Everton need significant improvement – but backing Moyes is risky business

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A hugely disappointing result, not least for those who were visiting Goodison Park for the last time. Drawing at home to Ipswich Town is sloppy; doing so from 2-0 up is desperate.

That has been a habit in general this season, one of the weirder statistics of the Premier League campaign. Everton have taken a two-goal lead eight times (that is only two fewer than Nottingham Forest), but have failed to win half of those matches: Bournemouth, Aston Villa, Manchester United and Ipswich. Three of those four were at Goodison.

There are reasonable excuses for letting leads slip – you sit back later on games to invite pressure that occasionally you are unable to cope with.

But there are not any excuses to let a two-goal advantage drop away. Add on the 10 points dropped in those circumstances and Everton would be competing with Fulham, Brighton and Brentford in the upper mid-table hopefuls pack.

This may have been viewed by outsiders as a dead rubber, but the next few weeks really do matter for David Moyes. Last week, my colleague Mark Douglas published Everton’s transfer plans for the summer which involve allowing Moyes to overhaul the squad with 13 players potentially leaving. Nobody argues against the need for significant change under the new owners.

But handing Moyes the keys to build a new squad is a risk, no doubt. And the level of players that Everton can attract without overpaying on those who are not fully invested in being there (which is what got them into this mess) is in part dependent upon how they end this season.

Everton have now won one of their last 10 league games and they haven’t won at Goodison since 1 February. They have one more chance to give the old place a fitting send-off, a thank you for the history. But the next few weeks matter for the future, too – Everton could still finish 17th.

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