For the umpteenth season in a row, Everton look set to battle it out towards the bottom of the Premier League table.
The Toffees have been stuck in this malaise for far too long now, and there are a number of problems at Goodison Park at the moment.
One man who knows all too well about the problems at Everton is Sam Allardyce.
Big Sam, of course, spent time as Everton’s manager during the 2017/18 season, and Allardyce believes that one of the problems he faced on Merseyside is still present seven years later.
Indeed, speaking on the No Tippy Tappy Football Podcast, Allardyce claimed that Everton have a serious problem in terms of scoring goals, claiming that the Merseyside club have never truly replaced Romelu Lukaku.
Lukaku was incredible during his time at Everton, and Allardyce believes the Toffees are still missing the Belgian.
Romelu Lukaku of Everton celebrates after scoring a goal to make it 3-1 during the Premier League match between Everton and Burnley at Goodison Par...
Photo by Robbie Jay Barratt – AMA/Getty Images
Everton are still missing Romelu Lukaku
Allardyce shared his verdict on Everton and their problems at the moment.
Big Sam says that goals are a big problem at Everton, claiming that the club have never managed to replace Romelu Lukaku.
“Sean has always been good, look, Everton have had a lack of goals since I went, even before I went. They sold Lukaku and the goals had gone, they never replaced him. They’ve tried and tried and tried. It looked like Calvert-Lewin would be the answer for a while, until the injuries, now it looks like he can’t hit the net regularly. Without the team scoring enough goals, it will always be a struggle.”
Everton’s top scorers since selling Romelu Lukaku
Allardyce says that Everton have a serious issue in terms of scoring goals, and he’s not wrong.
Everton are the joint-lowest goalscorers in the Premier League this season, scoring just 10 goals in 13 games, and this issue goes back a long way.
Indeed, Everton’s list of top scorers since Romelu Lukaku’s departure makes for grim reading.
Season Top scorer Number of goals
2017/18 Wayne Rooney 10
2018/19 Gylfi Sigurdsson/Richarlison 13
2019/20 Richarlison/Dominic Calvert-Lewin 13
2020/21 Dominic Calvert-Lewin 16
2021/22 Richarlison 10
2022/23 Dwight McNeil 7
2023/24 Dominic Calvert-Lewin/Abdoulaye Doucoure 7
Only one Everton player has hit double figures in terms of goals in the last three years, and Richarlison has since left the club.
As Allardyce says, at one point, Dominic Calvert-Lewin looked like he was the real deal. However, Calvert-Lewin’s form has been poor for a while now, and Everton are, once again, left lacking a goal threat.
Goals win games, and since Lukaku left the club, Everton haven’t had a player who can reliably put the ball in the net.
Frustratingly, Moise Kean is in the form of his life at Fiorentina at the moment after leaving Everton, while Neal Maupay has been playing very well for Marseille this season after leaving Sean Dyche’s side.
Everton certainly need to find a new goalscorer if they have any ambitions of moving up the league table.
As for Lukaku, the striker joined Napoli this summer for £30m, and he has nine goal contributions in 12 league games so far in Serie A this season.
Related Posts