No Regrets? | OneFootball

On 1 March, AS Roma drew 3-3 with Juventus, who fought back late on to snatch a point. Roma had been set for a victory that would have sent them clear of Juve in the top-four race in Serie A.

Instead, the gap stayed as it was, and a 2-1 defeat to Genoa — coached by former Roma boss Daniele De Rossi — last weekend saw Roma drop out of the Champions League places, with Cesc Fabregas’s Como moving ahead of them. Juve are now within a point of the Giallorossi, with 10 games of the season remaining.

After the draw with Juve, Gian Piero Gasperini lamented “a season full of regrets from such situations”, with Roma having missed a huge opportunity to take control of the situation.

Roma, of course, are owned by The Friedkin Group, and there are certainly some parallels to be drawn between them and Everton.

Last season, TFG hired Claudio Ranieri in the wake of Ivan Juric’s dismal stint in charge, and the veteran campaigner guided Roma to a 5th-place finish, securing a place in the Europa League.

It is easy to draw comparisons with how Moyes came in at Everton last term, taking the Toffees from the brink of a relegation battle into mid-table security, booking 31 points from half a season in charge.

At Roma, Ranieri moved upstairs, but Gasperini — a hugely experienced coach with a brilliant record at Atalanta — was brought in.

And Gasperini, a bit like Moyes at times (albeit, Moyes is more reserved) is not afraid to lash out if needed.

Gasperini has made no secret of his unhappiness over some of Roma’s transfer business, and he equally did not shy away from bemoaning the “regrets” the team must have over their missed opportunities this season.

Everton, too, can rue plenty of missed chances.

Whether it’s down to Moyes’s decisions, a lack of real quality in the squad, bad luck with injuries and suspensions or some iffy refereeing calls, or a combination of all of the above, Everton have seen several opportunities to take control of the race for European qualification in the Premier League pass them by.

Draws at home against Wolves and Leeds United, and a defeat to Bournemouth, spring to mind as the clearest examples.

Everton’s home form, which at least looks a bit brighter following last week’s win over Burnley, has been the real issue for fans to stomach. One might argue that, had the home and away results been flipped, the vast majority of supporters would be extremely happy with the progress made this season.

With nine games remaining, Everton are right in the fight. They sit 8th, just a point off 7th place. They aren’t far off the Top 6, but it seems more likely that it will be a scrap between seven, or even eight, teams for 7th place, with 8th or even 9th potentially enough to secure Europe too, depending on how the domestic cup finals go.

However, the fear is that they will live to regret those sorry results at Hill Dickinson Stadium, especially, as they head into an incredibly difficult run-in.

You can’t live your life on ifs and buts, yet it is hard for Evertonians not to think what might have been had they just picked up some positive results in games they really should have done, at least on paper. Everton should have beaten the league’s bottom club at home, and they should have really made the most of their second-half display to beat Leeds — they definitely should not have capitulated as they did in a 10-minute spell against Bournemouth.

On the flip side, Everton have no given right to then go and win at Villa Park, Craven Cottage or St James’ Park.

Everton are where they are because they belong there. The table does not lie.

However, the underlying metrics still show an overperformance, especially defensively, with Everton conceding 8.4 goals fewer than expected, based on the chances they have given up. That is down to some good fortune, sure, but you also must credit some excellent last-ditch defending (James Tarkowski, for example, ranks second in the Premier League for blocks) and some superb goalkeeping from Jordan Pickford, whose tally of 4.7 goals prevented ranks third in the top flight this term.

There isn’t much time left in the season for those metrics to even out, which is good news for the Blues. The bad news is, though, on paper, Everton have one of the most difficult run-ins going. In fact, according to Opta Analyst, the Toffees have the second toughest streak to finish off the season.

Is that necessarily a bad thing? Given Everton’s tendency to slip up when they shouldn’t, but pull results out of the bag when they are not expected to, then perhaps not. But it does mean that there is a lower margin for error.

As we saw against Manchester United last month, quality attacking players do not need to be performing at their very best to pull a rabbit out of the hat. We might not be into run-in territory just yet, but the fixtures coming up are certainly crucial.

Arsenal away and Chelsea at home come this month, before a 3-week break. Then it’s a trip to Brentford — a potential 6-pointer — followed by the first Merseyside derby at Hill Dickinson Stadium.

It’s no understatement to suggest the next four games could finally decide Everton’s season. If it goes well, then they could well be in pole position for Europe. If it goes badly, then they may not be out of the fight entirely, but they may have left themselves with just too much to do.

Moyes, like Gasperini, will be hoping any regrets he does have over this season so far do not come back to bite Everton too deeply.