Everton suffered their first defeat of the season as West Ham ran out 3-1 winners at Goodison Park.

Despite a positive start, Marco Silva’s side found themselves behind when Andriy Yarmolenko tapped home after Marko Arnautovic had raced clear.

The Ukrainian, a former Blues transfer target, added to his tally not long after when he cut inside from the right wing and curled beyond Jordan Pickford.

Gylfi Sigurdsson offered the hosts renewed hopes of a fightback when he headed home Jonjoe Kenny’s on the stroke of half time.

But a low strike from Arnautovic midway through the second half confirmed all three points for the previously win-less Londoners.

Here were the key talking points from Goodison:

The end of a wasted opportunity

 

When Everton were handed their opening five fixtures of the new Premier League season, they would have been delighted.

After a horror run of fixtures at the beginning of last season set them up for failure, the fixture computer appeared to have been kind this time around.

Marco Silva would have been confident that by the time his side travelled to Manchester United on October 28, they would have had a decent haul of points.

Instead, it is looking very likely that that opportunity will have passed them by.

Defeat to West Ham means they have picked up just six points from fixtures against Wolves, Southampton, Bournemouth, Huddersfield and the Hammers.

These are all fixtures that they should be winning. Admittedly bad fortune has played its part along the way in the form of injuries and suspensions.

But that does not take away from the fact that Everton have passed up a major chance to build a base for the rest of the season.

Midfield must do more

 

When Everton analyse the numerous things that went wrong in this game, the performance of the midfield will be one a major talking point.

Between Morgan Schneiderlin, Idrissa Gueye and Gylfi Sigurdsson, it was hard to pick anyone who could claim they put in a good performance.

Misplaced passes, poor touches and sloppiness were all the order of the day; Gueye was particularly bad, often treating the ball like a hot potato in his eagerness to get rid of it.

What this meant was a comfortable afternoon for West Ham, their own midfield rarely tested and controlling the ball for much of the game.

In turn, Everton’s forward line became almost redundant due to a lack of service.

Silva will not have been impressed. If Everton are to get anywhere with the way he wants to play, the midfield has to step up.

Why can’t the Blues pass?

 

Among the more interesting quotes that Sam Allardyce produced during his reign as Everton manager was one regarding passing.

Following defeat to Watford at the end of February, he claimed ‘you can’t blame me if they don’t pass the ball to each other’.

Silva will have been feeling exactly the same watching this game. Everton have a squad that is completely incapable of passing the ball.

Against the Hammers, it was painfully evident, pretty much every player on the pitch was culpable of gifting possession away regularly with aimless long balls and short passing that can only be described as shocking.

As with the performance of the midfield, it allowed West Ham to control the ball throughout and nullified Everton’s attacking intent on numerous occasions.

An inability to pass the football has been an issue for several managers now and it appears that the current iteration under Silva are committed to it continuing to be one.

Mixed afternoon for young guns

 

As injuries have hit hard in recent weeks, Everton have been forced to turn to their youngsters once again.

It proved to be a mixed afternoon for those involved against the Hammers. Jonjoe Kenny can be pleased with his display at right back.

For the most part, he kept Felipe Anderson quiet and linked up well with Theo Walcott on the right wing on more than one occasion.

It was a performance that showed Everton can be confident the 21-year-old is an adequate replacement while Seamus Coleman recovers from a foot injury.

Unfortunately for fellow U21 graduate Dominic Calvert-Lewin, the opposite proved to be the case. Deployed on the left wing the young striker was largely anonymous.

The biggest concern will have been his inability to hold up the ball with many an Everton attack coming to and courtesy of his unwillingness to get in front of the defender and retain possession.

As displays go his was one he will be keen to forget.