Chance after chance squandered and a struggle to get the ball over the opposition’s line, Everton are finding it hard to stick the ball in the net.
With just ten goals from ten Premier League games, the Toffees are languishing in 16th in the Premier League table.
Dominic Calvert-Lewin has become more clinical, though slowly and not at the rate needed to lead the line, Moise Kean is a Golden Boy nominee with a huge reputation and £27m price tag on his young shoulders while Cenk Tosun scores goals for Turkey but has played just 40 minutes for the Blues so far this season.
And therein lies the problem. Everton and manager Marco Silva aren’t utilising the frontline effectively and instead are wasting clear potential and talent.
On Tuesday, in the Carabao Cup win over Watford, Kean was finally handed a start but was deployed on the right.
He didn’t have the best of halves and was subsequently hooked at the break.
For a club in the bottom half of the table, after a faltering start to the season, it seems bizarre Everton wouldn’t utilise the qualities of a centre forward who scored goals for European giants Juventus last term.
Silva seems to have continued an obsession by every Blues boss this century - rigidly sticking to one centre forward in a 4-2-3-1 formation at all costs.
David Moyes needed to solidify Everton as he took them from perennial relegation battlers to European participants, Roberto Martinez stuck with the same set-up but put an attacking spin on it and Ronald Koeman followed the same idea - as did Sam Allardyce.
So too Silva, but it’s time he goes two up top to save the Toffees’ season, and just importantly for him, his job.
It’s true that Everton have never replaced Romelu Lukaku but they boast three strikers who can certainly score goals at Premier League level.
They would certainly be useful working in a duo as opposed to alone and isolated.
Calvert-Lewin is excellent at holding the ball up and bringing the midfield into the game but won’t score every week, Cenk Tosun is clever and strong but doesn’t boast electric pace while Kean is exciting but raw.
Silva must play to his striker’s strengths, for they have the qualities to complement each other. As a lone frontman, they can play, in a two, they can thrive.
Kean, for example, shows a directness for goal and a natural ability with the ball at his feet. Calvert-Lewin can be a perfect foil, shielding balls before playing him in and winning flicks ons for him to race onto.
Tosun, too, showed on Tuesday, his eye for a pass, playing a lovely, well-timed diagonal ball to Richarlison who duly scored after the Watford defence had been cut in half.
Such is the modern way, one stiker with inverted wingers, a No 10 and marauding full-backs is the way, it is the Pep Guardiola gospel.
Though it’s not working for plenty of sides, mainly Everton.
Lucas Digne and Seamus Coleman get plenty of crosses in but often only have a sole target to hit. It’s easy pickings for the opposition defence. Richarlison, Bernard and Alex Iwobi also only have one outlet - the Blues creative juices are being dried up and the build-up play is still slow and laboured.
Silva has insisted his Everton side struggled to impress for the one half they deployed 4-4-2 in the 1-0 defeat by Sheffield United, though those 45 minutes were filled with panic - three substitutes later and Theo Walcott was playing as a wing-back - so it’s perhaps an unfair example to use.
Everton's management team must be bold and be different, they must attack with two.
