The Toffees have started their Premier League campaign on a high note, losing only one of their seven outings, and are currently fifth in the table, level on points with third placed Manchester City.
Despite only being able to invest limited amounts of money in player recruitment in the summer transfer window owing to FFP regulations, Everton have been able to push on and get results this season.
Ex-Toffees star Ball is of the view that the Merseyside giants are full of confidence and desire this season, which is evident from their readiness to exploit mistakes by opponents.
Ball explained that Everton are showing they can go toe-to-to with any of their top flight rivals under Benitez, a quality the fans have been crying out for.
“Even though the Yerry Mina goal at Manchester United was disallowed for offside, the fact that we won the ball in the opposition final third showed how we’re smelling a bit of blood and that comes down to confidence and desire”, Ball wrote in his Liverpool Echo column.
“We’re showing we can go toe-to-toe with anybody and have a battle, putting them under pressure. That’s what I think the fans have been crying out for.
“The place seems totally different; we just seem to be more together again.
“I don’t think expectations were high at all before the season because we’d not spent big amounts of money in the transfer market.
“When you also consider we’ve also had injuries, so to be where we are now, level on points with Manchester City, you’d take that all day.
“After seven Premier League games it’s so far, so good and I don’t think many Evertonians will be complaining where we’re at right now.”
Everton are set to return to Premier League action on Sunday when they welcome David Moyes’ West Ham United to Goodison Park.
