By Ronnie MacDonald
Everton enjoyed a great start to the season under new manager Ronald Koeman keeping pace with the big hitters in the Premier League. The Toffees began term with a five-match unbeaten run, reeling off four wins on the bounce, leaving them only behind Manchester City in the table.
However, since the end of September Koeman’s men have won just once in their last eight contests, dropping down the table outside of the top six. Their latest defeat, a 1-0 loss to Southampton, the Dutchman’s former team, highlighted the task that the 53-year-old faces in driving the Toffees back into the European places, just a year removed from an underwhelming term that cost Roberto Martinez his position at Goodison Park.
The club are backed in the latest Paddy Power football betting odds at 6/1 to finish in the top six this season, but will need to regain their form from early in the campaign to do so. They are suffering struggles at both ends of the pitch. Koeman was a frustrated figure at St. Mary’s Stadium, and it will be up to him to get his players back trending in the right direction.
At the start of the season, one of the major concerns was the form of Romelu Lukaku. The Belgian was on a 13-game scoring drought, including two matches at the start of the term, before he came to life in the second half at the Stadium of Light, scoring a hat-trick in their 3-0 win over Sunderland.
Lukaku has notched four further strikes since the victory over the Black Cats and is among the leading scorers in the top flight with seven goals to his name this term, but the lack of support around him has played a significant part in Everton’s struggles over the past two months. The Toffees have only scored 16 goals this term, which means the 23-year-old has notched nearly 50% of their strikes.
Ross Barkley, Kevin Mirallas and £25 million signing Yannick Bolasie have to ease the pressure on Lukaku in the final third in order for the club to push further up the table. Their clash with Swansea City at Goodison highlighted their issues in front of goal, needing an 89th-minute equaliser from Seamus Coleman to salvage a point against one of the worst defences in the Premier League. Koeman will either have to get an improvement from the players in and around the Belgian, or be active in the transfer market when it re-opens in January, to bolster the firepower in his squad.
At the other end of the pitch, the Toffees have been relatively solid with the only outlier their 5-0 hammering at the hands of Chelsea. The two experienced centre-backs of Phil Jagielka and Ashley Williams appear to be paying dividends, providing a solid base for Koeman’s men at the back. However, they’re not infallible and due to their advanced years may not be able to hold up for the duration of the campaign. Everton were linked with a move for Sunderland’s Lamine Kone who, at the age of 27, would provide a youthful alternative to ease the strain on Jagielka especially.
The Toffees have the talent to finish in the top six, but the Dutchman has a lot of big decisions to make over the next two months in order to get his side on the right track towards success this season.