The Causes of Everton's Stuttering Start Must Be Dealt with Now

Having staked a respectable claim for last year's team-of-the-season accolade, many expected Everton to be knocking on the door of the Champions League positions this term.

While they are only five points adrift of Manchester United in fourth currently, they lie in 10th. It's partly a testament to the Premier League's unpredictability, but also hints at the inconsistencies that currently dog Everton's form and performances.

At this stage last season, the Toffees were lying in fifth, and had lost just once. They eventually lost just eight times, a figure that they’re already halfway toward reaching this year. Several other high-profile sides failing to find form—notably Liverpool—has helped mask the fact that the Blues appear to have taken several steps backward. But what has been the cause?

In terms of personnel, it’s hard to pinpoint any real cause for Everton’s stuttering start. Arguably their two most important players last season—Gareth Barry and Romelu Lukaku—both signed for the club permanently over the summer, and there were no major departures. Key midfielder James McCarthy has had some injury problems, but he has still made 11 league appearances.

While the team has adapted to suit the deep-lying playmaking of Barry and the attacking boisterousness of Lukaku, neither has quite hit the heights of last season. Barry’s average key passes per game has dropped from 1.2 to 0.2. Lukaku has been more productive, scoring five times so far in the league, but he has frequently cut a frustrated and even disinterested figure.

With two players at the opposite end of the spectrum in terms of their careers—Barry is a seasoned campaigner, while Lukaku has his entire career ahead of him—it’s difficult to speculate on what has caused the drop in form. Perhaps they both pushed themselves a little harder last season in the knowledge that they were playing for permanent contracts, but to single them out is slightly harsh.

The age of the squad is certainly an issue. Two players guilty of serious errors during Sunday’s defeat to Spurs were Sylvain Distin and Tim Howard, 36 and 35 respectively. Distin’s abilities in the notoriously fast-paced Premier League have been waning for some time, but Howard’s form has taken a marked downturn this season. While the blame for the team’s shortcomings cannot be placed solely on their shoulders, they do deserve some of the flack.

Manager Roberto Martinez has persisted with the hugely successful 4-2-3-1 formation from last season. The system was perfectly suited to Lukaku’s skills as a target man and Leighton Baines and Seamus Coleman’s attacking capabilities from full-back.

While the setup still lends itself to Everton’s strengths, it has become increasingly popular elsewhere. This has meant both an increase in teams setting up conservatively with two defensive midfielders, and critically, more practice for opposition sides to counteract the system.

Despite his success last season, there are still some lingering doubts around Martinez. It’s not unusual for enthusiastic man motivators such as him to suffer from “second-season syndrome” when their honeymoon period runs out. There’s also a sense that despite having Wigan play some beautiful football in his previous role, he never really pushed them forward in terms of results. They escaped relegation by the skin of their teeth several times before finally succumbing in the 2012/13 season, Martinez’s last at the club.

These factors have all contributed to Everton’s struggles. The upside of this for the Toffees is that none of them require a seismic intervention to fix. The greater issues will come if they are left unchecked for much longer.