Everton began 2019 in dismal fashion with a 1-0 defeat to Leicester City.
A tepid New Year’s Day encounter saw little chances of note for either side in the opening 45 minutes of a game which turned on a moment of Blues’ misfortune.
Theo Walcott and Michael Keane’s catalogue of errors allowed Ricardo Pereira to tee up Jamie Vardy for the visitors’ decisive opener in the 58th minute.
Here were the key talking points from Goodison Park:
Meet the new boss: same as the old one?
Each of Everton’s last three managers borrowed traits from their predecessor.
Roberto Martinez emulated David Moyes’ rise and fall while Ronald Koeman was unable to deliver on his and the Catalan’s shared aim of the Champions League.
Many hoped the buck would stop with Marco Silva; that he would be distinguishable from Sam Allardyce’s short-live yet torturous tenure.
Current statistics would beg to differ. Defeat to Leicester saw the Blues fare little better after 21 league games this season than under the one-time England boss.
One less goal may have been conceded and five more scored, but the common denominator between Silva and Allardyce’s respective tenures is seven wins.
The current Everton boss needs to prove that he is not the same as the old one.
Time for a new Blues’ resolution
Some New Year’s resolutions may have fallen flat among those enduring Goodison’s early kick-off, but there is one that its hosts must adhere to.
Silva’s side have only won one of their previous eight Premier League outings and more alarmingly failed to keep a clean sheet in any of them.
Changes both stylistic and personnel failed to remedy shutout stigma, giving rise to suggestions of a psychological hangover from the Merseyside derby defeat.
But the current indiscipline within the backline predates last month’s crushing blow at Anfield; cracks have appeared at regular intervals this season.
Shoring up a porous defence must be high on Silva’s list of priorities.
Kenny comeback calls time on Coleman
By now, Jonjoe Kenny must be sick of the sight of Leicester.
His last Everton appearance came in October’s corresponding fixture at the King Power Stadium, where he did exactly not cover himself in glory.
But three months of kicking his heels primed the Kirkdale-born defender to seize his latest first-team opportunity with both hands against the same opponent.
Rarely did Kenny put a foot wrong when taking on Claude Puel’s side. Ricardo Pereira, in particular, continually found himself bested down the right-hand side.
That commanding performance should have given unused substitute Seamus Coleman food for thought. A changing of the guard may not be too far away.
Desperation may force Brands’ hand
Marcel Brands recently attempted to harness expectations about Everton’s business during the current transfer window.
Clubs who dip into the January market, he claimed, only do so ‘because they are in trouble’. He may be forced to eat those words in light of recent results.
A lack of firepower should be on the to-do list for Everton’s director of football, with established strikers Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Cenk Tosun both toiling.
The ‘false nine’ approach has similarly backfired with Richarlison and Gyfli Sigurdsson also failing to produce anything tangible against the Foxes.
Thrashing an under-fire Burnley on Boxing Day merely masked a multitude of sins. Everton remain as desperate for game-changers as the rest of Europe.