After a bright start to the season, there was genuine hope amongst Everton fans that the club finally had a clear sense of direction and an idea on what they wanted to be, yet one trip to the south coast has seemingly ruined that.
An abysmal 3-1 loss away to Bournemouth has sent the Toffees tumbling down to Earth after their good start to the campaign, and for Marco Silva, it was a clear showing that he and his players don’t really know who they are and what they want to aspire to be.
Indeed, a summer of promising signings and keeping hold of the same manager from last season normally point to a good second year that sees a club build on from their record from last time out, but for Everton, it couldn’t be more different.
Sunday magnified the problems the Toffees have and had them on full display for everyone to see.
From the defence that can’t zonally mark set-pieces or close down their opposing attackers to centre-forward options that are under-firing and are in need of a senior figure to mentor them, it was a game that showed what needed to change at Everton, and in doing so has left Silva with many problems to fix.
Club icon Tim Cahill admitted on Sky Sports via The Liverpool Echo after the game that Everton’s once exciting prospect of a top-six finish in the Premier League are now dead and buried, and the former Australian international could be onto something.
Everton are a side that should be aiming to always be on the cusp of something great in the division, with former league finishes in both the top-four and top-six proving that the Toffees have been a club in the past who can finish high in the table, but this won’t happen under Silva if he doesn’t address the current problems in the squad and aims to work on improving them.
The Merseyside club have an identity crisis, and it is something that both the Everton manager and players will need to work on collectively to solve who they are in this division, and what they aim to do with themselves.