Worrying Start to the Season for Everton

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Everton finished in 17th place in the Premier League last season, just one position above the relegation zone.

They were 2 points clear of Leicester City, who were in 18th place and the final of the three teams to be relegated to the Championship.

Everton picked up 4 points from their final two matches of the 2022/23 campaign to secure their place in the topflight under the guidance of Sean Dyche.

Things were expected to improve at the beginning of the new season as Dyche had the whole summer to work with his players.

However, it has been a disappointing start to the 2023/24 Premier League season for Everton and they started with a 1-0 loss at home against Fulham, who have since gone on to lose 3-0 at home against Brentford.

On the weekend, Everton travelled to Villa Park to take on an Aston Villa team who were thrashed by Newcastle United on the opening weekend.

Everton were awful for much of the game and were taken apart by Aston Villa in a 4-0 defeat that has left the Toffees bottom of the table.

Speaking after the match, Dyche said, “I could have taken the whole team off at half-time”.

It is worth remembering that the same group of Everton players went to Brighton near the end of last season and came away with a fantastic 5-1 win in what was a tremendous display.

Yet, against Aston Villa on the weekend, the same group of players were awful and could not do the basics.

Dyche led Everton to safety last season but has won only 5 games from 20 since he took over at the club.

It is mostly the same players in the Everton team now that struggled last season so in some ways, it does not come as a surprise to see they are finding it tough again at the beginning of this season.

However, the fans would have expected to see the team more organised defensively following a summer of training under Dyche.

They are not and that is perhaps the most worrying aspect of the defeat at Aston Villa for Everton fans.

There were defensive errors at Villa Park and Everton were easy to beat.

As if to compound the misery for Everton, Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Alex Iwobi were both taken off injured at Aston Villa and they cannot afford to be without two key players right now.

The performance of Arnaut Danjuma when he came on is one small positive to take from the defeat at Aston Villa but it is clear Dyche has a massive job on his hands with Everton this season.

The team clearly needs reinforcements, especially in attack but it is unclear if Dyche will receive the funds he needs to bring players in before the transfer deadline.

Everton have never been relegated from the Premier League despite some close calls. This could be another season where the club are fighting for their lives come the end of campaign.