Tony Cascarino has claimed that Everton have been an enigma this season, and that he cannot work out why they aren’t winning matches.
The Toffees beat Huddersfield Town in midweek, but were dumped out of the FA Cup by Millwall last weekend, and the former Republic of Ireland international is baffled by their lack of consistency.
Speaking on talkSPORT, he said: “Everton have been a bit of an enigma. Watching them last week at Millwall I thought they were disappointing.
“You talk about leadership in the team, they didn’t look like they had any of that apart from Seamus Coleman.
“I just don’t know why Everton have not been better because they’ve got some – Richarlison is a handful. Sigurdsson is another player who can create a moment – just haven’t done it enough.”
“Everton have been an enigma.”
“They don’t look like they have any leadership other than Coleman.”
@TonyCascarino62 can’t understand why #EFC haven’t got better results.
What do you think? ? pic.twitter.com/8Dpf9viSFB
— talkSPORT (@talkSPORT) February 2, 2019
OPINION
Cascarino has hit upon the exact conundrum that has been plaguing Everton fans all season. On paper, they should be flying, but football is not played on paper, and the Toffees have been flat and lifeless for far too long this campaign. The pundit talks about a lack of leadership, and it’s a very astute point. It’s hard to look at the Blues’s side and see anybody, Coleman aside, who offers any kind of real grit or gusto. Attractive, attacking football is all well and good, but you need to be able to dig yourselves out of trouble when the going gets tough, and honestly, Everton seem to lack that kind of tenacious spirit that could be the difference between a vital win and an underwhelming draw. It’a difficult quality to instil, and it usually only comes with time and emphasis on the togetherness of a squad. The Toffees could really do with it straight away, however, and Marco Silva will be scratching his head over how to achieve it.