At the end of a difficult week which saw them largely dominated by 10-man Manchester City in a 1-1 draw at the Etihad, and then ease into the knock-out phase of the Champions League’s weird little brother thanks to the same scoreline in Croatia, Everton finally ran out of both steam and luck when they met Antonio Conte’s Chelsea on Sunday.
Ronald Koeman stuck with the same 3-5-2 formation which saw his side get an absolute walloping in this fixture last season, albeit with Mason Holgate and Leighton Baines playing so deep that it was really more of a back-five. Wayne Rooney spent the majority of the game supporting Holgate down the right, leaving Gylfi Sigurdsson to drift in from the opposite flank and help Tom Davies and Idrissa Gana Gueye chase shadows in midfield. Sandro was a willing runner as the focal point of what was theoretically a three-pronged attack, but made little impact as he was routinely bullied by the hosts’ physically imposing defenders.
Chelsea were two up before half-time through Cesc Fabregas’ deft finish and a free header from Alvaro Morata, and with the introductions of Muhamed Besic - who likely would have started, were it not for keeping it real going wrong for his dad - Aaron Lennon and Dominic Calvert-Lewin doing nothing to improve Everton’s chances of so much as registering a shot on target, you would have to believe that Koeman will be seriously rethinking his choice of tactics ahead of the visit of Tottenham in a fortnight.
Much of the post-match discussion (arguing on Twitter) between fans has centred on whether or not there have been sufficiently mitigating circumstances surrounding a start to the season that has felt somewhat underwhelming. After an early summer spending spree on the back of Romelu Lukaku’s move to Manchester United, followed by the more recent acquisition of Gylfi Sigurdsson for upwards of £45m, most of a us are still a little unsure of what our expectations should be; as while it’s easy to get carried away by the numbers appearing beneath Everton’s graphic on Sky Sports News, there isn’t yet evidence to suggest that it’s enough to expect Ronald Koeman to be sat drinking prosecco in his conservatory in May, a la David Moyes in 2005.
In keeping with the theme of chickens being counted before you find out if any of them can play up front, it appears that talk of another fallen dynasty at Chelsea was premature to say the least. Even without their best player, Eden Hazard, the champions had far too much quality for Everton, with Willian in particular looking head and shoulders above anyone in a grey shirt. At the back, Cesar Azpilicueta is about as good a player as you’ll find anywhere in Europe, and with Ngolo Kante’s ability to occupy numerous opponents once, Fabregas has the freedom to pick passes that few others are capable of executing on their Playstations. Add to that the movement of Pedro and general mustard-ness of Morata up front, and all of a sudden you’re thinking that the odds on them retaining their title are more than generous at 11/2.
With Lukaku still yet to be adequately replaced, Everton again looked worryingly toothless up front. Sandro appears too lightweight to be leading the line at the moment - especially with that first touch - and while Rooney has so far done much better than many, including myself, expected, it remains to be seen how far the Divine Toupée will be able to roll back the years once the novelty of his long-awaited return wears off. There, has, however been an unexpected bright spot in Calvert-Lewin, who I for one had written-off completely after watching him toil away on the wing last season. As things stand, the Geoff Hurst of the England under-20 scene is the best option to spearhead the Blues' attack, given his pace, athleticism and genuinely impressive holdup play.
Koeman seems to think that there’ll be further transfer activity before Thursday’s bi-annual yellow tie bonanza, although that could mean anything from a far-fetched loan move for Diego Costa to a stress-inducing desperation punt on this year’s Enner Valencia. It’s quite unlikely that the club will have time to get more than one or two deals over the line before the transfer window closes, so hopefully they’re focusing their energies on finding the striker that this team is sorely lacking. Failing that, a winger with the speed and trickery to provide options beyond the current one-paced crop wouldn’t go amiss, but a centre forward is definitely the priority.
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