Some of the positive posts in this thread are laughable.
The age-old problems are very real and every Evertonian should be concerned.
We have lost THREE ON THE BOUNCE........
If any other big clubs had done the same there would be huge questions to ask of their manager.
However, we have Carlo who is the best manager in the world so he has nothing to answer for......
When any of our previous managers had a similar situation they were heavily criticized.
There are a few factors, in my opinion, that have caused this slump:
1) James is no longer playing those divine through balls and setting up Richie or Calvert with clear cut chances. In the first 5 or 6 games, these world-class passes scared the opposition and introduced uncertainty in their play. It also bred confidence in the rest of the offensive-minded players. There was a good balance. As long as Hamez pulled the strings the defensive midfielders could get on with their jobs. It was tremendous to watch, to be honest. Last time I'd seen this was during Roberto's first season.
2) Pickford's calamity goalkeeping drained the back four of confidence.
3) The loss of Richarlison has also drained the team of confidence. His persistent aggression always moves the ball upfield. This prevented silly back and side passing from lesser players. He was also great at tracking back. Tremendous energy. This is so important in our league.
4) Losing Digne, James, Richie and Coleman (the very players vital to providing assists and influencing games) were a hammer blow. The understudies are either downright poor or need a run of games to build some form.
5) Carlo has not yet settled on his centre mid pairing and it's showing. He quite rightly sees every one of their weaknesses and so is still experimenting. We literally have 5 centre-mids now, if you include Braithwaite. We are leaking literally 2 or more goals a game. Carlo is the best manager in the world and he is Italian!!!
6) I think the Southampton game destabilised our players. We started confidently but deep into the game our players knew that they had the beating of us. They were out passing us at times. It was disturbing to watch. You could see the Everton ROT returning. It's like a virus and seems to last for extended periods of a season.
7) After Gordon and Nkonkou's great performances in the Caribou Cup, I fully expected them to be blooded into the team when injuries occurred. Carlo has not done this and it disappoints me. We need hungry understudies who can get forward when Digne and Richie are out.
8) We saw this shocking run occur at the business end of last season. If we keep losing in this manner the buck should and will always stop with the manager. When Richy is back I'm expecting one or two results to swing our way. If not then it will be a very long season.......
In summary, Carlo needs to work out, when James isn't producing or absent, why the likes of Doucore, Siggy, Bernard and Iwobi can't assist and score some goals for us? They are paid sensational wages and are not earning their value.