Moneyball | Everton FC

This is interesting and deserves more reads / replies.

Why are you putting the pictures in spoilers? I have never understood the reason for that.

Keep it up.

I put them in spoilers to keep more of a journal type feel to the story without using pictures. Thanks though!

October 16, 2013 - Montevideo, Uruguay

Just finished the last portion of the South American qualifiers. We played very well against Peru, winning 2-1, but we lost 0-2 to Paraguay. I played scrubs for the second match against Paraguay and Paraguay needed to win to have a chance at a playoff. Unfortunately for them, Peru(who had to lose or draw), won their match and advanced to the playoff against Saudi Arabia. However, there was some uneasiness in camp, after the Paraguay game, morale dropped a little, so we called a team meeting. I told them, we did very well through the qualifiers and don't let this little slip affect you. The Captain, Diego Lugano, stepped up and agreed, then Diego Godnin stood up and called Lugano out. I ended the meeting there and told them see you in November for our friendly against Mali.

John McCarry Uruguay National Team Manager

December 3rd - London, England

A wonderful run that we are currently on, drawing 15 points from 18 possible. We won the games we were supposed to, and that is key to any Premier League campaign. I think one of the high points was the dominating 5-1 win at Southampton. Lukaku has started getting going, finally getting a goal this season, then slotted another one in the Soton game. Our attack revolves around Kevin Miralles, who we got back for the Fulham game, which was huge win because Fulham was sitting in 3rd when that match occurred. Of course we have the blemish against Manchester United. but we had a lead in that match and let it squander away which was very disappointing. Then the highlight of this period was the win at the Emirates against Arsenal. The whole side played magnificent, and they needed to, to get the win. Those last 15 minutes were as nerve racking as they could possibly have been.

Leighton Baines has been the MVP of the first half of the season though, he has held a 8.14 rating and has recorded 11 assists. His play has put him in the shortlist of the Ballon D'Or, which is amazing. Finding great fullbacks is very tough, but when you can put him out on the left and know he will dominate makes it easier on all the other players.

News from Europe, Brenden Rogers has been fired at Liverpool, Luciano Spalleti has been named his replacement. Michael Laudrop took the job at Valencia after they had a poor start. Tottenham is actually scoring goals. We dominated Mali, no need to write a report on them to be honest.

John McCarry Everton Manager

going well

Thanks mate!

December 6, 2013 - Liverpool, England

Now if you look at the groups, you will notice a huge team missing, France, which completely screwed up the Pots. Norway won their group sending Switzerland to the playoff. Turkey won their group over the Dutch, then in the playoff draw, it drew France and Holland together to see who goes to the World Cup. Holland won 2-1.

We are very lucky to be placed in the 1st pot of the World Cup groups, good qualifications helped us out greatly. Not a lot of Group of Death possibilities for us, but here are some of my favorite scenarios.

Best Case-

Uruguay
Iran
Peru
Norway

Uruguay
El Salvador
Egypt
Greece

Worse Case -

Uruguay
Japan
Chile
England

I highly doubt we will get a too bad of a draw just the way the pots were set up this go around.

For the US National Team fans, here is what I see as the Best/Worse Case.

Best -

Croatia(Easily the worse team in Pot 1)
USA
Peru
Norway

Worse Case -
Spain
USA
Chile
England

Well, time to do the draw.

John McCarry Uruguay National Team Manager.

To Group A....



To Group B....



To Group C....


To Group D....


To Group E....


To Group F....


To Group G....


To Group H....


Full Table

To Group A....



To Group B....



To Group C....


To Group D....


To Group E....


To Group F....


To Group G....


To Group H....


Full Table

To Group A....



To Group B....



To Group C....


To Group D....


To Group E....


To Group F....


To Group G....


To Group H....


Full Table

January 28 2014 - Liverpool, England

December and January will decide your fate in the Barclays Premier League, it will either make you a challenger or a pretender. The schedule makers defiantly made it rough on us this year. We played well against Newcastle and Aston Villa, then let one slip at Swansea. Then came the rough stretch, away at Anfield for the Merseyside derby, then finished the year with Manchester City and Chelsea. We had 6 CCCs against City and didn't slot a single one. Then Chelsea just has more depth than us and won easily. We were still rocked when we drew against Cardiff, but we got back on track with Torquay in the FA Cup. Decided to field a very weak side against QPR and I'm not that sad that were not in the cup anymore. It will allow us to concentrate fully on the Premier League and hopefully snag a Champions League spot.

We thought we needed some more help in the midfield, so we decided to go after Lewis Holtby of Tottenham. We got him for 4.3M euros and we thought that was a very good deal considering he's worth around 9.5M and he's only 23. Andre Ayew signed to Arsenal for 12.5M euros, and Danny Welbeck went to Arsenal as well from Manchester United.

John McCarry Everton Manager

April 1st 2014 - Liverpool, England

What an amazing two months of service from the lads. They played absolutely amazing from this stretch of matches. Rolled right through February, got a win against a loaded Spurs squad, and then drew at Old Trafford, which was the biggest morale booster you could imagine. Had a little slip up against Sunderland, but we stayed head strong and got through it. March saw us grab every point available, and we needed to capitalize on the lower ranks of our opponents. Then it set us up with a show down with Arsenal, a win keeps Arsenals UCL hopes alive, while a win for us pretty much puts us in cruise control for the top 4. We blasted them out of the water in the first half, snatching 3 goals including a penalty. Arsenal clawed back to 3-2, but Seamus Coleman hit his first goal of the campaign to finish them off.

With our great run of form, and everyone else playing a very congested schedule, it allowed us to have a 10 point cushion between 3rd and 4/5 spots. We are only 9 points away from clinching an UCL spot for next season. Our next three matches are Newcastle, Aston Villa, and Crystal Palace. After that, we have a relegation threatened Liverpool, Manchester City, and Chelsea. April will be very important to us, and will make it very interesting for Merseyside.

We resigned Sylvain Distin for one more year of service, as well as signed Ross Barkley to a long term deal. We also had our youth intake come in and we picked up one that could become absolutely great. Steven Royle, from Salford, England, is a centre back that we have huge expectations for. Can not wait to see how he progresses, might be in the Senior side cup affairs starting next season.

John McCarry Everton Manager

May 13, 2014 - Liverpool, England

Well, what a campaign, never would have expected this in our first year running Everton. We finished 3rd in the league, which is excellent, and a whole lot better than 4th. Considering that puts us in place to not be in the qualification rounds, and now were automatically in the group stage. The players all season played magnificently and I'm not sure if I have had a run like this ever.

Reasons I believe we succeeded so well this season, 1st, we avoided major injuries for the most part. We lost John Heitinga for the season but he was our only major loss. We were very lucky not to get caught up in injuries, of course we had a few here and there but we stayed somewhat healthy(Knock on wood). 2nd, we benefited from being knocked out of the FA Cup and the COC early. While other teams folded and couldn't push through the congested schedule, we concentrated on the league and it worked out great. 3rd, our big time players lived up to their hype. Leighton Baines, our best player, won the Player of the Year for the BPL, Kevin Miralles won the Player's Player of the Year, Lukaku/Jelavic each had their great shares of run. Jagielka and Distin were rock solid in the middle, Tim Howard was a monster in net. Players like Delafou, Pineaar, Coleman, Barry, Gibson, and Barkley all stepped up when we needed them.

Looking forward to next year, we're in the the UCL, it's going to get much tougher. More matches, more minutes. We lose Gareth Barry, Lukaku, and Delafou as they go back to their clubs. Those three hurt to lose. It may be a struggle to keep hold of Baines and Miralles, as the big time spenders are coming fast for them. Our backline is aging, and we're line in the midfield.

We have hope though, youngster Mason Bennett slotted 35 goals this season in U-18s and U-21s. John Stones will look to have an increased role in next years campaign. Ross Barkley and Lewis Holtby have the AMC slot on hold and look to grow as players. James McCarthy has improved and we will expect more out of him. And I am sure that we will get a nice looking check for finishing as high as we did.

John McCarry Everton Manager