1 week Ago
Not for the first time, David Moyes had his head in his hands. The source of his frustration on this occasion was midfielder James Garner, who with time ticking away and Everton 1-0 down at Chelsea, had just sent a late corner straight into Robert Sanchez’s arms. Moyes was witnessing a familiar failing come back to haunt Everton.
He places great stock in set pieces but has bemoaned his side’s poor delivery and execution already this season. Advertisement On Saturday, that absence of quality cost them a potential route back into the game as Chelsea teetered. In truth, Moyes had cut a frustrated figure throughout Saturday’s defeat.
Sporting a baseball cap in the west London sun, he fumed early on at the fourth official after they took too long to punish some rough treatment on Beto close to the dugout. When Chelsea left-back Marc Cucurella complained, he was shooed away by the Everton manager. That set the tone for what was to follow.
Even at 62, Moyes still kicks every ball from the sidelines. He was constantly passing on instructions to his side, at times asking central defender Jake O’Brien to release the ball quicker from the back and right winger Jack Harrison to push higher. Particularly in the first half, Everton’s performance was clearly a source of irritation.
By his own admission, they took too long to settle and struggled to cope with Chelsea’s intensity. Goalscorer Nicolas Jackson was afforded too much space between the lines, while opposite number Enzo Maresca’s inverted full backs left the midfield outnumbered — at least until Carlos Alcaraz’s arrival at half time as a hybrid left winger/third central midfielder. Everton, to quote Moyes, just about “stuck at it” and “grew into the game the longer it wore on”.
But finding an equaliser proved beyond them. For the fifteenth game this season, they drew a blank in front of goal. Only already relegated Leicester City have failed to score more often.
Everton have also scored the fewest away goals (12) of any Premier League side, Saturday being the eighth time they have failed to find the net on the road this season. Moyes’ problem is that none of his four senior strikers are currently staking a compelling case to be part of this summer’s squad overhaul. Usual first choice Dominic Calvert-Lewin has been missing since January with a hamstring problem.
He has scored just three times in 22 league appearances (19 starts) this season, with talks expected over his deal, due to expire this summer, in the coming weeks. Advertisement Loanee Armando Broja was ineligible on Saturday against his parent club, but is yet to score since a deadline day move over summer and has spent much of the campaign on the sidelines. His £30million purchase clause will be deemed too expensive to trigger, even if Moyes has used recent games to run the rule over the Albania international in matches.
Youngster Youssef Chermiti, meanwhile, was rusty off the bench at Stamford Bridge and, at 20, lacks experience at Premier League level. He may be part of the equation moving forward, but not the solution straight away. Before an injury-hit season, it was felt that the Portuguese needed regular minutes in order to continue his development, even if that meant a loan away from Goodison Park.
Beto has been the most productive, scoring six times in the Premier League, but even he is without a goal since February. Crucially, Moyes felt he was also complicit in Jackson’s winner after ceding possession in midfield. Soon after, as left-back Vitalii Mykolenko received treatment, the Everton manager could be seen deep in conversation with his charge.
“He (Beto) has to retain the ball, simple as that,” Moyes said pointedly. “Because of that, it probably cost us the goal. We were open at that moment — the centre backs had split.
” A new striker is expected to be high Everton’s list this summer. They are one of the many clubs interested in Ipswich Town’s Liam Delap, but will face fierce competition for his signature. At least some will have European football to offer, something beyond Everton.
Not that finishing is the only issue at Goodison. Chelsea may have been indebted to Sanchez for keeping out second-half efforts from Beto and substitute Dwight McNeil, but otherwise Everton offered little. Behind the striker, they are workmanlike but lacking in guile and game-changing quality.
Advertisement Moyes has tasked the side with “better retention of the ball” and admits that is an area that needs to be improved. Once in the final third, though, too often they play the wrong ball or execute passes poorly. More is needed.
“We’ve had that problem the last couple of years,” McNeil said. “We don’t create (many) chances, but when we do we’re not as ruthless in front of goal. “The goal that they scored today was one chance from our mistake and they scored.
That’s the level that we want to get to; we want to be ruthless in front of goal. “The gaffer is already looking ahead to next season, trying to improve the team. He doesn’t want to be where we’ve been in the last few seasons, he wants to be looking up.
“We want to try and implement it (his instructions) in the last four games and carry it into next season.” Changes in personnel would no doubt help Everton in the games to come, especially those at home to Ipswich and Southampton. McNeil is edging closer to fitness and is capable of conjuring moments with his left foot.
Alcaraz, too, has the ability to influence in the final third. His cameo was a rare bright spark in the capital. But if Moyes is using the final weeks of the season to learn lessons about his squad, he may quickly come to the conclusion that Everton need more quality across the board in attacking areas if they are to compete next season.
(Header photo Justin Tallis/AFP via Getty Images).
