Everton returned to their inconsistent and defensively fragile ways this afternoon and somehow ended up losing 3-2 at Newcastle after being two up and seemingly in control.
What to say about this one. This Everton team is surely the most incredibly frustrating side to follow in the Premier League. Is there another team that can find so many ways to lose football matches?
It can drive you barmy, scratching your head sometimes trying to understand how the Blues can be so inconsistent and unpredictable.
After two really solid efforts against Cardiff City and then Liverpool, the Toffees returned to their most infuriatingly poor as they managed to throw away a two goal lead and lose at St James’ Park.
After a decent start, the Blues were perhaps more than a little lucky not to be down to ten men when Jordan Pickford dropped a ball and brought down Soloman Rondon and conceded a penalty. This poor play from the England goalkeeper was an omen for later in the game.
He did though save the spot-kick to preserve Everton’s early lead given to them by Dominic Calvert-Lewin. And the Toffees went two up as Richarlison, restored to the starting eleven today, scored after a cross from Andre Gomes.
So far so good and it was going pretty well. But after halftime Newcastle responded well following some tactical tweaks from Rafa Benitez and came back into the game.
Now Everton’s defensive frailties returned with a vengeance. The chronic inability of Blues defenders to compete in the air was once again underlined as they conceded another goal through their failure to clear their lines.
And Pickford’s strangely erratic form was also on show again as he spilled another shot that led to Newcastle’s equaliser. The winner then almost seemed inevitable and duly came as the Magpies grabbed all three points.
I’m totally at a loss to understand how this side can be so Jekyll and Hyde in its performances. Maybe this is just the way it is with what are perhaps essentially mediocre footballers.
Much has been said and written, including here, about the endless defensive struggles Everton have had dealing with high balls and defending set-pieces. However the fragile mental strength of the players is possibly the most disturbing thing about this defeat.
I was surprised when I saw the team picked and that Morgan Schneiderlin was dropped for this match after he had come back into the team and played a crucial part in two consecutive clean sheets.
That decision seems to be a mistake for me. It’s true Gomes offers more attacking creativity, but it was important for Everton to maintain the more solid look and feel the team had in the previous aforementioned games.
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The Frenchman had begun to re-establish the central midfield partnership he had previously had with Idrissa Gueye and I think they should have both started again.
Not only did the Toffees look a lot more solid and organised side with Scheiderlin back, but his defensive qualities also helped with defending those set-pieces.
By making that change Silva weakened Everton again and the players proved in the end to be unable to cope when the pressure was on later in the game.
Well I don’t know what else to add here. Everton go again next Sunday with a nice easy home game coming up against Chelsea…