Real Football Man All of the Football, All of the time
The international break probably couldn’t have come soon enough for Ronald Koeman as in Everton’s last game before the hiatus he witnessed his side get torn to pieces by Antonio Conte’s Chelsea. That encounter saw the Toffees sent packing from West London with a 5-0 defeat to their name and Today they will look to bounce back as the play host to struggling side Swansea.
That aforementioned Chelsea game saw Koeman’s heaviest defeat since taking charge of Everton in what was a rare off night for the blue half of Merseyside. A lot of it was down to the fact that Chelsea were simply breathtaking in attack but Everton were incredibly poor in defence.
That evening saw Everton adopt a back three and match Chelsea like for like but you do have to wonder if they will revert to a flat back four this afternoon especially as Ramiro Funes Mori had such a torrid time at Stamford Bridge, if there is a change of shape then expect the Argentine to start on the bench.
Their opponents Swansea are painting a pretty bleak picture as of late. Not only have they not managed to win a game under new Head Coach Bob Bradley but they have failed to win a game since their opening day victory away at Burnley
Add the fact that they are only off the bottom of the table by virtue of a better goal difference than Sunderland and you can begin to see just how much work Bradley has got to do to revive this clubs ailing fortunes. The real task will be making sure that Swansea aren’t cast too far adrift before the transfer window re-opens in January
Their last run out before the international break saw them easily beaten by Manchester United at the Liberty Stadium. United had the game wrapped up within the first thirty three minutes as they raced into a 3-0 lead and although Swansea got on the scoresheet it was scant consolation as they fell to another defeat.
Goals have been a real issue with Gylfi Sigurdsson having to be deployed in a false nine role due to a lack of options, summer signings Fernando Llorente and Borja Baston have failed to make their mark in this league and Baston will be all the more disappointing considering he is the clubs record signing
Swansea have only found the net 10 times in 11 matches therefore not even registering a goal a game, it’s those kind of numbers that point to only one thing, that being relegation. Swansea need to find goals from somewhere otherwise this barren run without a win will only continue
And I fear the worst for Swansea this afternoon as Everton are going to be like a wounded animal after their Stamford Bridge drubbing, I fully expect them to ease past the South Wales outfit and if results go their way they could be back in the top 6 by the end of the day. A home win for me and the terrible run continues for the Swans.
