Our Everton fans' jury are back as they give their opinions on the defeat to Tottenham and this weekend's game against Bournemouth
It has been quite the week for Everton supporters. On Saturday, their side were hammered by Tottenham Hotspur in the capital before the Blues managed to pick up their first win of the new season against Doncaster Rovers in the Carabao Cup.
Iliman Ndiaye scored on his full debut, while Tim Iroegbunam and Beto were also on target in the 3-0 victory. Ndiaye certainly gave his manager plenty to think about with an eye-catching display.
The Blues, who are currently bottom of the Premier League table, face Bournemouth at Goodison this weekend. And ahead of that game, our Blues jury have returned to have their say on the week that has been and this weekend’s huge showdown.
Luke Davies - An outstanding gripe I have had with several Everton sides
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One thing we have already learnt this season is that this is Everton and we don’t make things easy, as the trip to Spurs proved especially difficult.
I don’t believe fans who travelled to North London were expecting a victory but merely hoping for a point and a respectable performance. However, what followed was nothing short of unacceptable; the players - apart from a short spell - looked disinterested and simply not good enough.
My opinion on the manager’s role in the defeat: his hands are tied, but he doesn’t help with the negative set-up. One thing I would like to praise Sean Dyche for is starting 19-year-old full-back Roman Dickson; he gave a good account of himself and, for the most part, coped with far superior and experienced players.
An outstanding gripe I have had with several Everton sides for many years is the lack of pace. We must be the slowest team in the league, and the strikers, wingers and full-backs have such an apparent lack of speed. You can only get away with being slow in the modern game if you are exceptionally technically gifted and 'read the game' - Everton also lacks this. I’d love to be able to take a positive from the trip to London, but I think I’d be kidding you; it was a disaster in every aspect on and off the field.
One glimmer of hope was the second-half performance against Doncaster Rovers in the Carabao Cup on Tuesday evening. New signings Tim Iroegbunam and Iliman Ndiaye particularly stood out, but as Mr Dyche tends to do, it would not shock me in the slightest if Abdoulaye Doucoure came back into the number 10 role - but a good performance and a relatively kind fixture should be a combination to tempt Dyche to start Ndiaye.
Winger Jesper Lindstrom looks slightly off-pace currently, but he still showed glimmers of what he can do. Hopefully, next week I can say I was wrong and Ndiaye scores after starting the match against the Cherries. Anyway, 36 to go.
Paul McParlan - A step forward?
It has not been the start to the season that any Blue wanted. After the 3-0 home defeat to Brighton and Hove Albion, fans were entitled to expect a response at Tottenham Hotspur last Saturday.
A solid defensive performance? A battling point? Sadly, neither happened. Instead, it was a crushing 4-0 humiliation with Everton not laying a finger on their opponents. Two games played, seven goals conceded, none scored, and no points. It wasn’t supposed to be like this!
Fans had expected that the winning sequence of results towards the end of last season might have heralded a turnaround in performances. Instead, a club that appeared to have united the fanbase and the team already finds itself riven by rancour and anger.
The scenes of players being berated by incandescent fans at Euston station were not something that any level-headed Evertonian wanted to see. But you can feel the frustration. A Spurs side that struggled to gain a point at Leicester City should not be coasting to a routine 4-0 win over Everton. And for a side whose defence was the fourth best in the Premier League last season, leaking seven in two outings is a cause for concern.
The sight of Micky van de Ven running from his penalty area to the edge of the Everton box and setting up Son Heung-min to score the fourth goal without a single Everton player getting near to him was depressing to behold. Watching a flagging and breathless Dwight McNeil trying to catch up with him reminded me of Billy Bunter racing against Billy Whizz on a school sports day!
Tuesday night's game against Doncaster Rovers in the Carabao Cup gave fans something to cheer about, especially now that we have a home tie against Southampton in the next round. A win is a win no matter who you are playing against. After a lacklustre first half, Everton played some attractive, entertaining football to earn a comfortable 3-0 win. Tim Iroegbunam impressed with his distribution and tackling, while Jake O'Brien was calm and composed in defence. Jesper Lindstrom also offered glimpses of his potential, and Beto showed far more appetite than Dominic Calvert-Lewin has recently.
Iliman Ndiaye produced a standout performance, scoring a brilliant solo goal by slaloming through the Doncaster defence. His creativity, vision and ability to bamboozle opponents means he should be an automatic starter for our next game. But will Sean Dyche trust a flair player?
We play Bournemouth at Goodison on Saturday, a side not renowned for their defensive resilience and who have sold their star striker, Dominic Solanke. It is the perfect opportunity to grab a much-needed win and kickstart our season.
Also, if we can shift out some deadwood from the bench and bring in some new signings before deadline day, then Evertonians can head into the international break with feelings of positivity rather than a sense of foreboding. Things can only get better, can’t they?
James O'Brien - Making us look like relegation fodder once again
Well, this definitely hasn’t been an ideal start of the season for Everton. After the embarrassment against Brighton, Everton more than doubled-down on it against Tottenham. Countless mistakes and missed opportunities meant that we never really stood any chance, making us look like relegation fodder once again.
I think, like most, I was surprised that Dyche gave Roman Dixon his Premier League debut considering he didn’t have the ‘experience’. Overall, I think he had a decent game and handled Wilson Odobert and the heavy pressure put on his side well. But I think that’s where my compliments for Everton end, as everything else was pretty dire.
The attack, probably not a shock to anyone, was very poor once again, and there was just no creativity throughout. I can understand why he started a more defensively sound Doucoure over the likes of Ndiaye, but I hope that we start to see some of the new attackers more regularly, as I don’t think I can take the current one much longer.
At least Everton now have scored their first goal(s) of the season and got their first win under their belts against Doncaster Rovers. The first half wasn’t great, but I’d play that down to the new signings just finding their feet and gelling together. Ndiaye had a great game and has definitely made a strong call to start against Bournemouth; his creativity and ability to run at defenders is something we’ve missed for years.
Also, I was very pleased with what I saw from Beto and would not be against him having a good run of games up top. Since he came to Everton last season, he hasn’t been given a proper run of consistent game time, and with Calvert-Lewin’s contract issues and potential departure, I think now is better than ever to give him that chance.
It was nice to see the likes of Garner and Coleman return to the squad and give Everton that much-needed depth. Hopefully we can still get a few more faces in the door before the transfer window closes on Friday, as depth is a real issue at the moment. Wouldn’t mind Branthwaite returning anytime soon too; we’ve missed him!
Looking ahead to Bournemouth, I think this is a real chance for Everton to finally get some points on the board. The Cherries have started with two 1-1 draws against Forest and Newcastle and more recently lost 1-0 to West Ham in the Carabao Cup.