If there was any doubt before, it can now safely be stated that Everton will be involved in a relegation dogfight this season.
Continuing their torrid run of form, the Toffees surrendered meekly against Stoke City at the Britannia Stadium on Wednesday night and the poor performance proved that the Merseyside club are not too good to go down.
While there is still a bit of breathing space between Everton and the teams currently in the relegation zone, the Toffees have failed to win in their last five matches and on current form, Roberto Martinez’s men look certain for the drop.
Here is an analysis of the performance of the Everton players on the day –
|
Player Rating |
Comment |
|
Tim Howard – 6
|
Howard was decent on the day and surely could not be blamed for the two goals that he did concede. |
Seamus Coleman – 5 |
Coleman looked bit of a threat going forward but he simply did not produce enough quality in the final third. A largely forgettable performance from the Irishman. |
|
Phil Jagielka – 4
|
Following a couple of decent performance, Phil Jagielka was once again poor against Stoke City.
The England international was troubled by the Stoke City attackers throughout the match and he never really looked comfortable. |
John Stones – 4 |
It was another poor defensive performance from John Stones on the night. The young defender was clearly at fault for allowing Victor Moses the free header and he also should have done much better in preventing the concession of the second goal. |
|
Luke Garbutt –4.5
|
Luke Garbutt has been one of the few positives for Everton over the past few weeks but the young man struggled against Stoke.
Garbutt was rarely afforded a chance to venture forward and his defensive display was shaky at best. |
Gareth Barry – 4 |
Age seems to be catching up with Gareth Barry and the midfielder seemed to be bypassed too many times during the game. The veteran also picked up his 10th yellow card during the clash and will now have to sit out Everton’s next two matches. |
|
James McCarthy – 5.5
|
James McCarthy was much better than his midfield partner Gareth Barry but the performance was nowhere near his best.
While the Irishman did well to knock the ball around, he lacked the cutting edge in attack. |
Darron Gibson – 4.5 |
Darron Gibson made his first start in well over year but it proved to be a disappointing evening for the midfielder. Gibson tried hard and got a few shots in but the Irishman has to be held accountable for the second goal that Everton conceded. |
|
Steven Naismith – 5
|
Deployed in the wide positions, Steven Naismith was not effective at all and did not have any impact on the game whatsoever.
Naismith had enjoyed so much joy centrally earlier on in the season and it is quite baffling as to why Martinez has elected to persist with the Scotsman out wide. |
Aaron Lennon – 5 |
Aaron Lennon looked dangerous on the ball but did not create much of note in terms of chances. Roundly booed by the fans for rejecting Stoke in January, Lennon could not do much to silence the crowd. |
|
Romelu Lukaku – 4
|
It was another woeful performance from Romelu Lukaku on the night. The Belgian youngster looked lost in attack and he simply did not fulfill the role of the lone striker well enough. |
Substitues
|
Leon Osman – 6
|
Osman replaced Barry on the hour mark as Everton were chasing the game and although his arrival did spark an improvement from the Toffees, the veteran midfielder could not fashion enough chances. |
Arouna Kone – 6 |
Much like Osman, Kone’s introduction to the game sparked an improvement but not enough to help Everton find a way back into the game. |
|
Kevin Mirallas – NA
|
Surprisingly brought on only during the 83rd minute of the game, Mirallas did not have enough time to make any sort of impact. |
