On Wednesday night, Everton 2-2 with Watford at Goodison Park in an eventful Premier League encounter. In truth, the Toffees display was as flat as a pancake and the Hornets produced a good away performance, especially in the second half.
In fact, Javi Gracia’s team will consider themselves highly unfortunate to not have left Goodison with their first league ever win at the grand old stadium. A superb free-kick from Lucas Digne in stoppage-time denied the visitors maximum points.
Everton were sluggish throughout
While Watford can feel content with their display, if not the result, everybody connected with the home side will be concerned by their team’s sluggish display for a second consecutive home match.
A poor 1-1 draw at home against Newcastle in their previous game was a bad day or night at the office. However, consecutive disappointing results and performances will be concerning for Everton boss Marco Silva.
Very few players wearing a blue shirt could come off the pitch holding their heads held high. Even Portuguese central midfielder Andre Gomes, who I talked about in my editorial yesterday, did not have a great game by his high standards.
Richarlison scored, but then endured a frustrating night against his former club. The defence looked shaky, with Yerry Mina particularly lucky to stay on the pitch. Right-back Seamus Coleman is also going through a poor run of form, with an own goal for the Hornets equaliser summing up his night.
The midfield and forward line were not performing how they have done in previous games. Overall, it was a sluggish performance all around and the Blues were lucky to escape with a point.
Cannot let momentum slip
For me, Marco Silva is a bright young coach, who has a good understanding of the game. He has made a bright start to his managerial career at Everton, with the Toffees playing much-improved football for the most part of his short time on Merseyside.
Prior to that infamous 1-0 derby defeat at Liverpool, there was positivity at the club and the team appeared to be moving in the right direction. The last three results have brought the fans slightly back down to earth.
Everton fans are that accustomed to new dawns ending badly that we are now a cynical bunch. However, like every club, we have the doom and gloom merchants, who are not happy when things are going well, but only come out if the team have a bad run.
Already some fans are starting to question Silva and his managerial acumen, despite the fact he has only been at the club for a few months. The transformation in style of play has been encouraging.
It was not an easy task and the Portuguese boss has had to bed in a number of new players into the team’s starting line-up. Silva has done that well and will need time to implement his ideas properly. However, Everton fans will not want the positive momentum of the season to disappear, which means the Toffees need to start winning games again.
Top six maybe out of reach this season
Everton have targeted a top-six finish in the Premier League as the objective this season. However, that was always going to be hard to achieve considering there is a new boss in charge, new players and also the teams they are competing against.
The Toffees are now odds of 8/1 to finish in the top six this season. However, they are considered the best of the rest once again, with last season’s top six expected to remain there, albeit maybe in a different order.
Everton are a work in progress under Marco Silva. As a fan, I am encouraged by what I have seen so far under Silva. However, the team is far from perfect and there will always be dips in form when a team is in such a transitional period.
I do believe that Everton have a far better chance of progressing with Silva in charge than former boss Sam Allardyce, which is a sentiment I think most Blues fans will echo.
Does Everton have the quality to finish in the top six this season?
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