Thanks to how poor Everton have played at times this season, the few standout moments offered by a select few fan favourites have to be cherished, but Toffees pundit David Downie has told the Liverpool Echo that the squad must be culled in the summer.
The squad is not the only concern Downie, from The Blue Room, has with Everton right now, and discussed his apprehensions as we head into another weekend without a game.
By the time that we face Cardiff on Tuesday night, 17 days will have lapsed between outings, which has to have been utilised to the max to offer a glimpse of hope that Marco Silva can kick-start the side from this point onwards.
Going by Downie’s claims, not only will the run from now until the season ends be significant for the Portuguese, but also the players, who have spoken at ease on how much they value their head coach without displaying it on the field.
“It’s clear yet another overhaul is required this summer and there are so many players who just simply aren’t good enough,” Downie claims.
“I’d be stressing that many are playing for their futures at Goodison.
“We’ve heard the usual, tiresome soundbites from several players lately about how popular he is as a manager, well for once they have to actually back that up if both themselves and Silva are to be here for the long term.”
Changing the squad is not the only concern for Downie, who added: “Obviously on the training ground, defending is still a huge concern. I’d like to think he’s been working towards a better way of defending set pieces and the back four holding firm as a unit.
“It’s interesting how Lucas Digne, Kurt Zouma and Michael Keane have all been praised at times for individual performances, yet collectively they’ve conceded so many poor goals.
“Silva has also tinkered with the system a lot lately, a typical sign of desperation. I’d have spent some time settling on a system and shape that gets us back to having more attempts on goal and creating chances as we did in the earlier parts of the season.”