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Everton losing 5-0 at Spurs would be a bad result at the best of times for the Toffees, and these are definitely not the best of times.

The problems at Goodison Park are starting to look like a very deep stain indeed. On the pitch, Everton have slid into a relegation battle for which they seem in no way prepared, while off it the club’s financial position is even more questionable as a result of becoming deeply embedded with the tainted money of Alisher Usmanov. And while the team’s progress in the FA Cup has so far offered a fig leaf for Frank Lampard since his appointment, such was the nature of his team’s performance at Spurs that he already looks somewhat denuded as a manager.

Everton’s trip to The Tottenham Hotspur Stadium seemed to encapsulate everything that has gone wrong on the pitch. Passive and careless in midfield and easy to carve through defensively, all served with a side order of individual mistakes, they allowed Spurs a 5-0 lead with 35 minutes to play before Antonio Conte decided to take his foot off the accelerator and run down the clock. With an important trip to Old Trafford coming next for Spurs, there seemed little point risking much for a sixth or seventh goal.

Perhaps the most damning aspect of the result from an Everton perspective is that Spurs didn’t even play particularly well. When your (notoriously flaky) opponents aren’t playing brilliantly but still putting