Source: Daily_Mail
Moyes had sights set on top four... but injury-hit Everton are near drop zone
David Moyes' eyes blazed with anger and indignation as he reflected on Everton's sixth Barclays Premier League defeat of the season and admitted: 'We could be dragged into a relegation battle at this rate.'[LNB] It was a sentence the Everton manager never expected to utter. Not this season, anyway. As he weighed up the prospects during the summer, and put Everton's squad on one side of the scales and Liverpool's on the other, he sensed the balance of power on Merseyside might be shifting at last.[LNB] To Hull and back: Andy Dawson celebrates scoring in the 3-2 win over Everton[LNB] Heartened by another judicious recruitment drive and the continuing development of Jack Rodwell, he set his sights on fourth place and saw no reason why it should prove beyond a group brimming with talent and experience. Someone would have to make way, and the loss of Xabi Alonso left Liverpool looking as vulnerable as anyone.[LNB] Three months on and the battle for Merseyside supremacy could still be a close-run affair. Entry into next season's Champions League for the winners is not the near-certainty it once looked, though.[LNB] As they prepare for Sunday's derby meeting at Goodison Park, their respective League standings - Liverpool seventh, Everton 14th - tells its own sorry tale of deteriorating fortunes in an area that has always been in the top two or three for support and expectation.[LNB] Rafa Benitez may have cut a frustrated figure at Liverpool's recent failings, but there is a case for arguing that Moyes has more cause for irritation at his side's current plight.[LNB] After successfully coaxing the best out of Mikel Arteta, Steven Pienaar and Louis Saha, he was able to reinforce his defence with the strength and know-how of Sylvain Distin, Lucas Neill and John Heitinga, add a cultured left-footed presence to midfield in Diniyar Bilyaletdinov and provide a platform for 18-year-old Rodwell to demonstrate his undoubted England potential.[LNB] It all added up to the best squad the former Preston manager has assembled in the seven-and-a-half years since he replaced Walter Smith, one more than capable of seeing off Liverpool's challenge, in his eyes, and joining Chelsea, Manchester United and Arsenal among Europe's elite. [LNB] Eaten by rage: Everton boss David Moyes is angry after his side's sixth defeat of the season at Hull[LNB] The edge to his voice, in the aftermath of a 3-2 defeat at Hull on Wednesday night, betrayed a reality nobody saw coming as he readily admitted that the bottom three, rather than top four, was suddenly commanding most of his attention. [LNB]No-one begrudges his £3million-a-year contract, after all his sterling deeds on a limited budget, and he is not about to walk away from it. But the way a campaign so rich in promise has been sabotaged by injury and loss of form is eating away at him like nothing before. [LNB]Eight senior figures were absent as Everton narrowly failed to overturn 3-0 half-time arrears at the KC Stadium, among them defensive linchpin Phil Jagielka, main creative talent Arteta and skipper Phil Neville. [LNB]Even more gallingly for Moyes, there seems to be one setback after another in the recovery of his stellar absentees, with Arteta racking up three lots of surgery to date, Jagielka and striker Victor Anichebe two apiece and, most recently, Neville suffering a reaction to his knee problem. [LNB]Everton's troubles are exacerbated still further by a drop in standards from those established players who have managed to avoid the club's apparent injury jinx, most notably Tim Cahill and Joseph Yobo.[LNB] Moyes expected Yobo to exert greater stability at the back and is mystified by the way Cahill, whose energetic runs into the box often make him look a latter-day Bryan Robson, has suddenly started squandering clear chances and running out of steam.[LNB] There is almost as much exasperation with Yakubu's occasional sluggishness up front, though allowances are being made for the extent of the injury that threatened his career last November. He snapped an achilles tendon at White Hart Lane and is lucky to be playing again, according to his surgeon, who described it as the worst injury of its type he had seen.[LNB] Having to shelve plans for a new stadium has done little to ease Everton's financial predicament or enhance the prospects of cash being available in the January transfer window. Chairman Bill Kenwright's ability to find funds from nowhere sometimes resembles a conjuring act at one of his West End shows and he will attempt a repeat performance to bring in a defender and midfielder.[LNB] Moyes can only hope he succeeds after summing up Wednesday night's shambles by saying: 'I have seen a few poor performances in my time here, but that was up there with the worst. It was shocking.' [LNB] THE FIRING LINE: Watch out Rafa Benitez! Find out who's safe and who's the next to go after Paul Hart's Portsmouth exitTHE LIST: Everton v Liverpool special - Sportsmail's Merseyside derby heroes Big game hunter: Sir Alex Ferguson has title in his sights as Manchester United's rival stars set to miss 10 games on African adventure [LNB] [LNB] Explore more:People:Sylvain Distin, Xabi Alonso, Rafa Benitez, Phil Neville, Lucas Neill, Bill Kenwright, JOSEPH YOBO, BRYAN ROBSON, David Moyes, Louis Saha, Walter Smith, Victor AnichebePlaces:Liverpool, United Kingdom, Europe, Goodison Park
