Rising blue tide ready to swamp Pool
Just up the M62, Manchester United have already been pegged back by their noisy neighbours and there is growing belief in the blue half of Liverpool a similar revolution is about to take place on their patch.
It was a solitary goal from Kevin Campbell which last saw Evertonians celebrate on enemy soil in 1999, a match which came just a week after Republic defender Dunne waved goodbye to his teens and a season before he moved on to help kick-start Manchester City’s revival.
A lot has gone on at Goodison since then, of course, but most of those years have been spent in the shadow of their derby rivals despite a dramatic dip in league success at Anfield – and there has always remained a feeling Liverpool had the edge.
But are things changing? The last time Everton won any Merseyside derby was a home victory over Roy Hodgson’s side in 2010 and yet this weekend they go into the match as the more confident side with only one defeat in the league since mid- December – a run that has included a 4-0 thrashing of Manchester City – and with striker Romelu Lukaku as possibly the league’ most in-form striker. He has 10 goals in his last seven matches and 28 for the season already.
By contrast Liverpool’s inconsistent form has frustrated manager Jurgen Klopp and midfielder Philippe Coutinho admits there is an extra edge to a match which could help shape the season for both sides.
“We have to be ready,” he said. “The derby is a very special match for everyone, the fans and the players. We know what it means. The people of Liverpool live for this match with so much emotion and this time it is even more because Everton have improved so much in recent weeks.
“We know it won’t be easy but we know we have to win, for our fans, for our morale and for everybody.”
That, perhaps, is an understatement. Defeat would leave Liverpool only three points above their rivals with hopes of Champions League qualification seriously in the balance.
“We can’t let that happen,” said Coutinho. “Our challenge is still to finish second in the table and to make sure we are back in the Champions League next season. We think we have really serious chances to do that so that’s what we are focused on. It doesn’t matter about what Everton do.
“What matters is getting into the Champions League — it’s very important. To play in the Champions League is the pinnacle for any player and this is a club which should be playing there.”
Everton’s chances of playing in Europe have been few and far between but the building blocks are in place to get them there. An astute manager, an improved team, an injection of cash from majority shareholder Farhad Moshiri, and a new €360m stadium in the pipeline at Bramley Moore Dock (the planning process could even start by end of this year) all add up to the rise of a very noisy neighbour. And Liverpool are worried, even if Coutinho is reluctant to show it.
“I don’t think about that or worry about,” he insisted. “Right now Liverpool is higher in the league, that’s the reality and that’s all we have to think about. Liverpool is my only focus and my only interest. I don’t even think about any of our rivals - including Everton.
“I know about their results and I know all about their manager, he was a very big player and you can see he is also an excellent coach. But I’m not following him, I’m not following Everton and what they do, I just concentrate on my own club.”
Even so, victory today would give Everton a real chance to finish above their neighbours in the Premier League for the first time since 2005; and it’s a prospect which has midfielder Ross Barkley, a born and bred Evertonian, enthused.
“I’d like that,” he said. “I’m an Everton supporter so to see us finish higher than them would be great. But they are above us at the minute and we’ve got to focus on one game at a time and see where we finish. But this is the most exciting time since I came to the club.”
The good news for Everton, too, is that Barkley — for years heralded as their great talent — is finally beginning to realise his potential following some tough love from coach Koeman, who criticised and even dropped the midfielder earlier in the season when he appeared to be under- performing.
“I just looked at myself in the mirror and understood I needed to get better,” the 23-year-old said. “Since then I’ve been putting in hard graft at the training ground and it’s been paying off under the new manager who has been pushing us really hard. Essentially, I observed what I could get better at. That’s what players need to do to get better and that’s what I’ve done.
“Of late I’ve been doing well. I’ve been really focused on every game and I’ve been chipping in with goals and assists. We all want to end the season strongly.”
If Barkley can reach the levels expected of him — his revival is a ringing endorsement of Koeman’s man-management — and Everton can keep Lukaku out of the clutches of Chelsea or Real Madrid then there could be good times ahead for a club no longer willing to live in the shadows of Anfield.
But both clubs know there is a higher bar to aim for, with Chelsea already 13 points clear of Jurgen Klopp’s side going into the weekend.
“Chelsea are playing at a big level,” admits Coutinho. “They are demonstrating this season that they are the most consistent team in the league, and that’s the key. That’s why they are top. They make very few mistakes and don’t allow other teams to catch them up, which is why it’s so tough.
“But this club is ambitious – the coach always demands more. At the start of the season our dream was to win the title and we have to continue to aim as high as possible.”
That, of course, is nothing new. But just for once, Liverpool aren’t the only team on Merseyside with that mantra. The noisy neighbours are starting to shout, too…
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