While it's very much a part of human nature to overreact greatly to the opening game of any sports season, oftentimes the season opener can be a bad representative of the year to come. However, things start to get tricky when a team suffers a few losses on the bounce to start the year, and it becomes increasingly difficult to pick up morale and the players' belief in the system that has yet to earn a result. One team that must avoid this pitfall at all costs is the Premier League mainstay Everton.
The Toffees have consistently been in relegation trouble over the last few years, and if history is anything to go off of, the opening of a new stadium often results in less funds being made available for transfers to improve the squad. Knowing that there may not be any money left for January transfers, Everton must avoid getting into trouble early on in the season and stay away from the relegation dogfight that they’ve been able to win the last few years.
Everton started off the season with a fairly lifeless 1-0 defeat to newly promoted Leeds away from home. A dominant first half performance from Leeds saw Everton end the first half without a shot on target, and only managed one throughout the full match. Though the only goal came through a late penalty from Lukas Nmecha, Everton looked second best at Elland Road from minute one. Before the Premier League opener, Everton ended their pre-season without a win, losing to Blackburn, Bournemouth, West Ham, and Roma.
In their 1-0 defeat, Everton fans may struggle to pick out a worst performer on the night bar Goalkeeper Jordan Pickford. But a lot of the blame has been placed on Portuguese striker Beto. Just one shot attempted and five passes completed despite playing the full 90’, and after the departure of Dominic Calvert-Lewin fans may be struggling to find where the goals will be coming from. Everton will need their 30 million pound signing Thierno Barry from Villarreal to find his feet sooner rather than later, amid pre-season reports that he may not be ready for the Premier League just yet. Everton have had a history of buying young, high-risk strikers that require a lot of work to become first team level; Youssouf Chermiti and Beto being the two most recent #9 additions. David Moyes cannot afford to have Barry struggle to find form early on.
Everton must figure out where their goals will come from before it's too late
Through Moyes and previous manager Sean Dyche, Everton have always had a very solid defense. Just 44 goals conceded in the Premier League last year, tied for fourth least conceded. But on the other hand, their 42 goals scored was the fourth least scored. So while the defensive line held by Vitaly Mykolenko, James Tarkowski, Jarrad Branthwaite, and Jake O’Brien is the least of their worries, the creativity in the midfield is. Last season, Idrissa Gueye played the third-most minutes for Everton in the Premier League, and turning 36 in late September, he should be phased out to find midfielders who can unlock opposition defenses. The Toffees brought in two midfielders Charly Alcaraz and Kiernan-Dewsbury Hall, but only one progressive pass and 20 total in 70 minutes from Alcaraz is not a good sign for a team that needs to find a way to score goals quickly.
In possession, Everton face a massive uphill battle to raise their level to become a team that can comfortably label themselves a Premier League side. Their next fixture is their first at the new Hill Dickinson stadium, against Brighton. Brighton rescued a point last week against Fulham, and they will also face a goalscoring headache after losing Joao Pedro to Chelsea. While it will certainly be a defensive battle, Everton have to at least start showing signs of life in the attacking phases in front of a very expectant home crowd in the opener at their new stadium.