RECAP: Everton 0-3 Tottenham

Everton were taken apart by an impressive Tottenham Hotspur side at Goodison today, with yet more questions now raised about the Toffees squad.

It was a gutless and grim performance from The Toffees who barely threatened Hugo Lloris‘ goal and were an absolute shambles at the back under constant pressure from a far superior Spurs attack.

Everton never got going in the first period and Tottenham were on the front foot from pretty much the word go. Ashley Williams earned himself an early booking for a tug of Harry Kane’s shirt, a needless caution with 85 minutes to play. The Blues’ only real inventive bit of play came between Cuco Martina and Wayne Rooney on the right hand side. The full back played the ball into Rooney who put a first touch ball into space for the onrushing Martina leaving Ben Davies behind, he crossed for Sandro Ramirez but the forward failed to divert his shot goalwards. The Spaniard also had a goalbound half volley blocked by Toby Alderweireld as things just wouldn’t drop in the final third for the Blues.

Moussa Sissoko should have opened the scoring for Spurs after Davies got clear on the left and pulled back a perfect cross for the Frenchman, who had the whole goal to aim at, but steered the ball straight into Williams. Kane had failed score so far this season and was on 99 goals for Spurs, so inevitably it was Everton who would allow him to reach his milestone. The England striker received the ball from a cleared corner and smashed an effort past the helpless Jordan Pickford. It was unclear whether it was a shot or a cross but all that matter is Spurs were a goal up.

The visitors would double their advantage on the brink of half time with Everton failing to contain the exciting Spurs attack. Sissoko played through Alli who’s cross found Davies at the far post, his shot was parried out to Eriksen who slotted home for 2-0, all but over before half time.

The game was over as contest just one minute into the the 2nd half as Kane got his second of the day. He played a ball out to the constant menace Davies, who then crossed in for Kane completely free to side foot past Pickford, adding salt to the Toffees wounds. Spurs weren’t ready to sit back and defend their lead however as they kept up their relentless pressure on the hapless home rearguard and could have had another couple in quick succession if it wasn’t for Pickford. Both Eriksen and Kane were denied by smart saves from the young stopper.

Everton had nothing much to offer and the game began to peter out towards its inevitable conclusion as both sides seemed to accept the result. This was the 10th game in a row Everton had failed to beat Tottenham and in doing so became Spurs’ most defeated team in the Premier League, with the North London side beating the Blues for the 24th time.

This game must serve as a wake up call for Everton. They were dreadful at Stamford Bridge and equally as terrible today. Spurs made us look like a very poor side and there was a lot to be concerned about. Most Evertonians were worried about our lack of firepower but it was the abysmal defensive performance that raised some serious question marks today. A defence that has looked relatively solid in the early stages of this season was systematically dismantled by Spurs today. Add that to the fact we literally have no real threat up front and this could just be the start of our problems.

Dominic Calvert-Lewin runs his socks off to his credit but unfortunately metres run and heat maps don’t win football matches and the lad just doesn’t seem to have that strikers instinct to score us even 10 goals this season. Sandro Ramirez is really struggling to adjust to life in England and has yet to show any of the promise from his Malaga performances last season. Buying three number 10’s and no strikers makes absolutely no sense and that has been proved in the last couple of games as Gylfi Sigurdsson, Rooney and Davy Klaassen have looked lost and confused in the final third.

Photo by Alex Livesey/Getty Images

The two-month-long pursuit of Sigurdsson for me took too much focus off the dire need for a quality replacement for Lukaku. Losing nearly 30 goals and not replacing them is criminal and is already beginning to hit us hard. Also the point of signing Sigurdsson was so he could use his wonderful technical ability to assist a striker. A Christian Benteke or a Jamie Vardy would score 20+ goals with Sigurdsson and Rooney playing behind them and it boggles the mind that Steve Walsh and Ronald Koeman didn’t realise this and allocate a larger chunk of time and funds to getting it done.

It could be a blip or the start of something much worse, here’s hoping it’s the former, but without serious tactical changes and a fresh approach, next Sunday’s trip to free-scoring Manchester United could make the Chelsea and Tottenham games look like fairytales.