Everton review of the season part 2
We continue a review of the 2018-19 season with the second half of the campaign as Everton strived to complete the season well and finish as high up the Premier League as possible.
However the new year did not start well for Everton.
January
The Blues lost their first match of 2019 at home to Leicester City in a dreadful performance. It didn’t bode well for the next few weeks of the season.
The Toffees then took on Lincoln City in the FA Cup third round and claimed a routine win in the end although they did again concede a goal, something that had become a constant problem.
Next the Blues had two consecutive Premier League games against South coast clubs, Bournemouth and Southampton.
After a comfortable 2-0 home win over Bournemouth, Everton went to St Mary’s and produced another hugely disappointing performance as they went down meekly to a 2-1 defeat.
Then came a fourth round FA Cup tie as the Toffees travelled to east London to face Millwall. The fixture was overshadowed by some disturbing violence between the two sets of supporters.
On the pitch Everton produced another very poor effort and were undone yet again by their inability to defend set-pieces as they crashed out of the Cup. With that, the slim chance of winning anything this season had gone.
After another nondescript win at Huddersfield to finish January, Everton then lost three consecutive games as the season threatened to come apart.
February
First of all came a demoralising 1-3 loss at Goodison Park to Wolves as Marco Silva was outsmarted by his compatriot. The Blues then succumbed to Manchester City, although the defensive effort was a definite improvement. After that they suffered yet another away defeat this time at Watford.
The pressure was building on manager Silva as the Toffees season looked to spiralling out of control and the team were badly misfiring in attack while continually conceding goals like a sieve.
So few Evertonians were probably looking forward to the upcoming derby against title-chasing Liverpool. But before that match the Blues had a game at Cardiff following the latest international break.
Perhaps that break proved the turning point in a season that was feeling like another frustrating, lost opportunity. During the time off, Everton seemed to have worked hard to improve defensively and eliminate the basic mistakes that were proving so costly.
The first glimpses of this was in the Cardiff match as the Toffees turned in their best effort of the calendar year so far and comfortably beat the Bluebirds away 3-0.
But the derby game would prove the real test of whether Everton had made any measurable progress.
March
In a tense and occasionally heart-in-mouth slug-fest, Everton held on for a 0-0 draw that they probably did deserve and which would prove very telling at the end of the season!
But then as if to show how much work still needed to be done, the Blues travelled to Newcastle and threw away a two-goal lead to somehow lose 3-2. It was an incredibly frustrating loss that also seemed to hint at a disturbing degree of mental brittleness in the side.
On a positive note, Silva’s new-look attack with Richarlison switched to the right, Bernard taking his place on the left and Dominic Calvert-Lewin coming into the side, seemed to be paying dividends.
Now the team embarked on a run of fixtures that saw them take on four London clubs in a row and three top-six sides at home. This set of games would prove critical to the outcome of the Toffees season.
After a difficult first-half against Chelsea, Everton improved considerably and snatched a 2-0 win as well as managing a welcome clean sheet.
Next the Blues were at West Ham and delivered a superb performance as they overwhelmed the Hammers, although the 2-0 score line didn’t properly reflect the Toffees total dominance.
April
Arsenal were the next visitors to Goodison Park. After an early goal Everton controlled the game and could and should have scored three or four more as they delivered another outstanding win.
Yet again however as if to underline the Blues simply couldn’t maintain any real consistency, they turned in another limp performance at Fulham to lose to the already relegated Craven Cottage side.
So the question was with Manchester United the next opponents, would the real Everton please stand up!?
And let’s hope that what we saw on that warm sunny Easter Sunday was the real Everton team going forward. They were outstanding and crushed United in what was surely the best performance they produced all season long.
The attack was firing on all cylinders and the emerging partnerships on both flanks were flourishing. And defensively Everton were looking strong and most importantly, consistent.
A goalless draw at Crystal Palace followed to round out a month that had offered real hope for the team’s future.
With weeks of the season left the Blues had an outside chance of securing European football by finishing seventh but couldn’t overtake Wolves.
May
After a relatively comfortable home win against Burnley, the Blues rounded out the season with an entertaining 2-2 draw away at Tottenham.
So that was the 2018-19 season.
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On the debit side, Everton had again failed to win trophy continuing a drought that has gone on since 1995. And European football had also eluded them although a Europa League campaign starting in July isn’t necessarily a good thing for any team’s season.
Looking at the positives, the Blues finished the campaign very strongly hinting that the team was at last finding it’s feet after a season that had wobbled badly around Christmas and New Year.
And perhaps best of all that gritty draw the Toffees managed at home to Liverpool helped prevent them wining the league title!