Everton eke out away win at Huddersfield

Yesterday’s Premier League clash at Huddersfield Town saw Everton come away with a fairly comfortable 2-0 win in the end.

Everton were far from entirely convincing but they did what they had to and secured another three points away from home, not something that has happened too often this season.

Goals from Cenk Tosun and Idrissa Gueye were the difference and the Blues have now managed two wins from the last three away league games and are unbeaten in four matches.

But despite the win there are still major questions marks over the club’s future and particularly the position of manager Sam Allardyce.

There were the now regular chants of discontent from the away support. This kind of atmosphere is becoming corrosive to the relationship between the fans and the club, and possibly also for the players too.

The situation has to be resolved in the summer as this can’t go on into next season or Everton will have another campaign of frustration and failure.

Returning to events on the pitch, neither Everton nor their opponents Huddersfield set the place alight and it was a pretty turgid and uneventful match.

Huddersfield, despite their precarious position and need for points, seemed inhibited by the pressure of the situation.

With games to follow against Manchester City, Chelsea and then Arsenal, getting something from this game was considered to be crucial to their chances of survival.

However the Terriers were poor offered little going forward and were full of mistakes. They conceded possession cheaply and allowed the Blues to break regularly.

Everton though were hardly dynamic and incisive themselves and the match was going nowhere until a bit of quality from Theo Walcott created a chance for Tosun to slot home just before halftime.

The second half was a similar story and again there was little on offer from either side. Everton though scored again through a rare Gueye strike early in the half to effectively settle the match.

And so after this game the Blues have climbed to the heady heights of eighth in the league.

There were a few individual positives to the game. Morgan Schneiderlin continued his recent upturn in form, Tosun scored again (he’s proving particularly adapt at doing so away from home) and Walcott was excellent once more, showing his class.

In fact more players of the calibre of Walcott are exactly what the Blues need. His pace, movement, skill and ability to make and score goals is proving crucial for Everton.

And let’s give Allardyce credit where it’s due as he signed the former Arsenal man.

I’d like to see Walcott sometimes play a more central role, perhaps that’s something that might happen more next season, we’ll see.

Tosun’s qualities actually make him better suited to these away matches. He is always working hard to make himself available and get hold of the ball, something that is important when you are playing largely on the counter attack.

He also seems to find more space in away games and his strength and instinctive finishing were also on display again.

As for Schneiderlin he has revived his fortunes dramatically in the past few weeks and from being roundly booed by Blues fans he’s now receiving plaudits from the supporters.

His return to his best will be important to shoring up Everton’s defence next season as his work in front of the back four was vital last campaign.

Despite the win key questions still remain about Everton heading into next season. In truth this was a very average performance yet again against a poor opponent struggling in the relegation mix.

More from Prince Rupert's Tower

The Blues football is too often laboured, inconsistent and lacking urgency. There is no real pattern to the team’s play and too many long, hopeful balls.

The importance of keeping hold of the ball better and creating many more chances in front of goal is still not sinking in.

Everton’s goal-to-shots ratio is actually not that bad and again in this match the Blues had 7 shots, with 5 on target and scored twice.

Just imagine if, while maintaining this ratio, the team could up their shots-per-game from the current level of just under 10 a game to something approaching 15 shots a match?

Next: Further players for Blues to consider

If the Blues can make this sort of stride by next season then the team would have a genuine chance of challenging for trophies and the European places again.