Source: Telegraph
Everton's season is not a lost cause insists David Moyes
Everton have found their position as the fifth members of the Premier League's elite usurped by the greater resources and deeper pockets of Manchester City, Tottenham, their opponents on Saturday Aston Villa and even Sunderland. [LNB]To many, the best Moyes can hope for is that a season to forget ends as soon as possible, and with as many of the 10 players currently sidelined by injury returned to fight another day. [LNB] Related ArticlesEverton v Aston Villa: match previewTottenham 2 Everton 0Cahill: Everton served wake-up callSport on televisionInjuries mount for Everton after Benfica thrashingBig test for threadbare EvertonYet the Scot has steadfastly refused to write the current season off, adamant that neither he nor the handful of players he has available to him are prepared to give in to the temptation to settle for the quiet ignominy of a mid-table finish. [LNB]'I can't see this season as a lost cause,' he said. 'Our points total is very similar to this time last year. I get the feeling people will see our season as a lost cause because of the improvement by Manchester City, Tottenham, Aston Villa and Sunderland, but I can't. [LNB]'Maybe, without knowing, we are in the process of building a new side. Maybe we are building again. The injured players might not be the same when they come back, who knows? We are in the throes of transition just now. [LNB]'It might well be that we finish mid-table but it would be wrong of me to have that as my ambition. My ambition is to finish as high as I possibly can. That hasn't altered. We are the kind of footballing side that could easily go on a run and I hope that's about to start.' [LNB]He will need a vast improvement from his players if that is to be the case. [LNB]Though Everton have played well in patches since their last win, against Portsmouth in September, three consecutive defeats, to Tottenham, Bolton and their humbling against Benfica, have sapped the confidence of a side devoid of its natural leaders. [LNB]For the time being, Moyes admits he must encourage Everton to return to their traditional virtues, of diligence and doughtiness, before he can continue his attempts to see them evolve into a side capable of matching their wealthier rivals for quality and class. [LNB]'First of all I've got to get back to a side that is resilient and hard to beat, and much tougher to play against than we are at the moment,' he said. 'But I do not feel under pressure as manager at this club. [LNB]"I feel the pressure is there to get results. That is my job and there is nobody who hurts more than me, and nobody who examines himself more than me, when we don't get them. [LNB]'Whatever anyone thinks or says, I have already thought about it and tried to correct it.' [LNB]
