BT Sport panel give withering assessment of aimless Everton

You can’t say it’s not fair

It was a day to forget for Everton, and especially Ashley Williams as the Toffees lost 2-1 to Burnley, allowing the home side to get their first league win since December.

Incredibly, both Burnley and Everton are still in the top 10 despite terrible runs of form, which says a lot about the standard of the bottom half of the table. But the focus was on Everton this afternoon, as they yet again failed to make any sort of impact in their game at Turf Moor. They just went through the motions. A very small silver lining can be found in the fact that Cenk Tosun finally scored, but that’s it. More of a grey lining, really.

On BT Sport’s Premier League Tonight show, the panel that consisted of former Premier League professionals Steven Gerrard, Jermaine Jenas and Steve McManaman, hit the nail on the head with some brutal criticism of Everton.

They highlighted the lack of a plan, the scatter-gun approach to signings that has led to a mismatched squad, and the lack of a real identity. How do Everton play? You don’t really know do you? Well, they’ve got Big Sam, so they defend and play direct attacking football on the break, you’d assume. But a club the size of Everton is expected to take the game to their opposition, especially against sides like Burnley. This has led to them being caught in the middle of various styles, with no real plan.

The lack of a plan isn’t helped by the fact that they’re stuck in mid-table limbo of not being able to break into the top 6, and being very unlikely to be dragged into the relegation battle. When there is little to play for, it is difficult to motivate a squad.

Steve McManaman compared the current Everton to Roberto Martínez’s side, who were by no means solid defensively, but at least they had a style of play. Watch the full clip below.

– No plan
– A mishmash of players
– No spirit

Where has it all gone so wrong for Everton?

Gerrard, Macca and @jjenas8 are on excellent form…#PLTonight pic.twitter.com/Z071pUfBKp

— Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) March 3, 2018

The FootballJOE quiz: Were you paying attention? – episode 10