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Liverpool Echo
Liverpool Echo
Sport
Michael Ball

What Everton must do next after baffling VAR call as major area for improvement identified

Once again VAR comes into question during an Everton game.

The tackle from Aleksandar Mitrovic wasn’t that late and it was very quick - but it is a sore one.

But what really frustrates me is we have seen less hurtful tackles go against us. Even going as far back as the time Phil Jagielka was sent off against Wolves.

READ MORE: James Tarkowski offers Conor Coady Everton insight as 'aggressive' Aleksandar Mitrovic point made

READ MORE: What Jordan Pickford is doing 'behind the scenes' to improve Everton defensive record

It is year on year and obviously we had Allan against Newcastle United last season. We have had so many incidents worse than that tackle. That is what really frustrates Evertonians. It seems like the whole world is against us at times.

But I don’t think he has meant it. He has been beaten to the ball by Idrissa Gueye and he has stamped on him. It is a nasty one.

I probably think it is a yellow card, but what is really frustrating is how many times in this column I have spoken about VAR. The incidents and the consistency.

The PGMOL go into the clubs before the season starts and they look at incidents that have happened the previous season and explain to managers and players that if this incident happens now it will be a red card, not a yellow.

And, as Frank Lampard said in his press conference, that tackle ticked all the boxes for what a red card would be this season. That’s the reason for the frustration.

And a red card would have totally changed the outcome of the game. Fulham would have had to change their tactics and we could have got more belief.

These decisions are just not going our way - and it is not the first time this season this has happened to us. It is frustrating for everyone involved.

We are in a tough league and fine margins win you games and we are just not getting that luck. The small calls aren’t going in Everton’s favour.

Darren England was the man on VAR duty. He has history with the Blues and some of the calls he has made seem to go against us, for one reason or another.

And it is not just Everton. The decisions made by match officials are baffling a lot of people in the football world. No-one seems to know the rules. It is all over the place from the very top.

The consistency is rotten and in some cases it is gone. And that is what leaves everyone frustrated. Can the club do more? I think so. I think the club should ask questions.

They did last season and they should still be on top of them and not let them off lightly. Not just asking questions, they should be seeking explanations.

We don’t want to use not getting decisions as excuses, but if you go back to the Jose Mourinho days, top managers in general, they want every inch and millimetre possible to win football games.

The Premier League is a difficult league and we are in a transitional period and we need every inch to help us try and get maximum points.

But the club, I feel, should come out and do a lot more. The officials seem to feel we are a nice touch as a football club. It feels to me like they feel that if they make the wrong decision there is no desire to cry about it outside the Everton bubble.

But if it is the Super Sunday game, or a match involving the Big Six, they feel scared to make big decisions. The whole thing just leaves you very frustrated.

Everton need to show more hunger going forward

After our best performance of the season against Crystal Palace, the hope was that we could take the confidence we showed at Goodison Park into the clash with Fulham.

And I thought we actually showed that confidence in the way we came out of the traps. We haven’t looked that sharp and showed that sort of intensity for a while.

But unfortunately we appeared to take our foot off the gas and very quickly had Jordan Pickford to thank for the game remaining goalless.

So many times we got into the final third, but not for the first time this season, our final ball was really, really lacking.

I said it last week in my column, when you get half a yard out wide, whip the ball into the box, and if no-one is there, they will be there next time.

And unfortunately for us, Demarai Gray put a great ball in and Dominic Calvert-Lewin wasn’t sharp enough. He should have put it away.

It was his bread and butter. He should be breaking his neck to get across to that ball. There seems to be no real hunger from the forward players or the midfield runners to break their neck to get in the box.

The likes of Erling Haaland and Gabriel Jesus are constantly breaking their necks to get into the box to try and score. We seem to be ambling around.

It appears to me that we are hoping the ball falls our way, not breaking our necks to make sure it does. That aspect of our play was really disappointing.

The fans were fantastic and made a lot of noise. Ultimately, we should be content with coming away with a point following a really poor second-half performance.

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