3 lessons Everton must learn from Ipswich draw | OneFootball

Everton haven't had an end of a season this stress-free in four seasons, having survived three successive campaigns that closed out with relegation battles barely avoided.

But that doesn't mean they should be sitting back and accepting poor performances, especially given how many players are out of contact after the season and will be fighting for jobs next year, be they at Everton or elsewhere.

It doesn't help that Saturday's capitulation came with just two matches left at Goodison Park and that it came against a relegated Ipswich side that has struggled to score goals throughout the year. Ipswich's defending has also been suspect, so the Toffees only managing six shots outside of their goals and no real chances is concerning.

Even if these matches don't "matter" due to Everton's safety, there are still lessons to be learned, be they for the remaining three matches or moving into the summer and next season.

Lesson 1: Keeping Charly Alcaraz is a no-brainer

This isn't a new point being hammered home, but the Argentine continues to impress as he gets more chances to do so.

The performances, plus the combination of his age (he won't turn 23 until November) and the reasonable price the buy option reportedly holds, mean that Everton would be foolish to try to renegotiate with Flamenco or simply let Alcaraz go back to his parent club without a permanent deal.

Alcaraz is a creative player with a flair for the dramatic who seems a good fit for what David Moyes wants to do.

Lesson 2: Saturday's attacking quartet needs a run of matches

Speaking of Alcaraz, he featured as part of a group of four attacking players that is probably the best quartet that Everton has had out there all season long.

The combination of Alcaraz on the left, Iliman Ndiaye centrally, Dwight McNeil on the right, and Beto leading the line was a solid unit that produced two goals inside of the first half and showed more creativity than we've seen from others this campaign.

It allowed for fluidity, since all three of Alcaraz, Ndiaye, and McNeil (to a lesser extent) are capable of playing on either wing or centrally, which can allow for an opposing defense to remain uncomfortable throughout a match, not knowing where each will be at any given moment.

This isn't to say that these players can't be improved upon this summer, as there are limitations to the players (McNeil isn't very pacy and is very one-footed, Beto lacks high-level finishing, and the other two can err on the side of being too unselfish at times).

But given the current state of things, this should be the starting group moving forward, especially since, save for a question about the future of Dominic Calvert-Lewin, all four should still be under contract for Everton next year.

Lesson 3: Late-match capitulations must be solved

This statistic, from EFC_Statto on Twitter/X, is truly alarming:

And, of course, Everton supporters are aware that this isn't just a 2024/25 problem. This club, for whatever reason, has long felt like it has had issues holding leads, especially 2-goal leads, late in matches.

Who is to say what the underlying issue is. Maybe in this case it was just a team that loosened up a bit after three straight seasons of tense final weeks, but the concern has to be there, even if these incidents aren't dependent on one another.

Moyes will need to figure out what the problem might be. Is it too much aggression with holding those two leads? Is it too much defending? That will be up to the Scottish manager to ascertain, but it is something that should be on his radar.