I am fast getting sick of the manager failing to learn from his mistakes as once again we put out a weak back four and paid the price.
Before Xmas we were one of the most tight defences in the Premier League, now three games later we are one of the slackest with nine goals shipped in only three games and there is one reason for that.
Our success over the past few seasons has been built from the back, if you don't concede goals then it makes it a lot easier to control games, create chances and ultimately beat teams, when you keep changing your back four it creates indecision, hesitation and chaos.
This was the case at Everton where once again Claude Puel failed to put out the best players at his disposal, sat on the bench he had arguably the best left back in the Premier League, this was the second game running and you have to ask the question why.
It was always going to be a weakened defence with Virgil Van Dijk suspended, so you need to make sure you are up to speed in other areas and we weren't.
Why was Steven Davis on the bench as well ?
For a long period of the game we looked comfortable but ultimately we lost because we did not heed the warning signs, when Everton left Sam McQueen for dead to cross the ball for the first goal, this was about the fourth time it had happened in the previous five minutes, Everton had found a weak spot and exploited it, it was no coincidence that the third goal also came from that position after Jose Fonte was caught in possession.
The fact is that some of our youngsters can be slotted in when we have a relatively strong side out, but you can't play two inexperienced players at full back and get away with it, of course Puel could not odds the fact that Soares would have to go off injured, but to replace him with a central defender out of position with no Premier League experience was folly, Stephens and McQueen could not get into lower division sides when they were on loan last season, so they were not suddenly going to be Premier League quality full backs overnight.
We had a lot of bad luck in this game, Puel does not seem to be a lucky manager, but you have to make your own luck and once again the manager tried to be too clever for his own good.
The constant changing has taken away our momentum, our confidence and our swagger, does this sound familiar ? it should do I said exactly the same things after the last two games, if I can spot it then why can't the manager?
Having said all this, the season is long from over and we are not in a bad position, however we need to get back to basics, put out the best side for a run of games and get our game back together.
At the moment we are a rabble on the pitch, there is no leadership on the pitch and there seems to be little off it at present.
Claude Puel can succeed at this football club, but only if he learns from his mistakes, he is still finding his feet in England after all and plenty of other managers fail in the Premier League who have years of experience, however those that succeed learn from their mistakes rather than repeat them and repeating them is what Puel is doing at present.
We need to as a club, as players, as a manager and as supporters rally round and keep the faith, not panic and play through this, however there is only one man who can ultimately do things a little differently and stop the rot, in the next few weeks we will find out if he is the man for the job.