Everton’s historically bad start is only the tip of the iceberg

The boost beleaguered Everton needed did not come. The gathering storm clouds did not clear.

Even for such an early stage in a season, the final throes of Saturday’s 1-0 defeat to Wolves at Goodison seemed to carry an air of desperation. Of something like resignation at the challenges to come.

After back-to-back seasons of relegation battles, including final-day salvation against Bournemouth last time round, their 2023-24 campaign has started in a grimly familiar fashion.

For the first time in Everton’s 145-year history, they have lost their opening three games of a season without scoring a goal. Worse still, this run includes being beaten at home by two potential fellow strugglers in Fulham and Wolves. The evidence suggests Sean Dyche’s side are poised for another long struggle to avoid the drop unless something changes soon.

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Everton’s on-pitch travails were put into context when centre-back Michael Keane came on as a substitute after Wolves’ 87th-minute goal and played as an auxiliary forward. They bombarded the visitors’ box with aerial balls over seven minutes of added time, but rarely did it look like working.

Boos greeted the full-time whistle and, as he exited, one supporter implored journalists in the press box to blame the club’s hierarchy — specifically the board — for these current and ongoing woes.

It is a reasonable conclusion to draw.

As the old adage goes, the fish rots from the head, and Everton do not look set up to win matches at present.

Everywhere you look, there are problems.

The news cycle has been almost unrelentingly negative, with The Athletic reporting earlier this week of crucial changes to the investment deal with American group MSP Sports Capital which have thwarted the prospect, for now, of fresh impetus at boardroom level. A ‘transitional’ executive team will now have to remain in situ for a while longer, with fan campaign group NSNOW calling for owner Farhad Moshiri to sell the club in response.

Everton’s financial issues have been well documented. After reporting a series of heavy losses, they face a hearing with an independent commission in October over a potential financial fair play breach.

Money has been a problem again this summer, with Dyche and the recruitment team having to utilise the loans and free-agent markets to bring in Ashley Young, Arnaut Danjuma and Jack Harrison. At the time of writing, their only summer signing who will eventually command a fee is Youssef Chermiti, a 19-year-old striker brought in as one for the future.

Positive steps have been made over a deal with Italian Serie A club Udinese for Portuguese forward Beto, 25, but there is still plenty of work to be done before Friday night’s transfer deadline.

The best cure for Everton’s woes would have been three points against a Wolves side who had also lost their opening two games and are still bedding in a new head coach in the recently-appointed Gary O’Neil, but that did not arrive.

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Everton again created chances — albeit not as many as against Fulham — but toiled in front of goal and left the door open at the other end. Abdoulaye Doucoure failed to get proper purchase on a header with the goal gaping, James Tarkowski skewed a shot wide at the back post when well placed and Danjuma raced clear only to see his shot saved before offside was given.

Poor finishing continues to cost Dyche’s team, with a combined expected goals (xG) number of 4.6 showing how wasteful they have been in these first three games.

“It is very frustrating, and as bad as Fulham,” Dyche said. “Creating high-quality chances, a generally good performance and a big reaction from the Aston Villa game (last weekend’s 4-0 away defeat).

“We don’t score a goal and that is our responsibility. Everyone talks about strikers, but as a team we are creating chances and we cannot find that goal. Their goalkeeper is arguably man of the match but we should be putting the chances in.”

It is possible that the picture could change when the season resumes in the middle of next month after the international break, with Harrison, Dwight McNeil and Alex Iwobi all in contention to return. Dominic Calvert-Lewin is being treated after suffering a facial injury at Villa Park, while the addition of Beto, should it go through, would also help.

Dyche spoke too in positive terms about the performances of Danjuma, Lewis Dobbin and Jarrad Branthwaite, who all came into the starting line-up and impressed. But it is also true that vital points have already been squandered and defensive errors continue to plague this team.

For all the focus on the attack, issues remain at the other end of the pitch and the solutions there are not obvious. Without Yerry Mina and Conor Coady, who both left the club this summer, Dyche is short of quality cover in defensive positions.

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With less than a week of the summer window left and budgets tight, the challenge is to try to plug all of the gaps that have appeared.

“If we had loads of money, we would change all sorts, because things have not been right for a long time,” Dyche added. “I am trying to remodel a group with the players that are here and if we can add to that (squad), we will.

“People still ask, ‘Why haven’t we signed two strikers?’. We haven’t got pots of gold. We are trying to construct deals. There are maybe things getting closer but we don’t know until they are actually done.”

Dyche dismissed suggestions earlier this week that Everton were already close to crisis mode.

Even now, after this latest setback, he would rightly point out they have 35 more games to change the gloomy narrative. In the past two seasons, Arsenal, Wolves (both in 2021-22) and West Ham have recovered from the pointless, goalless position Everton find themselves in after three games to finish fifth, 10th and 14th respectively.

But this is a club in need of a positive spark soon if early-season woes aren’t to escalate into something even worse.

(Top photo: Alex Livesey/Getty Images)