A year ago, Everton finished fifth in the Premiership and made it to the FA Cup final. This year, they have stayed in the Europa League, but have been wretched for the first half of the Premier League season, and on Saturday were eliminated from the FA Cup. Nevertheless, with the return of Mikel Arteta from injury, the Everton roster looks far better than it did at the end of last season, when Arteta and Phil Jagielka went out with long term injuries.

Back then, fans complained every week about the perceived inadequacy of Leon Osman and Tony Hibbert, fixtures in the starting lineup. These days, we are worried about the players David Moyes will be forced to leave on the bench when Arteta and Jack Rodwell return.

Marouane Fellaini and Steven Pienaar have both improved greatly over the course of the last year. Screech looks like the best box-to-box midfielder in England, while Peanuts continues to play the inspired football that made him a fan favorite last spring. Rodwell has also been excellent, and the imminent pairing of him and the in-form Fellaini makes me nearly giddy.

Furthermore, this year’s signings have been largely successful. Landon Donovan, in his first few games, has been an immediate threat on the right side. Diniyar Bilyaletdinov, despite his defensive limitations, is always likely to score or create a shot. The versatile John Heitinga has, after a shaky start, become an unerring tackler, while Sylvain Distin has also been solid in back.

Rather than griping week in and week out about the inadequacy of players like Osman and Hibbert, the returns of Arteta and Jack Rodwell now force us to ask whether Tim Cahill deserves to start over the short-timer (?) Donovan, or which of David Moyes’ many capable defenders (Heitinga, Distin, Joseph Yobo) will have to sit. Players like Billy and Yakubu may well be on the outside looking in.

These are all good problems to have. The one downside is the slowed development of players like Seamus Coleman and James Vaughan.

Had Everton not had such a terrible start to the season (Hull? Really?), they might well be in the mix for the fourth Champions League spot. Right now it looks like a tough road to get back to the Europa League. But with this roster, Moyes might be able to make it happen.