Everton’s performance against Chelsea last night was simply appalling, and they ultimately didn’t deserve anything.
Before the game, though, there was a growing quiet optimism that they could steal a victory.
Considering that Sheffield United and Burnley had both accomplished this recently, the Toffees stood a much greater chance of replicating their feat.
Ultimately, it was not meant to be, as the players’ utterly poor performance coupled with Sean Dyche’s tactical ignorance caused them to lose 6-0.
Jamie Carragher does not rate Everton player
Speaking live on Sky Sports’ Monday Night Football just last night, Jamie Carragher was unsurprisingly cutthroat in his analysis of Everton.
After all, whilst he may have spent his entire career with Liverpool, before that he was a notorious Evertonian, and thus his interest in the Toffees is clear to see even if he often remains biased towards his former employers.
His evaluation of one player from last night, in which he expressed his dissatisfaction with Amadou Onana, was undoubtedly objective.
“It was interesting that he mentioned two players there who he brought off, the central midfield players,” he said about Dave Jones and Dele Alli.
“In my opinion, James Garner has performed admirably for Dyche since taking over, but I have to admit that, given their current financial circumstances, Everton may need to sell Onana in the summer.”
He arrived with a great reputation, having been signed by Frank Lampard. He looks the part, performed admirably for Belgium at Wembley, and there have been rumors that he may join other, larger teams. However, I fail to notice it.
I have no idea who he is or what he has been since he arrived. I’m not sure if he plays holding midfield. Does he proceed? Does he become active? He never does anything more than try to uplift the audience when he plays for Everton, so this has been going on for far too long.
Amadou Onana was invisible yesterday
It was hoped that by bringing in the 22-year-old midfielder instead of Andre Gomes, the Toffees would enjoy far more stability in the engine room and hopefully be able to strangle Chelsea out of possession in key areas.
However, if anything, he made them more open than ever.
It was alarming the ease with which the hosts cut through Everton, and despite James Tarkowski and Jarrad Branthwaite both putting in terrible respective displays, they were hardly aided by the invisibility of their midfield protection.
Both Onana and James Garner were invisible, and it’s tough to remember a single second ball they won between the two of them.
It marks such a sorry state of affairs within this squad, that this duo, who are supposed to be some of Dyche’s most promising players, went completely missing in such a vital game.
Chelsea’s explosive start demonstrated that they were there to be had.
However, the participants’ lack of character was exposed as soon as a few errors were made.
Although Onana was not the only one to fall short of expectations, it is more difficult to overlook his subpar play considering the high regard in which the Belgium international is held and the attention he garners from the public.
