No Opening Day Blues
On Saturday Everton banished the tendencies of recent years by getting the new campaign off to a winning start. Having failed to win an opening day fixture since the 2021-22 season, the Blues took their late preseason momentum, highlighted by strong performances against Newcastle United and Lille, into a game with actual points at stake, against Crystal Palace. Given the way last season ended with a whimper, defined by seven straight matches without victory – causing a tilt at European qualification
to slip out of their grasp – it was vital for the team to banish the lingering negative mood surrounding what has to be seen as a dramatic collapse in form.
Riding Out the Rough Patches
The first half resembled a basketball game (hyperbole, this is a low-scoring sport!) in the way that it was so wide open — uncomfortably so for the Blues. The 3-4-2-1 of the visitors and the 4-1-4-1 fielded by David Moyes meshed pleasingly, with lots of turnovers of possession, followed by counterattacking opportunities, and while the home side played some good football at times, the Eagles created the more clear-cut chances: four “big” ones in fact. James Tarkowski’s bizarre clearing header three minutes in opened up Everton’s defence for Jean-Phillipe Mateta, who fortunately was in erratic form, firing wide from close range. Eddie Nketiah forced an outstanding save from Jordan Pickford in the 17th, as Palace passed the ball well, but though the South Londoners accumulated an xG of 1.57 to Everton’s modest 0.33, it had not felt at all one-sided, with there being plenty to admire in the hosts’ play.
Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall’s fantastic strike in the 42nd minute may have rocked the visitors, because the Toffees came out with energy and aggression after the restart, pushing Palace back and dominating proceedings. Iliman Ndiaye’s precision cross for Thierno Barry to head home had the crowd in buoyant mood, and with a two-goal lead, victory looked to be all but secured. The Eagles, under new manager Pierre Sage, never recovered their composure, or confidence, and although Everton sat back more than I’m comfortable seeing, for the last 20 minutes of the match, they failed to threaten. Overall, the Blues were more compact after the interval, as Moyes ironed out some inconsistencies in pressing patterns and shape, which had been exploited in the opener.
Dynamic Wing Play
Tyrique George, handed just his second start for the club, following his loan move halfway through last season, and permanent move in the summer, was a thrill to watch. With Ndiaye back to his best on the right, the 20-year-old provided the perfect balance to Everton’s wing play. Ndiaye is a maverick talent, a truly unique player who is basically irreplaceable at this point (this means don’t sell him, club decision-makers), one who causes opposition teams nightmares with his close control and unpredictable movements with the ball,. All he needs to shine is to have someone on the opposite flank who can also create a havoc. On Saturday, George confirmed the impression that he’d given during preseason, of a young man who had grown considerably in just a few months since the end of the last campaign.
Whilst he’d shown flashes of his talent – a desire to run at defenders and to look for options to shoot – on loan, he’s poised to make the £18m paid to Chelsea for his services look like a laughably small fee, especially considering the outlandish sums being thrown about in the Premier League currently. A fluent carrier of the ball, confident, fast and strong, he has all the hallmarks of a potential Rolls-Royce wide attacker who could end up as good as anyone in the division. He tormented Everton right back target Daniel Muñoz, creating the (entirely false) impression that the experienced Colombian international was a journeyman player. If the club can hold onto Ndiaye, develop George and fellow youngster Tyler Dibling, and get exciting new signing Brennan Johnson up to speed, then the Toffees could field a highly watchable, potent attack this season.
Midfield Maestros
The team – although packed with options in midfield – is oddly quite light in the position as the campaign kicks off, with new man Christian Nørgaard still dealing with a minor injury which has so far kept him off the pitch, Tim Iroegbunam also injured, and likely to leave by the end of the transfer window, and James Garner working his way back to fitness following hernia surgery. That the latter unexpectedly made the bench, coming on for the final eleven minutes plus added time, was a bonus, though from Moyes’ post-match comments, it may be a while before he is back up tomatch fitness and ready to start games. This is sensible, given Garner’s importance to the team, but in his absence the midfield looked in good hands.
Hayden Hackney made his competitive debut, deputizing in the deep midfield role which Moyes is using this term. Although this is not a position in which the former Middlesbrough man is used to playing, he did a solid enough job. However, the 24-year-old is a natural progressive ball-carrying midfielder, almost a roving playmaker by nature, and a holding role highlights some of his weak areas — a relative inability to cover ground rapidly, as well as questionable defensive positional sense; he’s also not the type to ping accurate long balls Pirlo-style all over the pitch. Playing him there removes his best attributes: the ability to carry the ball with his head up, looking to attract opponents and to then play the quick pass to a teammate.
Still, his quick thinking provided the pass which led to Ndiaye’s cross for Barry’s goal, and he is committed in the challenge when he gets close to an opponent. It’s clear that Hackney will be replaced in the holding role by either Garner or Nørgaard eventually, and I think we’ll see the player, who already has impressed, kick on from there in a more advanced position. Alongside him, Harrison Armstrong was exceptional. The academy product is a superior talent, a combination of strong physical attributes, technical ability, heads-up play and a general understanding of the game which is rare to see in a 19-year-old. I hope that he and Hackney get enough chances early in the season to convince Moyes that they are worth giving serious minutes and opportunities to when more experienced options are available.
Rotation Required
CEO Angus Kinnear relayed last week that his bosses – the Friedkins – have ambitious plans for Everton going forward, which starts in the current campaign — music to the ears for the club’s success-starved fans. In addition to a push for Europe, and the development of the exciting young talent being accumulated within the squad, mounting serious challenges in the domestic cup competitions is required. It was a source of frustration last term that the Blues went out of both the EFL and FA Cups meekly, succumbing to Wolves, who’d end a dreadful campaign by exiting the division, and the newly-promoted – though admittedly impressive – Sunderland. So, Moyes has something of a conundrum in front of him, in terms of team selection, for the midweek trip up the coast to Preston. With a visit to the always tough Bournemouth next weekend, he’ll want to maintain momentum in the league, but also come through a potentially tricky EFL Cup tie.
Does he go with an unchanged lineup? I don’t see it, personally, because we need to see Dibling, who played well in preseason, and also Adam Aznou, who it was puzzling to see not even make the bench at the weekend, though Nathan Patterson – who surely will not still be at the club at the end of the window – was. I’m unsure the reasons for that decision, but hope that we get to see the 20-year-old handed some opportunities, since there’s been no indication that he’ll be sent out on loan. Jake O’Brien, who should not see any action as a makeshift right back this term, needs to gain more experience in his natural position — centre half, and Johnson should see significant action, possibly even starting.
If Carlos Alcaraz is not being moved on this month, then this is a good chance to rest KDH, and use the Argentine. I’m expecting several changes, which are required given the high-intensity football played against Palace, and feel the team now has enough quality depth to dispatch the Championship outfit.
Statistics provided courtesy of sofascore.com
