OPINION
Everton secured a hard-fought win over Cardiff City on Saturday thanks to a goal from Gylfi Sigurdsson and there were plenty of talking points to take away from the game.
The first half was incredibly quiet in regards to both sides, with neither team really threatening in the final third, but it was the Iceland international who slotted home to secure all three points.
The Toffees now sit ninth in the Premier League while the Bluebirds remain in the bottom three, but there are plenty of things that Marco Silva now needs to address for their next game against Liverpool.
This is Futbol have picked out three things we learned about Everton v Cardiff below.
Everton need a proper centre-forward
Everton were incredibly woeful when it came to the attacking side of their game on Saturday – and it is clear that Richarlison just cannot cut it playing up front by himself. The Toffees are in dire need of a proper centre-forward, as Cenk Tosun is clearly not going to step up to the plate any time soon. This will no doubt have to be a number one priority for Silva in January as they cannot keep relying on Sigurdsson to bail them out with a last-ditch individual effort. Overall verdict – must do better.
Walcott needs to be axed ASAP
Theo Walcott is not having the best time at Everton is he? Recently he has been largely off the pace, and that will no doubt be a concern for the manager. He had a few efforts but the speedster never really conjured up anything special for the Toffees. Why Silva continues to play him when he is in this sort of form remains to be seen, as he is hampering their chances more than anything. The £110,000-a-week [Spotrac] player needs to be axed as soon as possible if Everton wants to start winning more convincingly, and he hopefully realises that his performances have been gutless.
Gomes man of the match
Andre Gomes could not have a better start to life than Everton than what he is already displaying. He has been magnificent since he arrived from Barcelona, and there seems to be no signs of him slowing down any time soon. He completely ran the midfield for the Toffees and the Cardiff players just could not get any where near him for the entirety of the game, something which Silva is no doubt rubbing his hands together at. Gomes is arguably Everton’s best signing of the summer, and if they get the opportunity to sign him on a permanent basis when his loan spell expires next year, they must seize it with both hands and run.