Everton were lucky to draw 1-1 with Crystal Palace last night.
There was a sense of realisation surrounding Goodison Park last night when Everton managed to hold on to a draw with Crystal Palace.
Despite a positive start, the Blues’ recent performances against Norwich, Bournemouth and now Palace make the Blues look far from a team challenging for Europe.
The Toffeesopened the scoring in the first half with a terrific free-kick from Romelu Lukaku. In the second half, however, Ronald Koeman’s side failed to make much of an impact, and a Christian Benteke header just five minutes after the break put Palace back into the game.
From thereon in, Alan Pardew’s side had the most chances and looked the team more likely to take away three points as Everton were lucky not to go behind in the second-half.
Here are five things we learned from the draw.
Everton have trouble with big centre-forwards
Everton’s defence has been stronger since Ronald Koeman took charge in the summer. However, last night it was clear to see that the height of the Blues back four remains a problem.
Everton had no chance preventing Benteke’s header; neither Phil Jagielka or Ashley Williams are tall, and it could become a frequent unpreventable problem for the back four when they up come against big centre-forwards like Benteke in the box.
Koeman has no confidence in Valencia
After conceding at the beginning of the second-half, Everton were in desperate need of a striker to come on, with the only up front option being Enner Valencia. You would think that Koeman would bring on the striker whom he brought to Merseyside on a season-long loan from West Ham on deadline day.
The Dutchman instead brought on Kevin Mirallas and the bizarre option of defender Ramiro Funes Mori. The Dutchman clearly has no faith in Valencia scoring, which is understandable given that in the games that the Ecuadorian has played for the Toffees this season he has not looked like scoring. Koeman’s decision to bring Valencia to the club is one that looks like a big mistake from the Dutchman.
Ross Barkley has not done enough to get back into the England squad
After the departure of Sam Allardyce, the game against Palace was the perfect time for Barkley to prove to interim manager Gareth Southgate that he should be selected in England’s World Cup qualifiers.
Barkley’s performances this season have been below par. Although he did appear to create more chances last night, the 22-year-old is far from the finished product and again was subbed by Koeman in the second half. Barkley’s chances of a recall to the England squad look slim at the moment.
Time to give the youngsters a chance
Everton’s recent performances have shown that changes need to be made. The squad already lacks depth but this cannot be dealt with until January. In the meantime, Koeman needs to start giving some of the Blues’ young talent a chance.
Midfielder Tom Davies has featured on the bench most of the season, although he has not been on the pitch long enough to make a big enough impact yet. Meanwhile, midfielders Liam Walsh and Kieran Dowell have been outstanding for Everton’s Under-23s. All three players should be given the chance to shine by Koeman.
Fans need to be patient
Despite a good start to the season, any chances of a top-four finish look highly unlikely. Fans will need to wait 12 months to give Koeman the chance to put his own stamp on the club and all importantly get the team he wants.
Similarly to Jurgen Klopp at Liverpool, Koeman needs time in order to bring long-term success to the club. With newly-appointed Steve Walsh as the club’s director of football and billionaire investor Farhad Moshiri behind them, the Blues look like a club with an exciting future.
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