Everton vs Norwich- 5 Points to Consider
1- Barkley must perform consistently.
Ross Barkley is one of Everton’s shining lights and was considered to be a future England star. He can score, he can assist and he can take his man on- everything you could ask for from an attacking midfielder. Yet the one thing Ronald Koeman will be asking more of from Barkley is consistency. Still at the young age of 22, Barkley can be excused for inconsistent performances due to his age but his time will be running out and if he doesn’t put in the top performances that everyone knows he is capable of regularly then he may find his position at Everton under threat.
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During the game against Middlesbrough he put in an exciting shift yet when faced against Championship side Norwich, he failed to reproduce the same performance. Barkley lost the ball too easily at times and failed to really get going even when the team needed him most having found themselves behind just before half time. With plenty of time to recover and blow Norwich away both Barkley and his teammates failed to do so.
2- Gueye is fantastic but teammates are letting him down.
Gueye has been dubbed the new Kante due to his performances this season and the Norwich game was no different. He tackled, he intercepted and he protected his back four all while showing off his passing abilities too. There’s no doubt he’s a fantastic buy and a fantastic player but during the Norwich game his teammates let him down.
They consistently lost the ball either by failing to take their man on or by selling their teammates short with their passes. Either way, Gueye has proven he can be relied on in such scenarios and deserves more praise than he has currently been getting. If he continues to perform as he has so far, Everton will be worried that another club may tempt him away.
SUNDERLAND, ENGLAND – SEPTEMBER 12. (Photo by Tony McArdle/Everton FC via Getty Images)
3- Everton desperately need a top backup to Lukaku.
With Lukaku injured, the pressure of scoring was placed on Valencia who instead of proving his worth, proved how important Lukaku is to the team. Koeman would’ve been disappointed with his teams final third product after failing to convert a single shot from the six on target and the fans would be desperately awaiting Lukaku’s return.
If Everton are to compete in every single competition as Koeman wants them to, then they’ll definitely need either a player of their own to step up in Lukaku’s absence or to bring someone in who can compete with him and fire Everton to glory.
4- Players need to trust Cleverley more.
Cleverley may be one of the few Everton players to come out of the game with their reputation still intact. He put in an encouraging performance yet it appeared that his teammates don’t trust him too much with the ball. During the game Cleverley was regularly seen to be free at the edge of the box or in other areas of the pitch yet his teammates would ignore him and play the pass to someone else leaving him disappointed and frustrated too.
Unlike some of his teammates, he grasped his opportunity to impress with both hands, often being neat and tidy in possession while also switching play occasionally or linking up with his teammates. If he is to do any damage against opponents he must be trusted with the ball more often; there’s a reason why he was once highly rated at Manchester United.
BOURNEMOUTH, ENGLAND – FEBRUARY 20 (Photo by Steve Bardens/Getty Images)
5- Yes it was poor but it’s not the end of the world.
The Norwich game was a true ‘smash and grab’ win for the Canaries so Everton shouldn’t be too disappointed. They’ve been more solid at the back this season than they have been since Moyes left and Norwich’s two goals came from only two shots on target. It had far more to do with Norwich’s efficiency than Everton’s failure in the back. Further up the field there were plenty of encouraging bits of football and beautiful link up play at times; the squad would be wiser to take the positives from these aspects of the game and move on.
The more the squad gels and adjusts to their new managers tactics the better they will become and while the defeat was upsetting the boos at full time were a bit unnecessary. The final product was the only bit that was lacking and the team will eventually come good in that aspect.
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