Everton defeat Sydney FC in pre-season clash.

Victor Anichebe scored in the 46th minute to defeat Sydney FC. I didn't get to catch the game, but it seems that while Sydney played quite well, there were more chances for the Toffees. Players like Arteta, Osman, and Anichebe all looked to continue their great form coming back from injury last season.

The Toffees were wearing their pink away kits that, I have to admit, are not as bad in action as I though they would be. They are still quite a downgrade from last season's away kit.

More news on Everton's pre-season Australia trip to come as news breaks.

Rodwell Signing Official

Well, its official. Jack Rodwell has signed a five-year contract to stay at Everton. This is big relief, and the club can now turn it's attention to signing Mikel Arteta and Steven Pienaar!

Jack Rodwell Snubs Manchester United

I almost cried when I heard the news, but I didn't. Why? Because it isn't official yet. Oh how I hope this comes into fruition.

Mail Online and Goal.com are reporting that Jack Rodwell has turned down an offer by Man U. He is instead set to sign a five-year contract with Everton worth around 30,000 pounds per week.

If this story is true, it will be a huge sigh of relief for the club and the fans. We will now be able to turn our attention to keeping Arteta and Pienaar.

Rumor Central

There are about 8 billion rumors surrounding a lot of our players. I am going to try and go through as many as possible. Just remember most of these are RUMORS, not reality.

- Many sources say that we are the likely destination of Jermaine Beckford from Leeds United via free transfer. Not official yet, but I love this move. If it happens, that is.

- Landon Donovan said he would love to come back to Everton. This obviously will not happen until the LA Galaxy have had their say. But it looks like we have the leg up on other clubs if they choose to transfer him.

- According to Goal.com and Mirror Football, contract talks to extend Mikel Arteta have stalled. Manchester United and Arsenal are both highly interested. This worries me a lot. I love Arteta and I think he is one of the most important players on our team. We need to keep him.

- We are being linked with Craig Bellamy of Manchester City, according to Goal.com and Dailymail.co.uk. This is a surprise. Supposedly, he is to cost 7 million pounds for the transfer and high weekly wages, so the only way we could sign him would be with a sale of players. I'm going to be honest, I have always hated Bellamy, but I can't deny that he's a pretty good striker. He would provide a spark whether its from the bench or starting, something Yakubu and Saha have failed to do consistently.

I'm going to go in depth in a future post, but I thought the only missing piece for Everton during the second half of the season was striker. Saha performed phenomenally, but was really streaky and disappeared near the end. Looks like we are really addressing that issue. I can't refrain from saying that I am scared, though. We were perfect at midfield and three major pieces can be taken away from us. As long as we keep at least two (preferably Arteta and Rodwell), I think we will be fine. As much as I love Pienaar, I think he is dispensable, especially if we get a good striker or two.

Everton Updates

Alright, so I've all but given hope on Everton making it to Europe. We need Liverpool to lose their next two matches while we win ours. Seems highly unlikely, especially because Liverpool plays a woeful Hull City on May 9th.

So I'm going to stop talking about it and instead start talking about how our club can finish strong and look forward to contending for the title next season! It's been quite a while since we've had a team that was strong enough to have these types of expectations, but as long as our team stays somewhat intact, I think this is possible. I will talk about what went right, what went wrong, as well as changes we need to make to the club after the season ends (World Cup coverage too).

For now, these are a couple of things that have happened that i missed the last couple of days.

- Looks like The Toffees have put a £20 million dollar price tag on Steven Pienaar. Contract negotiations have also stalled. I like the price tag, so we don't lose him, but my biggest fear of all is that he doesn't sign, he plays for us next season and then leaves on a free transfer. Hopefully the club sorts this out, but I would rather him sign or leave (so we get the transfer money), no in between.

- David Moyes has been linked to Manchester United, which makes me nervous. Even though he said there is no way the news is true, it would be a HUGE blow to Everton. He has made some spectacular signings as well as getting Everton to play and contend for the top half of the Prem League.

- The Toffees have become favorites to sign Paul Scharner from Wigan. I don't know if I would like this signing. He is a good player from a mediocre team, but he plays a position where we have a lot of talent.

- Both Mikel Arteta and Victor Anichebe are trying to get last minute call-ups to their respective World-Cup squads. Mikel Arteta has been paying excellent football but is trying to make an already stacked midfield on the Spanish National Team. Victor Anichebe on the other hand is most likely trying for a backup role on the Nigerian National Team, where there have been some injuries (Yakubu will most likely make the roster). Other current players on Everton that will most likely be included on their national squads are: Tim Cahill (Australia), Phillippe Senderos (Switzerland), Tim Howard (USA), Yakubu (Nigeria), Luois Saha (France), Steven Pienaar (South Africa), John Heitinga (Holland), and Joseph Yobo (Nigeria).

Injury time penalty wins it for Everton!

Everton 2 - 1 Fulham

After Chris Smalling deflected a Victor Anichebe header into his own net in the 50th minute, Everton brought an all out attack. Nothing seemed to work out as the Toffees seemed be out of contention for Europe with a draw. But an injury time penalty on Tim Cahill by Chris Baird seemed to bring black the fading dream of Europe for Everton. Mikel Arteta converted the penalty and Everton is still in contention for 7th place and the last spot for the Europa League.

Arteta Sorry for Eye Poking Incident, Kind Of

Interesting article by Guardian.co.uk. Supposedly, Mikel Arteta knew Morten Gamst Pedersen might make some hasty tackles. That combined with the fact that Arteta has had quite a bit of injury problems recently (groin tear recently and knee ligament damage for most of last season) resulted in his angry eye poking reaction.

“I probably shouldn't have reacted like I did but there have been a few times – not just in this match – when he's made bad tackles," said the Spaniard. "I don't mind it when they're fair or tough, I accept it with no problem. But with him it's different and he knows that – I told him after it as well.”

Arteta did apologize, even though he made it seem that Pedersen had it coming.

"But I made a mistake, I shouldn't have reacted and I apologise for it. I probably got more upset because I was out for so long and don't want a stupid challenge like that injuring me again."

I don’t mind that Arteta keeps tabs on players that could hurt him or tackle aggressively, but he really needs to keep his cool. Everton can’t afford to lose him, especially with the impact he has had while playing. David Moyes has talked to him, and I doubt that Arteta will react like that again. He is usually level headed and that reaction seemed to be an anomaly.

Liverpool’s win over West Ham puts them five points ahead of us and really gives us no room for error. There are only three matches left in the season and we may need some outside help for Europe to be possible at this point.

Cahill, Yakubu propel Everton

Everton 3 - 2 Blackburn

Cahill’s 90^th minute strike keeps Everton in the hunt for Europe. Everton dominated possession all match, but Tim Howard and the defense struggled immensely on set pieces. The scoring started early, with a converted penalty in the 4^th minute, after Mikel Arteta was clearly fouled in the box by Ryan Nelson. From there on Everton dominated most of the half, but never created any good opportunities to go up two. In the 20^th minute, Arteta lucked out by only picking up a yellow card after poking Morten Pedersen in the eye. Blackburn slowly started picking up their attack after this incident. Most of their chances were created during set pieces, where Everton’s fullbacks and Tim Howard looked lost. Everton were lucky to go into the half unscathed.

The second half began with some more pressure by Blackburn, and they finally equalized with a phenomenal strike by Steven Nzonzi. The Toffees attack started to seem feeble, and Moyes made two changes, the second one being Yakubu for Tony Hibbert. This move proved to be the difference. Within 20 seconds of coming in, Yakubu found the back of the net. This was done after a long throw by Baines was headed toward Yakubu by Victor Anichebe. Yakubu headed the ball in with a defender falling into him. Two minutes later, on a counter-attack by Blackburn, Jason Roberts powered a strong shot following a through ball to equalize again. This match started to look tantalizingly similar to the last two matches played by Everton. Cahill had something to say about a draw though. Cahill, on a recent scoring tear, tapped in a short cross after Yakubu made some astonishing moves on the left side of the box to bring out the goalie. This 90^th minute goal kept the dream of Europe alive and puts the Toffees within striking distance of Aston Villa and Liverpool.

The addition of Arteta and Yakubu made an immense difference in the play of Everton. Arteta held possession for Everton (63% for Everton compared to 37% for Blackburn) and changed the dynamic of the game for Everton. Yakubu created goal chances, something Everton lacked in the first half. Cahill also continued his goal scoring streak by putting another one in the net after scoring two against Villa. This victory was essential in Everton’s hopes to get to Europe and shows how important Arteta is to the team. As long as our team stay healthy, we should have quite a good chance to finish at least in the top 7 and hopefully make it to the Europa League (given Portsmouth is still denied).

Next week Everton plays Fulham at Goodison Park. If Everton wants any chance of making it to Europe, a victory would be very wise.