THERE is no disputing that Everton’s start to the Premier League has been poor but they could not have a better fixture to turn things around on Sunday. Wigan Athletic might have burst out of the blocks with a win at Villa Park yet since then, they have struggled badly; if having five put past them by Manchester United was bad enough, Blackpool scoring four in the Carling Cup was even worse. It is early days of course, but the signs are not good and this could be the year when Wigan tumble out of the top division after spending the past four years defying the odds and proving people wrong. They have a new manager in Roberto Martinez who wants to play the game as it should be and his ‘total football’ methods at Swansea were hugely successful but you need more than that to be successful in the Premier League. He will never adopt strong, forcing tactics like Sam Allardyce favours for all his teams or go direct in the way Stoke City do and that is to be admired - but it also might just prove to be very costly. At this moment in time, Wigan appear to have a soft centre and I’ll be very disappointed if Everton do not expose that at Goodison Park to finally get three points on the board. Now the Joleon Lescott saga has been concluded with Everton receiving an absolutely phenomenal fee, we can look to the future and I think it’s a real positive that Sylvain Distin is set to be his replacement. He’s been a top professional for a number of years and done well for Newcastle United, Manchester City and Portsmouth, so he will bring a wealth of experience - not to mention a great deal of talent - with him. David Moyes must have thought he had his defence all sorted out in the summer only for circumstances to force him into a reshuffle but Distin is not going to need to be groomed; he can be pitched straight into the side and Everton will be stronger for it. Yak’s return is fantastic AYEGBENI YAKUBU wasted no time in marking his return to action with a goal on Tuesday night and it will be a real boost to have him available again. His goal record speaks for itself and once he recovers his match fitness, Yakubu will give David Moyes a nice headache in terms of selecting strikers. But while I am delighted to hear Yakubu is up and running again, the man whose comeback I’m most looking forward to seeing is Mikel Arteta. Everton are a different side when he plays, his presence in the midfield changes the style completely and gives a real inventiveness. The forwards will all get more chances and the defenders know they can give the ball to someone who won’t squander possession or put them back under pressure. I don’t know a great deal about Diniyar Bilyaletdinov but I’m assuming that his natural preference to play on the left will see Steven Pienaar switch to the right. What that means for Leon Osman, only time will because when Arteta is fit, he will surely go straight back into the side. We coped magnificently without Arteta at the end of last season but there is no substitute for class.
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