There was always a unique feel to events at Goodison Park last Thursday. Many teams search for a repeatable formula for winning games. It rarely involves a long delay when a protester cuffs themselves to a goalpost, being reduced to 10 men, and then getting a 99th-minute winner from Alex Iwobi. If much of that was never likely to happen again at Selhurst Park on Sunday, Everton at least finished with a full complement of players; numerically anyway. Frank Lampard accused them of playing at “70 per cent throughout". <a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/sport/football/2022/03/20/everton-hammered-as-crystal-palace-book-fa-cup-semi-final-spot/" target="_blank">They lost 4-0 to Crystal Palace</a> and exited the FA Cup ignominiously. Their supporters’ 27 Campaign was formed when their trophy drought only actually extended to 26 years. Pessimism proved justified: there will be no silverware in the 27th. More worryingly, a 68-year stay in the top flight may end. The last few days seem Everton’s season in microcosm. One step forward, <a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/sport/football/2022/03/17/everton-boost-survival-bid-with-dramatic-winner-against-newcastle/" target="_blank">in beating Newcastle</a>, was followed by several steps back. Like the start of Rafa Benitez’s reign, it may prove another false dawn, rather than the springboard to safety Everton needed. A second manager was left struggling to find answers. In his brief reign, Lampard has changed system and personnel but had generally been supportive in his comments. This time, putting it politely, he questioned his players’ mentality. He is not alone in doing so. If some would accuse Lampard of deflecting blame for failure, the underachievement of Everton’s expensively-assembled, badly-compiled squad is a recurring theme. A battle against relegation could be determined by old-fashioned qualities, some of which they can lack. “If anyone doesn’t want to show character and doesn’t want to fight, they won’t be part of it,” Lampard pledged and if that suggested he may struggle to name 11 players, there are other complications. The captain Seamus Coleman is as committed a figure as Everton have, but he lacks the running power he once had and may not merit a place in the side. Anthony Gordon has allied commitment and quality better than anyone else over the last three months, but the fact Everton’s best recent performer is a product of their academy feels another indictment of their £550 million spending spree under Farhad Moshiri’s ownership. It was supposed to position Everton for a top-four challenge. Instead, they often look short-staffed, shuffling formations because they lack the available players to use others. Allan’s red card on Thursday annoyed them but there is no other defensive midfielder. They signed three midfielders in January, but all are cup-tied and could not face Palace. A toiling Coleman carries on and Jonjoe Kenny, who has never convinced at Premier League level, plays out of position on the left while the £28 million pair of full-backs they signed in January, Vitalii Mykolenko and Nathan Patterson, are not trusted. Dominic Calvert-Lewin has not scored since August, with injury limiting him to six starts in that time, and they have no adequate understudy. Collectively, they are too porous at set-pieces, as Palace’s opener again showed. They got worse on the ball under Benitez and struggle to control games. For much of the season, they were slow starters. Recently, they have lost their way in too many second halves. Their away form is abominable, with just four points since August. And, after the euphoria of Thursday subsided, it has become apparent that their destiny could be decided on the road. Their home games may not offer the potential for enough points. Their away matches include trips to Burnley and Watford. Everton need to rediscover the resolve to at least deny relegation rivals victory in six-pointers. They call for the attributes Lampard accepted they lacked against Palace: character, fight, determination, a refusal to be beaten.
