Sean Dyche said the Merseyside derby changed on the crucial seconds between James Tarkowski hitting the post and Liverpool breaking away and taking the lead.
The game hinged on the breakaway goal from Mohamed Salah, which undermined Everton's early efforts. The Blues boss said he had taken positives from the first half to that point - though conceded the hosts had the "upper hand".
At half-time he urged his players to come out of their shell but accepted the Cody Gakpo goal that made it 2-0 just four minutes after the break made his players' task far more difficult.
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Speaking after another difficult night for Everton at Anfield, Dyche said: "I think they had the upper hand in the early stages of the game without really opening too much up. Our shape was good, covering shape was good from the defenders, the energy was decent, but we didn't use the ball as well and we didn't look to play as much as I would have hoped. And then it changes on 15-16 seconds, we hit the post and we don’t quite react as quick.
"We know Liverpool are good on the transition phase, although they have had a bit of an up and down time more recently they are still a good outfit. We concede a goal really without needing to, I think Jordan [Pickford] has a bit of a misread - he still has a lot to do even if he doesn't misread it. That was the story of the first half, a breakaway goal out of a nothing situation or one where we could have scored even. And we calmed it down and got to half time and I said to the players we have to play, we have got to use the ball better."
Instead, Gakpo quickly doubled the hosts' lead and Everton struggled to find a way back into the match - coming closest when Tom Davies headed over an Alex Iwobi cross late in the game. Dyche refused to be critical of his players, however, highlighting the work they had done in his first fortnight at Everton - a fortnight that yielded a crucial three points against Arsenal.
He said: "If you give away a goal [after half time] so quickly it is very difficult then, at any ground but certainly here. We kept plugging away, we kept trying to play, but there were too many sloppy passes, too many turnovers and then we created a really good chance for Tom, we don't take that.
"That might have made it nervy at the end of the game. The players have taken a lot on board so I am not going to be too critical, a lot has gone into the players, they have delivered a lot, they have been working a lot, they have been working very hard, very diligently, finding that balance of in and out of possession, searching for the right framework of the team out of possession and then how we can turn that through transition into good possession and effect teams. I think that is the next layer of what we are trying to do."
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