It’s a cold, soggy morning in the North-West of England, as the Manchester City bus rolls on down the M62, en route to Goodison Park.
It’s a relatively short away-trip for the Sky Blues and Pep Guardiola, with a rather comfortable three points to keep pace with the Premier League’s peloton expected.
Plucky old Everton has put up some stiff opposition to City in recent years, even securing a lucky point in the home fixture at the Etihad, courtesy of two penalty saves from their keeper Maarten Stekelenburg.
You’d think though, that the quality of City’s line-up would ensure that the Toffees aren’t so lucky this time around.
Sergio Aguero, Kevin de Bruyne, Yaya Toure, David Silva and Raheem Sterling provide firepower that should simply be too much for the spirited side that Everton will put out this afternoon.
Perhaps the only question in Guardiola’s mind is how young John Stones will handle his return to Goodison Park.
Stones didn’t really force his highly publicised transfer, though he didn’t exactly dig his heels in to stay either. If there’s a way to get 40,000 scousers offside, it’s to leave for seemingly greener pastures. Just ask David Moyes.
When referee Mark Clattenburg blew his whistle at the end of the 90 minutes, Guardiola wasn’t the only one in shock.
The entire footballing world would collectively jaw-drop at the final scoreline, Everton having torn City to shreds. Guardiola looked like a man devoid of ideas on the touchline, head in hands as he came to terms with an away trip in the Premier League not being quite so straightforward as one to Getafe or Ingolstadt.
But you could forgive him for not seeing this onslaught coming.
Everton has been solid without being impressive this season. They sit well outside the top six, but don’t look to be troubled by any of the sides below them at the minute. They’re in their own league of slightly-above-par.
If you discount the past two seasons, this position isn’t unfamiliar.
Roberto Martinez had them finish fifth in his first season in charge, and David Moyes had them in the top seven in each of his last two seasons. They were sound achievements when you consider the budget afforded each season.
Across Stanley Park, Liverpool was bringing in Andy Carroll for £35m while bargain buys like Kevin Mirallas at £6m took an entire season’s transfer budget.
But things are different now.
Ronald Koeman hasn’t won over the hearts of fans yet, as he hasn’t adopted the whole ‘my blood runs blue’ charade.
What he does buy into, is Everton’s mantra that only the best is good enough. Too often it’s said but not believed, as a place in the top-half has been seen as a success at Goodison.
He’s made it clear to players and fans alike that the previous standards are no more, with Tom Cleverly loaned out to Watford and inconsistent fan-favourite Gerard Deulofeu seemingly frozen out of the squad.
New major shareholder Farhad Moshiri, who bought in early last year, has also given him the financial muscle to break the glass ceiling.
That budget-breaking fee for Kevin Mirallas four years ago was nearly doubled to bring in an 18-year-old from Charlton in League One.
Making an instant impact, Ademola Lookman put the final nail in City’s coffin with a debut goal after a failed John Stones clearance. Throw in the big signings of Morgan Schneiderlin, and Yannick Bolassie back in the summer window, and suddenly it’s not the ‘plucky old Everton’ of the Moyes era.
That’s not to say Koeman is transforming the club by throwing cash.
The team that dismantled City on Sunday featured two boyhood Evertonians in Ross Barkley and 18-year-old Tom Davies, the latter introducing himself after rather-comically dismissing Gael Clichy and Toure no less, en route to scoring a brilliant goal. 20-year-old Mason Holgate was also among the back three that kept a clean sheet.
The drubbing of Manchester City may just be the highlight for Everton this season. It would take a monumental collapse from one of the sides above for Everton to move any higher in the table, cup hopes having been dashed already.
Perhaps the excitement surrounding this sleeping giant may come in the form of periods of brilliance in the second half of the season, or in transfer business to come.
However what is clear is the new era dawning for Everton Football Club.
Just as Manchester City announced themselves with the record-signing of Robinho in 2008, Everton too has made a statement on the world stage.
Are you the ultimate team manager? Pick your own superstar team and go head to head with other football fans for glory and cash prizes on Draftstars. Imagine what you could be buying instead. Set a deposit limit.
Manchester City have chalked up another big win in their hunt for an unprecedented fourth straight Premier League title, with Phil Foden continuing his…
The real concern comes down to football's growing trend of big corporations taking up slices of the world game at the expense of smaller teams.
Manchester United have survived one of the most astonishing FA Cup semi-final comebacks to beat second-tier Coventry City 4-2 on penalties after a chaotic…
Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has slammed the FA Cup scheduling after watching his side beat Chelsea 1-0 to reach the final, three days…
With a certain inevitability, Manchester City are suddenly in charge of the Premier League title race. Arsenal and Liverpool both produced lethargic performances under…
Ten goals flew in across the opening two quarterfinals of the Champions League as honours ended all square in Madrid and London. An incredible…
