It's never nice to see Everton lose any football match - regardless of whether it's in pre-season or not.

That's the point which is sticking with a lot of Blues watching the club in their preparations for the 2018/19 term. Yes the results ultimately don't matter, but it would be nice to still see Marco Silva's side winning, wouldn't it?

Everton breezed passed ATV Irdning in almost embarrassing fashion in their opening pre-season fixture, but since then haven't won any games.

A draw against Bury was followed by two Algarve Cup losses - but it's the past week which has seen the tide turn the most among some of the fanbase.

A heavy defeat to Blackburn was a tough one to take, but could be explained in some sense by a second string side playing the first 45 minutes of that one - it was obvious there was still experimentation going on.

However, Saturday saw a 4-1 defeat at the hands of Rennes - with arguably the club's strongest available side at this moment in time playing 75 minutes of it.

With now less than two weeks until the Premier League season begins, and with just one more pre-season fixture left, there are still a multitude of problems in the way Everton are playing.

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The Blues are still massively vulnerable to the counter-attack, weak in midfield and - barring the influence of new signing Richarlison - lacking the creativity needed to break sides down in the final third.

That has, rather understandably, got a lot of supporters concerned for the season ahead.

But should it?

The last week has produced two dismal performances from Everton, that can't be denied, and it surely will have a detrimental effect of the confidence of some players heading into the new term.

Yes, against Rennes, Silva did put out the 11 strongest players available to him - but two of them were only getting their second taste of pre-season action and can't really be expected to be up to speed yet.

(Image: JEAN-FRANCOIS MONIER/AFP/Getty Images)

And, we've got to consider also that this is a side learning a new way of playing under a new manager - it can't be expected to click straight away.

We all knew that the new manager would have a lot of work to do to try and repair the cracks in Everton's severely damaged squad this term and it's clear he hasn't had enough time to fix it yet.

The likes of Pickford, Walcott and Lookman have been missing for the majority of pre-season and will be sure to give the Blues a bit more edge going into the Premier League campaign.

But the main thing that should be taken from these pre-season matches isn't concern about the new manager's system - it's a realisation that a host of new signings are needed.

Silva revealed to the ECHO recently that he could need as many as six players through the doors before the end of the transfer window, and going by the performances from his side in the last week you'd have to agree with the boss.

A lot of players at the minute are showing that they are learning a new system.

Seamus Coleman and Leighton Baines, for example, are now trying to offer as much attacking threat as possible as per the manager's new system - but Everton don't look like they know how to cover for them if they're caught upfield.

However, concerns are understandable about Everton's current centre-back situation, and the glaring need for a new central midfielder on top of that.

The one bright spark that Everton can take out of their last two pre-season friendlies is Richarlison, who has looked energetic and skillful in his two appearances so far.

It clearly shows that once Silva gets a player who fits into his system, they can work a whole lot better.

We would have all liked to have seen Everton performing better so far in pre-season, there's no question.

But the new manager has only had a few weeks to work with this squad - a group of players that have been performing well below par for the best part of a year (at least) now.

It would have been a miracle if the new manager had got them playing well so soon, and these performances just go to show the massive issues that he and Marcel Brands have been left with.

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Performances have not been good enough, pre-season or not, and everyone at the club will be acutely aware of that.

But Silva should be given much more time to fix the mess he's been left before fans get truly concerned.