At Wembley on Saturday evening, there was a remarkable symmetry between Everton’s supporters and their team. In the dying embers of the match, as Tottenham’s forwards conjured up a lovely fourth goal, the yawning gaps in the rapidly emptying away section perfectly mirrored the holes in the visitors’ defence. Frankly there are damp paper bags that have put up more resistance than Everton did. And this from a Sam Allardyce team.

“I think, like everything else, the honeymoon period is over,” said the chastened Everton manager after watching his side slump to their fourth defeat in a row. “And the players have got to get back down to listening to what we need to do to make sure we don’t, at this stage, get drawn back into the relegation zone because that’s exactly what we’re doing at the moment.”

What clearly alarmed Allardyce – and those few Evertonians who could bear to stay to the end of this Tottenham whitewash – was that all the improvement he delivered in his first seven games seems to have disappeared. After starting brightly, Everton sank into inertia as the game progressed, disorganised and shambolic, unable to maintain shape or defensive discipline. So much for the Big Sam Bounce.