Ever since the welcome departure of Louis Saha and the arrival of Nikica Jelavic on the same day, I've been wondering who David Moyes now considers his main striker. Given his general negativity and the fact that we're playing Chelsea, I wouldn't expect him to deviate from the lone-man-up-top system which has provided dubious results so far this season. But who, from Jelavic, Victor Anichebe, and Denis Stracqualursi, will get the nod*?
Jelavic was only given the last 30 minutes against Wigan last week, and was upstaged by fellow substitute and joint-top scorer Victor Anichebe, who bagged the equalizer to continue his very impressive 2012, in an otherwise poor Blues performance. Anichebe's celebration of the excellent header might have been telling, given his use of the reaction made famous by Man City's Adam Johnson: The "looking vindicatedly angry about having to start on the bench" celebration.
Jelavic, for his part, spent his half-hour on the pitch either fouling or being fouled. Hopefully we haven't just blown the contents of the club's already modestly-capitalised bank account on the Croatian Peter Crouch.
And as for that match's starter, Denis Stracqualursi: He has energy and desire, which are two qualities to endear any centre-forward to both Evertonians and David Moyes. But whether he has the quality to play a part any greater than filling in in the absence of a better striker, he has yet to prove.
Fans, myself included, will want to see a start for Jelavic on Saturday, making use of the strong service coming from Leighton Baines, Landon Donovan, and the welcome returner, Steven Pienaar against a beatable Chelsea team, which has drawn its last three games.
But Moyes is nothing if not his own man and will, as always, make the judgment as he sees fit, without reference to fan sentiment or media expectation. I'd expect to see a few more swaps and changes before May. Fellaini back up front, anyone....?
* That is, if Moyes still doesn't fancy Apostolos Vellios's seven goals in four for the reserves