MANCHESTER, ENGLAND - DECEMBER 1: Empty seats in the away end as Everton fans leave early during the Premier League match between Manchester United FC and Everton FC at Old Trafford on December 1, 2024 in Manchester, England. (Photo by Robbie Jay Barratt - AMA/Getty Images)
The empty seats in the away end well before the final whistle said everything about Everton and their miserable 4-0 defeat at Manchester United (Image: Robbie Jay Barratt - AMA/Getty Images)
On the final whistle Sean Dyche turned to the away end, lifted his hands above his head and clapped. His applause was greeted by a sea of empty red seats. Everton’s loyal away following had long abandoned hope at Old Trafford.
Most had already left midway through the second half after watching a dismal collapse that added fuel to the fears their side is heading into another fight for survival. The early departures were a poignant act. Frustration is starting to give way to anger but more than anything this is a fanbase overcome with exhaustion.
The message from inside Everton since The Friedkin Group agreed a deal to buy the club from Farhad Moshiri is that stability is prized above anything else while paperwork, contracts and regulatory hurdles are completed.
That is a stance that is becoming increasingly difficult to maintain after another chastening day for a club that is limping towards the new era that is so close yet, somehow, feels a long way off.
Dyche was keen to point to his side having lost just once in eight Premier League games heading into this match. It was a run that masked worrying signs, however, from the two wins in 13 fixtures to the failures in front of goal - the Blues have not scored since October and their run is set to become harder, not easier. The cracks are becoming harder to paper over.
If Everton cannot score goals then they cannot afford to lose their stubbornness at the back, or the resilience that has been key to the team's best times under Dyche, who has led the club through adversity against the odds before. On Sunday afternoon, it lost both.
The Blues boss could point to misfortune being the root of his side entering the break two goals down. He would have a case - Everton started this match well and for 30 minutes looked relatively solid while posing a threat on the counter attack.
But then the world caved in. Marcus Rashford ran onto a Bruno Fernandes corner and Jarrad Branthwaite diverted his shot beyond Jordan Pickford for a lead the hosts did not deserve. Minutes later, Branthwaite was at fault as the ball was stolen from him, allowing Fernandes to play in Joshua Zirkzee for the goal that took this match beyond the visitors.
Whatever was said at the break did not work. If bad luck characterised the disappointment of the first half, the second 45 minutes was nothing short of shambolic.
Dyche had turned to Beto in his hunt for goals and in the seconds after the break Pickford launched a long ball in his direction. The forward, not as well suited to the aerial game as Dominic Calvert-Lewin, was outnumbered and after Everton lost the second ball, Zirkzee swept Amad behind the away defence and he fed Rashford. Any hopes of an unlikely comeback were shattered.
Perhaps the best indication of the Blues' plight was the fourth goal. Amad, again causing trouble with his pace and skill, somehow managed to carry the ball through James Tarkowski on his way to creating another for Zirkzee. Had the home side wanted more, they could well have got them. They did not need to try. Tarkowski, the captain, was later replaced by Jake O’Brien as this match meandered to a conclusion.
As the game went through the motions, Everton failed to improve - save for the introduction of Nathan Patterson at right-back for his first senior minutes of the season. The two dangerous balls he crossed in - the second met with a diving header from substitute Calvert-Lewin that he nodded straight at Andre Onana - only added more questions about the lack of opportunities he has been presented with since his recovery from a hamstring injury.
When Patterson was brought on in the 73rd minute the withdrawal of Ashley Young sparked a standing ovation from the home end for their former player. The away end was more than half empty by this point and the few who remained at the final whistle met the end of this game with boos. It was not tough to understand why.
The Blues entered this game with a growing reputation of being a soft touch, the team a troubled club would want to play for a shot of confidence. That statistic of one defeat in eight favoured so heavily by Dyche and some of his players in recent weeks featured, in the past few matches, a first league win of the season for Southampton and a first away point and first clean sheet for Brentford. The challenge on Sunday was to avoid becoming Ruben Amorim’s first Premier League win after his team could only earn a point at Ipswich Town in his first game at Man Utd. Once again, Everton failed.
Wolverhampton Wanderers, themselves in need of a good result after a hammering on Saturday, visit on Wednesday and the Blues cannot afford to be in the same generous spirit under the lights at Goodison Park.
The mood at the end was a stark contrast to the opening half an hour, when those away supporters were encouraged as Everton traded blows with the hosts.
In a positive start, the Blues were led by the player who was always going to make headlines at Old Trafford. For 30 minutes Branthwaite was building toward a man-of-the-match performance, a statement display at a club that had failed in a high-profile but botched pursuit of the England international in the summer.
United threatened through their wing backs, Amad getting beyond Vitalii Mykolenko to pull the ball back to the edge of the box but watch in despair as no team-mate ran on to meet the chance. He later burst in at an angle to meet a Zirkzee pass but sliced his shot horribly.
Amorim’s experiment at the back was as much a weakness as it was a strength, however. Everton were initially organised and sought to exploit the space vacated by Amad and Diogo Dalot and some success. Dwight McNeil looked set to break through on goal with one early counter but slowed as he entered the box, allowing defenders to recover. Jesper Lindstrom, on his fourth consecutive start, fired one shot at Onana and whipped a dangerous ball that would not have reached the goalkeeper’s arms had a teammate gambled on a near-post run.
The adventure in Everton’s play was based on two well organised partnerships at their core, with Branthwaite and Idrissa Gueye both effective at disrupting the home side and sparking moves forward. Branthwaite’s first major involvement was to come across and clear the danger when Dalot was played in behind Tarkowski.
He became a force on the ball as well though, willingly receiving it and helping his defence to push up the pitch. His side’s best chance came when he bravely fed McNeil through the middle, bypassing the United central midfield and allowing McNeil to play Beto in on goal. The striker, called up amid Calvert-Lewin’s struggle for goals, rounded Onana but could only find the side netting under pressure from a tight angle.
Shortly after, Branthwaite skipped beyond Fernandes before forcing Zirkzee to haul him down as he threatened to enter opposition territory and it felt as though the 22-year-old was laying the foundations for a game that would lead his former suitors to once again question why they had not done more to try and sign him.
But then disaster struck, not just for Branthwaite, but for Everton and Dyche. At the end of this match Dyche questioned the claim his side collapsed. Denial will not solve the issues facing his team right now. Worryingly, the problems are growing.