have been forced to retire. According to Anichebe it was the most painful moment of his career. Complications due to a growth in his knee whilst recuperating, held up Anichebe’s return and lost him a year of development.

III. Dan Gosling – 20 years old. 

Scored the winning goal against Liverpool in the FA Cup last season, in all likelihood won’t be back playing until 2011.

So Landon Donovan, our footballing pen pal, has returned to LA. The Home Depot Center in Los Angeles – a distant football colony – with Tom Cruise watching and David Beckham hobbling must be a far cry from the Old Lady Goodison Park. A move back to Everton is possible, and we should push for it as much as we can. Whereas Beckham was brought to the US as a footballing missionary to garner attention for MLS, exporting Donovan will focus foreign eyes on Merseyside. We shouldn’t underestimate just how much of a star we have on our hands either; when Everton signed Lie Tie and Li Weifeng millions tuned in to watch the Toffees. Sadly, those two players, a magnet for Chinese fans, weren’t capable of impressing on the pitch. Donovan though, patently is a level above our former Chinese duo, and he is a huge star Stateside. Look inside the first page of this month’s Rolling Stone Magazine and you are hit with a Gatorade advert, a simple sepia picture of Landon Donovan flicking the ball up in the air, and his name isn’t anywhere. Just like David Beckham – Donovan needs no introduction to an American audience. Stroll around any Midwest city and you will occasionally spot the livery of “Big Four” shirts popping out from the crowd. Expect to see Everton shirts too in the coming months and years. Pushing football alongside Baseball, the NFL, and Baskeball in the American sporting consciousness is an almost impossible task. Pushing an English football team though, is less hard – and we couldn’t have chosen a better player. Most pundits on the American side of the pond feel that Donovan’s talent was outgrowing MLS – and a huge number of fans feel that he needs to go abroad to grow. Donovan’s ten week stint at Goodison, laced with strong performances, has simply strengthened that argument. Any American interest in Donovan instantly becomes an interest in Everton. It is hard to want Donovan to succeed and divorce that from wanting Everton to do well too. It makes little sense seeing Donovan back in the MLS after he did so well against some of the world’s best, in LA he’s a gastronome forced to dine at McDonald’s every day, in the UK he is with kindred spirits; a feral Mowgli brought out of the jungle back to where he belongs. A neat parallel can be drawn with the NBA, which is similar to the Premier League, both are Meccas for their respective sports – where all aspiring players want to get to. Tony Parker – basketballer, Parisian, mate of Thierry Henry, and husband of the gorgeous actress Eva Longoria – plays in the NBA for the San Antonio Spurs. He plays in the NBA because it is the peak of his profession, playing in Paris would be counter-intuitive. The same goes for Donovan, who seemed genuinely touched by the passion of the Everton fans, and was a more than capable performer in the Premier League. Donovan’s return to California will bring him nice weather and his friends, but although sunny, professionally speaking California is a dark corner of the sport. Donovan is now a member of the Everton diaspora, and he’s welcome back whenever he wants. Moyes was right to treat the loan deal with respect – he was stung by Mark Hughes’ behaviour, prising Lescott from us like a bigger child in the schoolyard, and he didn’t want to treat LA Galaxy with that same disrespect. What Moyes has done though is give Donovan a taste of the big time, success is moorish, and the competitive streak in Donvan will be pining for Merseyside. It may not just be the prohibitive sum that MLS reportedly want for Landon that kills any deal for Everton, David Beckham’s injury means that Donovan is now wearing the crown of MLS’ star player again… The sun never sets on Moyes’ Everton empire, like most Premier League teams we have players from all corners of the world – Donovan will bump into some in South Africa – and hopefully at Goodison next season.

It started in the smog filled queue of cars outside the Taco Bell drive thru somewhere in suburban Detroit – an area as flat and grey as a politburo suit. My mum was over visiting and she’d been nursing a chip on her shoulder about the US for decades.

After rattling off a list of problems that she had with Detroit – and the US in general – she wrapped her argument off with a final claim:

“They think they are so superior at everything.”

That sentence uttered by my mum, seeps into the cracks that cover the beautiful game. It’s thought by Moyes and his boys as they walk under the “This is Anfield” sign – its on the tip of sharp tongues in the US – flicking invective David Beckham’s way. It’s also how a lot of people felt when Landon Donovan came to Merseyside. He hadn’t made the grade in Germany, word spread that he was a Californian Graeme Hick – a flat track bully. How wrong we were. Donovan hit the ground running as soon as he got here but Saturday’s game against Man Utd was one of his quieter moments. He will have again been impressed by Goodison, and by our results this month. Many doubted us after the beginning to our season; victories against Chelsea, Man Utd, Man City, and Sporting Lisbon represent a renewal of vows for these fans.

When Sepp Blatter talks people listen. Partly because he is the head of FIFA. Mainly because his mouth is a purveyor of fine tripe. In terms of moronic soundbites he is an unholy mix of the Duke of Edinburgh and Russel Brand – committing verbal pratfalls with every breath. His latest proclamation was that John Terry would be “applauded” in Latin countries for having a mistress. Gab Marcotti rightfully savaged Blatter, but the old FIFA duffer may have stumbled over something. Unlike many other countries, we do have a problem with mistresses. Everton fans have already fallen in love with Landon Donovan and we cannot comprehend having to share him with someone else.

We’re so used to monotone grunts in football, but Landon had us at hello, he had us with his gummy smile and his player of the month award, and hopefully we have captured his heart too. It has all the promise of a long term relationship, he is everything Evertonians want in a player – fiercely committed, skilled, intelligent – and hopefully we are everything he could want – singing him to success.

Welcome to Hotel Everton, Landon. You can check-out any time you like, but you can never leave.

We already know that Superman wears Tim Cahill pajamas and that God wears a “PIENAAR IS GREAT” t-shirt – but our afroed genius Marouane Fellaini may well be wearing an “I TOLD YOU SO!” t-shirt under his Everton kit. He was omnipresent today,  tendril legs getting hold of the ball countless times, and he oh so nearly scored against Citeh’s only decent player – Shay Given. Fellaini’s pirouette around the ever-annoying Bellamy was a sight to behold. He told us all he was a defensive midfielder, and he has been outrageously good recently. We love you Marouane!

All Evertonians were lifted out of their seats by Sunday’s late comeback against Spurs, but Chelsea at Stamford Bridge is going to be a challenge of an altogether higher order. Having won every Premier League game at The Bridge and conceded only one goal, yes just one solitary strike against, their home form is intimidating. United, Spurs and Liverpool have all visited and gone away goalless and pointless. Away from home Chelsea have suffered a few hiccups of late; going out of the Carling Cup to Blackburn on penalties and in the league losing 3-1 at Wigan and 2-1 last weekend at Eastlands. Apoel Nicosia managed to escape with a draw in the meaningless Champions League encounter in midweek for which Carlo Ancelotti rested Ivanovic, Anelka and the strangely out of sorts Petr Cech. The peerless Michael Essien limped out of this game with a hamstring tear, which will sideline him until well into next year, while John Terry was on crutches after the defeat at City and must be a doubt.
For us the key area of uncertainty is in defence, where injuries to Neville, Distin, Yobo and Jagielka leave us to select from three right backs (Hibbert, Neill and Coleman), one left back (Baines), one seventeen year old centre-back (Duffy), and one utility player in the form of Heitinga who returns from suspension. An option open to David Moyes is to play three at the back (as United did in midweek against Wolfsburg), with Coleman and Baines operating as wing-backs and Heitinga as the sweeper in a 3-5-1-1 formation. Further up the pitch Cahill is suspended while Arteta, Osman, Vaughan and Anichebe are still out and Gosling a major doubt.
Jo worked his socks off in Athens, holding the ball well, winning free kicks and setting up Bilyaletdinov’s winner, he was effective against Spurs as well, and with Saha carrying calf and thigh niggles and needing to be cosseted, we expect the Brazilian to start up front with Saha and Yakubu making their contributions from the bench later in the match.
Continuing our theory that Heitinga will play as a sweeper in a back three along with Neill and Hibbert, our midfield will probably line up; Coleman, Bilyaletdinov, Rodwell (assuming he is fit), Pienaar and Baines with Fellaini playing just off the lone striker. Given our injury situation all this conjecture should be taken with liberal quantities of salt.
Dixies Sixty XI to start (3-5-1-1): Howard; Hibbert ©, Heitinga, Neill; Coleman, Bilyaletdinov, Rodwell, Pienaar, Baines; Fellaini; Jo.
Chelsea from: Cech, Turnbull, Ivanovic, Belletti, Terry ©, Carvalho, Cole (A), Zhirkov, Mikel, Lampard, Ballack, Cole (J), Deco, Anelka, Drogba, Malouda, Kakuta.