Frank Lampard has warned Everton’s players they must improve if they are to avoid another relegation battle.
Goodison Park’s continued Premier League status was only secured in the penultimate match of the previous season with a 3-2 win over Crystal Palace.
But the Blues’ preparations for the new campaign have suffered a nosedive with defeats to Arsenal and a four-goal humiliation by Minnesota United.
And Lampard is cautioning his squad of their need to raise standards or risk a repeat of the fraught run-in they endured during the final weeks of May.
He said: “The players have to work and understand we were in a relegation battle for a big portion of last season.
“We had an amazing night [against Palace] and an amazing run…but, as soon as that finished, I put it to bed very quickly.
“So the players have to put it to bed as well, because we were in that fight for a reason.
“And if we don’t want to be in that situation again, they have to better and I have to be better.
“As a club, it [the Minnesota defeat] reinforced the situation in terms of what we need to do with the squad, because it has to be stronger than what we saw tonight.”