Just when you think Everton have hit rock bottom at Goodison Park, they crash through the floor and into the basement.
The Toffees were utterly abysmal on Sunday night, as an already-relegated Sheffield United earned a comfortable 1-0 win on Merseyside, with a 17-year-old scoring the only goal of the game.
It means that with one match to go at Goodison this season, Everton have only won five games. Their recent record on home soil in the Premier League reads one win in 11 matches. It’s been atrocious.
Afterwards, it was no surprise that manager Carlo Ancelotti was critical of himself and the players.
“For certain points, I’m a little bit surprised, but at home we usually have done these kinds of performances—but not as bad as tonight,” he said, per the Everton website. “I think I have to take responsibility for this, and also the players have to take responsibility. It was our worst performance of the season.”
Following the game, plenty of ire has been aimed at those associated with the club.
Some supporters put this string of lethargic performances at home down to the players, citing lack of quality and lack of motivation. Others are starting to ask questions of the manager, with no antidote found for Everton’s Goodison ills.
But the players and managers must take shared responsibility at this stage. As things stand, Everton look like a squad packed with average footballers that is being coached in an average manner.
And with no European football to come next season, it means Everton once again stand on the brink of one of their trademark big summers.
In it, they need to get underperforming big earners out the door and get players in who can make them a more dynamic proposition in the final third.
Unfortunately, the agenda has been the same ahead of a lot of summer windows in recent years. It means there’s not much hope of them finally getting it right.