Everton's Best Players of the Premier League Era: Part Two

Part one got people talking as the best Everton players of the Premier League era were analysed. 

There were some shouts that some didn't agree with, with Tim Howard a potential shout instead of Jordan Pickford between the sticks.

Jarrad Branthwaite, who has enjoyed an impressive season so far, was also mentioned, but Sylvain Distin took one of the centre-back spots.

Now, onto part two, and let us know if you agree or disagree in the comments.

When you talk about world-class players who have played for Everton, Andrei Kanchelskis was genuinely that. The pace and skill of the man were second to none; he had it all.

I grew up watching Andrei (even at United) and I knew he was something special, and when the Blues signed him it was a definite time to be excited.

In his first season, 1995–96, he made a mockery of teams every week. His double vs Liverpool at Anfield, his brace at champions Blackburn and a hat-trick at Hillsborough vs Sheffield Wednesday will go down as some of my favourite displays by any one player at Everton, and they also propelled Everton within a whisker of the UEFA Cup that year.

Scoring a total of 16 league goals, Andrei was considered one of, if not the, best right wingers in the country.

Bit of a curveball this one, but ‘Schillo’ gets the nod mostly because of his unreal partnership with one Leighton Baines.

Having had two spells at the club, it’s easy to forget he left us for Tottenham in 2011 (sob). I have waxed lyrical many a time about Steven’s great partnership with Leighton, but here we are again.

The telepathic understanding between the two was a joy to behold, and many teams found it hard to deal with the overlap — and sometimes ‘underlap’ — of the two.

Steven did pitch in with the goals too, scoring a total of 16 league goals for the club across his two spells.

He may not be warm in our minds at this moment in time, but Mikel Arteta was a special player for the Blues. His accolades speak for themselves.

Mikel picked up the Everton Player of the Season award two years in a row (2006 and 2007). He also became the first Everton player in five years to win the North West Sports Personality of the Year in 2008.

On the pitch, Mikel was a free-kick specialist, coming up with some memorable strikes (see vs Hull and Blackburn), and the man could pick out a pass.

Deployed also as a winger, Mikel found most of his joy in the centre of the park, where he found it a lot easier to dictate the games he played in.

Scoring an 18-yarder vs Liverpool in a 2–0 win in 2010 made sure Mikel was part of Everton folklore. His departure in 2011 was met with much disdain, especially after he claimed the Everton dressing room was the best in his football career.

The Blue Kangaroo himself. This writer’s favourite ever Everton player: Tim Cahill.

Tim Cahill was David Moyes at his astute best, picking Tim up from Millwall for a cute £1.5m.

The attributes that impressed me most about Cahill were the never-say-die attitude and his willingness to help the team in whatever way he could, whether that meant playing in different positions when injuries presented themselves.

One thing rival fans used to say about Tim was: “You hate him when you play against him, but you would love him if he was at your club.”

Tim racked up an impressive 56 Premier League goals, which has him as the Blues’ third all-time Premier League goalscorer.

Tim has gone on record many a time saying he will always be an Evertonian and that it was a privilege to play for the Blues. Tim’s celebration of punching corner flags was worth the price of a ticket alone.

This man may not have been everyone’s cup of tea, but Romelu Lukaku is without question one of the best strikers we have had in many years.

No one could fault one fact: he scored goals, and lots of them.

To put this into perspective, Duncan Ferguson scored 60 goals spanning over 10 seasons. Lukaku scored 68 in four seasons and is the Blues’ all-time leading Premier League scorer.

Romelu may have had lots to say while he was away from Finch Farm (mainly running his mouth on international duty), but the fact remains he was world-class, and Everton had pulled off a coup by getting him to join us permanently in 2014.

For his Chelsea goal alone in the FA Cup, he deserves to be considered among the Everton greats when talking about strikers. Lukaku gave me many happy trips to Goodison too.

The cult hero of Everton Football Club. He got it; he got it in a big way.

Dunc, although very limited, scored some very important goals for the Blues in his two stints at the club.

Who can forget the diving header against Man Utd which cemented Everton’s fourth spot in 2005?

Sixty league goals was the record for any striker until Romelu Lukaku rocked up.