Everton were thought to be a contender for a ‘Top six’ finish after a busy summer transfer window, but things went completely opposite under Ronald Koeman who had a disastrous inception of the Premier League campaign that resulted in a dismissal. The Toffees, however, made significant progress since Sam Allardyce’s arrival and a series of steady outcomes brought them back in the top-half of the league tally. But things have not been pretty favourable for the Blue half of Merseysider who failed to grab a win in past five outings across all competitions and suffered three back-to-back defeats including a late heartbreak against Liverpool in the FA Cup third round tie.
The Toffees, however, were desperate to be back to winning ways and despite a tough away fixture against mighty Tottenham Hotspur, Everton were tipped to put up a decent show, unlike their Goodison meeting which ended in a shambolic 3-0 defeat for the Merseysiders. They were upbeat following the arrival of Turkish striking sensation Cenk Tosun who made his debut this evening at Wembley with a view to ending their goal drought in absence of a prolific goal-scorer.
The fixture, however, proved to be another one-sided encounter as Everton failed to match Spurs brilliance and suffered a disastrous 4-0 defeat against the high-flying North London heavyweights.
Below are the Everton players rated from their defeat against Spurs.
Jordan Pickford: 5
Made some decent but could have done little to stop any of Spurs’ goals as his defence let him down this evening.
Jonjoe Kenny: 4.5
Kenny has deputized Seamus Coleman well, but the youngster would like to forget this afternoon as he was persistently troubled by Heung-Min Son down the right-hand flank.
Mason Holgate: 5.5
Despite conceding four times, Holgate was the only spark in Everton defence with some crucial blocks that denied Everton from further humiliation.
Phil Jagielka: 4
Should have done a lot better on at least two occasions this evening to deny Spurs from finding the back of the net. Tried his level best but looked worn-out and off-paced in front of Tottenham’s lethal attacking force.
Cuco Martina: 4.5
Playing in a makeshift left-back role since Leighton Baines’ injury. Concentrated on his defensive work but came out second best throughout as he was bullied by Spurs’ attackers with their pace, creativity and swift movements.
James McCarthy: 5.5
McCarthy worked hard to hold the ball in midfield but lacked support from his forwards who remained too deep and mostly out of position which made it difficult for the midfielder to find his men up front. Was replaced by Morgan Scneiderlin in the second half.
Idrissa Gana Gueye: 5.5
Gana made some decent interception and tackles, tried to carry the ball forward with his strong dribbling traits but failed to link-up up front with his fellow teammates.
Yannick Bolasie: 4
Was thoroughly ineffective down the right-hand flank that forced the gaffer taking him off in the second half to be replaced by Aaron Lennon.
Wayne Rooney: 5.5
Made some ambitious runs, played some one-twos with Tosun but had a dismal second-half which saw him losing his temperament. Scored an early goal that was ruled out offside.
Gylfi Sigurdsson: 5
Has been the shadow of his last season’s excellence for Swansea City and their club-record transfer has failed to impress once more under Sam Allardyce.
Cenk Tosun: 5
Not the quickest on the counter, but had worked hard and shown some early sparks that might have made the fans optimistic for the remainder of the campaign. Was taken off in the second-half to be replaced by Dominic Calvert-Lewin.
Substitutes
Aaron Lennon: 4.5
Was brought in for Bolasie but looked unimpressive and failed to create anything spectacular for his side.
Dominic Calvert-Lewin: 4.5
Made no impact and lacked support up front.
Morgan Schneiderlin: 5
Stabilized the midfield to some extent which was scattered and clueless in the second-half.
