Manchester City 3 Everton 0: Spineless Blues lose again at Etihad

The awfulness continues as Everton subsided to a 3-0 defeat at Manchester City this afternoon that once more highlights the terrible state this team and club is in.

I don’t feel like writing much about the match we’ve just seen other than that City won again so comfortably, you would say routinely it is embarassing. And they could have had more than three goals had not Everton keeper Jordan Pickford made several excellent saves.

To rub salt into the wounds Demarai Gray one of the few genuinely consistent bright spots from this season, got hurt and might now be out for several games. Anyway, it was entirely predictable stuff and the Toffees’ just keep on letting their supporters down.

I could copy and paste a dozen match reviews from this past month and the last few seasons as they are all full of the same problems: no real fight, no mental toughness, no consistency of performance, basic errors made and just plain poor quality footballers who don’t seem that bothered in the end.

Yes it was City the defending champions and arguably the best side in Europe on their day. But, still the minimum requirement is for players to show pride and determination and those things were absent once more from too many of the players this afternoon.

In some ways I think to myself now what is the point of this football club anymore? What are Everton trying to do or achieve – can someone enlighten me?

This club was once one of the aristocrats of the English game, renowned for playing good quality, progressive football and winning trophies regularly. Yes it true they did!

I feel very sorry for all those Evertonians who are too young to remember those mid-eighties days when the club and its supporters could walk tall. But, that was a long, long time ago and as those times recede ever more into the distance it feels like we’ll never see them again.

When Farhad Moshiri took over in 2016 we all hoped that after years of frustration over lack of money to compete despite David Moyes best efforts, that things might change and that the club could return to past glories.

A fortune has been spent in the past five years and let’s be honest that’s what many supporters wanted to see when Moshiri took over. And the cash has been delivered that’s for sure.

Moshiri tried a bewildering array of managers but with contrasting styles and priorities which created constant upheaval and instability.

He gave them all pretty much an open cheque book and boy did they spend that money! But, five years later the Blues’ are nowhere near competing for honours and haven’t actually progressed at all on the pitch as far as I can see.

Now, after all that spending the Toffees’ have their hands tied by FFP rules which meant this summer after Carlo Ancelotti walked away they had to bring in a manager who would be prepared to work with peanuts and make do.

That man in the end was Rafa Benitez who was perhaps the only choice as he was desperate for a return to the Premier League and almost anyone else would have insisted on having some cash to splash on new players.

Now, if results keep going wrong and the club were to take the drastic step of changing manager again mid-season, who’d want to take the job with this financial position?

Moshiri also promised a new ground and again to be fair he’s delivering on that too. However, frankly I’d rather not spend anything on a new stadium and instead have a decent, competitive first-team even if the Grand Old Lady is showing her age.

And, we all know how it will go, the Toffees’ will have their brand new ground finally finished just in time for the team to be relegated. Mind you the way things are going now that outcome could be happening much sooner, maybe even this season.

There seems to be a profound lack of clarity about the strategy and ambition of the club now and Everton do a terrible job of communicating with their fans, which only heightens the sense of frustration and uncertainty. The decision to hold an online AGM is a classic example.

The people in charge of running things at Goodison Park don’t appear to be serious anymore about making sure there is a focus on success on the pitch first and foremost.

Unlike other Premier League clubs, the Blues’ have a CEO who’s background is running the club’s charity arm, a board of people who lack football experience and a Director of Football who looks increasing redundant while also having a track record of substantial failure in the transfer market.

After all what’s the point of Marcel Brands or anyone in his post being there if the club is skint and hasn’t anything to spend in the next few windows?

I’ve said limited funds might help focus the efforts in the transfer market and avoid the sort of wasteful scattergun approach of past windows, but again if the recent record is anything to go by, will it? Signings like Moise Kean and Alex Iwobi hardly inspire confidence.

And you get the feeling the board seem to think the new stadium will somehow magically transform things and that supporters will just carry on shelling out their hard-earned cash regardless of what dross the team serves up.

Maybe their right, but if Everton are relegated and end up replicating something like what happened at Sunderland for example, I doubt that will be the case! And, who would confidently bet against that scenario now?

Well, the agony goes on and next up is what has now become a tricky trip to north London and a Brentford team also desperate for a win (doesn’t that bode well!). If the team lose this fixture then who knows what happens next with the Merseyside derby looming afterwards.