Allardyce's limitations laid bare after Everton's dour derby display

If there were any false illusions that Sam Allardyce was set to lead Everton to a stunning climb up the Premier League table, that optimism swiftly turned to doubt Sunday at Liverpool.

Wayne Rooney's late equaliser from the spot may have papered over the cracks and rescued the squad from certain reproach, but there should be no confusion over the club's potential under Allardyce.

Everton was nothing short of atrocious, and its first-half effort at Anfield was among the worst spells of football this season.

Through 45 minutes, Jordan Pickford led all Everton players with 22 completed passes, and the Toffees' 54 successful balls were six fewer than rigid Liverpool midfield monument Jordan Henderson managed himself. It wasn't much better in the second stanza, and a pair of half-time substitutions that should have put an emphasis on attacking were instead negative. With Roberto Firmino and Philippe Coutinho not in the Reds' starting XI, there was an opportunity to attack. Instead, the visitor sat deep and hoofed speculative clearances to nobody in particular, and as Allardyce eviscerated his chewing gum while pacing the sidelines, the gaffer's trademark "anti-football" was on full display.

A noticeably cheerful Allardyce watched on as the Toffees manhandled West Ham 4-0 a fortnight ago, and was on the touchline for the comprehensive 2-0 home win over Huddersfield Town. Even at Apollon Limassol in a meaningless Europa League clash, Everton looked solid as Craig Shakespeare transmitted the tactics for an absent Allardyce. Suddenly, Everton was on the cusp of the top-half of the Premier League table after flirting with relegation during the tail-end of the Ronald Koeman era and David Unsworth's dire caretaker spell. It's easy to see why some Everton supporters harboured transitory hope, though the reality is that any optimism should be exactly that: temporary.

(Photo courtesy: Getty Images)

New, but not necessarily improved

It's a natural shift in narrative when a new manager is appointed, and often a temporary uptick in form follows. With Allardyce's appointment, it could be said he values his notoriously proud reputation as much as he does Everton's chances of creeping closer to the Premier League's big six.

The last time Allardyce caught a whiff of continental football was when Bolton bowed out of the UEFA Cup last-32 stage to Marseille. For all the talk of the manager's specialty at avoiding top-flight relegation, it's remarkable how quickly Everton's ambitions have shifted just months removed from a £140-million summer shopping spree and discussion of breaking the glass ceiling of England's half-dozen monoliths.

Portuguese pair Marco Silva and Paulo Fonseca were shortlisted for the job, but Watford and Shakhtar Donetsk rebuffed Everton's advances, leaving the Toffees to settle on Big Sam. Those two trendy tacticians would have brought a more stylish brand of football to Goodison Park, but there's a distinction between panache for the sake of panache and genuinely positive football that Silva and Fonseca fancy. And then there's Allardyce, who seems to value the avoidance of humiliation more than a brand of football that gives his team a chance at winning.

The curtain has been tugged and there's no wizard behind it, rather a manager whose "anti-football" tactics are more indicative of a short-term, season-salvaging conservative approach and not one that will see Everton reclaim the European ambitions it clung to in the summer.