Goals have dried up
It already seems a long time ago since Everton netted four goals against Brentford to give Frank Lampard the biggest-ever margin of victory for a Blues boss in his first game in charge.
On that day the Goodison Park faithful gave him their instant seal of approval as they searched for a rallying point after the dismal days under former Liverpool manager Rafa Benitez.
The Londoner became only the second of Farhad Moshiri’s managerial appointments to date to have his name sung (positively) by the Blues long-suffering fanbase after Carlo Ancelotti.
However, for all that good will for Lampard, the goals have now dried up for Everton who have failed to find the net in their last four Premier League outings and even laboured to break down non-League outfit Boreham Wood on home turf.
Periodically, Richarlison finds his name linked to some of European football’s super-clubs but even though he led the line admirably here, spearheading the attack in the position he has told Lampard is his preferred role, he desperately needs to increase his scoring output.
Someone who is talented enough to play number 9 for Brazil needs to be finding the net more than the solitary strike in the past three months that the ex-Watford man has produced.
Equally concerning is the lack of goals from Dominic Calvert-Lewin – who bagged 21 last season but missed this game through illness.
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Defensive reshuffles prove too much
Perhaps Everton’s lack of goals could be put down to a starting XI that not only contained five recognised defenders but no fewer than four players who have all played right-back for the club.
Still there was no room for January signing Nathan Patterson though.
Lampard clearly needed to make changes at the back after the shambolic display at Tottenham Hotspur so it was perhaps understandable to put an extra man in there, especially when Wolves were in possession.
While this meant more advanced deployments for Seamus Coleman and Vitalii Mykolenko when the Blues pushed forward, it was Jonjoe Kenny once more who had to show his versatility by operating in two positions throughout the match, neither of which were his preferred role.
After coming in from a prolonged period on the fringes of the first team, Kenny has been one of the major beneficiaries in terms of minutes from Lampard’s clean slate but while he again showed his versatility, picking up two bookings in the space of three minutes when Everton were chasing the game proved a fatal error of judgement.
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When three’s not a crowd
Everton’s problems both in attack and defence have already been discussed so how about the midfield?
It old saying goes that two’s company but three’s a crowd – that isn’t the case for the Blues in the engine room though.
Many Evertonians have been crying out for their side to select a trio in the centre of the park for most of the season and when their wish finally came true against Manchester City, it almost paid off against the reigning Premier League champions and leaders.
Lampard retained the same personnel at Tottenham but with Abdoulaye Doucoure starting further up the field, they found themselves swamped.
He moved back alongside Donny van de Beek here but with Allan left out, the pair of them once again found themselves both outnumbered and outmanoeuvred in the engine room.
In truth the Brazilian had been looking heavy-legged in recent weeks; Lampard’s own uncle and former Spurs boss Harry Redknapp claimed after the 5-0 thrashing in the capital that “The little boy Allan can’t run.”
Like Lampard has found with his central defensive options until today, getting three players on to the pitch in the position has been difficult and if Allan needed a rest then there are precious few like-for-like alternatives.
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Rainbow of hope as fans feel flat?
Everton’s most-successful captain Kevin Ratcliffe warned ahead of this game that Lampard’s side can’t always rely on the energy and enthusiasm of the Goodison Park crowd to get them over the line and so it proved here.
Against Leeds United – a match that remains the new boss’ only Premier League victory to date – the Blues supporters played their part from the start and while they had their moments on this occasion, there were precious few moments – especially in the second half – to rouse an increasingly browbeaten fanbase.
Lampard, who has maintained a measured approach throughout his tenure so far, continues to try and avoid an over-emphasis on any individual result in isolation but while the games in hand remain on some of their rivals, the matches are starting to tick down with no sign as of yet of a turning point.
Once the players and fans had trudged away from another miserable day for Everton, there was the almost surreal sight of a rainbow appearing over Goodison while the chimes of Greensleeves could be heard from a passing ice cream van.
A positive omen of a brighter springtime ahead for the Blues after their winter of discontent?
They’ll probably clutch at any straw of hope they can grasp right now.
