Three takeaways from Everton 1 Aston Villa 2 on Saturday night

Having succumbed to another damaging home defeat on Saturday night, what are the three things to takeaway for Everton from the loss to Aston Villa?

How can Everton improve home form

This is the million dollar question at the moment as the Toffees dreadful form at Goodison Park this campaign has hugely damaged the season and almost certainly after Saturday’s defeat, will prevent the Blues securing European qualification next season.

The cost of failing to get into Europe could be very significant making it much more difficult for the club to attract the type of players that they desperately need to improve a team still lacking the quality required.

Carlo Ancelotti claims the return of fans rather than new players will be enough to turn this problem around next season but I’m far from convinced that will be only thing needed to reverse this form. New and better players are also essential and they will surely be harder to secure if Everton cannot offer European football.

The Toffees consistently lethargic home form is among the very worst in the Premier League and as bad as those sides fighting relegation so this can’t just be a simple consequence of the absence of fans as that’s something every team is dealing with.

There might also be some sort of mental block or a problem of that sort to deal with too, I don’t know but I’m not convinced this issue will just simply go away when fans return.

Everton must have more pace and width

Yet again Saturday night underlined the critical importance of pace and width in the Premier League. Villa had that and in contrast the Toffees lined up without any natural width and the team was also lacking pace with Andre Gomes and Gylfi Sigurdsson in midfield, something that has been a major problem for a long time.

Ancelotti’s team selection meant that Seamus Coleman and Lucas Digne had to provide that width and outlet on the flanks. But Coleman struggled to cover the ground and both defend and then attack. At 32 and after several serious injuries, he just doesn’t have the legs anymore and Digne is far less influential in attack when he also has to do all this work too.

Both players are actually far more effective when playing as wing-backs as they can then concentrate on their attacking contribution and providing that width.

More from Prince Rupert's Tower

It’s also important Everton bring in forward players with the pace and attacking flair to enable them to compete effectively and that will be a major challenge in the upcoming transfer window.

Defensive stability is critical

On Saturday night Ancelotti stuck with the same defence he had used against Arsenal with Ben Godfrey and Mason Holgate lining up at centre-back.

This was a strange decision as both Yerry Mina and Michael Keane were fit to play and I think it would have made more sense to revert to the back three that best suits the players he has.

This decision didn’t work as although Godfrey was solid enough, Holgate had a nightmare of a match making a terrible mistake that led directly to Villa’s opener and having a very tough time against Olly Watkins, who scored that goal.

Obviously injuries and different opponents mean that it will be almost impossible to play a consistent backline every week. But I don’t think Ancelotti knows his best defensive system or players and this is a problem. Everton need to find a firm and clear foundation for the team to make consistent progress.