Everton’s season has been baffling. Despite their 5-0 battering at Chelsea on Saturday, Ronald Koeman’s Toffees remain seventh in the Premier League, level with Manchester United and just six points adrift of the top four. This is some going considering they’ve also been beaten at Burnley and have only won once in league action since mid-September!
The Merseysiders made a blistering start to the campaign with 13 points from their first five games, but their form has nosedived of late, with issues cropping up all over the pitch for their Dutch manager.
The international break, although frustrating for fans, has come at the ideal time for Koeman, as the ex-Southampton chief is presented with the best part of two weeks to get the salt and pepper pots out and make a plan to turn things around at Goodison Park.
With that in mind, here are FOUR things we at Football FanCast believe he needs to address by the time Swansea arrive on the banks of the Mersey in their next Premier League fixture.
Coleman not cutting the mustard…
Outside of the Everton bubble, Seamus Coleman is still considered to be one of the top right-sided defenders in the Premier League.
Granted, the Irishman is not a bad player, but his recent run of form has been questionable to say the least, with the 28-year-old struggling to offer much in an attacking sense from his wing-back role. A meagre cross success rate of 14.3% this season has frustrated fans and is sure to be seen as a problem by Koeman himself.
Mason Holgate could, then, offer an unknown proposition. The 20-year-old stepped in effectively for Coleman during his injury lay-off earlier this term, performing well against Spurs, West Brom and Stoke as the Toffees picked up seven points from nine prior to the first international break of the campaign. Holgate is a technically adept player and could inject some positivity after that 5-0 Chelsea loss.
The Barkley conundrum…
Just what can Koeman do with Barkley? The England international is a problem the Dutch coach has wrestled with in recent weeks, with dropping him and reinstating him having sparked a minor revival against West Ham.
In theory, his role as one of two behind a main striker makes sense, but he’s often asked to drift wide, which doesn’t utilise his skill-set entirely. Perhaps moving him closer to Lukaku would be more beneficial, with less defensive responsibility likely to coax out the pure talent he showed in his ‘breakthrough’ 2013/14 campaign.
Lukaku reliance…
Ten of Everton’s 15 league goals this season have been a direct result of Romelu Lukaku. The giant Belgian has netted seven and weighed in with three assists, which makes him by far and away the top contributor in Koeman’s ranks in terms of putting the ball in the net, while only Yannick Bolasie has laid on more goals for his team-mates.
Such a reliance on a single player is obviously an issue. Teams are quickly realising that shutting down the 23-year-old is the most effective policy, while if he’s not firing at full capacity, few others can be relied upon to make a difference in the final third.
One solution could be to push Barkley closer to Lukaku to give him the support he needs, or perhaps flip the 3-4-3 being used to a 3-5-2 and utilise a second striker alongside the former Chelsea and West Brom man.
Stopper shocker…
Aside from that performance at Manchester City, Maarten Stekelenburg hasn’t covered himself in glory for Everton. The Dutch stopper is prone to some pretty horrendous gaffes, with his ‘save’ at Burnley presenting the ball to Sam Vokes for a tap-in. It can’t be any coincidence that Everton’s only clean sheet since the start of October came when Joel Robles stepped in as No.1.