Pat Nevin Warns Efc Over Europe After 2-2 Crystal Palace Draw
Pat Nevin says efc are not ready for European football next season and believes the demands could hit Everton hard if they reach the top eight. His warning comes after last weekend’s 2-2 draw with Crystal Palace left David Moyes’ side still in the race, but with a narrow path to continental football.
Nevin’s Everton warning
“I’m not sure that European football is good for Everton yet. They're not ready. They've not got a big enough squad,” Nevin said. “European football will destroy them the way it's destroyed Newcastle.” He pointed to Newcastle as the clearest example of what happens when injuries start to pile up.
“You just need two or three or four injuries and that's it,” he said. The concern is not about one match or one week. It is about what happens when another competition stretches a squad that Nevin believes is still too thin for that load.
Hill Dickinson Stadium pressure
Everton still have a chance of finishing in the top eight, but the margin is tight. They would need to win their two remaining games and need other results to go their way to finish in the European places.
That makes Sunday afternoon’s match against Sunderland at Hill Dickinson Stadium a direct test of how far they have come under Moyes. Nevin said the manager has not had much time to build on what was already there, even as Everton have moved away from repeated relegation battles and into a position where continental football is being discussed again.
Moyes and Everton’s next step
“The difficulty for me talking about Everton and David Moyes is that I'm so utterly biased! I'm so excited that David's back,” Nevin said. “Dave's not been in there long. He's not had the actual time to build on what was there too much.”
For Everton, that leaves a blunt choice in the final stretch: keep pushing for the top eight and accept the workload that comes with it, or miss out and leave European football for another season. Nevin’s point is simple. The ambition is there, but the squad may not yet be built for what comes next.
