Everton 0 Aston Villa 1: Ferguson return not enough in another home defeat

This team will be relegated. I hope I’m wrong but on this type of form Everton will be facing the drop as the Blues lost another home game 1-0 to Aston Villa this afternoon.

We all hoped the return of Duncan Fergusion to the dugout again might revive this Everton side, but while there was more effort and a better quality second half display, it was still not enough.

Today’s match really had to be won or at the very least a point was the bare minimum requirement. However, Emiliano Buendia’s goal on the stroke of half-time was enough to give the away team all the points. And of course, the assist came from Lucas Digne.

A lunchtime kick-off led to a less energetic feeling at Goodison Park, which didn’t help, and I always feel the Grand Old Lady is much more vibrant place in an afternoon or evening game.

Ferguson picked a team to play in a 4-4-2, which I expected, although I would always prefer 4-3-3. But I was surprised not to see Anthony Gordon start and I think it was a major mistake from him not to do so.

Also, if he was going to go for two banks of four then given the injury problems to Tom Davies and Allan a doubt, why not move Mason Holgate into the middle where he has played under Ferguson, instead of Andre Gomes who never offers enough energy and bite?

I have to be honest and say while it’s only one game back I remain to be convinced Ferguson is the man to turn this sinking ship around.

The other surprise was the omission, not just from the starting eleven but even from the matchday squad, of both the two new full-backs Vitalii Mykolenko and Nathan Patterson.

This was a perplexing decision by the Scot. The Blues have just spent nearly £25 million on those two young players and yet they can’t even get on the bench.

Fair enough they might not be considered ready to start, but at least Mykolenko should have been a viable option as a substitiute. And, wouldn’t Patterson have offered some much needed additional pace and natural width when the team were on top and chasing a vital breakthrough?

Looking at this and what has happened since the beginning of January, they must be thinking why on earth did we bother signing for this club?

After a first period in which the home team failed to register a single shot on target, in the second half there was an improvement in tempo and with Ferguson making changes early, a bit more craft and creativity.

Gordon especially made a difference and provided some decent balls into the danger area with Dominic Calvert-Lewin who was again well below his best, missing one gilt-edged chance to equalise from his ball.

It was all so predictable that Everton wouldn’t be able to find a way through or take their limited chances to get something from the match and wouldn’t get a bit of underserved luck either. So it was once more today.

I have been around long enough to have seen three major periods of crisis for this football club. The early eighties, although I was only a kid then, the mid and late ninieties to early 2000s when the Blues almost dropped out of the top flight twice on the last day, and today’s situation.

Today’s predicament makes me more worried than either of those two previous eras. It was possible to imagine in the past even if the unthinkable happened and the Toffees went down, that they could bounce back without too much damage being done.

But, this time I can’t see it and I think Everton would begin a long, slow decline to something like where Sunderland are now.

That’s all I can say today. Another massive game from which three points were desparately needed has come and gone without the team getting that result. Newcastle United away in the next Premier League fixture is a huge six-pointer.