Everton's Tim Cahill: Low expectations could be key to successful season

The midfielder believes too much has been expected of the club over recent years, and says with no money being spent at Goodison Park this summer the team could do better than ever

Tim Cahill believes the lack of expectation at Everton this summer could be the key to a successful campaign.

While the Toffees were tipped as potential Champions League contenders by Sir Alex Ferguson just 12 months ago, this summer there have been no new first-team arrivals and the club are fighting to keep hold of Arsenal target Phil Jagielka.

But Cahill believes having no pressure on the team can only be a good thing, following a number of poor starts to the season in the past.

“I’m not putting any expectations on us this season because I think it was a problem last season, we called Europe and called a very high finish,” Cahill told reporters.

“Expectations are a big thing – especially when you pile the pressure on yourself. At the moment we have no pressure. What’s the point of putting expectations on ourselves if clubs are spending hundreds of millions?

The Australian contests that despite the inactivity in the transfer window, the club is in good shape.

“We’ve got something special here and the main thing is that we try to start on fire and the first game will say a lot about how the season will start.”

Cahill was speaking following his side’s 1-0 home defeat to Villarreal, a game which saw Seamus Coleman taken to hospital nursing an ankle injury following a poor challenge from Carlos Marchena.

Tottenham target Giuseppe Rossi scored the only goal of the game in the second half.