Ronald Koeman has told his dozy Everton players to wake up and be more aggressive.
He is unhappy they have conceded the first goal in six of their last seven games.
And the Goodison boss wants them switched on from the start against Cypriot visitors Apollon Limassol on Thursday as they try to kick-start their Europa League campaign after their humbling by Atalanta in the opener a fortnight ago.
“We respect our opponent, but what is most important is ourselves,” said Koeman. “We need to play better, we need to play more aggressively.
“We need to be more aggressive in pressing the opponent. You have to win the battles and duels in midfield. That’s aggression.
“It’s not good that we need a goal against us to wake up. We need to set the standard ourselves. That’s a key factor.”
Everton are bottom of Group E after one game, and Koeman has challenged his men to atone for that dire display in their 3-0 drubbing in Italy.
“We had a bad result against Atalanta and we want to go on in Europe,” said the Dutchman.
“We need to react, because the face we showed and the final result we got in Italy were not the Everton we like.
“That revenge feeling means we have to show it. If you win the three games at home, then you have a really good opportunity to go through to the next round.”
Everton must do without striker Oumar Niasse , the former Goodison outcast who came off the bench to get both goals in Saturday’s 2-1 win over Bournemouth having also scored in the League Cup a week ago.
Koeman excluded him from Everton’s Europa League squad, as he was not originally part of his plans.
“We had to make that decision,” he said of the Senegal international. “It was made already a long time ago and his situation then wasn’t the situation of now.”
Mason Holgate will continue at centre-half in the continued absence of injured duo Michael Keane and Phil Jagielka.
The England Under-21 international is following in the footsteps of fellow Yorkshireman John Stones, having also joined the Blues as a youngster from Barnsley — and, like Stones, played right-back before moving into the middle.
But Holgate, 20, said: “I try not to compare myself to him.
“We’ve followed the same paths, so people are always going to make the comparisons between me and him – it’s a compliment, but I play my own way and have my own style.”