Ronald Koeman has criticised his Everton players for not being "proactive" enough despite taking the lead in their eventual 3-2 defeat to Watford.
Romelu Lukaku's first goal in five matches had given the Toffees the lead after 17 minutes at Vicarage Road, but the away side were blown away by the hosts as a brace from Stefano Okaka, either side of Sebstien Prodl's bullet header, turned the game on its head.
Lukaku registered a second late on to set up a frantic end to the game, but the Blues had too much to do to rescue a possible point.
Speaking to Sky Sports after the encounter, Koeman stated that his side were too reactive in how they were currently playing, and called on his charges to start making the most of the opportunities that fall their way in matches.
He said: "When we are down, we have a good reaction. But why not earlier in the game?
"The team is too passive and not proactive. It's really reactive out of the score in the second half and that's maybe fear at the moment. Maybe we are afraid to be 1-0 up.
"We gave belief to our opponent and we did that only by ourselves.
"I think the start was good. We were the dominant team, started well, scored a good goal, went a goal up... and then the problems started.
"We were not the same in controlling the game. We had some bad mistakes in possession and not good communication. The first goal, from a cross, is a 2-on-1 situation and, in my opinion, we need to deal with that inside or outside the box.
"In the second half, the set plays killed us off today. Until today, we defended well at set plays but they had taller players and their productivity form set plays was good against us. It could have been a draw, finally. We did everything to take the risk, and maybe that's the big problem at the moment."
When quizzed over how concerned he was with just one win in the last 10 league games, Koeman was adamant that his playing squad needed to improve.
He continued: "Of course I am worried as a manager at the moment because we've had a really bad run of results but I still see problems in the team now that I did. The team is too reactive and doesn't take initiative in the game and I know it's maybe a lack on confidence.
If Springsteen's The River, Johnny Cash's Hurt, Fleetwood Mac's Landslide were on a Football Team, Everton would still be sadder than them
"If you start the game well and go 1-0 up, you need a better belief in the team and not going back defending nervously. That's the big problem."
The Dutch legend also commented on late claims for a penalty after Miguel Britos supposedly fouled Enner Valencia as the game entered its final throes.
He added: "I don't know (if we deserved one). I did not see the situation clearly. Of course, you need a little bit of luck but I did not see it."
Read more from Tom Power by following him on twitter!