After such a troubling start to the new season for Everton, there is not one sole person who can be blamed for so many mistakes.
In their opening-day defeat to Brighton and Hove Albion, Ashley Young bore plenty of the guilt for his rash red card. Then, against Tottenham Hotspur, nobody was at the races.
Sean Dyche was largely blamed for his lack of substitutes in their collapse against AFC Bournemouth, before many more guilty parties came into vision as they copied their miserable feat against Aston Villa too.
The manager has to change something, naturally, and tonight’s Carabao Cup game against Southampton represents the perfect chance to practise that against Premier League opposition without the pressure of it being an actual Premier League match.
With that in mind, perhaps there’s one particularly bold call that he could make to try and shock a star man into action.
Sean Dyche must make bold call for Carabao Cup game vs Southampton
Normally, when form is so dire, the Toffees can rely on one or two of their bigger names to step up and pull them out of a hole.
In the past, it has been Richarlison and Abdoulaye Doucoure, with Jordan Pickford a consistently quality asset to have in goal throughout.
However, when that consistency goes missing, it seems like everything else just falls apart.
With that in mind, perhaps Dyche could seek to employ a similar tactic to one that Carlo Ancelotti used, benching Pickford after a poor run to remind him that his position is not cemented.
Joao Virginia or Asmir Begovic would mark more than capable stand-ins whilst the 30-year-old stews on the bench. Hopefully it might provide the impetus needed to help him recapture that spark which has seen him win the club’s Player of the Season award three years running.
Jordan Pickford might need that kick to recapture Everton form
Pickford was, and still is despite a rocky run of form, one of the best goalkeepers in the Premier League.
Boasting a unique blend of shot-stoping excellence alongside his mastery with the ball at his feet, there are few goalkeepers as adept at pinging long balls with such accuracy.
It is this well-rounded solidity which has also seen him grow into a mainstay for the national team too, with journalist Phil Murphy once branding the former Sunderland man as ‘irreplaceable’ for England.
That is a notion echoed throughout Goodison Park too, with Pickford a key ingredient in a backline that kept the second-most clean sheets and conceded the fourth-least goals in the Premier League.
A few high-profile errors, namely allowing Heung-min Son to snag the ball off him as they were hammered by Spurs, as well as an all-around lack of confidence, have seen his stock stumble somewhat.
Some reports are even suggesting that Dyche could sell Pickford if his form doesn’t improve.
Perhaps a very brief spell out of the side, just to prove he is not untouchable, might benefit all involved. That could start tonight.
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