Everton FC: Things We Learnt

Article by e-Everton Correspondent Kenneth Jarvis

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They honeymoon period for Martinez was always going to end eventually and whilst I still have the upmost faith in him, a 4-0 loss to Liverpool is enough to make any Everton fan question any manager. In light of this, I've decided to look at what was learnt from the sobering loss:

A high line and Antolín Alcaraz don't mix – To this point in his brief Everton career Alcaraz has impressed. Composed on the ball, capable of bringing it out of defence and solid in defence. However in this match his lack of pace got brutally exposed by Sturridge, Suarez and Sterling. This was most obviously shown in the Suarez goal. Suarez is quick but by no means the quickest but was able to burn past Alcaraz with ease and once he got past, there was no way back. I called 'goal' as soon as Suarez got the ball. They say you lose your pace with age but 36 year old Sylvain Distin is still one of the quickest defenders in the league and Everton will need him back against Aston Villa, especially if Agbonlahor is back.

Putting faith in youth can backfire – Here's a big prediction for you: John Stones will be one of England's centre backs at the 2018 world cup. But for me, in the 2013-14 Anfield derby, he shouldn't have been the right back. Seamus Coleman has had a wonderful season and has got a lot of praise for his attacking qualities, but his defensive qualities were missed in this match. Why John Stones was about 40 yards up the pitch from his centre back when the play was on the opposite side of the field will remain a mystery, but Sturridge didn't care. He just used the space to score the crucial second goal. Hibbert was available, he offers next to nothing going forward, but is in general a solid full back.

Howard is still capable of a shocker – It seems to have gone unnoticed what a bad game howard had here, but let me first say what a great season he has had to this point. Howard has a habit of falling backwards before shots and on the second goal he made himself very small which allowed Sturridge to easily lift the ball past him. On the third goal there was no reason for him to come out, he got no where near the ball and if Sturridge has to control that, then Jagielka comes across and pushes him out wide. The forth goal was the opposite, he didn't come out quick enough to try and narrow Suarez' angles. Then the penalty was just an appalling error for which he was luckily unpunished. He was having his best season to date and Everton will have to hope this is just a blip.

Injuries played a massive part – Kone, Gibson, Oviedo and now possibly Lukaku are out for the season. Lacina Traore, Coleman, Distin and Deulofeu were out for this match and Alcaraz, Jagielka, Barkley and Pienaar wern't 100% match fit. Liverpool, to be fair, have injuries as well. But unlike Everton, they have the squad to deal with them. Roberto Martinez might have to get in reinforcements before the transfer window is done.

The positives – In literal terms, it's just a loss and an away loss at that. For the Aston Villa match Coleman could be back, Distin should be. Barkley and Pienaar will be fitter. Lacina Traore might be able to feature and there has been more game time for McGeady. Everton are 4 points off 4th and are still in the FA Cup, reasons for optimism. The next five home games read Aston Villa, Crystal Palace, West Ham and Cardiff so there are points to be had over the next few months. Going to Anfield and having 61% possession is quite remarkable as a statistic in isolation, and while the Martinez approach in this instance has backfired and left Everton looking like the Wigan of last year, in the long term there are reasons to believe it will be successful.

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