Allan, Everton and the Middle Income Trap of the Premier League

The Middle Income Trap is a term in economics that defines the struggle that a country faces to increase its overall income beyond a certain level, essentially managing to grow enough to stop being poor, but then staying stuck at that level. Merely looking at income as an indicator of a country’s well being is definitely not enough to truly determine how well a country and its people are doing overall, but it is certainly a decent indicator to show how things are going at a macro level.

 

The commercialisation of English football and the advent of the Premier League in 1992 thrust clubs into an economic situation akin to that of the global economy, and Everton are one of the clubs that have had a harder time adjusting to this new reality.

 

Everton are one of the giants of English football; they are the 4^th most successful club in the country even today, having won the top division title 9 times. They entered the Premier League having dominated the previous decade alongside cross-town rivals Liverpool F.C., and had more league titles at that point than Manchester United (who had won the title 7 times by then), and were 1 title behind Arsenal, who had 10. From that point on, sadly, the struggle began. While Manchester United spent the next decade booming with the Premier League, Everton stumbled. They got stuck in mid-table, the Premier League’s version of the middle-income trap. The club has achieved stability, and has always been comfortably good enough to stay in the Premier League. This in itself is a huge achievement, as evidenced by failures of dozens of other clubs including the likes of Sunderland, Fulham, Blackburn Rovers, Southampton and The Uniteds Leeds, Newcastle and West Ham. But as envious as those clubs must be of Everton and its stability, it has struggled to really push on and reach the holy grail of the Champions League.

 

Which brings me on to this season, and Everton’s midfield overhaul. While there has been a lot of talk about the addition of James Rodriguez, and his world class quality, especially those wicked balls he plays from half spaces on the right, I wonder if enough attention is being paid to the acquisition of Allan from Napoli. On the face of it the addition of a 30-year-old defensive midfielder from the Serie A may seem unsexy to most fans, I believe it might be the signing of the season.

 

Having seen my own club Liverpool play against Napoli almost every year in the Champions League, I noticed just how good he was. There is a tendency in football to dismiss DMs as simply destroyers, who are not good for much else, but Allan is one of the most complete midfielders I have seen. In those matches against LFC in the Champions League, he seemed to completely stifle the midfield and appear constantly in the right areas to snuff out any impending danger. Liverpool have been an excellent side under Jurgen Klopp known for almost stifling their opponents through their relentless pressing; I have seen Allan year after year sit in Napoli’s midfield and give as good as he got. While he may not be playing wonder passes as regularly as James, any teams underestimating the quality of his ball winning and distribution will do so at their own peril. He is a player of frighteningly good quality who will provide the base for Everton’s most creative talents to flourish. While James and Richarlison and Calvert-Lewin will generate headlines, Allan will be there, quietly being the glue holding it all together.

 

An unselfish player, playing in an unglamorous role, for an unfancied side, the press seems to be happy to look past him for the moment. But look beyond that and hopefully we can all observe just how good he is and watch and admire just how much quality a player of his ilk adds to the Premier League. I don’t know if Everton will be able to push on and break out of the middle-income trap of the Premier League, but with Allan in midfield, they have given themselves a brilliant platform to start on that journey.