Everton’s poor run of form continued as they were comfortably beaten by Leicester City.

A slow start haunted the Blues once again when a swift counter-attack saw Demarai Gray pick out Riyad Mahrez, who in turn set up Jamie Vardy to tap in.

The deficit was extended not long afterwards at the King Power Stadium when Jonjoe Kenny miskicked Gray’s curling pass into the back of his own net.

David Unsworth’s side were unable to respond in a result which left them sitting in the Premier League’s bottom three.

Here were the key talking points from the King Power:

Everton are relegation fodder

 

Quite how the situation has become this bad is anyone’s guess but there’s no escaping it – Everton are looking like relegation fodder.

They cannot defend or attack and most of the time are incapable of carrying out simple tasks like passing to one another.

Worryingly, David Unsworth or another manager cannot fix the problems that currently plague the team either quickly or easily.

Whatever way you look at it, Everton are a bad team at this moment in time and it is hard to see where the points are coming from.

This could turn out to be a very long campaign indeed.

Davies needs to learn discipline

 

For all the virtues that make Tom Davies an exciting talent, there is still room for improvement; not least in developing his current lack of discipline.

While this team needs his energy and running, they also need him to learn when and when not to do it.

It is a common occurrence that Davies is caught out of position, leaving the defence exposed.

Against Leicester, it happened time and time again, allowing the pacey Foxes’ front line to run directly at Phil Jagielka and Ashley Williams.

If Davies is to become the top player many are predicting, he needs to learn the discipline that often separates the best midfielders from the average ones.

Rooney loyalty is misguided

 

Two games into his tenure as interim manager and it seems David Unsworth didn’t learn the lessons of his predecessor.

Wayne Rooney may have been scoring the occasional goal for Everton but it is evident to all that have watched his return that things are not going well.

Regardless of what role Rooney plays, he tends to make this team worse rather than improve it. Yet Unsworth has stuck by him, leaving Gylfi Sigurdsson on the bench.

That loyalty to his old friend is admirable but is more of a curse than a blessing. Everton cannot afford sentiment in the situation they find themselves in.

Walsh has to also carry the can

 

When Steve Walsh was drafted in from Leicester, on the back of some exuisite talent-spotting, his remit would have been a simple one; repeat that magic.

Sadly it seems that he has failed because his old side are everything that Everton are not; solid at the back, organised and pacy at the other end of the pitch.

They looked a million miles away from their visitors. It was hard to fathom how the two teams had been so close in the table heading into this game.

If Walsh was supposed to turn Everton into Leicester, he has failed on all counts.

Ronald Koeman has taken the brunt of the blame for everything that has gone wrong at Goodison Park this season but so must its Director of Football now.