Everton suffered their first defeat in their Premier League opener against Fulham at Goodison Park on Saturday afternoon, and Sean Dyche will surely be feeling frustrated with the 1-0 loss.
The Toffees are looking to improve upon their poor form in the top-flight last season which saw them only saved from relegation on the final day, but it looks like lessons haven't been learned and there is still much more room for improvement.
How did Everton get on vs Fulham?
Despite having less possession (41%) than their visitors, Everton had more shots in total (19), big chances created (4), counter-attacks (5), tackles won (13) and interceptions completed (13), however it wasn't enough to take any points from the clash.
In the first half, Everton started strong without seeing much of the ball, however, when they did manage to win the ball they were progressive in parts but just couldn't finish any of their chances before the half-time whistle was blown.
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In the second half, Arnaut Danjuma made his debut on the blue side of Merseyside when he replaced Neal Maupay in the 72nd minute, but the jubilance of seeing a new attacking threat unleashed at Goodison Park was short-lived when Bobby Decorvoda-Reid found the back of the net just one minute later, giving Fulham the lead away from home.
Dyche's side were unable to deliver a much-needed comeback to take a point from their opening game and at the full-time whistle found themselves suffering a fate all too familiar for the home support.
How did Neal Maupay play vs Fulham?
Whilst Dyche has a lot to work on in building important and effective connections between the players on the pitch, the Everton boss is not the only person to point the blame at as Maupay failed once again to deliver any quality or threat in front of goal.
Over his 72 minute disasterclass, the 26-year-old Frenchman lost 100% of his air and ground duels combined (0/5), had just 21 touches of the ball (fewer than the 36 of goalkeeper Jordan Pickford and the 68 of Bernd Leno) and completed just eight passes all game.
To rub further salt into the wounds for the striker, he also missed two big chances and was dribbled past once, before being hooked and replaced by loanee Danjuma.
Maupay has scored just one goal over the last 12 months in all competitions, so patience is understandably wearing thin for the supporters on his presence in the starting line-up and his uninspiring performance today will only further frustrations.
There is no doubt that Dyche needs to re-evaluate the attacking threat he is currently deploying, as Dominic Calvert-Lewin was unavailable for selection again due to fitness issues and Dwight McNeil is set to be out of action for several weeks due to an ankle injury.
New signing Youssef Chermiti must replace Maupay in the centre-forward role as soon as he is available to start, after securing a move to Merseyside and penning a four-year deal at the back end of the week.
Whilst today's result may put pressure on the Everton hierarchy to add even more new additions to bolster the quality in the final third, as it could be a long and challenging campaign for Dyche and his squad if things don't improve imminently.