Everton were pushing the Big Six for so long. Roberto Martinez assembled a squad that had the likes of Ross Barkley, John Stones and Romelu Lukaku all pulling an ambitious side into Europe.
It's a far cry from what's happening at Goodison Park these days. With the Toffees picking up nine points from a possible 60 in the middle of the season, one the Premier League ever-presents have been slipping closer to the drop zone. There was no obvious turning point as to when things began turning, either – it's just been a gradual slide down the table.
So why have Everton been so bad this season?
1. Everton have struggled with injuries
Let's start with the obvious one. It's never easy when your best players are out injured.
The talismanic Dominic Calvert Lewin struck three goals in his first three appearances of the season before fracturing his toe and never getting to play under Rafa Benitez again. Richarlison picked up a knee injury in the autumn, Yerry Mina has completed just six full games following thigh problems and Andre Gomes missed nine matches, coinciding with form taking a tumble.
It's unlucky, more than anything. Everton might not be challenging for Europe with their entire squad but they certainly wouldn't be as far down the table as they are.
2. The wrong managerial appointments at the wrong times
Everton fans weren't particularly patient with Rafa Benitez – and not just because he was a legend on the other side of Merseyside. For a club that had just had Carlo Ancelotti as manager, signed the likes of James Rodriguez and led the table early in the 2020/21 season, they were looking upwards.
Rafa wasn't nearly positive enough with the Toffees went into the season playing reactive football, often on the break. Yet when Benitez was relieved of duties with the club hovering around the drop zone, that's when a more positive manager arrived. It feels like Everton made these two appointments back to front.
It's an uphill slog for Frank Lampard to build confidence and propel this team up the league. One wonders what the mood around Goodison would be like had Lampard been given the job before Benitez.
3. Defensive leakiness
Benitez's key sell was that at least he'd shore up the team and make them hard to beat… in theory. The warning signs were maybe there at the start of the season when the Toffees conceded two to Leeds, allowed Burnley to take the lead at Goodison and got undone in half an hour by a whirlwind Aston Villa performance.
Things went from bad to worse with the obvious lowlight being the catastrophic collapse against Watford and Everton letting in four goals in fifteen minutes. But all season they've been woeful in transition, too open without the ball and struggled in the press.
Jordan Pickford has kept just three clean sheets all season. It's top of Lampard's to-do list.
4. The loss of James Rodriguez
In the first six games of last season, James Rodriguez registered six goals and assists. His season would be dogged by injury as Everton slipped from top of the tree to midtable – but his absence suggested something deeper about the Toffees.
There was a distinct lack of creativity should the Colombian be absent from the side. Benitez attempted to fix this the old-school way with two crossers in Demarai Gray and Andros Townsend, yet by early December, Salomon Rondon’s 550 minutes in blue had produced three shots on target. A lot of that is down to a lack of service to the target man.
Lampard sought to fix this with two attacking midfielders in Dele Alli and Donny van de Beek who are better at making late runs into the box than actually creating themselves. Andre Gomes has struggled, Anthony Gordon is young and with their press, Everton haven't been aggressive enough to sustain possession in the opposition third.
5. A lack of cohesion across the club
The woes on the blue side of Merseyside are perhaps best summed up in two moves made in January. First, Lucas Digne was allowed to leave the club for a rival in Aston Villa, following a dispute with Rafa Benitez. Just weeks later, Benitez himself was sacked.
Digne was allowed to leave for the sake of a manager who outlasted him by less than a month – and that seems indicative of a club without a long-term plan. Two very similar players were signed in Alli and van de Beek, yet neither can start together. Ben Godfrey was brought in to become the long-term leader at the back, yet has been nothing more than a utility man. Even the coaches that Everton have hired are so differing that you have to wonder what the club believe the long-term future of the team looks like.
Perhaps this season is that necessary rock bottom for the club: just like in 2004, where David Moyes finished 17th before qualifying for the Champions League a season later. Everton need to reflect on what's been a difficult campaign – it could get worse unless they pull themselves together sharpish…
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