In a somewhat controversial opening statement, we played well in the first half. West Ham countered brilliantly which led to the first goal, and whatever Pickford was thinking led to the second goal. Other than that, we attacked decisively and patiently, and we genuinely looked dangerous.
Granted, that’s a massive oxymoron considering, you know, we didn’t score until the 47th minute, but beyond the whole not scoring issue, we were far better than against Huddersfield.
Mason Holgate was largely excellent alongside Kurt Zouma and Lucas Digne, I’m missing a name on purpose there gents, and until his unwarranted early withdrawal, Morgan Schneiderlin was excellent. And I’d like to express my condolences to his family on the passing of his father, while I can.
To get back to the game though, while we weren’t actually as bad as the scoreline suggested, we simply can’t be making the mistakes we did. This game and the Huddersfield game should have been finished off by half-time.
The real problems began to arise in the second half, as just after I thought the defence might have just clicked, they absolutely fell apart and looked terrified of every ball the worst team in the Premier League put forward.
West Ham never looked like being troubled after they netted their third.
Jordan Pickford - 3
Unfortunately, when Pickford does Pickford things, they will sometimes come off like they did today. His mistake led to the second goal and put the game out of sight.
Jonjoe Kenny - 2
I was very disappointed with Kenny today. I really thought this was his chance to kick on and claim the right-back spot with Coleman starting the season as poorly as he has, but Kenny was pretty woeful today and only gets any credit for his assist.
He lost everything to Felipe Anderson on his side and seemed so hesitant to go forward. He needed to be overlapping all the time, and his scared nature also let Walcott down as he had no backboard to work passes off on the right. Very poor.
Mason Holgate- 4
Holgate looked excellent at the start of the game, and then all of a sudden, he completely fell from the cliff. He was purely amateur in the second half and lost out battles that even Jagielka may have won.
Kurt Zouma - 4
Largely the same story as Mason Holgate, Zouma started well, but didn’t look as ‘in control’ as he did last week. There isn’t many specific mistakes I can comment on, as it’s more of an ensemble of just not being that good.
Lucas Digne - 7
A very good showing from Digne, and while it isn’t hard to stand out as a diamond in the rough, he was much more than that. He was the best defender on the pitch, and until Bernard’s introduction, the best player going forward. Unfortunately, a lot of his talent was wasted on an out of position Dominic Calvert-Lewin, but he will have Richarlison back next week, so there’s that at least.
Morgan Schneiderlin - 7
Morgan Schneiderlin was excellent until he was taken off. I have absolutely no clue why he was taken off on that note, and one of the few things that Silva does that entirely baffles me is both the timing and choice of his substitutes.
But he had a reason for it, whether I agree or not.
Idrissa Gana Gueye - 1
By far the worst performance by Gana in an Everton shirt, and there haven’t been many bad ones, but he was absolutely abhorrent today. His passing was both predictable and even though he only attempted one real passing route, he never did it right.
He was careless on the ball and didn’t look like his usual self at all when tracking back.
A day to forget.
Dominic Calvert-Lewin - 2
DCL is a striker. He has scored three goals in two games when operating through the middle.
Do not play him out wide instead of a winger, that is an entirely Allardyce thing to do and I expect better, Marco.
But that still doesn’t excuse just how poor he was today, as he didn’t find himself in any real useful positions throughout and did nothing to trouble any of the West Ham defenders all game.
Gylfi Sigurdsson - 5
The best of the non-defenders in the second half, as he seemed to be the only one who wanted to make things happen and was willing to search for the ball to do so.
His set-pieces were uncharacteristically poor, however, and that is something that needs to be worked on this week.
Theo Walcott - 2
It’s rare that Walcott is so ineffectual as he was today, but he’s going to have off days. The problem was that today, all of the players we rely on to create and score all seemed to be massively off the boil.
I’m not too upset. That’s why I haven’t been as negative as you had perhaps expected, those who stuck around after last season. This season is a transition, there’ll be growing pains by the plenty, and we have to take them in stride and look to next season. Let Brands and Silva overhaul in the way they want to, and whether we finish 17th or 8th, it’s fine.
Cenk Tosun - 3
Tosun’s first real bad game coincided with shocking games from everybody else, like I mentioned with Walcott. However those calling for him to be dropped are just silly.
A goal drought for much longer and I can see it, but while he still contributes so much to the team, he should be one of the first names on the teamsheet.
Substitutes
Bernard – 7
Bernard was the flash of light in the second half, as he was a real nuisance all throughout and was the only player who gave us a chance of getting back into the game.