Bob Williams

Thu 11 February 2021 12:31, UK

Everton may have progressed to the quarter-finals of the FA Cup with a win over Tottenham but the scoreline is a cause for concern. 

The Blues beat Spurs 5-4 after extra time on Wednesday night and while it was a night to remember for the attackers, the defenders need to ask themselves some serious questions.

All four of Tottenham’s goals came from basic defensive errors and on another night we would’ve been beaten heavily.

Spurs took the lead within the first four minutes as Davinson Sanchez headed home from a corner.

This goal is unfortunately down to Robin Olsen.

Glenn Hoddle made a note of this on the BT Sport commentary as he noticed that the keeper really should have claimed this corner.

It was fairly close to the goal and Olsen could’ve easily got there to challenge for the ball but instead, he was unable to stretch and keep the header out after staying on his line.

If a corner is sent into the six-yard box the keeper simply has to come and claim it.

This is one of the more forgivable mistakes we made against Spurs however so we won’t hold it against our second choice goalie.

Goal number two, Erik Lamela is slipped through before lifting the ball over Olsen and getting his side back in the game.

Yerry Mina has the perfect chance to block the though ball to Lamela but he makes a right hash of it.

As you can see here, Mina has the ball at his feet as Lamela makes the run behind him.

From this position it is hard to see how Mina lets the ball get to the Tottenham winger but he does and this allowed Lamela to have a free shot at goal.

Mina simply has to do better here, we cannot afford for our defenders to make basic errors like this.

It only gets worse from here for Everton.

Goal number three comes from a corner and Sanchez is there again to poke home despite being marked a handled by Gylfi Sigurdsson.

The only problem here?

Sigurdsson isn’t looking at the ball so he can’t anticipate that the Spurs defender will stick his foot out and make it 3-3.

It is only at this freeze-framed moment above when the Everton midfielder realises that the ball is anywhere near him.

It is absolutely laughable that the Icelandic international thought he could get away with defending a corner without looking at the ball.

Here is a better view.

What is he doing?

If he was facing the right way he would be in the perfect position to clear the ball away after Olsen got a touch to it.

Instead, Sanchez is there to score his second goal of the night while being pretty much unchallenged.

This last one is maybe the most concerning one of all.

You’d think that once Harry Kane came on, one of the best strikers in the world, that we might decide to mark him when crosses are coming in.

Think again.

Michael Keane is in the box marking the space while Abdoulaye Doucoure is stood about six feet away from one of the best finishers in world football.

The ball reaches Kane and he taps home while unmarked.

The words ‘Harry Kane’ and ‘unmarked’ should never be in the same sentence yet none of the Blues defenders decided to pick up the England captain.

You can’t give a player like that, that kind of opportunity because he will always take it.

The game on Wednesday night may have been fun for the neutral but it will have had many Evertonians pulling their hair out.

These defensive errors need to be eradicated from our game if we are serious about finishing in the top four and winning the FA Cup because we will not get away with it again.

In other Everton news, we are reportedly keeping an eye on a young Aston Villa star.