Blues come up short in momentus game at the new gaff

They all seem to be wearing their ‘proper’ numbers despite the dire warning issued but the club a couple of weeks back.

Strange that so few players now pick a shirt that is 1 to 11… too much pressure?

I guess to be fair there is only 3, 4 and 8 available. And No 8 is hallowed.

14:30 comes and goes… no Live Stream!

Yes, John @4, I haven’t seen much reported but he didn’t feature at all against Man Utd. I didn’t think he was injured.

Fuelling my fear they are going to farm him out for a season in the sticks somewhere.

We need to keep Armstrong at Hill Dick.

Our squad has the depth of a puddle and we will need him.

Finally up and running!

Oo…. I’d better check my report, Ian!

No need to check, here ya go 😉

Iroegbunam (84′ Armstrong),

Well, a full house for an Everton friendly would have been almost unprecedented, I think. Pity to see so many empty seats though. I wonder if they’ll tell us the real attendance?

Really surprised — and very pleased — that they have gone classy with blue seats everywhere, no attempt at mundane ‘messaging’ that is de rigguer at every other football stadium!

Have you got it yet, Bill? Might need to exit OS (not log out) and then click to open it again. Should then see the game available to click on.

Mine’s working fine, as it did for the previous game.

As a short-term solution we should look at bringing in Wilf Zaha on a short-term deal and stop him wasting his time in the USA. We desperately need an outlet and someone who can stretch the game.

Zaha’s hold-up play is world class and we have nothing of his type in our side. We don’t have anybody to stretch play at all. No pace whatsoever.

Well, my considered opinion is that was a load of crap and there were far better things I could have been doing on a lovely afternoon in August.

Some French is in order (coz I don’t know any Italian): C’est la Vie. Plus ca change. Le Grande Merde!

Hopefully someone is going to watch and record for posterity what transpires in the so-called Legends game but at that I draw the line. Please volunteer below and post it when you’re done or as you go.

Only a friendly but the problems are laid in front of us, not new problems albeit, issues that have dogged the team for season’s.

I fear our striking options are still very light.

Beto and Barry both very similar and one is at a very inexperienced stage of his career especially in the British game.

In an ideal world you’d have someone like Chris Wood on loan for a year to help out but that will never happen as Forest won’t want to lose him.

If we are going after Grealish and Dibling, can we just hurry up and get it done and stop scrimping on a few weeks wages.

Looking down a division. Norwich and Millwall featured 2 players I’ve long championed for Everton. The American striker Josh Sargent and the left back Alfie Doughty.

Doughty would’ve been worth the £4m or so that Millwall have paid for him and he’s got an assist today.

I don’t know what the fee for Sargent would be, but he’s an accomplished and dangerous forward with a good all-round game. He has Premier League and international experience and we should sign him. Whilst he will never be a 20-goal-a-season striker in the Premier League, he is definitely capable of double figures and would hit the ground running.

Early doors but new boy Barry not very convincing and no better than Beto.

I hope it’s just nerves and once settled in he can show what he can do.

Got it after 15 minutes, Si.

Positives: Dewsbury-Hall;
Negatives: missed chances again.

Encouraging debut for Dewsbury-Hall and Everton were the better team before the multiple substitutions but Roma were much sharper in front of goal.

They deserved the win based upon good opportunities created.

Josh Sargent is definitely not Premier League quality.

Signing him would be a waste of money.

We were okay until Dewsbury-Hall and Gueye went off. After that, we were poor.

Our forwards were all poor and scoring will be a problem.

If that wakes up TFG and Kinnear to the need to strengthen the squad, then I’ll accept it. We simply do not have enough quality and depth in the squad, and the replacements are not good enough.

Looks like we will have to go full Ancelotti and play 4 centre-backs in defence against Leeds given Mykolenko’s groin strain. Aznou will be a good prospect but he is not ready for the Premier League.

New gaff, same old gaffes.

We ain’t getting a striker in, so nothing much changes.

It looks like we could struggle without Mykolenko.

The new lad looked lost.

What I liked today was how well Dewsbury-Hall and Charly worked together and advanced the ball aggressively through the midfield. It created chances, all of which were missed.

The scouting report on Barry was that he’s incomplete as a finisher, and that’s certainly true. Ndiaye, Garner, Gana and Charly all bungled open shots as well. And Charly had a great header well saved.

A blank, but to me a faster, more aggressive attack. I like it.

Michael,

I doubt very much there will be many supporters watching the veterans game unless a few wake up after watching the main game.

The modern day transfer policy and the way it’s all gone now troubles me.

One time we could always sign a proven Premier League goal scorer with relative ease.

We signed Yakubu from Middlesbrough when we were simply a top 7 side nothing amazing.

We signed Andy Johnson from Palace and of course James Beattie from Southampton, not amazing returns but you got a centre forward who knew how to score and hold the ball you equally

These days we can’t seem to do that so always end up having to take a shot in the dark from a European league and hope it works out.

It’s too early to say with Barry, nobody can judge him yet but when you have had the fingers burnt that many times with the likes of Moise Kean, Cenk Tosun, Sandro etc etc you do always feel sceptical.

Steve 26,

Take no notice what anyone says and I’m also saying, regardless of their ages, both John McGinn and Jack Grealish walk into this Everton side and instantly make it look a better team.

I agree with Tommy @18:

Sargent at Norwich could definitely do a decent job for us and he looks like the kind of player that I think Moyes could improve.

Aznou not ready? A bit early to say.

Chermiti not ready, looks like he never will be.

Beto clearly will never be ready.

Are we going backwards? We need some more proven players like Dewsbury-Hall. We can’t rely on prospects and promise.

Mike, at least Barry is living up to his scouting report.

Just what we needed.

It was only a friendly, but my word, you don’t really see Doucoure’s value until he’s not there.

We were quite pleasing with the ball, intricate neat passing, but found it much more difficult to get the ball back.

If I was Moyes, I’d be feeling a bit anxious. We look a bit powderpuff.

Jim @29, that was 20 years ago. An accomplished Premier League scorer won’t come to Everton now, as several more teams have overtaken us. Everton are now associated with low scoring and low table finishes.

Even Lukaku was down to Roberto, and the manager did well getting him as the signs were looking good after his WBA loan.

@35 Joe

No striker with any ambition would sign for David Moyes as he’s never had a striker bag 20 Premier League goals in the 20-odd years he’s been managing.

His teams don’t play football to score goals. They play to stop the opposition and try and score with a counter-attack and protect any lead acquired for the rest of the match.

If you’re a striker wanting braces and hat-tricks throughout the course of a season, being managed by Moyes is not for you.

Same usual comments that completely ignore the financials. Beattie was a big scoring striker back in the day – very similar to Solanke – and he cost £65M in today’s market.

Strikers move for money, not managers.

If we had a big kitty and paid the biggest wage, a mercenary like Osimhen, Toney or Duran would happily join Everton to play under Moyes.

Barry in fairness looks an astute signing for only a bit more than Burnley just paid for Broja. But he needs a while to settle and develop.

Maybe we should have just played Port Vale seven times on the bounce…

To not even score in the match is so disappointing.

Most of the possession, but a general failure to create chances or hit the target. The usual issues.

Definitely needs a player on the right. Not sure Barry is ready to start.

Experience has taught me not to get excited by preseason games. Good job in today’s case. Dewsbury-Hall looked very impressive for his hour. Aznou looked a bit shell-shocked. Barry looked strong & raw, missed his one chance.

Otherwise nothing new. Tarkowski and Ndaiye missed good chances, they got their goal, game over.

Complete lack of pace and conviction in the final third. Definitely need more craft and goal threat in that team.

Two interesting games of brinkmanship with Southampton and City over the next couple of weeks. And who knows who else will join us in the inevitable pre-deadline dash.

We have midtable written all over us, unless we recruit particularly well.

In all fairness, Barry needs time to settle, give him a chance.

But we need new additions next week, the players we’ve been linked with would definitely be an upgrade, but for me Sargent isn’t Premier League standard.

It’s worrying that Mykolenko could be out for a while again.

Barry, “astute” Robert?

More like a statue. Won’t score 10 goals for us … ever.

Christy @44,

We don’t have time to allow Barry to settle. If we don’t have 12 or so points from our first 10 games, we are in deep trouble as we head towards late autumn and winter.

If we don’t expect to see anything from Barry in the next 6 months in terms of him being our main striker, then we need some more options.

Sargent, although not a world beater, could come in and be a threat and would take no time to adjust. If there are better and more achievable options, then who are they?

I’m not suggesting we sign him as the solution to all our problems but we cannot carry Theirno Barry and all the signs are pointing towards this being the case.

Failing that, we need 2 players minimum with pace in the attacking third.

The point made about Doucoure and us missing him – we don’t miss his ability because he didn’t have much of it. But what is missing is the desire of someone to make runs towards the opposition play and stretch the play. Doucoure could do this.

I haven’t seen us linked with a single player capable of such. Which is worrying. And suggests to me that Moyes feels he can navigate this season through stalemate football and the hope of nicking the occasional winner through individual quality, rather than having a team with an attacking threat.

Oh dear. Foreseen. Predictable. I can’t add to what I have previously said. We have so far failed in recruitment for the umpteenth year running.

If Moyes doesn’t get at least 4 good souls in this week, we are really in deep trouble.

That’s just the way it is, some things will never change.

[Bruce Hornsby and the Range, circa 1986]

It’s there for all to see. We’ve brought in a couple of youngsters way off Premier League ready (could be a worry if Mykolenko is injured). Dewsbury Hall looks a decent footballer.

Not much goal threat in the team.

Squad is way short in quality and depth.

Been a poor transfer window thus far.

As Moyes said, we are not ready…

Just back from the match.

The stadium is amazing, the team… not so much. Dewsbury-Hall did well and looked like he could be a bit of playmaker.
Barry looked really raw, hopefully a player can be shaped out of him but he looks like he may play second fiddle to Beto for now.

We’re desperate for an attacking right-back and some pace out wide.

A totally underwhelming game which highlighted the problems we’ve all known about for ages. A big plus was Dewsbury-Hall; he looks a class act.

The concourses were rammed at half time but was probably because lots were trying it out. As we get into the season, I reckon that’ll ease off.

Contrary to the doomsayers, there was absolutely no problem exiting the ground albeit I don’t know how many stayed for the legends game.

Similarly with Sandhills. No issues or queuing although that doesn’t take away the need for a new station, somewhere near Blackstock Street or The Titanic and, in the meanwhile, a shuttle bus to and from Sandhills.

We need pace and a right-sided player this week — not on deadline day. If it’s to be Dibling, then stop faffing about and get it done.

New surroundings, I think it’ll take time to for things to bed in.

Looks like letting Calvert-Lewin go will turn out to be a bad decision. He would surely have contributed more than either Barry or Chermiti. It may still not be too late to get in a better grade of striker.

I was excited about Dibling, but I now believe that our immediate need is to get a better finisher. I would drop our interest in Dibling and go for Højlund who is reportedly available for £30M. And then go and get Grealish on loan.

We also badly need a better quality right-back than O’Brien. He is not the long-term solution for that position. Of the additions we have made, I would say that only Dewsbury-Hall definitely improves the team. The verdict is out on the others – Travers, Aznou and Barry. (I count Alcaraz as last season’s signing.)

Highlights:

1. The stadium.
2. The Everton Way etc.
3. Great if you’re counting your steps — nearly 19000 today so far!

Lowlights:

1. The match. I won’t repeat what others have said.
2. The refreshment “service”.

I left my seat at 15:38 to get a half-time pint. Stood in a queue for 20 minutes. Almost at the front when the manager shouted “no alcohol”. So that was that.

The choice was pretty poor – cider, Bud, San Miguel, Boddies and Camden Pale Ale. I’d have gone for the latter though someone told me later it was crap. They can surely put a better offering on than that.

They’d have increased revenue with separate bar / food counters. Loads of people just wanted a pint or two.

Queued for a hour outside at the Vault Bar on the plaza.

If they’re going to have these bars outside, then they need to be quadrupled for the demand.

Similar to others getting to and from the ground (drive/walk) was a breeze for me. Mates using Sandhills had no issues arriving, don’t know yet what it was like for them getting home.

Only a few hundred Roma fans but their noise reverberated so hopefully it will be our voices that fill the ground once the season starts.

Dewsbury-Hall looks like a decent player, always trying to play forward. We’re still desperately short on quality, right side especially. Need first eleven starters — not just squad bolstering.

Unconvinced by Chermiti in his brief appearances; same today — loan him out rather than bench warming?

Excellent views from our seats. Overall a positive day except for on the pitch. Friendly or not, the result and in particular performance show investment is needed. Get a few quality signings in and we’ll look better. Hopefully some of the rumours materialise.

Did anyone get the much heralded WiFi access working, we couldn’t.

Tommy and Frank, I’ve seen plenty of Josh Sargent. Relentless worker. Great link-ups. Not remotely dynamic enough. No pace. Can’t shoot. Can’t get a sniff anymore for the USA, which has never had a decent striker.

He’s a good ol’ worker bee. Is that what you want? Thought we had enough of those.

Kunal #54, we’ve made three offers so far, and Dibling was held out of their squad for their game today. Is that what you call “faffing about”??? Geezus.

No wonder Moyes doesn’t stay at clubs for long. Square, back, square, back. No press whatsoever. No balance in midfield, Jimmy Garner stunk. How can you condemn Barry, when we don’t press. Boring Football.

Great Stadium, phone connection? Top notch. Speakers around the ground are very loud. Atmosphere? Nowhere as good as Goodison.

Half time refreshments? Be prepared to miss a good portion of the second half.

ps: Thank you, Liverpool City Council, for fuck-all. You bastards. Clueless.

Dave 40. Was it Sooty who said, That’s the way to do it!, or Mr Corbet?

And was Sooty shagging Sue or Sweep?

I didn’t see the match, and I’ve made the mistake before of writing off players before they’ve bedded in, so I won’t slag off Barry, no matter how raw he may be.

What I will say as I fret over our unbalanced squad and lack of depth is what I felt a few months ago, which is that we should’ve waited in splurging £30 million on a striker of Barry’s level, and instead spent it on real quality on the right side (plus central midfield and fullback cover).

We should’ve gone to the loan market for an Evan Ferguson type or taken a Vardy type on a free, then cross our fingers Beto plus a proven old starter can bag us 15 goals.

Well whatever happens in the next few weeks, it’s got to be clear where we need to fill massive gaps. The question is whether we’ll be able to pull it off. At least it sounds like we’re creating chances — hopefully they start going in the net next week.

Les 45, I do not agree but very well played by you there.

While I don’t expect a clinical striker to develop, I think there will be enough quality chances created by Dewsbury-Hall & Co to get him into double digits.

Fan experience:

Going to seat in club view and walking up stairs, as no escalator. Very surprised by that tbh.

40-minute queue for a beer, with both bar outlets closed. This is going to be a real problem if fans are going to miss minutes of games before and at half-time. The ticket comes with food and drink credit, but it looks a challenge to spend it.

Temperature was unbearable until aircon eventually kicked in. Fans were very unimpressed sweating like hell in the sauna.

Lots of staff stood around with little guidance and clear not enough beer taps running. Concourses remain very basic. No club shop facilities, bookies, seating etc.

The stadium from the outside is impressive. It clearly should have been bigger. Inside it remains basic. The lack of parking facilities will impact the club shop outside of game day.

It is clear that there is a lot of work ahead on the non-playing side, as much as the playing side.

Someone is going to need a grip of this and set the bar.

So let me get this straight.

We signed Chermiti because Calvert-Lewin wasn’t very good at scoring goals and we needed a replacement.

Then we realised Chermiti wasn’t ready, so we bought Beto to score the goals that Calvert-Lewin wasn’t scoring.

Then we realised that Beto wasn’t very good and not ready to replace Calvert-Lewin, and we let Calvert-Lewin go to be replaced by Beto.

Then we realised that Beto will never be good enough so we buy Barry to score the goals that Beto won’t get because he will never be good enough.

Now we realize that Barry isn’t good enough to replace Beto… so we are, actually, fucked!!! Am I right, or not?

Just got back from the match today, a bit disappointed with the result. Highlight for me was the good all round contribution from Dewsbury-Hall. We have a player in our midst for once. Not only was he involved in most attacks, he was equally happy to drop back to defend before being subbed.

What did annoy me was a few of our forwards were in positions to score, but chose to pass out wide, which inevitably ended up with nothing. Roma defended well but also took their opportunities, well supported by a decent number of their supporters.

Dedication that, travelling to support their team a week before the big kick-off, fair play and kudos to them. There was no aggression, just sporting honest support, and continuous singing.

Agree, Ian.

Whilst the stadium is magnificent, the concourse area should have been bigger. Queues galore everywhere including the toilets.

Hopefully teething problems but visually (I was above the Roma fans) the stadium is like a vast blue cathedral. The atmosphere will come with time.

Did we let Calvert-Lewin go?

Or, like with other clubs who allegedly walked away, baulked at his supposed wage demands?

Some gripes:-

There were lots of long queues for the concession stalls, the club shop, the programme seller, and they were all at 90 degrees to the flow of people walking around the outside of the stadium. That needs sorting.

I had to climb 98 steps to my seat which was 4 rows from the front of the upper tier of the West Stand. I was okay doing so, others were not. There was no indication of this outside the turnstiles.

I spoke with an Exit Steward, he said I would be allowed only through that turnstile on my season ticket. If I wanted to be able to use an escalator, I would have to email the club for them to alter my season ticket via another entrance.

My seat, and all the seats around me, were coated with a thick film of concrete dust. It would have been nice for them to have been cleaned.

Everyone was saying how chaotic it was on the inner concourse of the South Stand, both in terms of buying food and drink or simply passing through.

I didn’t like it when the Budweiser adverts lit up on all the stands – there was far too much red in the stadium!

Our poor performance.

Some plus points:-

The walkway with all the names on stone flags is handsome.

The stadium looks great when it’s (almost) full. There wasn’t a great deal of noise but, in time, I think a decent atmosphere will develop, although I have my doubts it will be a bear pit.

There were a lot of stewards.

Sandhills Station worked very well – they were even dishing out free sweets!

Dewsbury-Hall.

It was a proper game against strong opposition.

The space between the pitch and the side stands in particular were noticeably further apart and felt more of a barrier than at Goodison — I understand that was the clubs intention because of guidelines they decided to adhere to.

Hill Dickinson will not feel like a proper home for some time; bringing our statues from Goodison would help.

Could I ask those of you who were at the match to elaborate on the atmosphere in the stadium. I watched it on my computer and it seemed to be fairly quiet to me – not at all like Goodison – or am I wrong?

Regards the game, it wasn’t a great watch… the lad Barry seems to be a moody fecker! Now it’s really early days… but what I have seen of him hasn’t got me excited.

I hope he gets off to a better start than pretty much every other striker we have brought in these last ten years – we haven’t had much luck! Mitrovic should have been considered – a proven finisher who definitely would make us better up front.

Just home from the game. Had a good look around trying to find our stones at the south end… .two of us found ours no problem whilst the third one of us couldn’t find his. Gave up in the end. Entering the stadium was no problem at all, with everyone using the digital tickets.

Upon entering the upper South Stand, there was plenty of food / drink outlets and had no problems in getting served. Anyone who thinks there were problems in getting served is just moaning for moaning sake. Also plenty of screens dotted around to watch the Southampton v Wrexham game.

At half-time, it was probably the same as every other ground in the country at half-time….you have to queue for the toilets and refreshments, though when you’re in a stand that holds about 8 – 9,000 people, what do you expect?

So, overall opinion: entrance to the stadium and food / drink outlets spot on, and there was so much space away from the food / drink outlets without anyone knocking into you, unlike the Upper Gwladys.

You’re right, Jimmy. He’s a young lad who wiil hopefully grow but, on inital viewing, he doesn’t have great pace and for a tall lad he ain’t the best in the air… but give him time.

Unfortunately need a striker who’s ready now… over to our DoF…

Jimmy, it’s not just me judging him, it’s others.

As far as I’m concerned ,we should have brought in a proven goal scorer, not another Chermiti. But if we get a right winger and get him to actually cross the ball, Barry may prove a good buy.

But anyone (ie, Moyes) who plays Jack Harrison because of his work rate, for two seasons, then I don’t hold out too much hope.

And remember, we said the same about Chermiti: “Oh, he’ll be ready in time, give him a season or two.” But even the best strikers need service and we just don’t got none.

Kevin 34.

Do you honestly think Doucoure would have made a blind bit of difference today — or any other day for that matter?

A very limited footballer whose skillset we do not miss. Yes, he popped up with the odd goal… but don’t they all? Even McNeil does and he’s absolutely useless — one-paced, one-footed and just basically ordinary.

Let’s not make excuses for average footballers, please, just to suit the narrative, because it’s not true. I go home and away and I could count on one hand the amount of times Doucoure has ran the game.

We need pace — pace on the flanks, pace through the middle, and pace up top… not Doucoure’s fault obviously but please don’t make a case for him when there isn’t one to make.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend, mate.

Oliver @72, the atmosphere was muted, but that was to be expected for a friendly game.

The usual songs came on prior to kick-off, that will annoy some people but, to me, it provided some continuity.

One of the biggest cheers of the afternoon came for Ndiaye’s lovely bit of skill near his own corner flag. It was that moment that made me think the stadium can be loud in the right circumstances.

Oliver, it was really quiet but I think that was just everybody taking in the awe of the new stadium.

Once the Premier League is underway, we”ll get motoring!

Sounds like it was uninspiring today but we still have the same team that won 4 and drew 1 from the final 7 matches last season, other than Dewsbury-Hall replacing Doucoure, which everyone seems to see as an upgrade.

Let’s not jump on a youngster like Barry after his first start in pre-season for godsake; he was always unlikely to hit the ground running and – like 90% of young foreign players – will need time to adapt.

Though I agree with those who say it was odd to prioritize him. At the end of last season, I wrote an article saying we needed more goals, more pace, and a functioning right flank. Not sure we’ve really addressed those needs and I’m not sure Grealish will help towards them enormously.

Dibling could be a great signing but is another one who will probably need time to adapt if it happens.

For me, jury is very much out on the transfer work done by whoever is in charge of these things now (Kinnear? Moyes? Hammond?).

Danny @69,

We shouldn’t have let Calvert-Lewin go. We should have got a winger in to provide chances for him, he would have got more goals.

He was an important part of the team which we don’t have now in Beto or possibly Barry.

Paul (61),

I was thinking about one of the characters from The Punch and Judy show which used to perform at the side of St George’s Hall on Lime Street when I was a kid. I didn’t realise there was any sex in that show — mind you, I was a bit naive about sex when I was 7 or 8!

Sam (79),

I think those final 7 games came after we had won 1 in the previous 10 games!

Thoroughly enjoyed the new stadium.

Remembering this was another test event, you could have predicted issues with entry and catering, and there were some. But a bit of patience and understanding and all fine. Not everyone will feel obliged to go in the shop or sample the food at all future fixtures once the novelty wears off.

Alcaraz gave by far and away most time to fans downstairs after the match onthe way to their cars. Most others walked straight out to the disappointment of many.

Someone earlier commented on the sound from the Roma fans (a couple of hundred?) and how it filled the stadium. It will be unbelievable when home fans are on voice.

That was my biggest question coming away today, not being a regular: how did Goodison get its atmosphere? Today it seemed people only cheered when something (vaguely) good was happening, whereas Roma crew chanted enthusiastically throughout. Is that an away fan thing? Asking as I’m not a regular.

Dave, think it was 1 in 8. But also we’d only lost 1 of those 8 and there were some tricky games.

This team should be fine as it is. Obviously we should be aspiring to more than ‘fine’ and that’s why I’m disappointed the biggest shortcomings have not been addressed. A starting right-winger with pace and a No 6 who controls midfield better than Garner would help.

Just back from the games today.

Outside the stadium at 12:30 after seamless soccer bus from L1. (Same going back, although staggered departures with two games going on is not a true reflection 50,000 leaving at 5 pm experience.)

Holy Trinity Bars (x6) right opposite ground completely empty, £6.75 a pint, which was fine but more security and bar staff than punters, should have had tables and chairs cos absolute massive space, could’ve got a couple of balls out tbh and had a 5-aside game going on, such was the space and lack of people there. But next door both ways, Bramley Moore pub and Blue House absolutely rammed and 5 deep at bar. No thanks.

Outside, the external concourse queues where massive for food and drinks. We went up to our section inside ground, concourse queues much less at 1:45-2:30. Easy enough to get served but I thought there was a lack of perches to put your food and drinks on once bought.

Massive spaces would easily accommodate wall counters and lots of columns without counters when other columns did have wrap around counters. A massive crunch corner between East and South Stands too, with a food outlet in the most ridiculous narrow spot.

Overall, a good day out, car binned off for weekend games going forward, and pubs, buses and food outlets the new matchday experience.

The stadium inside feels a bit like a slightly smaller Wembley.

Dave 81. The Punch and Judy show? Sooty was in the Punch and Judy show?

I bet the he was moonlighting on Mr Corbet, the bastard.

I thought Roma were pretty poor. They scored a breakaway goal from a slip from Aznou. But Everton controlled the ball better and dominated most of the play.

Roma defended well, with a back three marshaling the solitary striker well enough.

Not enough final product, not enough hitting attempts on target. Barry didn’t shoot when played through, Ndiaye should have scored.

We’ve a better chance of signing a unicorn than getting a proven striker this window. Are we even linked with any (strikers, not unicorns)?

Could we not use the £50M we seem to be contemplating spending on Dibling and get someone who knows where the net is?

Sam (84),

I think it was 1 in 10 and Moyes seemed to be going back to the keep it tight and nick one. Those three away wins when there was no pressure to win helped to get us to a respectable position.

While I don’t blame Moyes for the lack of decent signings, if we don’t get some in soon, we will struggle with this very weak and depleted squad.

The atmosphere was very pre-season; very quiet in the main with the warmest applause reserved for the new faces and Seamus Coleman.

Our transport via Bootle New Strand and the Soccerbus worked perfectly. Those of us in the Lower North Stand found it easy to enter the stadium and find our seats. The lower, quite narrow concourse at that end was comfortable before the game but unsurprisingly rammed at the interval.

The main gripe concerned entry to the north west corner upper tier. Some of my family were in a queue for over half an hour to enter one turnstile with the stewards lacking the knowledge or wherewithal to marshal the queue. That will definitely need to be addressed before the first league game.

After three decades of being deafened by the loudspeaker system in the Park End it was a relief to find the new sound system didn’t trigger the noisy environment warnings.

As for the team’s performance, it is evident the manager has much work to do with not a great deal of time left to do it. We continue to look goal-shy.

Dewsbury-Hall made a positive impact in the forward midfield role. Alcaraz is not the answer on the right flank. Young Aznou looked more comfortable running forward than running back. Barry looked raw, pretty much a younger version of Beto.

Rob #73,

I spent the last 7 minutes of the first half and the whole of half time in a queue – and still did not get served. It was chaotic and inefficient.

Entering via gate 2 at 1:55 pm for upper West Stand took almost half an hour in a long, slow-moving queue.

You were in the South Stand, I was in the West Stand, so my experience was different to yours – and not “moaning for moaning’s sake” – just highlighting areas for improvement at a test event.

I wanted to spend my money before and half-way through the match… but the club did not allow that opportunity today. Hopefully they improve that facility in future.

I thought Moyes bringing Aznou off after him coming on as sub was a poor decision for his confidence. Okay, he was at fault for the goal, but to then sub the sub will do him no good at all considering he’s only been here a week.

Mike @92, you’re correct, different experiences in different parts of the ground give a different perspective in each area,

Club View was chaos apparently.

You’re never getting the atmosphere at a friendly to be like a game where points are on the line or a cup game. It was relaxed I’d say.

Absolutely amazing stadium, the arena is outstanding.
Pictures and videos don’t really do it justice.

Few things I’d thought would be better. So crowded in south stand, I expected more space to mill around. Was easy to get a pint! (Priority)

Food!! At half time, no food left, in any outlet in South Stand.
A bit disappointing, when the club advertise all the offerings to get there and nothing left.

Considering there was a legends game too, I’d have thought they would have had extra on. Wasn’t even a bag of crisps.

It’s a last test, but if you want fans to spend their money at the ground, this needs sorting.

And Hibbert didn’t shoot!!! Who do I contact?

Peter 77 & Tony 78.

Thanks for that.

@88 Pat.

There’s a lot of dithering. Clubs don’t want to hang onto players any more because of PSR and we just don’t seem to be in the market for any Premier League players.

We have funds – if we aren’t prepared to spend £50M on Dibling because it’s a risk, then take less of a risk and offer £50M for Semenyo. Offer £50M for Watkins or Gabriel Jesus.

I wouldn’t worry too much about the lack of atmosphere.

Imagine what it would be like under the lights in a league game with a top opponent in front of us to get stuck in to, a volatile atmosphere against rowdy Geordies or Man Utd getting all the decisions, riling the crowd.

I’m sure it will all come.

Tommy, we may regret not prioritising a proven striker. We don’t seem to be even in the market for one.

We’ve shot our bolt on Barry. Having realised Beto and Chermiti are duds, we brought in a kid who’s nowhere near Premier League ready.

Dave @89,

It was 8 league games. Liverpool, Palace (the win), United, Brentford, Wolves, West Ham, Liverpool, Arsenal. Also a loss to Bournemouth in the cup.

We didn’t especially struggle last season under Moyes so I don’t see why we would now with the same starting XI mostly. There will of course be more players in by end of the window.

Even now I think we probably have enough talent to get 14th-17th. But I think of all of us are hoping for a little better than that.

Dan (83),

That is very much an away fan thing. It’s the same at every ground I have been to. Usually home fans need something to happen on the pitch to get going.

Is Barry ready to start Premier League games? We won’t know that until it happens; hard to judge players in these games, especially strikers.

I watched him make some good runs today and he wasn’t played in. He showed some touches and a bit of aggression.

He drops very deep, so we will need to get Ndiaye and other front players running beyond.

He’s young, let’s support him, not knock him.

Dewsbury-Hall looks impressive, decent debut, looked sharpest on the pitch.

The right is our weakness, we all know it. O’brien can do right-back but he’s limited, Alcaraz isn’t a winger.

When the real stuff starts, it’s a different game. Players playing on the limit changes everything.

Jarrad back, so I think with our defence we always have a chance.

@92 & 94,

The American owners won’t be happy with people not being able to spend their money. This is pivotal to their motivations for owning a football club. I would expect that to change. A McDonalds level of efficiency and delivery is what they will certainly aspire to.

I know for a fact that a club not too far from home had an American owner sample a matchday experience undercover as a supporter and was appalled that he was unable to spend his money. A complete overhaul of their concession match day operation was required and implemented.

Everton appear to be slow in making this happen at the Hill Dickinson despite having a blank canvas for the infrastructure.

I expect that WiFi and internet access will be key to all this so I am surprised to hear there were issues with this today. That needs sorting.

What also needs to happen is behaviour patterns to be established so that the service can reflect the patterns of demand. People panic when in strange and unusual places and when they don’t know what they’re doing. The majority of people will simply follow what others are doing and hope for the best. Like lemmings.

So it’s only natural that people start bunching and not using the facilities or space properly. Add to this people’s inability to operate simple and established technology properly – and fear of modern methods of payment, and you will get these issues to begin with.

Tommy 103

You don’t need to be American to fill the freezers with chicken & chips mate! Crisps??? There should be boxes stacked to the ceiling…

Yes, people may have got in early to soak it up, they maybe getting in on the novelty of it, but they should have the foresight to see this would happen.

Me and my lad, walked past so many places for food on our walk from town, saying no, we want to see what’s on offer at the ground. Turns out, couldn’t even buy a bag of crisps.

It will get better, as patterns and habits evolve. It was the space around the South Stand concourse that surprised me most – I thought it would be more spacious; that may improve too, as fans find their spots, their routines etc.

You’re right, Tony #95, but today for the last 15 minutes, he wasn’t facing Premier League wingers, he was facing a Serie A winger in a friendly, on debut, in his new stadium.

That decision to bring him off was terrible management by Moyes, who apparently is now an old school, experienced manager.

Terrible man management imo.

@104 David

The yanks will be using catering and hospitality providers. It is them who have got it wrong.

And it’ll be the owners demanding better of them as per the contract they have entered into. ‘Partners’ as they are referred to.

The partnership will end quickly if they don’t do what is required and train the staff and management of these concessions to deliver properly.

So we’re saying Barry isn’t good enough after a couple of pre-season matches?

Okay…

I hope Barry doesn’t end up another Sandro Ramirez or Cenk Tosun or Moise Kean or Neal Maupay.

Have I missed anyone?

The stadium is fantastic. Some operational teething problems.

1) The self-service beer needed labelling for which beer it was;
2) One outlet had no beer at the end and was using cans to make up pints;
3) No food at outlet at end of game when people needed it when waiting for legends.

The new guys weren’t that bad, Dewsbury-Hall was best. Our problem remains the same: no pace, no proper wingers. It was too slow and the long ball from Pickford doesn’t help.

Andrew,

Chermiti would grace that list.

Tommy @106.

Of course! I know Dan Friedkin isn’t filling the freezers himself. It’s a last test event. It’s a chance to iron out these issues.

It didn’t seem an issue where my mates were in the North Stand, so who knows what the root cause was. However, I seen many Blues unhappy with it, disappointed when they could have sold twice or 3 times the amount of food available. As you say, outside providers probably scared of being left with unsold product is probably the cause.

They have to get it right quickly or fans will lose confidence that there will be the food they are promised on offer, and spend their moneys outside the ground.

The stadium is fantastic from the outside. Inside I’m sorry to say it was a big disappointment. Complete lack of help and support from club staff.

Ridiculous number of steps up to my seat. Where are the escalators? My fault for picking the East Stand but I can’t even see Moyes let alone shout at him. Atmosphere zero.

As for the football, why was Garner playing central defence? I hope it’s just an age thing. If everyone else thinks BMD and Moyes are the bees knees, then Everton will live happily ever after, which is all everyone wants at the end of the day.

It took me 7 hours to get to the ground due to a smash on the M6. Walked straight into our fabulous ground 15 mins late.

Enjoyed the occasion. Getting food for my son was completely shite. Didn’t help having a divvy in front trying to get served with cash, then arguing when told it’s card only. The variety of food was not very good also.

Loved the vets game with “Shoot!” every time Hibbo got it. All in all, ground: 10/10; experience: 6/10. Oh and we need a striker and a new manager – just my opinion.

Anthony @113,

For a modern ground in a big city to not have escalators or a dedicated rail station is nothing short of a disgrace really. And it’s as simple as that.

Escalators are for very lazy people, there’s lifts for people who can’t manage stairs. Stop whinging, get your steps in, get fit, not fat.😁

Had the chicken nuggets x 3 with chips, but they ran out of chips, so 6 chicken nuggets with bbq and mayo £9, no chips.

Just thought I’d share the food experience, Oh, also had a steak pie earlier before the first game which was excellent but overpriced at £6.50.

Glad I used the stairs! 😉

Interesting reading about the various match day experiences, certainly a mixed bag of responses!

I would imagine that there is still a large snagging list that they are working on at the stadium, given how recently it was completed, hopefully things will improve quickly in the areas that had issues.

Thought there were positives to take from the performance, Dewsbury-Hall in particular has the potential to be a cracking signing given his hour. Mykolenko injury is a blow.

I wanted Aznou to do well but he looked like he wasn’t quite ready for it yet; fingers crossed it was just nerves and the newness of everything.

We all know that we desperately need a right-winger, we do still have the option of making plenty of loan signings too – I think loans tend to happen at the end of the window though?

There’s no goals in this team.

It’s been the same for decades. KITAP1 has been the mantra. Strong defence is the priority. Attack a secondary thought. It’s going to take a long, long time for things to change. If it ever does.

We desperately need a different mentality.

I don’t agree, Liam.

There’s nothing more depressing than scoring 3 and conceding 4, à la Roberto. It’s been our defence that has been the key to our survival these last few years.

Lots of positives from today, in a very non-cliche way…

Dewsbury-Hall is exactly what we’ve needed, he goes forward!!! Ndiaye is the Number 10 we need once we have someone who can fill his wide berth (Grealish and/or Dibling).

And get Jamie Vardy up top for fuck’s sake!

I read through the comments, some I agree with, some I don’t. We were pretty decent for the 1st half, we were pretty shit for the 2nd half.

Dewsbury-Hall did well, shown good promise. Aznou struggled, Barry was more of the same from his pre season so far. Alcaraz did a job, worked hard and looked hungry.

After the subs, one thing stood out massively: our midfield without Gana is shocking. Garner can’t dominate, he needs Gana, and as much as I want Tim Iroegbunam to do well, we look wide open when he plays.

We need to make chances count. Tarkowski off a corner, Barry off Dewsbury-Hall’s clever pass, Barry’s shot from outside the box, Ndiaye off a Barry pass… We have got to take 1 or 2 of them chances and we can relax; keep missing and we will keep losing or drawing games.

Looks more of the same from last season, we have to improve on chance conversion to kick on.

Said it on another thread, I’d take a chance on Greenwood, natural goalscorer and right-sided player.

Anthony, there is absolutely no way in hell this club will ever bid for Greenwood. Guilty or not, he’s still a disgusting human being. Did you see him spit in Onana’s face today? In a club friendly?

Never. Never. He would disgrace us.

Mike, I didn’t see that, certainly don’t condone it.

I just want players who can score and assist in the top end of the pitch. I’ve only got so much patience watching McNeil and Harrison etc.

I must be in opposites land from the Mr Men.

A match report from the ever critical Michael Kenrick that describes an exciting affair. Followed by comments describing a Walter Smith era borefest played out by two lousy teams in a half-empty stadium. Which was it?

I thought that Everton were decent, stringing passes together and creating chances against a good team.

We still have some weaknesses and everyone on here knows about them. They have a good striker who could have had a hat-trick. We do not (yet).

I thought that was really impressive. Incredible energy and creativity from the left-back. Some really smart ball use from the midfield, and nice to see some proven goal scoring talent in the side.

Then Peter Reid came on and stole the show. Well done Everton old boys.

Paul K (various), Sooty never speaks, only ever whispers into Corbett’s ear. ‘That’s the way to do it!’ is Punch (and Judy) as Dave said.

The magic incantation for Sooty’s conjuring (said by Corbett) is ‘Izzy whizzy, let’s get busy!’ which is a slogan the Everton recruitment team need to take to heart.

Dewsbury-Hall was excellent in patches today, best of the incomings so far. Thought Barry showed a bit more today but is obviously still settling in and adjusting. Time will tell.

3 or 4 more decent recruits still essential, as we’ve known for ages. Hopefully it will all pan out in the next couple of weeks.

Thought Barry was absolutely dreadful. Can’t head a ball, completely fluffed his chance when clear through on goal, and plays far too deep for a Number 9.

Dewsbury-Hall in contrast had a great game and showed his commitment and passing ability. The new kid at left-back showed some good signs but will take a while to adjust to the Premier League.

I thought Ndiaye has looked out of sorts in the last couple of games, which is a worry. For fuck’s sake, TFG please hurry up and get us a right-back and a right winger who can score goals and create chances.

Ernie,

Bainsey still looked like he was at his playing weight!

Match day experience very mixed.

Positives:

Stadium looks great from outside.
Pitch view great from 001 Lower West. My area.
On pitch Dewsbury-Hall looks like he will be a great signing.
Rest of the team looked patchy this close to the start of the new season. I will give the other new boys a pass as this was their first outing.

Also, legs worked well on the walk to and from the stadium. They managed to get me to Azvex for a few drinks after the game.

Negatives:

If Aranmark are one of the inside stadium caterers, then I have just been charged £20 for a single pint of lager according to my Bank App. Swipe your card then the camera follows your progress around the pick-up area and loads someone else’s food onto your card apparently. Yes this will be my next contact with Everton.

Please all check your bills if you have used this system at the game.

Lower West stand catering areas quite chaotic as similar queues to Goodison Main Stand, with queues for food blocking the thoroughfare for anyone getting to their seating areas. Thought this would be a thing of the past moving into a state-of-the-art stadium.

Got the impression that the steep stadium design was introduced more in the hope of shoehorning 53,000 people into a small footprint than improving the atmosphere (call me cynical).

Walking to my seat only requires about 30 steps but I did experience sitting in Row 54 in the upper tier over the away fan area for the second test event and feel sorry for anyone who isn’t pretty fit sitting near the back of the top tiers. No escalators nor lifts for them it appeared. Half a dozen flights of steps up to the seating area and 60 or 70 steps to their seats. I know Newcastle can be horrendous for fans but this is a new stadium.

I was quite impressed with our efforts in the Man Utd match so still optimistic we can start the new season well.

Let’s hope we can get a few more experienced Premier League players in before the Leeds game. COYB.

Phil,

That is the reason why I always pay with cash and I’m disgusted that Everton aren’t catering for cash users.

I hate that everywhere is going cashless.

Agree Mick. Not everyone wants to pay by card or phone and also should be given the option to have a season ticket card without having to jump through hoops or beg.

Cannot see why a seat shouldn’t be transferable without handing extra cash over to the Club via “membership” schemes. I know it’s moving with the times but the words “rip off” come to mind.

On the positive side, the stadium is a great place to actually watch football and, even though we lost, we played much better than in some pre-season friendlies I’ve seen.

On the negative side, the squad is way too thin and very hard work is needed to bring in quality players in short order. The stadium looks great but it’s easily clogged on the inside and, once you’ve wasted 25 minutes queuing for food and drink, it’s piss poor and expensive.

The lack of goals is a concern but, having said that, we did create a decent amount of chances; Tarkowski, Barry and especially Ndiaye should really have scored to put us up in the game and then it probably becomes a different match.

Still need more pace and spark up top. Someone like Soule (who cost Roma £23M last summer) would be very useful. Grealish and Dibling would help, the latter especially as he is a right-winger which we still lack.

With a bit of pace added to the wings and a proper right back, I think we’ll be fine this season. Would probably start with Beto rather than Barry at the moment though.

Transport to the stadium via Sandhills was fine although people drifting away after the main match certainly doesn’t represent a true test.

The Stadium itself is great. The relative lack of atmosphere isn’t a concern just yet. With a full complement of season ticket holders in place, once they’ve got to know each other and there’s a competitive match with points at stake, things will improve.

Downsides? It really does depend on which part of the Stadium you’ve sitting in. It didn’t help yesterday by people doing their touristy bit wandering around the concourses, but the point at which the East Stand meets the lower South Stand is a real bottleneck, not helped by the position of the food outlets.

In general too, the excessive queues for food and drink stretched across the concourses blocking the thoroughfares. That needs to be re-considered.

Just a query. Why was a whole section of seating left empty next to the Corporate section in the West Stand? Similarly a smaller section where the South Stand meets the East? Thought it was a sellout?

Anthony #113

There are lifts in the East stand. You have to look for them as they’re not signposted as you go in.

I found them after I’d climbed up to the upper level so got one back down to see where they were at the entrance level.

My entrance gate is 14 and the lifts are at gates 15 and 21 which, I was told, you can use instead.

Danny (69). Probably “six of one and half a dozen of the other”.

However, I see in the gossip columns today that he has now sacked his agent and is doing his own negotiating.

It has been said on quit a few fora that it was the agent that was the problem, all along.

My second visit to the new stadium.

No issues or queues at the turnstiles; maybe that was timing? I took my seat and caught the warm ups.

A random, but funny moment was pre-match, when they brought the 4 mascots (3 x Everton, 1 x Roma) onto the pitch. After their names were announced, the 3 Everton kids started doing the Beto goal dance, much to the bemusement of the poor Roma girl!!

The acoustics in the stadium are very good, but I do have a slight niggle. The Goodison play list, with the addition of the Las’ “There She Goes” was played, but the sheer volume drowned out the crowd, which was a shame, because they were singing..

I was looking around and it may have been a 50,000 sell out, but there were plenty of empty seats, even though most of the ground look full. The Roma section wasn’t sold out, but they’d taken probably over half of their allocation. Maybe some of those seats could be accounted for by it not actually being full capacity.

I thought Roma looked good. You could tell they are a team that only missed out on Champions League by 2 points last season, so it was a bit more of a test for Everton. Their supporters were very noisy throughout, even during the warm up, but those who have experienced live football in Serie A or the Bundesliga, will know it’s like that start to finish.

The match was nothing to write home about. It still had the mark of a pre-season friendly, but had a bit more intensity about it. We showed some decent football in parts, having more effect with link up play from the midfield and playing it on the deck, because Roma’s centre backs were very commanding.

I’ll just pick out a few players.

Aznou was thrown in after 8 minutes when Mykolenko went down and signalled to the bench straight away. He looked okay going forward, but was caught out a few times defensively. Not ready just yet, but he looks a good player with potential. I can now see a back 4 of O’Brien, Tarkowski and Branthwaite, with Keane slotting in at left back against Leeds.

Alcaraz was a bit hit and miss. Worked hard and when he did link up with Ndiaye and Dewsbury-Hall, there were some slick moves. Seemed to get frustrated a lot, playing out on the right, which is not his best position, but I suppose that was to accommodate Dewsbury-Hall.

Barry looks strong and quick. Good on the ground, and inevitably will be used as a target man. Another that needs to settle in and develop the raw aspects of his game.

Dewsbury-Hall had a fine debut. Lot’s of positive forward running and would have got my nod for our best player, but for more than one occasion when he could have pulled the trigger, but either kept running to be crowded out or played in the likes of Barry. Looks a good signing though.

But for me it has to be Ndiaye. We are going to miss him when he disappears in January. As mentioned, that magical moment when he was pinned in by 2 Roma players near the corner flag right in front of me, only 7 rows back. People around me screaming for him to “do something”. I was thinking what is he supposed to do? He stayed calm, retained the ball, then through awareness, or getting a shout, played a cheeky back heel pass between the two pressing him to a midfield to get us back up the pitch. Genius.

So, that’s pre-season over. Onto the next one and where it matters. Unless we get anyone in this week, Moyes has his work cut out with this still threadbare squad for the first few matches.

Sam (100), You’re an honest man Sam so I’ll take your word that it was one league game in eight which we won.

Sam got to disagree though if you think we have enough talent as it is to get us to a 14th—17th. finish in the table especially when injuries and suspensions and the African Cup start to diminish that squad.
We need some quality when these new players are signed and the quicker the better!

Barry is going to need a season to get his head around things.

We need a striker in who knows the score.

Dave, I guess predictions for the future are always a little pie in the sky but we picked up points regularly under Moyes and even during that no-win patch we drew almost all the other games. The bookies have us at around 15th (though maybe that builds in the assumption of new players). I think we are all so used to relegation battles that maybe it becomes built in but I reckon things would have to go pretty drastically wrong for us to be in bottom 3, even with current squad which is solid defensively though a little short on creativity. The Afcon will be a test without Ndiaye and Gana.

Either way it seems certain there will be more additions. Wish we’d had them sooner. But I guess I’d rather good ones than fast ones. Let’s see what they manage.

The positives I took from yesterday were …

1.KDH
2. Gana
3. Our defence
4. Leighton Baines looking the best left sided player on display – and probably the fittest – and the same age as Ashley Young.

I watched the game online via EvertonFC Live and fell asleep with about 20 minutes to go.

There, that was my first Hill Dickinson experience.

The concerns from yesterday…

Barry & the Young full back don’t look ready for the EPL.

In reality the only player brought in who is EPL ready is KDH.

We are one of a large group of clubs who won’t get many/any players in before the last few days of the window – so Moyes pre & post match press conferences for the first few games will be entertaining.

@146 Sam

Just out of interest Sam. Who do you think 3 worse sides than us are?

Tommy, pretty much agree with Robert. We have better squad than promoted teams, though possible one of them surprises people. We’re better than Wolves currently and probably similar to a few others.

I’d have us at 15th/16th currently. But hope new additions could get us aiming at top ten.

I went to the first test event and on entering the ground we had escalators taking us to the concourse, thank heaven no more having to climb those steps in Upper Bullen’s. So you can imagine my disappointment to find on entering entrance 2 at the West stand there were no escalators and even more steps to climb than in the Upper Bullen’s. I have to say not impressed with the queuing system to get into the stadium, they had 3 queues for gate 2 an absolute nonsense. I went down at half time to have a look round the concourse but everywhere was rammed with no proper queueing system in place, and like at the test event there didnt look to be enough toilets don’t know how they solve that problem. I also think with the closing of roads and making 2 lanes into one doesnt make travelling to the game a happy experience, hopefully over time that gets better.

But sitting inside the ground you cant be other than massively impressed with what must be the best stadium in the Premier league, although I havent been in Spurs new ground which looks impressive. I cant wait to hear 50,000 Everton fans singing and roaring the team on. Yesterday was a lot quieter than it will be on match day.

The same problem that was here under the last 3 managers is still our biggest problem, this team lack goal scorers. Alcaraz and Garner don’t score many, Ndaiye for all his skill isn’t prolific and we have had a host of Centre forwards who just don’t score enough goals. I said over a week ago I think Moyes will sell Beto before the window closes, but leaving young Barry to carry that role alone isn’t going to work. Felt sorry for young Aznou having to come on after a few minutes, Roma certainly targeted him in the 2nd half and every time they attacked they had loads of room on Anjou’s side of the pitch.

The close season has been disappointing to say the least, our only victory was against Port Vale behind closed doors and even in that game we had to come from behind. I know they are pre season games but only 1 win in 7 games hardly does much for your confidence.

Barry must be wondering what he’s let himself in for. Playing in complete isolation at the top of an Everton team is a strikers graveyard.

Only better players and a more expansive mindset will change that. Otherwise forwards will always struggle.

Brian, I think the biggest problem by some distance under the last 3 managers is that our team lacks good players. It’s no coincidence that strikers getting decent goal hauls for Everton in the past 20 years have coincided with us having a good team generally.

Fix the abysmal right flank (the worst in the Premier League for at least two consecutive seasons) and I would be pretty confident that Barry and Beto will register decent goal hauls between them. Not Isak level of course, but a marked improvement on recent seasons.

@154 Sam

Interesting as Sunderland and Burnley have signed a number of players and have large squads. In the assumption that all these new players of theirs turn out to be duds then maybe you are correct.

If a couple of them for each side actually turn out to be really good then we are in trouble. Because we are weakened compared to last season.

Yesterday was enlightening on the opposition. I rate the manager, and was interested in their forward Dovbyk who was at Girona and Franca the right back that we supposedly followed.

For all the stick Moyes and Barry are getting, id look at the roma set up – and conclude they arent much better. The striker did little against Branthwaite and Tarkowski of any note all game. Franca wasn’t that impressive, and the manager was similar in style to Moyes – perhaps even more defensive.

I know just a friendly. But a lot of average footballers about or they’re just going through the motions of a friendly.

One thing I forgot to mention on Barry, was as well a the Roma centre backs winning just about everything in the air, our young striker was getting traditional Italian defender treatment.

Having not played a competitive game, it’s way too early to judge him just yet.

Tommy, I’ve not been too impressed with Burnley’s business bar Ugochukwu who I like. Sunderland have made some good signings though I’m still not sure how many of their players would make our starting XI, probably Xhaka, maybe Idingra or Hume. I like Diarra and Talbi but both may need time to adapt.

I think it’s debatable how weakened we are to last season. The biggest loss was Doucoure, for whom KDH is hopefully an upgrade. Barry should get more goals than DCL did and Aznou, once settled, can offer what Young did and more. Harrison needs replacing but didn’t offer much last season.

Certainly by the time the window is closed I’d be shocked if we aren’t significantly stronger than last season. Bringing in Grealish or Dibling alone would arguably achieve that.

@168 Sam we have lost our best striker. That equates to weakened in my book. Gana is not getting any younger and we will lose him and N’Diaye in January. They are our best 2 players. With Branthwaite and Tarks just behind them.

Any injury to Tarks and/or Gana and we are in deep trouble.

Tarks is a penalty box defender which means we have to sit deep and tight so as not to expose him. To play like this you have to have outlets and pace for counter attacking play. We have zero pace in our side and neither Barry or Beto are capable of holding play.

The rest of the players are Championship standard with the exception of KDH and we don’t have a right back. I don’t include Pickford in this who is top class and largely mistake free for the last few seasons.

The lack of business we have done is completely negligent and it seems like a really bad move to have ousted Thelwell who seemed to be able to get business done.

Ryan Friedkin was there yesterday so hopefully Moyes will have further pressed the need for players.

I still think we will add at least 4 by end of transfer window.

We should have enough to beat Leeds first up

Ian @ 165, to be fair I don’t think the manager has received much criticism on this thread.

I don’t see why he would receive any in all honesty. Moyes picked a team that was tactically good and competitive for 60 minutes – the issues arose when he had to replace Myko and withdraw KDH and Gana after 60 minutes. We simply lack any depth or quality in the replacements.

Most supporters have sympathy for him as our recruitment is too slow. We need another right back, right winger, no. 6 and a left back with one week to the start of the season. If anyone was in any doubt, young Anzou is not going to be able to provide cover for Myko this season.

I have joined others in saying be patient, it’s a tough market this summer and TFG should not overpay to their valuation of a player. But when we are coming in £10-15 million below a club’s valuation of a player, then we have not done our homework.

Tommy, best striker or not, DCL only managed 3 goals last season. Barry will be disappointed not to better that. Perhaps we suffer a little in hold up play but I’m not sure.

The Afcon will test us but we’ll have a bigger squad by then.

I agree on Thelwell. I think he’d have got more done by now. It seems strange that we’ve gone big on a ST and AMC when RW was/is the biggest need. But I still don’t think we’re worse than last season or struggling compared to other teams.

What pre season has shown is we will be relying on our defence this season.
It is our strength, we will be set up similar to last year, don’t let the opposition score and we always have a chance to win, at least draw.
That’s the Moyes way !
Ndiaye is going to be targeted, as if teams can nullify him we don’t really have much threat.
It’s why a quality RW is a must.
RB a must too, too many times yesterday things broke down with O’brien not have the ability to pick out a man or go past some one.

2 players RW & RB would make a huge difference in my opinion.
Then there’s the depth..
Or lack of it.
I’d expect to see a few loans and a few bodies just to boost numbers before the window shuts.
Damsgaard would be a player I’d like.

From a very good source

Everton prepared to pay £250k a week towards Jack Grealish wage on a 12-month loan. £50k a week shortfall but there is common ground and the player is likely to be given permission to speak to them in the next few days.

I agree with Stu @168.

I didn’t buy anything, but went for a leg stretch at half time. Yes, there were queues in some places, but you could walk around and find places less busy. The Passover seemed to be working well.

It’s not like Goodison was a queue free zone, with many not getting served as the shutters went down before the second half.

The only “crisis” I heard of was the Bloke next to me, who disappeared with his son well into the second half. Thinking he had left early, they returned 15 minutes later. He had apparently be led around the lower concourses by his son until they found somewhere that still had blue doughnuts!!

@173

Now I was nowhere near their biggest fans. But Doucoure, Young, Harrison played 30 plus games last season and Lindstrom in 29. Mangala who I liked and is definitely premier league quality played 21 until his injury. KDH has come in to cover all of those players.

And we have replaced them largely with nobody.

We have replaced Broja and DCL with Barry.

It’s as simple and as stark as that.

7 players replaced with one apparently good signing and a completely unproven entity whose early signs are not the most promising.

The old saying is that you should only sign players that improve the squad. Any player with some kind of premier league experience, proven fitness record and a decent age should already be in the building. They don’t have to be world beaters – just people who can come in and put in some kind of a performance and not be a disaster. And we needed 3 or 4 of them early doors.

We can beat Leeds and wolves with the players we have now. Both of those teams still want players

Think Grealish will sign this week.

@180 Ryan. Start loaning players. There are players in relegated sides that would more than do us for a season who those sides would be grateful to get off the wage bill for a year

Jack Clarke
Philogene
Leif Davis
Mavididi
Ricardo Perreira
Matteus Fernandes

You just proved my point. I’d have none of those players bar Matteus Fernandes and he isn’t getting loaned out.

You don’t know if any of their clubs want to loan them anyway.

You’re just playing championship manager.

If Mykolenko is out for a while, id be surprised if the young lad starts at Leeds.

Mcneil left back or three at the back maybe.

Wow a lot of overreacting on this thread because of a poor preseason.
Lots of teams are in a similar predicament than us with Bournemouth and Brentford in a much more worrying state.

Firstly Barry is only back training. He has come in for a lot of stick but I imagine the plan was to start Beto for the first month and use him off the bench. He should not be judged so harshly now.

We have enough quality in the squad to cover Mykolenko. Moyes can go to a five with Garner and McNeill as wing backs and that will also help Alcaraz. and get Ndiaye further up the pitch.

We have 5 in and 4 or 5 to go so we will be in decent shape by the end of the window. Only the top teams are ready to roll from day one and the rest of us have to wait until their business is complete.

Tommy has put forward a name who I think would be perfect for us in Matteus Fernandes. I was so impressed by him last season and thought we should be trying for along with Dibling. I think he would be a bargain for the price being quoted and looks a complete central midfield player to me. I can’t believe we haven’t looked at him.

Tommy@177

We’re going round in circles now but as i’ve said KDH replaces (improves on) Docuoure, Aznou replaces Young, Harrison needs replacing and Lindstrom, Broja and Mangala barely featured for Moyes. We’ve also got Armstrong coming back from a good loan and Chermitti back from injury.

Like you I would have far preferred to get players in early and am not hugely impressed with the business we’ve done. But it’s not that bad. For years we’ve had disasterists predicting we were certainties to get relegated and they have been wrong. Things would have to go very awry (always possible) for that to happen this season.

As Ryan says the better loans are not available till later in the window usually. Lets see who we have when the window shuts. Sounds like Grealish may be happening sooner rather than later.