Everton’s Unnecessary Approach to a Very Necessary Competition is Maddening

This is an age in which Premier League clubs will employ tens of sport scientists and data experts in a bid to gain any miniscule edge over their rivals. In this game of fine margins, they will wring out any detail to claim the tiniest of advantages.

And yet, when it comes to the League Cup, the same clubs are happy to weaken their team by more than 50 percent and give up on the notion of giving themselves the best chance of success.

The trend of giving minutes to fringe players and back-up goalkeepers when there is a shiny trophy to lift is baffling. Even more so for a club that hasn’t won a cup for 30 years and told supporters this week that they were aiming for silverware.

Everton headed to Wolves in the League Cup on Tuesday night and wasted a prime opportunity to progress as manager David Moyes elected to bench his best players and give goalkeeper Jordan Pickford the night off. It was such an unnecessary move.

The Blues aren’t in Europe and so will play less than 50 matches this season. That means the clash at Molineux accounts for two percent of the campaign and the shot you have at glory. So, when you consider the days and weeks spent negotiating to sign new players to improve the side and the hours spent on the training ground throughout the year to get better, the massive effort and commitment it takes to compete and strive for greatness, why would you purposely risk and weaken your chances of progress?

The timing of it all too. Everton played Saturday lunchtime and weren’t scheduled to return to Premier League action for another nine days when they host West Ham at Hill Dickinson Stadium on Monday. Players don’t need rest or protection from possible injuries and if fitness is negatively impacted, it’s been done in the battle to win; the very reason football competition exists.

When the final whistle went, the Blues had 140 hours until the next fixture and will now have plenty more free time throughout the season to watch the League Cup on TV at home.

What’s more, it’s still so early in the season, this was an ample opportunity to have your best team play another 90 minutes together while new signings continue to integrate and settle.

It’s not to say that the side Moyes picked wasn’t capable of beating Wolves. It was. But why harm your chances of victory? Progress wasn’t guaranteed even if the best team had started. With that in mind though, why would you actively dent the strength of such an opportunity?

You can say that the players picked should have done better. They should. So many changes though, seven in total, can often lead to such a disjointed and dysfunctional performance.

Wolves are a team rooted to the bottom of the Premier League table with zero points after making history as the first side to trail at half-time in each of their opening five matches. Rather than turn the screw and heap on the misery though, Everton invited them to pick themselves up off the canvas. We gave them a free hit to whack us square in the face and left Wolverhampton bloodied and bruised. We’re not even in the fight now because we threw the towel in.

What was even more irksome was the urgency showed in making a double substitution at half-time before brining on Jack Grealish and Iliman Ndiaye only twelve minutes later as it confirmed Moyes clearly did realise the importance of a win and getting through. So why forego an entire half? Argh.

For so long, people have looked at Everton and wondered how they can compete when clubs higher up the league table have spent a billion over the last decade. But that doesn’t tell the story of the Toffees’ failures which are squarely down to bad decision-making and poor choices. Everton playing a weakened side is why they won’t win the League Cup this season, not because Manchester City, United and Chelsea annually get the cheque book out.

Moyes’ error at Molineux could have consequences on the season far beyond being knocked out of the cup. Everybody in football talks about the importance of momentum. It’s key. This season, Everton have ridden the crest of a wave built on the positivity of a new stadium and winning games of football. Now, suddenly, the pressure is on and the grey clouds will gather if the team fails to beat a struggling West Ham at home next week. The narrative will switch and the outlook alters. Had the Blues fielded a strong XI and simply not been at the races on the night, the focus isn’t as harsh. Moyes has allowed for the possibility of a negative shadow casting itself on the campaign now.

Last night burst the bubble of faith I had in the club this year. After beating Wolves in August with a fine performance, I wrote about grabbing on for the journey this team could take us on. Now, my grip has loosened a little because I feel let down.

I have believed all season that Everton were doing all they could to be successful but that’s not possible when you don’t pick your best players. That belief has been dented. Don’t insist you are determined to win a trophy and then fail those words with inaction. Do as you say and pick the best team to give us the best chance of lifitng silverware.

Some have said that this week summed up parts of Moyes’ first spell at the club; being off it at the start of the Merseyside derby and getting into gear only when it was too late before being knocked out of the cup with an understrength side and undercooked display. However, I have noticed a massive change of attitude and approach from the manager since his return. He’s appeared more determined and, though he hasn’t smashed the glass ceiling with his outlook, he’s certainly been set on giving it a bit of a whack. The self-imposed restrictions and dour foreboding of taking a knife to a gunfight weren’t there this time. Moyes’ words have given me genuine hope and optimism. He had a fire in his belly as he addressed the Goodison Park faithful back in May.

Even the post-match interview lacked the strength and conviction the manager has previously offered since his return though. Moyes noted that things improved in the second half (go figure after the best players were brought on) while the second question referred to taking positives as though this game had been another step forward as opposed to two back.

Perhaps inside the club, it’s felt Everton returning to the top is a process that won’t be defined by the third round of the League Cup. That’s not how a lot of fans feel though. This was an opportunity to create lifelong memories with a trip to Wembley that was extinguished by a bad, bad day at the office. It’s not a case of moving onto the next one; this stings because the night didn’t have to unfold as it did.

Where the Blues have been in recent seasons and where they are at now, a League Cup triumph would be transformative. The half empty glass would suddenly be half full, the gallows humour would no longer be required as a crutch and the ‘Everton That’ shouts would be eradicated.

Look at how Newcastle and Crystal Palace supporters reacted to winning the first trophy of a lifetime last season. It meant everything. Absolutely everything. Yet as far as Everton and the League Cup are concerned, it’s a pursuit that’s led to nothing for another year.

This is a new era, playing at a new home with new ownership but this felt so samey. It was the stale surrender we have seen time and again for three decades.

It’s genuinely up there for the most frustrated I’ve felt with regards to Everton’s performance and pursuit of a trophy. Not because it has been 30 years, not because we played poorly but because it was so, so needless.

Had the Blues lost 2-0 last night with Grealish and Pickford on the pitch, together with the lads who finished the game at Anfield, I’d be disappointed and bemoan the result but at least I’d know Everton had taken aim with the best team possible and fallen short. To know the club has been knocked out again because the team wasn’t as strong as it could have been is hard to accept.

After the match a mate messaged: ‘We’ll never change us’.

It’s purgatory, this.

An Everton season ticket holder and football writer, you can subscribe to all of Ell Bretland's work at https://ellbretland.substack.com