Everton endured another miserable outing as Tottenham ran out 4-0 winners.

The home side found themselves ahead inside 30 minutes when lax defending from Cuco Martina and Phil Jagielka allowed Son Heung-min to tap in from close range.

A second would come early in the second half at Wembley, when Harry Kane produced a carbon copy of Son’s strike from a seemingly offside position.

The England striker would record his second of the evening against the Blues not long after when Eric Dier picked him out with a ball from the right.

Christian Eriksen made the result a more comfortable one when he struck past Jordan Pickford following a fine sweeping move from Son and Dele Alli.

Here were the key talking points from Wembley:

Blues need a defensive reset

 

Everton have now conceded eight goals in their last five league games and a total of 38 across the whole campaign.

That’s just six shy of the amount they conceded in the entirety of previous season.

To put the tally into further context, they have now conceded more goals than six of the bottom seven teams in the Premier League table.

All four of Tottenham’s goals were as simple as they come and the scoreline could easily have been double the 4-0 scoreline it ended up as.

The defensive solidity that Sam Allardyce brought it at the beginning of last month has been quickly forgotten.

Allardyce has talked often on how Everton need to improve going forward but if they can’t stop shipping goals at the other end then doing so will be in vain.

Relegation fears far from over

 

Allardyce was brought in solely to ensure that Everton stay clear of relegation.

A quick start to life in the Goodison Park hot seat meant he was on course to ensure just that. Indeed, heads were starting to look up rather than down.

This disastrous run of three straight defeats in the league and five without a win means that shouldn’t be happening anymore.

Everton may sit ninth in the table but only seven points separate them from a place in the bottom three. They are only 10 ponts adrift of bottom side Swansea.

With the middle of the Premier League table as compacted as it is, they cannot afford to stop looking over their shoulders.

Safety is far from guaranteed.

Left-back must be a priority this month

 

It was suggested earlier this week that Everton had made signing a left-back a priority in January before Theo Walcott became available.

According to Allardyce, the Arsenal forward is currently the only man the Toffees are pursuing at this moment – but that would be a mistake.

It is undeniable that this team desperately needs pace but a left-back should be of greater significance, especially after Cuco Martina’s latest outing.

The Curacao international is nowhere near good enough in the position and Leighton Baines is very much in the latter stages of his career at Goodison.

Finding a long-term replacement should be the top of Everton’s priorities for this month, not securing Walcott’s signature.

Continually using Martina in the position would be foolish in the extreme.

Tosun leaves a good first impression

 

To say the pressure is on Cenk Tosun to succeed with Everton would be an understatement.

Everton desperately need the former Besiktas frontman to hit the ground running and justify his £27 million fee and the current signs appear promising at least.

A goal may have eluded him on his debut but Evertonians would have been impressed by their new striker’s start to life in a royal blue shirt.

Tosun was lively throughout, running the channels; pressuring Spurs centre backs and even putting a tackle in from time to time.

Most satisfying was his excellent first touch and ability to link the play between midfield and attack, something Wayne Rooney nearly profited from on several occasions.

January signings are often more miss than hit, but Tosun’s strong start suggests this one could be the latter.