Everton win papers over cracks
Yesterday’s much-needed 2-0 victory over Brighton lifted Everton up to ninth and should all but guarantee safety from any threat of relegation. But despite the win it has only papered over the cracks that still exist in this current Everton side.
In truth Brighton’s poor away form and Everton’s solid form at Goodison Park, meant that this should always have been a match the Blues would win.
However although Everton had most possession and Brighton only rarely offered much of threat the Blues still laboured to break down a stubborn Seagulls side.
It took an own-goal for Everton to take the lead and then another fine finish from Cenk Tosun – who is looking like the striker Everton expected when he was signed – to secure the points.
So the Blues can face the prospect of their next Premier League game away to Stoke City, with a vital win under their belts.
This win though only represents temporary respite for Everton. There are still a lot of questions to be answered before supporters can feel confident the side have turned the corner.
First of all is the continuing problem of Everton’s away form. Until the team can reproduce a result of the kind we saw yesterday, when they are away from Goodison Park, no one will feel they have made real progress.
Stoke City represents an ideal opportunity to do just that. They are struggling to score goals and are the kind of team Everton should be able to beat, home or away.
Three points at the Bet365 Stadium would be an ideal way to follow-up the Brighton result.
So what were the positives and negatives from yesterday’s game?
First of all the Toffees didn’t concede. After a season which has seen the Blues let in a torrent of goals, often due to individual errors, Everton were able to keep a clean sheet.
Phil Jagielka and Leighton Baines’ return to the side played a key part in that. They offered experience and defensive nous and helped shore up Everton’s shaky defence.
The Blues have the fifth worst defensive record in the Premier League. That must improve. Only Huddersfield, Crystal Palace, West Ham United and Everton’s next opponents Stoke have conceded more.
Baines also created Tosun’s goal and his return to the side along with fellow full-back Seamus Coleman is hugely welcome.
Critical to turning around the Blue’s defensive problems is to overcome the lapses in concentration that have led to so many goals this season. To do this the team need a reliable central defensive partnership.
After so many changes at the back, some of which it must be admitted were forced on the manager (whether Ronald Koeman or Sam Allardyce) by injury, it’s really important to stick with a pairing and allow them to build confidence in each other.
It’s to be hoped that Allardyce will now stay with the current partnership of Jagielka and Michael Keane for the foreseeable future. This will help create stability in the defence as a whole.
Another positive was Tosun’s second goal in as many league starts. After having scored in last weekend’s defeat at Burnley, the Turkish international netted again to seal the win yesterday.
Going forward it’s obviously essential Everton have a reliable, consistent goal scorer and Tosun seems to be finding his feet after having endured a difficult first few months at Goodison Park.
As well as his finishing, Tosun also leads the line well working hard and contributing to Everton’s all-round play.
But Tosun needs support and so it’s to be hoped that one of the club’s other forwards, Theo Walcott or Dominic Calvert-Lewin for example can step up.
What about the negatives?
The main concern apart from the team’s away from already mentioned, is that again Everton lacked real craft and imagination in midfield.
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Despite playing both Wayne Rooney and Gylfi Sigurdsson the team once more struggled to create many quality opportunities. In fact it was Yannick Bolasie who looked most dangerous.
The lack of invention is a real concern. After all the money spent on playmakers there is still a creative deficit, which is holding the team back.
Strikers however good there might be, will be ultimately dependent on the amount of decent chances created for them.
Everton’s shots-to-goals ratio against Brighton was good though. The Blues scored twice from just three shots on target yesterday. But I doubt that kind of conversation rate can be sustained all the time.
Next: Can Blues ever break into top four?
Either one of the high-profile signings needs to step up or more changes will need be made in the summer.