Everton cult hero Thomas Gravesen has delivered his honest verdict on how the Toffees are faring right now under Goodison Park manager Marco Silva (Sky Sports News).
The Dane admits he's sad about the current situation at the club and that he finds it "weird" from where he's sitting, given how good the players are.
Everton looked good value to be challenging at the right end of the Premier League table before the season got under way, with some shrewd signings including highly-rated Italy striker Moise Kean.
However, the Toffees have been woefully inconsistent this season and sit just two points clear of the Premier League relegation zone, with increasing amounts of fans calling for Silva to be sacked.
Gravesen, however, doesn't think Silva is the issue; he stresses that the players - most of international standard - "should know what football is about" and that Silva needn't explain the tactics to them.
The 43-year-old believes that, once the players gel more, and a couple of success stories - wins, good games - are accrued, things can kick on from there.
"I'm sad because it's a fantastic club, a great club, and there's some great players at the moment," Gravesen told Sky Sports News. "I don't know what it is that they can't make it work. It looks weird from where I'm sitting.
"Nobody can work under these circumstances. What they need is a couple of success stories, a couple of wins, a couple of good games, because they have the players for it. When you look on paper at the players Everton have, they're fantastic players. They just need to gel more. I don't think the manager needs to explain to players the tactics - all the players that are there are international players. They should know what football is about."