Former Everton player talk about the current situation at the club ahead of the merseyside derby
Darren Bent has admitted that he can’t believe how ‘massive’ the gap between Everton and Liverpool is.
Speaking on talkSPORT (18 October, 17:53), the former striker claimed he has been left baffled by Everton’s current problems after spending so much money and bringing big names in.
It has only been five years since Everton participated in the Europa League after finishing seventh in the Premier League in the 2016-17 season, before going onto finish eighth in the following two campaigns.
However, a top-half finish under Carlo Ancelotti was their last bit of ‘success’ after spending the last two years in a relegation battle.
While their form has picked up this month, they look set to spend another term around the bottom of the league and could face finally bringing their time in the English top flight to an end if they aren’t careful.
Everton’s struggles have come after Farhad Moshiri splashed out over £700 million on players, including the likes of James Rodriguez, Andre Gomes and Morgan Schneiderlin.
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Bent has been left unimpressed by Everton’s fall from grace. He told talkSPORT: “It’s one of those where you look at Liverpool, currently fourth in the league. I almost feel like in the last few seasons Everton are battling relegation, surviving by the skin of their teeth. Even now they’re 16th with seven points.
“The gap’s massive, it’s been massive for a long time. I think if you look at Everton’s recruitment over the last few years and the amount of money they’ve spent over the last five, six, seven years, I can’t believe they’re still where they are.
“If you think about some of the managers and some of the players that have gone through that squad. They’ve had [Carlo] Ancelotti in there – what a manager he is by the way. They’ve had James Rodriguez, they’ve had big players go through there and it’s just not worked.
“But for Liverpool, I can’t see anything else but a Liverpool win in this one.”
Everton need to close the gap on Liverpool
Everton will look to cause a major upset at Anfield this weekend, but expectations have drastically lowered on the Toffees when it comes to Merseyside derby.
Though that isn’t even a new thing under Moshiri’s ownership, Everton have struggled against the Reds since the 1990s.
While Liverpool may have the upper-hand in the derby, Darren Bent is right in saying they shouldn’t be so far ahead of Everton in general.
The Toffees are a huge club – one of the biggest in the country – but mismanagement and poor transfer dealings have punished them.
We need to get back where we belong, but whether 777 Partners will help us do that, who knows.
