Could Everton Realistically Make a Euro Push This Season?

Everton seem to be in a much better place this season under David Moyes’ leadership.

The Toffees are in their new home at the Hill Dickinson Stadium and have had a steady start to their Premier League campaign with the Scotsman back at the helm. Of course that is not to say they have been stellar this year as they have had their hairy moments. However, they do look a stronger proposition for opponents than previously.

Credit must go to Moyes for that as the 62-year-old boss has brought a fight back to Everton and his squad that had been missing in previous seasons. Under managers such as Frank Lampard the club seemed to stagnate.

Sean Dyche did not exactly manage shrinking violets – nor has he ever – but even the former Burnley boss could not get the team firing the way his new manager bounce at Nottingham Forest has done for those at the City Ground since he arrived.

Can Everton qualify for Europe this season?

That sort of motivation and form can come down to a number of elements and this season Everton have already picked up six wins and three draws from their first 14 matches. That takes their defeats to five from the league so far but they are now ninth in the division which is not a start to be sniffed at.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FidAj30mAVM

Tuesday night’s victory away from home at Bournemouth was another sign of the club’s season going in the right direction and went a long way towards bringing fans back onside after they lost 4-1 at home to Newcastle United last Saturday.

The Toffees are certainly capable of picking up big wins both at home and on the road and if they can continue doing so, European football could be right around the corner. It has been quite some time since the club competed on that stage or even came close to qualifying.

And we at FootballBlog have had a look at the form as well as the history of it all to consider if Everton can realistically make it into Europe for next season…

Everton’s recent Premier League history and European drought

Everton have suffered a real Euro drought in recent seasons and it has been almost a decade since they last qualified via the Premier League for the Europa League.

Fans have to go all the way back to the 2016/17 season to find their side in the right spot as they finished seventh in the division that year. They lost just 11 matches that whole campaign with 10 draws and 17 victories throughout and they finished the year on 61 points. One might argue the club are on their way to a similar season in 2025/26 but they will have to maintain consistency.

They will also have to cut out the sloppy mistakes that have cost them points this season as they have already lost five games and, if things are to be similar to 2017, they can only afford six more defeats in theory.

Everton were close to going back to back the following season only to finish eighth and they did so again a year later. Unfortunately for the club things seemed to take a turn for the worse after that. Results declined as did league position and in 2022/23 they avoided relegation by the skin of their teeth.

• 2024/5 – 13th
• 2023/4 – 15th
• 2022/3 – 17th
• 2021/2 – 16th
• 2020/1 – 10th
• 2019/20 – 12th
• 2018/19 – 8th
• 2017/18 – 8th
• 2016/17 – 7th

Key Everton stars must lead by example

The club spent decent money in the summer transfer window this year by their own standards, although it could be argued that their £113million outlay was dwarfed by other clubs in the league. Which would be a fair assessment

However, that number is not an insignificant amount and fans would expect more bang for their buck.

The players signed – Thierno Barry, Tyler Dibling, Kiernan Dewksbury Hall, Carlos Alcaraz and others – will now know their history and be well aware of the demands placed on them by their manager as well as the punters in the stands.

Barry, for example, has seriously struggled to perform thus far and the striker does not yet have a Premier League goal to his name. In fact, the £30m forward has not found the net at all in his 16 appearances in all competitions. That has to drastically improve and Moyes will understand.

The likes of Dewksbury Hall and loan signing Jack Grealish both look the part and will bear a lot of the pressure to help their side finish as high in the league as possible. Grealish was player of the month for August and has it in his locker to grab games by the scruff of the neck. He will want to leave his mark on Everton and what better way than to take them back into Europe?

David Moyes’ Euro record and qualifying history

The boss has a decent record in Europe with all of his clubs throughout the years but he will be determined not to have managed his final game on the continent.

With Everton, too, Moyes’ record is decent having helped them qualify as many as seven times including through a fourth-placed Premier League finish back in 2005.

He helped West Ham into Europe twice during his time at the Irons and he famously won them the Conference League trophy a few short years ago to show himself as one of the best managers this country has to offer.

If anyone can get the Toffees back on that trajectory it is Moyes and if he can find real consistency this season, he will do it with flying colours.