Trevor Steven: Everton are the Premier League’s most inconsistent team but I’d give manager Marco Silva more time
Whenever Everton have taken a step forward this season, it has been followed by a step back. They have a little burst of form but then slip up. Unable to get enough people playing well at the same time often enough, they feel like the Premier League’s most inconsistent team.
This campaign has been littered with defeats in games that they would not have expected to lose. Leicester. Millwall in the FA Cup. Wolves may be having a very good season, but they shouldn’t be turning over Everton 3-1 at Goodison Park, as they did last weekend.
I never know what the team selection is going to look like; I’m not sure what their best XI is. The two best performers have been Gylfi Sigurdsson and Richarlison, for their impact and goals, but the rest have blown hot and cold – a recipe for the mixed results they’ve had.
I’m struggling to identify how Everton want to play. It could be that Marco Silva isn’t getting his message across, or it may be that the players aren’t carrying out the manager’s instructions. At the very least they should be hard to beat, but they haven’t been.
Slump
Their current slump all goes back to that 96th-minute defeat to Liverpool at Anfield in early December. That was the start of a run of eight defeats in 14 games, in which they’ve won just four. It doesn’t help when the league leaders are the other side of Stanley Park, either.
Everton’s players seem to have an air of disappointment around them, as if they know they should be doing better. And if they don’t, the Goodison faithful will soon remind them. It can be a tough place to play sometimes, and not just for away teams.
Toffees fans expect a lot from their team but they haven’t had much to shout about for some time. With a relatively new owner in Farhad Moshiri, a new manager in Silva and significant investment in the squad, those expectation levels have naturally gone up.
Moshiri appeared to turn up the heat on Silva last month when he said results were “not good enough”. This week, though, Moshiri suggested he was prepared to be patient, calling Silva “a talented coach” and talking about planning for the long term.
Benefit of the doubt
Personally, I hope Silva stays on for the rest of the season and gets another transfer window. If he hasn’t shown by November that he can get Everton right up on the coat-tails of the top six, then it might be time to reconsider.
I’m not completely convinced by him yet, but I’m prepared to be convinced and I’m willing to give him the benefit of the doubt. Everton could still finish seventh. Or, more likely, they will potter about in mid-table. It does feel like the situation is on a knife-edge though.
This isn’t a crisis, but at the same time Silva must improve results. If they pull together and win two or three in a row, things can change very quickly. You can’t assume anything in football, though, and if they lose three in a row the club might find they have a decision to make.