Ronald Koeman admitted his Everton players are afraid to play after drawing against 10-man Apollon Limassol.
Hector Yuste scored an 89th-minute equaliser for Apollon to leave Everton bottom of the group and Koeman says his players are suffering a crisis in confidence.
“We are too afraid to play football,” said the Everton boss. “That is difficult because then your body is not full of confidence.
“If it is one player then OK, but it is several players. That makes football really difficult. This feels like a defeat not even a draw.”
Everton looked set for victory after Wayne Rooney and Nikola Vlasic scored to overturn Apollon's lead.
Apollon were then reduced to 10 men when Hector Yuste headed home Adrian Sardinero's free-kick to leave the Blues bottom of the group.
Everton face Lyon next and their European campaign looks like it will not last beyond December.
Ronald Koeman had told Everton to wake up and stop conceding first in his team talk. But his dozy players still conceded first for the seventh time in their last eight matches when they gifted Apollon the lead on 12 minutes.
The normally-reliable Ashley Williams played the ball straight to Anton Maglica on the right and he crossed for Adrian Sardinero to score, even though Jordan Pickford got a hand to his shot.
Whatever had afflicted Williams was contagious because Hector Yuste dropped an even bigger clanger nine minutes later to present Wayne Rooney with the equaliser.
Yuste received the ball from goalkeeper Bruno Vale and when he tried to play it back under pressure from Tom Davies, he only succeeded in finding Rooney who knocked it home.
Rooney’s joy at scoring his third goal on his return to Everton was interrupted when he needed to have his left wrist bandaged when it was trod on as he attempted an overhead kick.
He shrugged off the pain to go close to a second when he curled a right-foot shot just wide before Bruno Vale saved from Davies before pushing away a Gylfi Sigurdsson free-kick.
Apollon, who lost 6-1 at Anfield on their last visit to Anfield in 1992, were not overawed and Antonio Jakolis forced a save from Pickford with a shot.
Everton were making hard work of this and they were moving through the gears will all the poise of a learner driver.
Their second goal through Vlasic was somewhat fortunate and the ball ricocheted to Sigurdsson who played in the Croatian Under-21 striker to finish coolly past Bruno Vale.
Valentin Roberge was then sent off four minutes from time for stamping on Dominic Calvert-Lewin.
That seemed to signal the end for Apollon and Everton thought the game was won.
But Apollon's 10-men rallied and Yuste headed home Sardinero's free-kick in the 89th minute to go from zero to hero.
Everton: Pickford, Kenny, Holgate, Williams, Baines, Gueye, Schneiderlin, Davies, Rooney, Sigurdsson, Sandro
Subs: Stekelenburg, Martina, Mirallas, Klaassen, Vlasic, Lookman, Calvert-Lewin.
Apollon Limassol: Vale, Pedro, Yuste, Roberge, Vasilliou, Allan, Sachetti, Alef, Jakolis, Maglica, Sardinero
Subs: Klssas, Martinez, Alex, Zelaya, Jander, Stylianou, Schembri
Still 1-1 on the hour mark.
Everton need to up it.
Vlasic has made a difference but they need more.
Calvert-Lewin is on the bench and surely we will see him soon.
A frustrating night for Everton so far.
Wayne Rooney levelled the scores after a shock Limassol opener.
Ronald Koeman looks frustrated with this.
Atmosphere is building at Goodison.
Kick-off is around 40 minutes away.
Can Everton get off the mark here?
Team news
Everton: Pickford, Kenny, Holgate, Williams, Baines, Gueye, Schneiderlin, Davies, Rooney, Sigurdsson, Sandro
Subs: Stekelenburg, Martina, Mirallas, Klaassen, Vlasic, Lookman, Calvert-Lewin.
Apollon Limassol: Vale, Pedro, Yuste, Roberge, Vasilliou, Allan, Sachetti, Alef, Jakolis, Maglica, Sardinero
Subs: Klssas, Martinez, Alex, Zelaya, Jander, Stylianou, Schembri
Yannick Bolasie will be watching on tonight.
He remains sidelined with a knee injury.
Everton fans will be excited about his return.
Kick-off is around 90 minutes away at Goodison.
We are expecting team news in the next 20 minutes or so.
Will Rooney start? Who will be in defence? Who will lead the line?
Welcome
Ronald Koeman has told his dozy Everton players to wake up and be more aggressive.
He is unhappy they have conceded the first goal in six of their last seven games.
And the Goodison boss wants them switched on from the start against Cypriot visitors Apollon Limassol on Thursday as they try to kick-start their Europa League campaign after their humbling by Atalanta in the opener a fortnight ago.
“We respect our opponent, but what is most important is ourselves,” said Koeman. “We need to play better, we need to play more aggressively.
We need to be more aggressive in pressing the opponent. You have to win the battles and duels in midfield. That’s aggression.
“It’s not good that we need a goal against us to wake up. We need to set the standard ourselves. That’s a key factor.”
Everton are bottom of Group E after one game, and Koeman has challenged his men to atone for that dire display in their 3-0 drubbing in Italy.