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.

The BBC is today reporting that our young striking genius James Vaughan is to fly to the US to have yet another knee operation, truly gutting news. Vaughan has been dogged by injuries throughout his fledgling career, a major one to his knee, (the same one that will be operated on this time round) a severed artery in his foot, and a dislocated shoulder too.
Moyes said:

“The knee just locked a couple of times in training and it is terrible luck.

“We don’t know yet whether it is the same problem as before but it is the same knee.

“We decided he should have the operation now rather than wait until the end of the season and he has to be a doubt for the rest of the campaign. He is going to go out to Dr. Steadman to have a bit of cartilage trimmed.

“I don’t know how long he is going to be out for but he is a doubt for the rest of the season, I would have to say.

“It’s a blow to us and to him. We knew that there was something bothering him. We had a look at the knee and we thought it was getting better but then his knee locked again.

“We have decided that we need to have him operated on now. We were hoping that he could get through to the end of the season.”

Horrific news for such a great hope, but the positives are that he is young, and he will be operated on by the world’s best – Dr Richard Steadman. Get well soon James!