David Moyes’ vibrant start in the Everton dugout now feels like a long time ago.
Indeed, the Scot was the antidote the Toffees needed after emerging from manager Sean Dyche’s disastrous reign. Last season, he easily avoided relegation with just two defeats in his first 10 games back in charge of the Premier League giants.
The Merseyside side are currently still six points clear of the dreaded relegation zone, but Everton have won just one of their last five league games, and there are concerns for the Toffees as well.
Sunday’s 3-0 loss to Tottenham Hotspur would have only heightened those concerns, with former Everton hero Richarlison prominently featured in Thomas Frank’s away side.
Richarlison likely to return to Everton
Richarlison often found his playing days at Tottenham Hotspur fraught with difficulties, but he put the game beyond doubt on Sunday evening when he headed into Papu Matar Sarr’s pass to seal a 3-0 win.
The passionate Brazilian has just 23 goals to his name in 104 appearances for Spurs, but recent reports from TEAMTalk suggest Everton are on the move, with the north Londoners willing to make a one-off signing for £60m in January.
This could be a masterstroke in his return as the Toffees look to feel comfortable again with their striker options.
Richarlison’s jersey number by position at Everton | ||
|---|---|---|
position | game | Goal + Assist |
C.F. | 77 | 23+6 |
LW | 51 | 24+8 |
RW | twenty two | 6+1 |
Source: Transfermarkt | ||
Richarlison may be most fondly remembered by Merseysiders for his gung-ho performances on both wings, but despite his past heroics for the club, it’s hard to imagine that the South American can replace the likes of Jack Grealish in his favored left channel at this point.
As a result, Richarlison has scored 23 goals in 77 games for Everton as a striker, second only to Carlo Ancelotti, one of his former managers at Goodison Park, and has praised Chance as a “fantastic” finisher.
He can also boast a strong record of three goals and two assists in nine games this season, despite whispers that Spurs want to offload the hot-and-cold No.9 job in the coming months.
Bringing back a once-loved figure could spell the end for Beto in Everton blue. The Lisbon-born striker struggled to get back into action yesterday evening, much to the dismay of an impatient fan base.
Why Beto is on loan at Everton
You would think strikers in Moyes’ current set-up would be licking their tongues at the prospect of how many goals they could score, with Iliman Ndiaye and Grealish’s aforementioned tricky clients looking to give the chosen marksman leading the line a chance.
Unfortunately for Moyes and co, Beto often fluffs his lines when the best chances present themselves. The former Udinese striker was very unlucky not to find the back of the net on Sunday evening. An acrobatic shot in the second half, with the scoreline still 2-0, was somehow snuffed out by the alert Guglielmo Vicario.
That’s a great result for the hapless 27-year-old, but a minimum of 14 touches on the ball meant he was often cut out of isolation at Hill Dickinson Stadium, with Jordan Pickford racking up even more touches himself, totaling 36 touches.
With just one goal to his name in the Premier League this season, it’s no big shock to read the widespread backlash he’s received for his recent dismal display. Everton-based podcaster Paul Brown said on Full Time that a goal-shy No.9 was “hopeless”.
Furthermore, another Toffees podcaster, Stephen Kelly, also stated that the ongoing striker situation is “killing” Moyes’ team.
Beto therefore appears to be on borrowed time on Merseyside, if the passionate South American could soon return to Liverpool’s blue half.
