Howard Kendall: Everton FC’s Marouane Fellaini needs to maintain level of consistency and not drop below it

Everton FC, Marouane Fellaini

I ALWAYS used to tell my players they needed to set a level of consistency in regards to their performances during games.

Now and again good players will rise above their normal levels and be outstanding, and sometimes they will just be consistent and thorough without being so eye-catching.

What I never wanted to see was for them to fall below that level of consistency – that’s when I’d let them have it.

That’s what happened with Marouane Fellaini against West Brom.

The lad was outstanding against Manchester United and very good at Villa Park, but he dipped below his level of consistency at the Hawthorns and Everton need to prevent players allowing that to happen too often if they want to finish high up the table this season.

Hopefully it was a one-off. What made it harder for Fellaini was missing a sitter.

You can have a dodgy afternoon and fly under the radar to an extent, but when you miss a glaring chance like that, unfortunately you bring the attention on yourself.

It was a perfect opportunity at 0-0 and if Everton had scored then, it could have produced a totally different outcome on the day.

Overall it was a disappointing result but Everton did create chances and paid for a bit of sloppy defending. I’ve heard Sylvain Distin criticised for his part in Shane Long’s opening goal, but he shouldn’t take the blame alone.

I believe Phil Jagielka should have been across the area quicker. Sometimes you mark players, sometimes you mark space depending on the situation. Jags didn’t mark the space and if he’d been a yard or two across the goal he could’ve cut out Odemwingie’s cross. It’s a minor detail but minor details can be the difference in results.