View: Three things we learned from Everton in draw v Tottenham
Everton were forced to settle for a third consecutive Premier League draw on Friday as the club’s European dream moved further from reach.
Despite playing some free-flowing attacking football against Tottenham, the Blues were only able to pick up one point after two defensive errors gave the visitors easy opportunities to score.
Though Carlo Ancelotti will be buoyed by his side’s improved performance, the Toffees will now face Arsenal next week with their European ambition all but extinguished.
At Goodison News we have picked out three things we learned from the home draw..
Class act Rodriguez
Since signing from Real Madrid in the summer it has been very evident that James is the most technically gifted player on Merseyside, but no performance has shown just how talented he still is quite like the game against Spurs.
The Colombian was the beating heart of every forward movement, he was simply everywhere, and everything positive that Everton did flowed through him.
If James can remain as fit as he currently is, Everton could have a genuine, prime superstar on their hands.
Painful partnership
Everton have often rotated their defensive options this season with Ancelotti having four first-team centre-backs to choose from, and against Spurs it was Mason Holgate and Michael Keane chosen to start in the centre.
Evidently this is a partnership the Blues should avoid going forward, because both players were culpable for both goals the club conceded.
Poor communication and sloppy spacial awareness saw the Toffees concede two highly avoidable goals, and ultimately those two errors were enough to cost Everton three points.
Offensive threat
Alex Iwobi struggled to make any impact whatsoever against Tottenham so Seamus Coleman was a smart substitute, because his directness was always likely to be used to better effect.
However we didn’t expect the Irishman to make such an immediate impact after coming on.
Despite his age, there is no-one at Everton, not even Lucas Digne, who will take on an opposing full-back and consistently beat them to the ball like Seamus. Everton desperately need his long-term replacement to be built in his mould.
In other Everton news, Blues defender wanted by high-flying club but Brands sets £17m+ demand.
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