A touch of Goodison Park came to Bramley-Moore Dock this evening as the Grand Old Lady’s famous criss-cross Archibald Leitch design was splashed across Hill Dickinson Stadium’s LED panels at times before and during the clash under the lights with West Ham. It was entirely fitting because, on the pitch, Everton took their weary fans back to L4 and countless frustrations down the years when the Blues squandered winning positions by surrendering the initiative to a struggling opponent and then failing to find a way of getting themselves back on top before the final whistle.
If the momentum-sapping Carabao Cup defeat at Wolves was a movie Evertonians have become sick of rewatching, so, too, was this frustratingly uneven display that saw the Blues throw away two points, extend their recent run to four matches without a win and should help realign expectations for a season that had looked so wonderfully promising exactly a month ago today.
Coming on the back of home triumphs over Brighton and Mansfield, the 3-2 win at Wolves and the swashbuckling manner of it offered tantalising hope that this new Everton could be a surprise package of the 2025/26 Premier League. The games since, however, have badly exposed the shortcomings of David Moyes’s squad, drawbacks that appear to be magnified by the manager’s conservatism and predictability.
The deep-rooted issues up front, where the hapless Beto continues to look horribly out of place on this stage and Thierno Barry struggles to impress — despite practically non-existent service and being chopped and changed as a starter with the Portuguese — are well-documented; added to that now are the widening cracks in the notion that the club would be able to get through an entire season without having adequately strengthened the full-back positions in particular.
Jake O’Brien performed admirably as a makeshift right-back last season but he has, for the most part, looked ill at ease in the role so far this term. This evening he was run ragged by El Hadji Malick Diouf and Crysencio Summerville down the Hammers’ left and he once again lacked the give-and-go overlapping and crossing ability of a natural full-back when Everton were going forward. On the other side, meanwhile, Vitalii Mykolenko is a serviceable but limited left-back and his understudy, Adam Aznou, appears to be a long way off providing meaningful competition.
The pace and power that Diouf provided the visitors in the lead-up to their 65th-minute equaliser was a stark reminder of what Everton lack. The fleet-footed Senegalese was almost comically at odds with the lead boots of his pursuer, James Tarkowski, and though Jarrod Bowen’s goal owed more than a touch to fortune, it had been coming. How often have we Blues thought that to ourselves over the years…?
In central midfield, there is the familiar conundrum posed by the indefatigable Idrissa Gueye’s fire-fighting and game-reading abilities weighed against his own limitations around the opposition penalty area and the willing James Garner -- arguably the Blues' best player on the night -- still feeling his way to that crucial next level that would elevate him from also-ran top-flight midfielder to high-class status.
On the night, not even the star power of an admittedly below-par Jack Grealish, the invention of Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall or the trickery of Iliman Ndiaye could provide Everton the cushion they needed to see out the victory. Anchored to the left touchline, Grealish was occasionally too peripheral and when he was on the ball felt predictable and too reluctant to strike at goal himself.
In the final reckoning, while not carving out a tonne of clear-cut chances, Everton had enough of the ball in forward areas to have killed the game off before an hour had elapsed but were left to rue an agonising miss by Dewsbury-Hall at 1-0, a Gueye effort that narrowly cleared the bar and late chances for Garner that were repelled by Alphonse Areola.
With no further injury concerns beyond Jarrad Branthwaite and Merlin Röhl, Moyes had the same squad from which to choose his starting XI as he did against Liverpool and Wolves, the only question being who out of Beto and Barry would be given the nod up front.
For the fourth league game in succession, the ungainly former Udinese striker was named in the side and, once again, was substituted in favour of the young Frenchman having done little to advance his claims for the starting role. He did have the home side’s first effort on goal, a guided header from Tarkowski’s clipped cross that lacked the power to beat the keeper with a quarter of an hour gone but, for the most part, he was as awkward on the ball and ineffective in the air against towering centre-halves as Everton fans have come to expect.
Nevertheless, Everton carried the greater threat in the first period, controlling possession even if it was all a bit too pedestrian for the most part. They were at their best when they quickened the pace and after Ndiaye had fired low at Areola in the 17th minute, Mykolenko slipped Dewsbury-Hall in with a ball to the byline a minute later to win the corner from which the Toffees scored.
The initial set-piece was punched clear by the keeper, the ball was cycled back across the box to Garner on the left and when he swung in a peach of a cross, Michael Keane met it with a brilliant header that flew in from about 10 yards out.
1-0 almost became 2-0 10 minutes before the break when a lovely shimmy and cross by Ndiaye picked Dewsbury-Hall out at the back post but, with the goal at his mercy, he planted his header a yard the wrong side of the post before burying his head in his hands, knowing it was one that got away.
Perhaps sensing that West Ham, under the guidance of new manager Nuno Espírito Santo, would offer a sterner test after the interval, Moyes appeared to have sent his charges out with the requisite purpose for the second half.
O’Brien popped up at the back post three minutes after the restart but his shot was deflected over the crossbar before Garner picked up Ndiaye’s pass but also saw his effort charged down. The midfielder then linked up nicely with Grealish but again, a visiting defender got in the way and his heavily-deflected shot was gathered by Areola while one more goal-bound strike, this time across the crisp volley from the angle, was saved.
Having weathered that, Santo’s men began to work their way back into the contest. Summerville had been their chief danger man in the first half and had had an effort of his own blocked early in the first half and also crossed for Niklas Füllkrug to miscue a volley. And the Dutchman started making inroads again after the marauding Diouf flashed a dangerous ball across Jordan Pickford’s box in the 56th minute when he cut inside and bent one wide of the target.
Shortly afterwards, when Keane headed awkwardly backwards and O’Brien tried to complete the job by nodding it to Pickford, Summerville nipped in to get a toe on the Irishman’s under-cooked touch and it took the England goalie’s out-stretched foot to divert it wide.
Two minutes after that, it was 1–1 with the increasing threat posed by Diouf going unheeded. The fullback out-muscled O’Brien down the touchline and, having knocked it into space ahead of him, easily out-paced Tarkowski and sent a speculative cross into the box. Keane glanced it on but only to Bowen who had time and space to cut back on his left foot and slam the ball home off the defender’s head. It was the first goal Everton had conceded at their new stadium.
Moyes withdrew Beto for Barry but Everton continued to lack the tempo or bravery on the ball to open the game up again for themselves. Instead it was the Hammers who almost turned the match on its head when another Diouf cross made its way to Bowen on the other flank but this time his shot was blocked behind for a corner.
Tyler Dibling was thrown on for a hugely encouraging cameo with nine minutes left but while the youngster showed some nice touches and driving runs, it was too little time make a genuine impact. Even so, Garner wasted a direct free-kick chance after Dewsbury-Hall had been hauled down by Konstantinos Mavropanos by driving it wide of the upright and his attempt to recreate his goal against Brighton in the first home fixture of the campaign was repelled by the keeper in the 89th minute.
The feeling coming into this Monday night fixture was that it was a must-win if Everton were to regain the optimism and momentum their early results had engendered — the limp defeat to Leeds on the opening day notwithstanding. Instead, Evertonians trooped into the Merseyside night with that familiar sinking feeling that comes from letting a precious lead slip against beatable opposition.
Next weekend’s visitors, the high-flying Eagles from Crystal Palace, will provide even tougher opposition and, all of a sudden, it feels unnecessarily daunting. With Dewsbury-Hall suspended following another quite ridiculous refereeing decision, Moyes will be forced to make changes to his attacking unit but you feel he needs to instil in his players by way of urgency and passing effectiveness if he is to into the international break toasting a victory.
Everton’s deficiencies are causing growing problems
‘How the f*** are we drawing with these? They’re f***ing s****!’ was the shout from the back row of the Lower South stand with only seconds remaining as Everton had to settle for a successive point at home.
In some ways, Everton were lucky that West Ham were the opponents here at Hill Dickinson Stadium on Monday night because a better side would have pounced and inflicted a defeat on us.
That’s because the Blues’ deficiencies were clear to see in several parts of the pitch. In the Premier League, the moment you lose the ball, the other team will be on you and marching up the field. However, too many times against West Ham, Everton were simply incapable of looking after it.
Now, I like Beto but it’s telling that all his positives and plaudits are about his attitude and not about his technical ability. His failure to hold up the ball or simply control it in tight spots has been hugely detrimental. At Leeds, against Liverpool and again here at home to West Ham, long balls kept coming back and the initiative was gifted to the opposition.
Beto isn’t upto the job that’s needed and therefore, while Barry is yet to score or assist, he has to be the frontman.
The free-kick Everton earned on the edge of the box ten minutes from the end wouldn’t have happened with Beto on the pitch. Barry knew when to rush and harry the goalkeeper and the rest followed. If the attacker doesn’t get these moves right, it fails for the whole team and, yes, the opposition grow in confidence and start to flourish.
However, it’s not all on Beto. The players behind him too have to be a little bit smarter. James Tarkowski, for instance, aiming for his head, his chest or indeed his feet is a wasted pass. Instead, playing the channels will get Everton further forward and allow Beto’s unorthodox style to better benefit our attacks.
There was a moment when Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall received the ball on the attack and Jack Grealish ran towards the box from outside. For a moment though, you could see they each checked themselves. Where they were seemingly telepathic in the win over Wolves at Molineux last month, they were now thinking about what they were doing. I think that could be down to other parts of the play not flowing as it should elsewhere and it having a negative impact all over.
Then there was the West Ham equaliser. Now, had Tarkowski wanted to snuff out the Hammers attack and take the yellow, he couldn’t because he had already been cautioned after stretching and fouling a player for a ball that was played too short by Idrissa Gana Gueye. An innocuous moment maybe, but Everton’s lack of getting the basics right every time had a costly effect on the game.
Throughout the match, in the first half and more often in the second, there were big gaps all over the park for West Ham to exploit. There were erroneous balls and wrong runs. It felt off.
The fact Tarkowski was even chasing down the West Ham winger was because Nuno Espirito Santo’s side had found space behind Jake O’Brien. In the second half, they did time and time again. Down the left constantly, they had joy and produced plenty of crosses.
O’Brien has performed admirably at full-back and even very well at times. But he’s a central defender and it’s such square pegs in round holes that can cause issues over time.
Then, on the other side, you have Vitalii Mykolenko who is a solid defender and great reader of the game. So often in the past, he has been positionally sound and unflustered when coming up against the game’s best wingers.
Going forward though is another issue Everton are having to deal with and it’s stifling.
Already Jack Grealish is being doubled upon. At times, there will be three players paying attention to him. He is so supremely talented, he still keeps the ball. However, if Everton possessed a wing-back who bombed on and drew opposition players away, there would definitely more joy to be had.
It’s the dysfunction in the side owing to years of poor recruitment which has hurt Everton so badly in recent seasons and continues to niggle this campaign.
It’s that dysfunction which is causing every man on the pitch to overplay or underplay the ball.
The creativity and ideas we saw in August are being stripped away by doubts and questions that aren’t being answered.
Maybe this will take another transfer window to remedy but right now, the strengths of the team are being negated by the weaknesses and Everton are dropping points.
Finding a fix will require some smart thinking from the manager and a rejig here or there.