Opinions

Three things learned about Everton from West Ham clash

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OPINION

West Ham achieved their first win under Manuel Pellegrini and it came at the expense of Everton’s unbeaten record on Sunday.

The Hammers cruised to a 3-1 victory over the Toffees and manager Marco Silva will feel he needs to go back to the drawing board regarding his team as there were few positives to focus on.

Ahead of Sunday’s game against Pellegrini’s side, the Toffees were unbeaten in the Premier League after achieving one win and securing three draws out of their first four league outings.

Forever West Ham has rounded up the three things learned about Everton after they lost to the Hammers on Sunday.

Sigurdsson needs to improve

Gylfi Sigurdsson was a disappointment for the Toffees last season after joining from Swansea City for a whopping £45million (BBC Sport) but there were a whole load of reasons to shield him from criticism. The 29-year-old attacking midfielder was constantly played out of position in his 2017/18 campaign and his teammates were struggling to aid him as they were having a miserable time too. However roll on the clock a year and Sigurdsson is still struggling to make a positive impact at Goodison Park on regular basis. Considering that the Hammers went into this game with a horrible defensive record, the Toffees attacker should have been licking his lips over playing them. Yet he seemed not to be fired up nor was he able to make a real difference for his side and in all honesty he ended up just being a passenger as his side went on to be brushed aside.

Walcott is a bright spark

Theo Walcott was previously reported by the Liverpool Echo as being in a race to be fit for the clash against the Hammers and the good news ended up being that he was medically cleared to start for his side. However the 29-year-old showed signs that he was completely over his recent knock and this ended up seeing him withdrawn from the match in the 77th minute in order to be replaced by Ademola Lookman. Yet ahead of going off Walcott was arguably among the Toffees’ best players as he looked able to be a thorn in the Hammers’ side. The Toffees attacker was constantly trying to get his side back in the game after they fell behind and it’s clear that he is capable of being their bright spark this season. Walcott has already scored two goals, as well as grabbed an assist, this season and looks capable of adding to those numbers in the near future.

Calvert-Lewin must be axed

The Toffees should be praised for continuing to trust 21-year-old Dominic Calvert-Lewin to start Premier League games as it’s nice to see promising talent given an opportunity. However he has continually looked short of the required standard needed to excel in this division despite always trying his best for the side. The 6ft 1in tall attacker (Source: Soccerbase) played the full 90 minutes in his side’s first defeat of the season and it’s hard to understand why he was dragged off the pitch before the game ended. Calvert-Lewin was completely ineffective, generally woeful, and looked out of his depth which saw him appear to be in need of rescuing before any confidence in his ability quickly left him. Yet for some strange reason Silva kept him on the pitch. The Toffees manager must axe him for their next few games at least, or just use him sparingly as a substitute, due to the fact he does not look anywhere close to being good enough to start games for a club such as Everton.

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