Everton
will go into the first international break unbeaten in all competitions, after
a drab 1-1 home draw with Huddersfield that will perhaps dampen expectations of
what manager Marco Silva could realistically deliver in his debut season.
Following
draws away at Wolves and Bournemouth, along with a home victory over a
Southampton side that have since looked very decent in winning at Crystal Palace,
the point earned against David Wagner’s Yorkshire puddings leaves Silva with
the rather ominous distinction of taking the same amount of points from his
first four games in charge as Roberto Martinez managed. No one will be complaining
if the season turns out as well as 2013/14 did, obviously, but it does still
serve as timely reminder to keep an eye out for signs of excessive adjective
use or a rapidly receding hairline.
Cliché
though it sounds, the opening run of fixtures have, by virtue of a multitude of
mitigating circumstances, genuinely led to more questions than answers. The
arrival of Marcel Brands from PSV Eindhoven earlier in the summer created a
wave of optimism, not least because it heralded the departure of the hugely
unpopular Steve Walsh; but while the new broom has been quick to display his
efficiency in sweeping out deadwood like Ashley Williams, Cuco Martina, Joel
Robles, Muhamed Besic, Sandro Ramirez, Kevin Mirallas and Yannick Bolasie, the
decision to introduce a shortened summer transfer window in a World Cup year has
meant that fans will have to wait to see evidence of the clear, sustainable
incoming transfer policy that such an appointment is designed to produce. As a
result, there are still a few stragglers getting a lot more minutes than we
might have hoped.
The
cost of a pre-season fraught with upheaval has been felt most keenly in
defence, where comparisons with Martinez become a bit more disconcerting. I say
that partly in jest, as steps have already been taken to reinforce a long-creaking
back line with an outlay of more than £50m to bring in both Yerry Mina and
Lucas Digne from Barcelona, in addition to a one-year loan deal for Chelsea
centre-back Kurt Zouma, but it would still be remiss not to acknowledge that
for all the improvements Silva has already made in terms of attacking intent,
you can’t help but feel as though he could make life easier for himself by rethinking
a zonal marking system which has already seen three goals conceded from corners.
Mina’s imminent return from injury should hopefully go a long way towards solving
the issue of Everton’s vulnerability to high balls into the box, and maybe even
reduce the feelings of trepidation that follow the awarding of a set piece
within hoofing distance of Jordan Pickford’s goal. At well over six-foot tall,
and having demonstrated his considerable aerial prowess at the World Cup, the
Colombian certainly has the physical attributes to help make this a non-issue
in future.
You
would have to think that the area which Brands will be prioritising in January
and beyond must be centre midfield, where Morgan Schneiderlin – who, for all of
his general cowardice and unprofessionalism, does deserve credit for saving the
day when Mason Holgate inexplicably abandoned his position and allowed Steve
Mounie a free run at goal on Saturday – Idrissa Gana Gueye and Tom Davies look
woefully ill-equipped to compete against anything other than the worst
midfields in the division. Such was the promise with which all three began
their respective Everton careers that it would have seemed ludicrous to have
said this even twelve months ago, but having now watched them stink the place
out over and over again under four different managers, there is simply nothing
else for it. None of them would get a sniff at any of the teams expected to
finish above the Blues, and they wouldn’t walk into any of the other mid-table
sides, either. There is, of course, always the possibility that Andre Gomes
could bring some much-needed finesse to the middle of the park, but having read
about the Euro 2016 winner’s mental anguish during his time at Barcelona, you
do wonder if his loan move is more of a Matteo Ferrari/Lacina Traore-style
career break than an attempt at getting back on track.
With
Schneiderlin and Gana, it’s easy to just accept that, like most journeyman
footballers, they’ll do a limited job for a couple of years and then move on.
In the case of Davies, however, it’s a bit more disappointing to see an academy
product go from capturing the imagination to being the subject of derision
within the space of a few months. It’s a situation which reminds me that there are certain
intangibles in football that I've come to accept will only truly make sense if
you've played professionally. One of them is the enormous difference between
home and away performances, and another is the effect of being an unknown
quantity. Davies looks as though he could be the latest in a long line of kids
who we've seen come into a Premier League team and have an immediate impact,
only to eventually fade to a point where they're forced to drop down a level or
two in order to find regular football. I don't know if it's because they fall
prey to the meticulous preparation that goes into each game – I imagine it
becomes easier to nullify a player as more footage of him becomes available –
but for whatever reason the opposition seems to have the measure of them after
a handful of meetings.
When he first broke into the team under Ronald
Koeman, Davies looked both dynamic and remarkably composed for his age, and
that was enough to give him the jump on far more experienced players; but now,
eighteen months later, those same opponents are identifying him as a weak link
who can be pressed and harried into conceding possession with relative ease.
It's a strange situation, albeit a very common one when you take a moment to
consider how many teenagers burst onto the scene each year, only to soon find
themselves doing the Saturday-Tuesday circuit with Ian Holloway or Steve
Cotterill. It could also be worth noting that Davies’s performances really
nosedived when he started pinning his hair up like a dinner lady.
It’s not
all doom and gloom, though – far from it. Silva was brought here to purge us of
the stench of negativity that was first farted out by Koeman, before being
cupped into our faces by the swollen, Branston Pickle-stained hand of He Who
Must Not Be Named, and with signings such as the electrifying young Brazilian
Richarlison – who this week received his first senior international call-up – there’s
every reason to believe that he’s going to do just that. Even if, like me, you
feel that Gylfi Sigurdsson and Cenk Tosun are a bit too similar in their
one-paced endeavour to ever really thrive as a partnership in the long-run,
they’re at least serviceable enough to get by with for as long Richarlison and
his partner in width, the really excellent Theo Walcott, are providing a
serious goal threat from the flanks. Add in the allegedly surpassing talents of
another Brazil international in the form of free transfer Bernard (named after
his mother’s favourite comedian, Manning), and we can start to think about stuffing
Oumar Niasse into that locker he waited so long for.
¡Solo le
Mejor!
