The Curious Case Of Nikica Jelavic

When a certain Croatian who goes by the name of Nikica Jelavic stepped onto the turf of The DW Stadium, no one knew what to expect.

He signed from Rangers, a club which would later reveal the massive debt which plunged them into administration. They needed to sell, and Everton needed goals, which Jelavic, 30 in 45, had. After he scored the winner in a 1:0 win against Spurs, the reign of terror began. Norwich, Sunderland, Liverpool, no one was safe from the talismanic number 7 who had developed a reputation for scoring with his first touch.

The signings Moyes made were crucial to Everton's strong end of season finish. Pienaar got the most assists for Everton, whilst Jelavic got the most goals."He simply can't miss" were the words on commentators and pundits lips. He finished the season with 11 goals in 16, a very good return.

Fast forward to this season and he has 7 goals in 29 games, what has gone wrong?

Jelavic has struggled for form this season, which has seen Everton's quest for European qualification peter out. He showed promise in the second game of the season, netting against Aston Villa. He then scored a brace against Southampton. His goal scoring form then took a hit, and he's only scored 3 league goals in the space of 3 months. As I'm writing this, Jelavic has scored just once since, against Cheltenham.

Yeah.

                                 Jelavic has struggled to keep his shot on target this season.
                           
The reason i think why Jelavic has struggled this season is because he is being asked to do more. At the end of last season, the play revolved around Jelavic. When they whipped it in, he was there, Cahill flicked the ball on and Jelavic pounced. They gave him the ball, and he scored. He was needed for nothing else.

This season, after Cahill's departure, Fellaini came into his own. The play was focused on Fellaini, giving him the ball and letting him score. Jelavic was told to run the channels, and drifting out wide meant he wasn't in the box to score, but Fellaini was. Many did not notice Jelavic's poor form, until Everton started losing.

The problems Jelavic had got worse when he got injured against Newcastle, in which his replacement Anichebe scored. He scored again the next game vs Swansea which further damaged Jelavic's morale.
It's not like you can blame the service, with Baines and Pienaar becoming one of the most formidable left sided partnerships in the Premier League. Also the arrival of Mirallas and Coleman coming into his own making the right side dangerous. Anichebe has impressed, although he needs to improve his consistency, the same could be said for Jelavic.

It's obvious Jelavic is lacking in confidence and he needs a little luck to go his way and I believe that one goal, just one, could spark a frenzy in which we see the old, deadly Jelavic. Maybe, if Jelavic can start firing again, if Anichebe can put his injury history behind him, and Jelavic actually scores, they may be the men to fire Everton up the table.