Lessons still not learned

THE FORMER EVERTON DEFENDER TACKLES THE BIG GOODISON ISSUES

- michaelBALL

LIKE a lot of us, I went to Hill Dickinson Stadium on Sunday afternoon full of hope.

The win at Nottingham Forest in midweek was an impressive one given the number of players David Moyes was missing.

The togetherness of those players still available was clear to see on the pitch and, as a unit, they pulled off a good win that set Everton up for a big week of home fixtures.

Like a lot of us, then, I left the new ground on Sunday night feeling frustrated and disappointed.

Brentford played well and we all know just how much talent is missing from the squad through injury and due to the loss of Idrissa Gueye and Iliman Ndiaye to the Africa Cup of Nations. But a lot went wrong.

I think it is fair to say the whole club had an off-day. From the sound system problems that made the buildup to kickoff so strange to the players and Moyes, this was a collective nightmare.

That can happen and it has done so a few times this season - this side has taken two steps forwards then one step back on a couple of occasions.

We have also been here before, with bad home losses to Tottenham Hotspur and Newcastle United.

What concerned me about this defeat was the failure to learn lessons from some of those previous games. There are weaknesses in this side that are being exposed by teams because they can see the problems Everton have.