One of the worst second halves of football from Everton you could imagine was served up by David Moyes’s men on Saturday, as Chelsea ran out 2-0 winners at Hill Dickinson Stadium.
Here’s what we learned.
EVERTON FALL ASLEEP… AGAIN
The first half wasn’t bad by any means. It was scrappy, but there was very little to separate the teams in terms of performance levels or big chances.
Moises Caicedo struck the crossbar, sure, but only after Thierno Barry had squandered (yet again) another opportunity when he headed straight at Emiliano Martinez.
Yet, within 45 seconds of the restart, Everton were behind, as they came out for the second half completely devoid of any intent or focus. This is clearly becoming an issue: It happened last week against Hull City, it happened against Manchester United in September.
Sort it out, sharpish.
NØRGAARD NOWHERE NEAR IT
David Moyes’s decisions were absolutely baffling, yet on a long list, the call that stood out the most for its staggering stupidity was bringing on a clearly unfit Christian Nørgaard when Everton were chasing the game. What was the plan? Really?
Nørgaard was nowhere near the levels, and he showed a worrying lack of awareness and pace when he was exposed straight off the bat following a bad touch from Tyrique George. He then committed the foul that resulted in the free-kick that led to Chelsea’s killer second goal.
James Garner turned in another poor performance, Harrison Armstrong could not make an impact after his booking, and Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall toiled to little effect. But why Hayden Hackney didn’t get on the pitch over Nørgaard is just mind-boggling.
DIFFERENT TEAMS, DIFFERENT RULES
This isn’t the reason why Everton lost, but why in the world did Morgan Rogers not see red when he lunged in on Garner in the first half? Rogers had already been booked, and he clearly made late contact with Garner’s shin.
Earlier on, Armstrong had received a yellow card for a perfectly fair tackle, and while that decision did rile up the crowd, it also lessened the impact he could have in the midfield… Ridiculous.
EVERTON BADLY MISS NDIAYE
It’s becoming increasingly evident just how reliant Moyes was on Iliman Ndiaye to drag Everton up the pitch; while we all know that, to an extent, selling the Senegal international was out of the club’s hands, it is becoming clear just how much the quality has dipped.
Jack Grealish can create but isn’t playing well (albeit, he was better on Saturday than he was previously) but is not going to be able to carry Everton 40 or 50 yards upfield in one burst. Hackney has the ability to push on with the ball but he is not being played. Tyler Dibling should have been brought on to try and do this, but once again was left on the bench. George’s decision-making was lacking.
Ndiaye had his poor moments, but clearly, he’s a huge miss.
Read more — Pathetic Everton performance gives an easy win to Chelsea