Another game, another loss as the Blues suffered a 3-1 defeat to Manchester United after a Bruno Fernandes double and Edinson Cavani’s first goal in the Premier League sank Carlo’s men.

Everton started the game with the aim to soak up the United pressure and hit on the break and this proved to be the case as a long ball from Pickford found the back of Victor Lindelof’s head and landed at the feet of Bernard who finished superbly after a lively start. Everton were on the front foot for a five minute period after the goal, as the attack looked fluid and passes were sharp with Bernard and Lucas Digne continuing to link up well down the left hand side.

However, the lead was short-lived as Fernandes met a Luke Shaw cross with an outstanding header into the top right corner twenty-five minutes in, who then went onto deliver a pass into Marcus Rashford only for the ball to nestle into the bottom right corner with no touch from the latter player. All three points were wrapped up for Manchester United after a counter attack produced a three versus one situation leaving Cavani wide open to grab his first goal in a United shirt. 

Three defeats in a row will leave Everton fans frustrated and wondering where the great early season form has disappeared as defensive mistakes seem to be a regular occurrence. A key factor resulting in this bad form has been the poor performance of the midfield as Allan, Doucoure and Sigurdsson, once again, were non-existent in terms of breaking up play and creating chances for the forward line. Far too much space was given to the likes of Rashford and Fernandes who were able to play intricate football with ease and no threat of an incoming tackle and this was apparent for United’s first two goals.

Another performance that will disappoint blue is that of James Rodriguez who looked off the pace today as his normally, pinpoint cross field passes were often misplaced today and his ball retention was not at his usual high level today. Whether this was due to fitness or lack of service remains to be seen but if Everton are to be a successful creative team going forward, Rodriguez must have more impact on the game.

The lineup appeared to be the best we could produce without the impact of Richarlison however the change that saw Mason Holgate replace Yerry Mina can be seen as a strange one. Holgate has had no preseason and three days of training after coming back from injury whereas Mina has played every game this season and although he has proved to be inconsistent, he probably didn’t deserve to be dropped especially with Holgate looking rather rusty when it came to his distribution and defensive awareness.

Whilst Iwobi was lively and positive after his substitution, the arrival of Cenk Tosun onto the pitch shows how weak the bench is in terms of players who will change the game and the removal of Anthony Gordon today will once again leave Everton fans bemused.

Everton now have a two week break, thanks to a much needed international break, before facing Fulham which Carlo Ancelotti must be viewing as a vital three points to get in order to turn around this poor form.

Sam Quine