According to Emery, it was a game of two halves. It is the manager’s job to put a gloss on a performance, even a bad one and that is exactly what Unai Emery has done today.
The manager has spoken about being consistent defensively but not so much offensively in the first half and the opposite in the second half.
Speaking after the game he said: “The two halves were very different. First half we were consistent defensively but didn’t create a lot of attacking moments and they scored from a throw-in.
“In the second half we were better offensively but defensively there were more chances for them. We needed a change in the attacking third but I didn’t want to lose the balance defensively like we lost it.
“I’m as positive as I was before because I knew the game was going to be difficult.”
That is all fine but the problem I have is not what he has said, it was what he did not say and that is the game was lost in the midfield.
If you do not control the middle of the park then you cannot provide a decent service to the front-line and you heap pressure on the defence and that is exactly what happened and that is a worry.
Everton clearly bossed the centre and that Emery has not identified that as an issue tells me that we are going to face the same problems we did today in our future away games.
It is one thing being dominant at home but if you cannot show the strength and creativity required in another teams backyard then it is no surprise when you lose.
I do not expect Emery to come out and criticise the players, not at all, but at least be honest and admit what the problem was and try to offer up a solution.
The bottom line is Emery has not reassured me today.