Lee Carsley: No side in the Europa League will fancy coming to play Everton at Goodison Park
Lille are a good team, make no mistake.
They showed that in the game in France recently but I have been waiting for everything to click with Everton - and on Thursday night it did.
It was a great performance from the Blues as they swept Lille aside 3-0 and there were some great individual performances as well at Goodison.
James McCarthy was, to put it simply, absolutely everywhere.
McCarthy is a really good player and I think playing alongside Gareth Barry has helped his game 100%.
Barry was first class on Thursday night before being taken off with an injury and he is such a calming influence on McCarthy.
The young Irish midfielder has the potential to be very, very good. He already reads the game very well, he is strong and loves a tackle, which the fans always appreciate.
Leon Osman, at a different stage of his career to James, has his doubters but for me he is still such an important part of the team and showed that on Thursday.
Leighton Baines is playing with a lot of confidence and Phil Jagielka scored yet another goal!
You get the feeling now that Everton are coming back into full form and fitness and starting to move through the gears.
If Everton are to progress further into the Europa League and - maybe, just maybe - win it then they need some luck with the draw, of course.
But having said that, any side playing the Blues at Goodison are going to struggle.
On Thursday night, Everton were outstanding and not only were we fantastic on the ball but off it as well - watch the game back and just see how quickly we were winning the ball back.
If that was Barcelona then people would be purring with praise.
But what was also really impressive about Thursday night was the quality sat in the dugout.
Everton had such a strong bench for the game and it will be the strength of their squad that will play a major role in them going all the way to Warsaw or not.
And though a degree of luck with the draw is important I don’t believe that finishing second in your Europa League group is as significant as finishing second in a Champions League group.
And, for me, Everton will be among the very best sides in the competition when we, hopefully, reach the knockout phases.
Source: Echo
