Watching Everton’s steady disintegration on Saturday, one thought instantly came to mind: this was no way to start the final season at Goodison.
Boos were audible when Mason Holgate replaced Jack Harrison with Everton 2-0 down, and then again at full-time after the 3-0 defeat to Brighton. Before the end, vast swathes of the ground were empty.
This is going to be a long, emotional farewell to Everton’s home of 132 years and it deserved better. Much better.
One game into the new season and it already felt like Groundhog Day. Instead of savouring every moment, fans felt compelled to head for an early exit. There is an obvious sadness in that.
Everton have been here before but this felt worse. They started last season with disappointing defeats at home to Fulham and Wolves. In both games they squandered chances, only to be sucker punched at the other end.
The defeat on Saturday had some of the hallmarks of those performances — all the early huff and puff, with a chronic lack of end product — only with more downsides.
Brighton’s superior quality showed. They were ruthless when chances were presented, taking advantage of every slip or moment of hesitancy. Everton, by contrast, looked leggy and cumbersome; overly reliant on the direct early ball. When they did break through, the end product was lacking and Dwight McNeil hit the post with the goal gaping.
The stands at Goodison Park empty out on Saturday (Carl Recine/Getty Images)
Their manager Sean Dyche called it a “head-scratcher”. “You come away feeling flat and disappointed in a performance where at half time you say, ‘That’s what I wanted to see,’” he said.
“We’re certainly not in the depth of riches and developing that clinical edge is very difficult. It’s something we have to continually work to be more effective at. The hardest thing to affect in football is goal-scoring. Everyone knows that, which is why goal-scorers are so expensive.”
None of this should have really come as much of a surprise, though. Brighton have invested heavily this summer, their spending due to rise to around £140million ($181.2m) should Georginio Rutter join as expected from Leeds United, and have assembled an impressive attacking arsenal.
Everton, meanwhile, have had another summer of penny-pinching. They could only cast envious glances as Joao Pedro, a former target, and Yankuba Minteh, who was headed to Goodison this summer only for the deal to collapse when Dominic Calvert-Lewin didn’t go in the opposite direction, showcased their quality. It was particularly galling to see Minteh skip past Vitalii Mykolenko to set up Kaoru Mitoma for Brighton’s opener. It was the kind of dynamic forward play that Everton have long been missing, and why the Gambian was so high up their list.
Instead, Dyche lined up the same attack that faltered last season; one that scored the second fewest goals in the league and underperformed their expected goals by more than any other side. He regularly implored his players to look for the early cross-field ball to Harrison, who found joy against Brighton left-back Jack Hinshelwood, but Everton’s play became tired and predictable the more the game wore on.
There were calls from the stands for new signings Iliman Ndiaye and Jesper Lindstrom, but the game was practically over by the time the former came on. Lindstrom, meanwhile, was never called into action.
Dyche insisted it was too early for the pair to be thrown in from the start.
“We’ve brought some players in who we think can be more effective,” he said. “At this moment, I still think there’s a bit of work to be done for them to understand about the Premier League.”
Dyche shows his frustration (Carl Recine/Getty Images)
Other familiar problems reared their heads. This is still a threadbare squad and Dyche admitted in the week that “three or four” injuries leave the group stretched. No more so at right-back, where Ashley Young toiled against Mitoma. The 39-year-old compounded a hesitant touch with a rash challenge to bring down the Japanese, hardly the decision-making you’d expect from a player of his experience.
Issues were exacerbated by a high press that forced Brighton errors but also afforded the visitors space on the counter. Too often, Mitoma and Minteh were granted free rein to run at Everton’s full-backs.
Young’s suspension means Dyche is now likely to be without his three senior right-back options for Tottenham next weekend. With finances tight, securing new full-back options may be a tall order, but concerns are mounting.
“We have had a bit of a broken pre-season, with lads injured and missing a few games here and there, so the squad is coming together slowly,” captain James Tarkowski said. “Ideally, you would have every player fit for all of pre-season. I missed a few weeks myself and there are other lads who are still a bit away from coming back.
“I have just said to them in there, ‘Don’t be too disheartened by it’. Once you add a few numbers then it is another strong squad.”
Tarkowski bemoaned cheap giveaways before Brighton’s second and third goals. But there was also a hesitancy at the back that allowed the visitors to stride forward unopposed. Michael Keane, a fourth-choice option at times last season, was preferred to new signing Jake O’Brien from the start and the defence was plagued by indecision.
“Keano started because he’s had a very strong pre-season,” Dyche said. “He’s a very experienced Premier League player. Jake hasn’t got that experience but we think he’s a very good player who will learn quickly. He’s come in and been very open-minded about the nuts and bolts, how quick the game is, which he found that in some of the (pre-season) performances.”
So evolution, for now will have to wait. But this was a rude awakening. For all the positivity heading into the new season, Dyche’s side already look stretched and have issues.
The Premier League will continue to be an unforgiving arena unless they are resolved quickly.
(Top photo: Robbie Jay Barratt – AMA/Getty Images)
