Everton played fairly well, especially at the end of the first and the middle of the second half. Looking at the statistics from the match, you would think that Everton completely dominated the game (19 shots to United’s 7, 52% possession, 4 to 1 on corners). Yet, Everton again showed little cutting edge and the gulf in class told as United held onto a one-goal advantage to take the three points. The closest Everton came to drawing blood was Baines’ free kick that hit the crossbar. Nearly every other shot was right at De Gea.

The United match again highlighted the weaknesses in Everton’s team:

1. The back line is suspect. I am not certain whether it is a lack of confidence, chemistry or focus but another lapse in marking cost Everton the match. Defensive mistakes have riddled the past six matches and the teams with real quality have punished us for it (think Chicharito v. Zamora).

2. We lack creativity in the midfield. Fellaini was immense today and Rodwell has been coming around lately but Leon Osman is our major creative force after the departures of Arteta and Pienaar (I’m not ready to put Drenthe in that discussion yet) and his poor performances have impaired our play, especially today.

3. Poor wing play. Leighton Baines has been uncharacteristically quiet this season. This is due in large part to poor play from the wingers. Seamus Coleman was fairly good going forward against United, Bily was pedestrian, Ross Barkely isn’t quite there yet and Magaye Gueye was only on for a short time. Baines doesn’t have a relationship with any of our wingers that is close to what he had with Steven Pienaar. This has tamed our once-potent attack down the left thus far this season.

4. Lack of depth. I don’t need to belabor this point. We all know why we have no depth but it’s put into sharp relief against the teams like United when we have to bring on unproven teenagers while they bring on seasoned internationals (Nani, Berbatov and Valencia versus Barkley, Vellios and Gueye).

Ped on the Followtonians Podcast made a fine point on the last show: he said that Everton is in the process of developing a new style of play now that Pienaar and Arteta are no longer with us. We’ve seen glimpses of this during the past month: Fellaini is continuing to impose himself on the midfield and Jack Rodwell is looking more and more like a quality player. However, through these glimpses we have also seen the holes in Everton’s team. Crafting a new style is difficult at the best of times but it is made all the more challenging against the strongest teams in the league. Now that this stretch is over, I expect Everton’s play to stabilize if only because the tactics we’ve been employing will work better against teams of lesser quality. Keep the faith.

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