Everton could have used last night as a free hit, to really go out and give Goodison Park something to cheer after such a dire start to the season.
Instead, it has only added to the misery felt, with an early Carabao Cup exit just the latest horror to unfold for the boys in royal blue.
In this campaign, everything they touch seems to fall apart, and despite fine performances at times, forging more than enough chances to warrant wins, they simply are not claiming them.
It does not help that Sean Dyche seldom puts out fires in his post-match reactions…
Sean Dyche sees the positives in Carabao Cup loss to Southampton
There are plenty of Evertonians who will claim, and with valid justification, that there were no positives to take out of last night’s defeat.
After all, despite creating a handful on clear chances, they were all once again squandered, with their only goal coming from a set piece, and their inability to press quite frightening.
Harrison Armstrong of Everton is challenged by sou26 during the Carabao Cup Third Round match between Everton and Southampton at Goodison Park on S…
Photo by Jan Kruger/Getty Images
All season teams have picked apart Southampton’s naive play style, yet Dyche and the players looked scared to take a risk.
This was likely spurred on by the weakened lineup, enforced due to injury and illness.
And yet, despite these enforced changes, the manager insisted there were at least two positives to take from the match.
He told Everton’s official X account after the game: ‘It’s not an easy task.
‘You are not coming into a team which is high rolling and the players who have signed for the club are not coming into a team which is high rolling. You are coming into a team which is stretched and I thought he [Harrison Armstrong] did really, really well to conduct himself in the manner that he did.
‘I think he has a very important future and a big future for this football club, it’s early yet. Roman [Dixon] has done fine as well. But those are two definite positives in an awkward night, because this is a game we want to win.’
Everton is a tough environment to be thrown into at the moment
Ideally, for a youngster seeking to make his transition from youth football into the senior teams, the manager will want the conditions to be perfect.
Maybe throwing them on with a few minutes left in a comfortable lead, or starting them in a cup match early in the season when pressure is low.
However, at this moment in time, it is arguably the toughest possible conditions for a youth product to transition into the Everton first team, what with all the turmoil surrounding it.
Sean Dyche, Manager of Everton, gestures towards Ashley Young of Everton after he receives a red card during the Premier League match between Evert…
Photo by Carl Recine/Getty Images
Having lost their opening four Premier League matches, tension was always bound to be high at Goodison Park last night, with nervousness only natural.
This does not breed a comforting environment for new players to embed into though, and both Armstrong and Dixon will have not had that flair or freedom which comes with youth to express themselves out of fear for how the fanbase might react.
The boos for Ashley Young’s substitution would have been enough to scare any player in submission.
Ideally, Dyche would have been able to introduce these teenage sensations in a nicer, more welcoming environment.
But, with all the injuries and illness, needs must. And, it must be said, they both largely held their own.
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