Prince Rupert's Tower
Fansided

Everton 0 Arsenal 1: Blues fall to third home defeat

By Matt Townsend

LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND - SEPTEMBER 17: Beto of Everton battles for possession wtih Leandro Trossard of Arsenal during the Premier League match between Everton FC and Arsenal FC at Goodison Park on September 17, 2023 in Liverpool, England. (Photo by James Gill - Danehouse/Getty Images)
LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND - SEPTEMBER 17: Beto of Everton battles for possession wtih Leandro Trossard of Arsenal during the Premier League match between Everton FC and Arsenal FC at Goodison Park on September 17, 2023 in Liverpool, England. (Photo by James Gill - Danehouse/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit

Another home game at Goodison Park and yet again another 1-0 defeat that leaves Everton rooted in the bottom three still without a win this season.

Going into this afternoon’s match the Toffees needed a repeat of February’s heroics when in Sean Dyche’s first game in charge the Blues secured an unlikely but timely and morale-boosting one goal win.

I didn’t think it would happen again today and Everton never looked remotely like repeating the feat again and in fact lost themselves by the same scoreline.

It could have been a lot worse too but for the brilliance of Jordan Pickford who made a string of fine saves again and some last-ditch defensive tackles too.

The home side lacked ambition and seemed happy to play for a draw, they were dreadful in attack and created virtually nothing. It is a very depressing afternoon to witness and it bodes ill for the rest of the campaign to come.

As I have said before I fear this team is actually going backwards from where it was at the end of last season.

When Dyche was appointed he came with a reputation for installing defensive solidity, hard work and commitment to getting the basics right.

However, while initially this appeared to be bourne out by performances and results starting with the Arsenal win, recently those qualities have been largely absent.

Ironically, Everton did start creating more offensively towards the back end of last season under the former Burnley manager, and for example produced a superb exhibition of counter-attacking football at Brighton when they secured three vital points in their relegation fight.

Now though the defence is regularly as leaky as a sieve, the midfield too often lacks enough bite, energy and authority and the attack is anemic and unthreatening.

This is obviously a disasterous combination, which will certainly see the Toffees relegated at the end of the campaign if it continues.

Today’s match might just one of those terrible all-round team performances, which we have seen many times before, but these issues are becoming ever more urgent recently.

I’m not certain what the answer is exactly but somehow this Blues side has simply got to find the craft to create enough chances now for strikers starved of decent service.

Last season’s most effective forward Dwight McNeil was back in the team this afternoon but was perhaps still a little under-cooked and had a very limited impact.

And, Dyche continued with his 4-5-1 formation leaving Beto isolated up front. He was then replaced by Dominic Calvert-Lewin and he too struggled to make anything of the service he got.

These tactics worked well last season but they are looking outmoded and increasingly ineffective now as recent results indicate.

I think it is time for the manager to start re-thinking his tactics or perhaps it might be time for him to go.

He has two decent centre-forwards available now for the first time so he should consider a two-striker system to try and maximise the chances of goals. Also, Arnaut Danjuma too is probably more effective playing off a striker rather than on the wing.

At any rate things need to change and very soon or Everton will be too far adrift to recover if they cannot start collecting a more points in the upcoming matches.