That’s it. Season over.
At one stage early in the second half on Sunday, Everton were eighth, above Brentford and well in the European fight. By full-time, they were 11th, having slumped to a humbling 3-1 defeat to Sunderland. By the close of Sunday’s play, the Toffees sat 12th. Terrible.
Here’s what we learned from a really, really grim day at Hill Dickinson Stadium.
IT FEELS LIKE A TURNING POINT
I have stuck by David Moyes this season. I have seen there has been some progress, and I feel he has done a good job over the course of his second stint so far — 80 points from 56 games is reasonable, if not exceptional, and equates to a lower, top-half team.
But there is no excuse for Sunday’s effort and, in all honesty, it feels as though it may have been a turning point. Think when Everton fell to that 3-2 defeat to West Ham under Roberto Martinez in 2016, or when Marco Silva’s Everton lost to Norwich City in 2019.
Now, perhaps the picture is not quite as bleak, but this is the type of result and performance which sees fans who had been resolutely standing by the coaching staff begin to waver, and those who were on the fence, probably begin to stray more towards the negative viewpoint.
Moyes did himself absolutely no favours. He stuck with the tried, tested and failing defence, and was made to pay for it. He instilled no fresh legs into the attack, and was rewarded by another terrible performance from Iliman Ndiaye. Beto toiled up top on his own, then exactly the same happened to Thierno Barry.
The Scot has done good, but he isn’t going to change — he can’t get out of his own way.
Will TFG change it? Well, going off Angus Kinnear’s programme notes, it seems highly unlikely. Perhaps the CEO should reconsider whether he wants to be quite as effusive in his praise of a manager, next time, and begin to realise he is now in charge of one of England’s biggest clubs, and expectations must be higher.
Moyes has helped raise the bar, but if he cannot meet those standards himself, then it is time to think about a change.
FANS NEED TO STOP FINDING EXCUSES FOR PLAYERS
This is not me alleviating Moyes of blame. Far from it. But while he should be criticised for his mistakes, we also should not then stretch to find excuses for some of these players.
Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall is bang out of form, but still he tries to be involved, he tries to make things happen. He created a team-leading three chances, and while he is not at his best, he is always in the action. The same can be said of James Garner, who is always trying to set the tone.
But other players are letting themselves, the manager, and the fans down.
Jake O’Brien was abysmal. And while he absolutely should not be playing at right-back, that is no excuse for his woeful error that resulted in Brian Brobbey going through to equalise.
And even then, James Tarkowski was simply bullied by Brobbey, just as he was bullied last week by Jean-Philippe Mateta.
Going the other way, Ndiaye turned in his worst performance in an Everton shirt. It’s fine to miss chances, that happens — while it’s frustrating, players come in and out of scoring form. But the complete lack of pressure and effort and fight from him is not something we are accustomed to seeing.
Ndiaye was pathetically poor when it came to defending against Enzo Le Fee for Sunderland’s second goal, even if Jordan Pickford should have done better, but the worse moment came when it was 1-0 to Everton. Ndiaye had Beto in acres of his space to his left, with the chance to put the game to bed. Instead, he completely skewed his pass straight to Sunderland’s goalkeeper.
He is clearly tired, clearly feeling the strain of a long season, and Moyes’ refusal to take him off does not help at all. But that is not an excuse.
These players needed to step up, and they haven’t done so. Too many of them have proved that they are simply mid-table, and as much as Moyes will take the blame, and he should, this squad needs vast improvement.
EVERTON FAILED COLEMAN
Seamus Coleman’s send off should have come off the back of a positive result and display, and in front of a full house.
Instead, he was given a sentimental couple of minutes (there’s a case to say he’d have been better off starting or simply not playing at all), during which he ended up being partly at fault for Sunderland’s third goal.
To make matters worse, the 17-year servant of the club, who deserved so much better, then had to do a lap of honour in front of a half-empty ground.
I am not blaming any fan who left, but it just sums Everton up. Something needs to change significantly at this club, because Coleman was worthy of so much more.
Moyes, Kinnear and TFG — take note. Oh, and make sure Coleman gets a testimonial where his send-off won’t be impacted by abject performances from his team-mates and manager.