Carsley is player of season so far; BLUE WATCH.

Byline: MARK O'BRIEN

WITH the New Year marking roughly the halfway point of the season it is almost required by law to do some sort of review of how things have gone thus far, hand out fictional awards and in some publications even write those cringeworthy 'school reports' for the players.

The fact that Everton have been playing so well means that it is quite difficult to pick out individuals and moments that stand out more than the rest, so the following nominations are not beyond debate by any stretch.

The player of the season so far is certainly a tough one to call. Normally we just hand this straight to Mikel Arteta, but the Spaniard hasn't consistently hit the heights and, more to the point, others have outshone him.

It probably boils down to a straight race between Joleon Lescott and Lee Carsley then. The ex-Wolves man's performance earned him the dubious honour of call-ups to Steve McLaren's ill-fated final squads where he received some unfair criticism.

For Everton though, Lescott has been immense. The fact that even when playing out of position he still looks like one of the best defenders in the country is testament to his all round ability.

It's the veteran Carsley who edges it though, simply because he is the less replaceable of the two.

David Moyes has able cover for Lescott, but it's difficult to envisage Everton enjoying their recent incredible form without the superb Carsley protecting the defence and giving the rest of the midfield the confidence to break forward and terrorise opposition defences.

Carsley might have scored goal of the season too, with his late screamer at home to BirminghamCity, had it not been for Tim Cahill's last minute overhead kick at Stamford Bridge. In terms of both the context and execution, someone is going to have to pull something very special out of the hat, probably in front of the Kop, to top that.

The surprise of the season has been Steven Pienaar. No one really expected much of a player who arrived rather unheralded and labelled as a flop in the Bundesliga. He made light of that reputation though, and his lack of physical stature, to become an integral part of a five-man midfield that has played some of the best football seen at Goodison for many years.

Aiyegbeni Yakubu might have vied with Pienaar for the accolade, especially after his slow start, but his goalscoring record at Portsmouth and Middlesbrough perhaps suggested that we shouldn't have been so amazed when the goals eventually started to fly in.

As for the game of the season so far, well, there have been plenty to delight us, starting with a win down at White Hart Lane. Putting seven goals past Sunderland was one that no one will forget in a hurry and fighting back to win a cup quarter-final at West Hamwith a late winner isn't something that happens very often either. Then of course there was Europe, ending AZ Alkmaar's proud home record with a team containing a number of kids after also dispatching FC Nurnberg on a night when it seemed as if half of Merseyside had descended on the beautiful German city.

David Moyes called it earlier in the week though when he pointed to the second leg, and particularly the second half, away in Kharkiv. To have gone out there, after the performance of the first leg and the first half, would have made life very difficult for Moyes.

James McFadden's goal changed not only that tie though, but Everton's whole season and possibly the future of the club.

Here's hoping that we have even more highlights and are as upbeat when we round up the whole season in May.

CAPTION(S):

Everton's Lee Carsley trains in Alkmaar