Everton manager Sean Dyche will only be too aware that his side face Manchester United, Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester City in December.
That’s a run of opponents that would strike fear into any club in the Premier League – including all of the aforementioned. For the Toffees, it’s especially concerning, not least because they are 16th in the standings after 11 matches, only three points above Ipswich Town, who sit in 18th.
Not to be pessimistic, but the Toffees’ present attacking fluency simply will not do. The wintry period is bound to inflict adversity upon the Merseysiders, and the frontline must raise its level.
Everton's flagging frontline
Everton are beset with some rather uninspiring attacking metrics this season, having been one of the least effective attacking outfits in the Premier League.
16.
Manchester United
153 (55)
17.4
12
16=
Ipswich Town
108 (33)
10.1
12
18.
Everton
131 (43)
11.9
10
19.
Crystal Palace
157 (50)
13.8
8
20.
Southampton
112 (31)
11.9
7
Some of this struggle owes itself to Dominic Calvert-Lewin’s inability to harness the prolificness that we know lies latent within his skill set, but it is more indicative of Dyche’s style as a whole.
This is hardly an anomaly either. Last term, though Everton were comfortable despite being hit with an eight-point deduction, they scored just 40 goals across 38 league fixtures, better than only bottom-finishing Sheffield United.
Everton need something… more. Calvert-Lewin is obviously excellent on his day, provides a focal presence. Iliman Ndiaye is an electric and exciting winger, while Dwight McNeil has hit a new layer of potency this term.
But the Blues need to up the ante in the final third if they are to finally break the bonds that have shackled them to endless frustration around the relegation zone over the past several years.
Where Are They Now
Your star player or biggest flop has left the club but what are they doing in the present day? This article is part of Football FanCast's Where Are They Now series.
Ademola Lookman would be perfect, but the Atalanta forward hasn’t played for Everton in quite a while now.
Everton flop is now rivalling Messi & Kane
90min’s Sean Walsh has described Lookman as a “superstar”, and it’s probably an apt thing to say, in truth, for the versatile forward has been brilliant in recent years and scored a hat-trick to dismantle Bayer Leverkusen in the Europa League final last season, sending Xabi Alonso’s immortal team into a tail-spin.
Rewarded for his triumph by being placed 14th in the Men’s Ballon d’Or final rankings, awarded earlier this month, Lookman has certainly come a long way since his struggles to assert himself with Everton in English football.
Indeed, Lookman scored four goals across 48 outings for Everton, having joined the club from Charlton Athletic in a deal worth £11m back in 2017, aged 19.
In fairness, while Lookman didn’t manage to bring his raw qualities together at Goodison Park, he did depart for a pretty penny, with RB Leipzig signing the rising star for a £22.5m fee in 2019, having previously taken him into their German brood in 2017/18 – where he posted five goals and four assists across only 11 Bundesliga appearances.
He’s since gone from strength to strength, with his hat-trick for La Dea last season completing a haul of 17 goals and ten assists across all competitions.
The 27-year-old hasn’t exactly slowed down this year, already boasting eight goals and five assists across 14 matches for Atalanta, instrumental in helping Gian Pieri Gasperini’s second-placed side challenge for the Serie A title.
As per FBref, he ranks among the top 5% of forwards across Europe’s top five leagues over the past year for goals scored, the top 1% for shot-creating actions, the top 5% for progressive passes, the top 3% for progressive carries and the top 1% for tackles per 90.
A pass is considered progressive if the distance between the starting point and the next touch is at least 10 meters closer to the opponent’s goal or any completed pass into the penalty area.
Clearly, he’s not just a goalscorer. He’s not even just a well-rounded, multi-faceted attacking outlet. Lookman is a force to be reckoned with for the Italians, operating beyond the confines of expected positional virtues, instead producing performances that encompass so many areas of the pitch.
Well, would you take a look at that. Lookman’s keenly clinical edge is seeing him put in some pretty impressive conversations, with CIES Football Observatory conveying a list – via Wyscout’s statistical system – that reveals his goal-contribution rate is up there with the best.
Namely, Lionel Messi and Harry Kane.
Neither forward needs an introduction, but the very fact that Lookman’s vein of performance has been sustained and directed at Atalanta, to a point that puts him alongside such names (as well as Barcelona’s Robert Lewandowski) is a rueful thing for Everton, who might have helped him realise his potential on Merseyside in some alternate football reality.
1
Alan Shearer
441
260
0.59
2
Harry Kane
320
213
0.67
3
Wayne Rooney
491
208
0.42
4
Andy Cole
414
187
0.45
5
Sergio Aguero
275
184
0.67
This summer, top European outfits such as Arsenal and Paris Saint-Germain were interested in signing the Nigerian, and Atalanta responded by demanding €70m (£59m) recompense for the loss of their trophy-winning talisman. This, obviously, dissuaded the parties in question.
Even so, he’d have fetched a pretty penny. Perhaps another suitor, in different circumstances, would have forked out a greater fee for this mercurial talent.
It could have been so much more for Everton, who need a striker of Lookman’s quality, and could definitely do with banking on such an illustrious star.
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