Burnley 1 Everton 1 - What is Going Wrong for Everton?

Another game, another 2 points dropped for the blues. Everton went into this game off the back of a disappointing result last week against Leeds and looking to return to the form that served us so well earlier in the campaign. But in a season that promised so much after 7 straight wins in all competitions from the get-go, we're now left with the all too familiar feeling of having "done an Everton", with only 1 win in the 7 games thereafter.

With fixtures against Chelsea, Leicester, Arsenal and Manchester City to come before the New Year, and the small matter of a Carabao Cup quarter final against Manchester United, you could be forgiven for thinking that this season is in danger of spiralling irretrievably out of control the way we are playing currently.

But what has exactly has gone wrong?

Lack of Intensity

This is something that I alluded to in my last blog following the game against Leeds. In my view, Everton's intensity over the past 7 games, save for maybe the derby, has been way short of what is required at this level.

The fact that we have conceded the most goals from outside the box in the league is clear evidence of this. Say what you want about Jordan Pickford (believe me, I am one of his biggest critics) but most of the time he's given no chance by the fact that the player taking the shot has all the time in the world to pick his spot.

This was true for the Leeds goal last week and again for the Burnley goal this week. Yes, we were caught trying to play out from the back and had players out of position, leaving Brady in space. But we had 3 centre backs on the pitch, and not one of them took it upon themselves to close Brady down with any conviction.

I find it so frustrating that we never seem to sprint to close down - not to stop a cross, not to block a shot. They are all guilty of it. We just amble around, almost as if the players are trying to give the perception they're working hard, but aren't really (I'm not suggesting this is actually the case, just how it looks).

The drop in intensity is also evident when looking at numbers of successful pressures in games - that is to say the number of times we are successful in pressuring an opposition player either receiving, carrying or releasing the ball. In the first 4 games of the season (all wins), our success rate in pressures was 33.8%, but in the games against Southampton, Newcastle, Leeds and Burnley, this fell to 28.4%. That is a 16% deficit in the space of 6-8 weeks, which is by no means insignificant.

This lack of intensity absolutely has to change if we are to come out of December still within touching distance of the European places.

Squad Depth

In many ways this ties in with the lack of intensity addressed above. The lack of viable options off the bench, particularly in midfield, has meant that we have had to go with our best 11 whenever they have been available, and do not have the luxury of being able to rest a James Rodriguez for a game, for example.

This has led to players being rushed back from injury quicker than they would have been otherwise and being used when not fit - Rodriguez is a prime example of this (I don't think he's looked 100% since the injury he picked up against Liverpool). This could potentially explain the drop in successful pressures we have seen over the past few games.

Putting it simply, our first 11 I think can compete with any team in the league when fully fit, but unfortunately our squad is just not good enough. I don't think anyone reading this will need facts or figures to back up this point, but as I prefer to give evidence in support of my opinions, here it is.

In the first 4 wins of the season Everton made a combined total of 2 changes to the starting line up across all 4 games, meaning we had our best players on the pitch the vast majority of the time. In the last 4 games, when the performances and results have been considerably worse (save for a solitary win over Fulham) we have made 16 changes to the starting line up. That says it all about the squad players coming in to the team as far as I am concerned.

Of course, we all know the January market is tough, and not one that Marcel Brands often looks to dip into, but this season I think not to strengthen the squad in January, even with a couple of loan signings, would be a big mistake.

Carlo Guilty of Overthinking?

I've said it before and I'll say it again - Carlo Ancelotti is the best thing to have happened to Everton in my lifetime, and is quite possibly the best manager the club has ever had in terms of his CV. However, that does not mean he cannot be criticised from time to time.

I do think that the manager has to take some of the blame for our recent dip in form, as he has tried to be too clever with his team selections instead of sticking with the tried and tested.

On the one hand you can understand it - after all, it shows he is not happy with the way we are playing and is trying to make changes as such. My view though is he has gone too far the other way.

For example, I've made the point previously of how poor we have been defensively so far this season, having still not kept a clean sheet since the first game against Spurs. If you asked most people what they would do to solve a leaky defence, I think a majority would say get a settled line up, stick with it, and make sure they are properly drilled on how to play together so their communication, positioning etc starts to become second nature.

Carlo though has done the opposite - since the game against Liverpool we've had a different defensive line up every game. This can't be conducive to defending well.

He has also made other similarly odd decisions in certain players' positions in games - moving Iwobi from RWB to LWB for the game against Leeds to accommodate Tom Davies, instead of leaving him where he had played so well in the previous game, being a case in point.

Whilst I appreciate the need for rotation, especially this season, I think we would be well served to pick a back 4 and stick with them. That age old phrase of "building from the back" is something we should try to adhere to.

Is it All Doom and Gloom?

It is unfortunate that the issues identified above are all intrinsically linked. We have struggled to maintain our intensity across the course of the season so far which may be an indication that the squad needs to be managed better in terms of rotation. However, lack of adequate squad depth means when we do rotate we are making the team weaker, which I think then leads to the manager making radical and sometimes unnecessary selection decisions to try to accommodate and carry the squad players.

It is a vicious circle that can only be broken by the manager being given time to bring in his own players - he has so far only had 2 transfer windows and the first one we didn't sign anybody. For this reason it is by no means all doom and gloom.

Yes, we're not playing well at the moment, and yes, we have a very tough run of fixtures coming up. But I have faith in Carlo Ancelotti to get it right. To give a bit of perspective, he currently has a better win percentage than Jurgen Klopp did in his first season at Liverpool (46% to 44%), and he hasn't done too badly.

As things stand, we are 4 points off 4th place with a realistic chance of reaching the semi-final of the Carabao Cup. I'd have snapped your hand off for that had I been offered it after the final game of last season against Bournemouth!

With fans finally being allowed back into Goodison Park this weekend for the first time in 9 months, now is the time to get behind the team.

Up the Toffees.