Everton run out of words as cruel irony emerges after West Ham defeat

Earlier in the week, Everton fans were treated to the same old interviews they've heard countless times. Whenever backs are against the wall, you suppose there's only so much players can say when they're routinely put up to talk in the build-up to matches.

Mason Holgate and Alex Iwobi were the particular players in question in the days leading up to Sunday's trip to the London Stadium. They spoke of attitude, commitment, the club's dire situation and a desire to do better.

The response from fans? Well, they just wanted to see the effects on the pitch. Words mean nothing when you're involved in a scrap such as this one. It's the battling on the pitch that really counts, the ability to pull together and finally show any semblance of the quality Evertonians know the majority of these players have.

Those are all very important qualities to possess, but Frank Lampard's side found out against West Ham that it's not the be-all-and-end-all. The fact is, for the majority of those who took to the pitch in royal blue on Sunday, you couldn't fault the work-rate or commitment that they showed for the cause.

In fact, that was arguably the best that Everton have actually played away from home in a long time. That in itself is an absolutely damning fact when you think about it though.

Because the ugly truth is that the result was, painfully, the same as it's ever been. And the flow of the match was just as frustratingly predictable as it has been in the past.

There's only so many times that the same points can be made by the same people, even in these post-match articles. If you're a regular reader, you probably know exactly what the next paragraphs are going to be about - because you've read it all before.

Holgate and Iwobi's quotes