Everton reportedly wanted to replace Romelu Lukaku with Real Sociedad’s Brazilian battering ram Willian Jose in the summer – now everyone knows why.
Everton scored more than once in a Premier League game for only the second time this season against Arsenal on Sunday. Unfortunately, they also shipped five in a humiliating home defeat that ramped up the pressure on Ronald Koeman to what turned out to be an inevitable departure.
But it’s not just Everton’s domestic campaign that appears to be unravelling. The Toffees are currently bottom of their Europa League group after picking up just one point from their first three games.
A 2-1 home defeat by Lyon on Thursday night rather epitomised the root of Everton’s problems – an inability to create or finish chances at one end and a tendency to concede sloppy goals at the other.
And Koeman’s frustrations will not have been eased by the fact that a striker Everton wanted in the summer became only the fourth player in Europa League history to score four or more goals in a single game.
Willian Jose joined Radamel Falcao, Edinson Cavani and Aritz Aduriz, who netted five against Genk in 2016, on an illustrious list after Real Sociedad spanked Macedonian minnows Vardar 6-0 last week.
The Brazilian striker, an old school centre forward blessed with physical presence and a thunderbolt shot, left Vardar battered and bruised with four well-taken strikes as Sociedad equalled the biggest win in Europa League history.
Perhaps the £25 million fee Everton were quoted in the summer, per The Sun, would have been justified.
After all, the toothless Toffees are learning the hard way that a lack of a presence up top in the absence of Romelu Lukaku has cost them dear.
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