‘Chaotic’ – Andy Townsend drops Goodison Park verdict after ‘Slow’ Everton v Palace

Andy Townsend has delivered his verdict on the impact of playing at Goodison Park after Everton drew 1-1 with Crystal Palace on Monday 19 February.

With a win very much needed against the Eagles, the Toffees experienced a disappointing first half, with an off-tempo flow and the clinical nature of their play not up to par.

Andre Ayew opened the scoring, much to the frustration of Goodison Park, before Amadou Onana sent the crowd wild with five minutes of the game remaining.

Speaking live via talkSPORT on Tuesday (20 February, 6:06am), Townsend said: “The second half was much better, once they started getting the ball in the box and getting in there amongst it, trying to make something out of nothing, then all of a sudden they look a good team.

“That’s always been the case at Goodison Park; it’s always the way. When you go there and they’re coming at you from all angles, that’s Goodison at its best.

“When it’s slow and predictable, it doesn’t work. They’re at their best when foot to the floor, chaotic, and difficult to handle.”

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Toffees fans will be disappointed with just a single point against fellow strugglers Palace, and Sean Dyche should be too.

Although Everton have climbed out of the relegation zone, going level on points with Luton Town, they still remain winless in the Premier League since the 2-0 victory over Burnley in December.

Once again, Everton are involved in a third-successive relegation battle, with the 10-point deduction due to a Profit and Sustainability breach causing a lot of problems at Goodison Park.

The only way the Merseyside club are going to survive a potential drop to the Championship is by depending on the fans at their home stadium, with Evertonians acting as a 12th man.

However, the fans can only get behind the players if they perform well on the pitch, and that was not evident against Palace until late on in the match on Monday 19 February.