While the problems at Everton run far deeper than whoever is occupying the manager’s office, Frank Lampard could still have got more from the playing resources at his disposal. Across his time in charge of the club, only Southampton averaged fewer points-per-game among the 17 ever-present sides in the Premier League.
This was no fluke, as the Blues’ underlying numbers told a similar tale. In every single one of their 10 away league matches this season, Everton amassed a lower expected goal total than their hosts, to the tune of 1.2 per game on average. It was little better at Goodison Park, with only Nottingham Forest and Crystal Palace having a worse xG figure than the home side by more than 0.1 in their matches there.
As much as the Everton squad is deeply unbalanced, it was not cheap to assemble. In nine of their 15 games against clubs from outside the Premier League’s established ‘big six’, the Blues had the more expensive starting XI (once transfer inflation is taken into account). To only take 13 points from these games asks very serious questions of the manager.
