Can Everton be André Gomes's new lease on life?

Difficult to say what type of midfielder he is as he's not quite accurate or dangerous enough to replace Gylfi to my mind nor is the defensive side of his game the strongest. I'm also unsure if he has the engine to cover as much ground as Davies and Gueye. But he's smart, a very decent passer and can carry the ball forward which almost none of our central midfielders can do since Barkley left.

With McCarthy back too, we now have great competition in the middle though, if I'm being honest, I still think we lack real top class there. Gueye has been very good this season and is one of the best in the league at what he does, pressing and regaining the ball; but Davies and Schneiderlin have been inconsistent.

McCarthy has always done well but rarely controlled a game to my eyes and Gomes is still a relatively unknown quantity. It will be interesting to see who emerges as Silva's preferred combination(s).

This guy has obviously been dealing with some immense pressure. Therefore I/we need to resist the temptation to suggest he's gonna be the last piece in the jigsaw.

I suspect we'll see, much like Bernard, a gentle integration.

Here's hoping he's influencing Tom Davies with his talent and creating some serious competition in the centre of the park.

Good luck to the chap!

I have just asked on another thread does anyone think Silva, might play 3 centre-backs today. I asked because I don't think we have really got enough quality coming from our midfield, and playing with 3, might just tighten us up defensively, with the way our fullbacks, constantly bomb forward?

Lyndon, I enjoyed that thread, I actually winced at how painful Gomes found life at Barca, and hope the lad is ready to put it all behind him, and is ready to really start to enjoy playing his football again at Everton.

If he regains his confidence, I'm sure he will be a big hit because Evertonians love a little bit of class and hopefully Gomes, alongside Bernard, Sigurdsson, and Richarlson, can help us tell the phoney hacks, this is what we pay our money to see... and" Everton's the team that plays beautiful football!"

From the same club, same struggle to get game time, same frustration that his career was stalling. Same disappointment in not making the World Cup.

The comparisons are strikingly similar.

Digne has been nothing short of a revelation in his adaptation to the Premier League. Everton fans know a class player when they see one.

I can't see any reason why the obviously talented Gomes can't replicate what Lukas Digne has done. Brush off his Barca frustrations. If he is fully committed and give his all for the club his talent will shine through . Gomes can make Everton “his club” . It will not be easy for him but I am definitely looking forward to see if he can meet the challenge .

One thing is for sure it will not be all sweetness and light. Undoubtedly there will be struggle and adversity. He has to prepare himself mentally for that and be ready to fight through it.

Looking forward to see him play today
:)

The midfield trio of Gueye, Sigurdsson and Davies is the best we have got, with great mobility and inter positional passing.

Davies is the weakest of the trio, but not being hard on him, as I have been in the past, he is young and can improve.

Schneralin problem is that he is too static, leaving gaps in the high press, getting caught positionally as a result and resorting to too many long passes. He is better at long passing than a Gueye, but Everton are better with a interpassing and a mobile midfield.

This latter type of midfield suits are forward play, bringing the forwards more into play, though they could improve in passing in the final third.

Where does Gomez fit in?

He actually fits in the Forward role of Sigurdsson, with Sigurdsson playing deeper in the midfield trio. Sigurdsson operates well in this type of role, as he has shown in periods in the last two games.

My midfield trio would be Sigurdsson, Gomez and Davies, with the latter being replaced by Gueye when fit. Davies is a good tactical addition to change things also. . McCarthy I would gradually introduce to change things where tactics dictate, asking him to stall his Ireland career, until he is sure of his fitness.

O Neill and Keane one of the highest paid international management duos in Europe remind me of the pre Eoin Hands day's anyway, should have been gone after the last campaign.

More importantly, Good Luck to Andres Gomez, wishing him every success at Everton. You have come home lad.

Being pragmatic the back 4 has looked stable, and I don't think Silva will change that. I think he will stick Schneiderlin in for Gana and that will be the only change. The others will be on the bench.

Can see him playing beside Gana or McCarthy.

Schneiderlin is inconsistent, as is Davies. Gylfi seems to have secured the number 10 with Bernard and Walcott on the wings. But if any of them are injured we have options. Richarlson could cover either wing, Bernard or Gomes could go number 10. Gomes could cover Davies or vice versa.

Last season I'm pretty sure Matthew Pennington played a game in midfield. Let that sink in.

I really hope Gomes is our "missing link" in midfield so I was very excited about his signing. Not sure if this is to replace Davies in the deeper role or Sigurdsson in the more advanced role (with Sigurdsson then dropping back into the deeper role). I'd rather leave Sigurdsson where he is at the moment.

But we need another deep lying midfielder who has the close control to operate (and move the ball forward) whilst closely pressed - neither Gana or Davies (or McCarthy) have this ability and Schneiderlin may have the ability but just does n't do it. England have the same problem - although Ross Barkley may be the answer there - instead of Henderson.

I'm sure I will have the three centre-backs discussion with you in the future, Steve, but not now because I'm just happy that I've seen a proper game of football being played at Goodson Park today!

Proper game of football? Well, you'd have to define that.

We have lacked a strong central midfielder to run the game. Gomes could be the man.

You saw nonsense, I saw a team that was really trying to win the game; otherwise, those two goals at the end would have never happened, mate?

We were far too rushed at times, with so many final balls needing just a little bit more care, which is why I've just seen a proper game of football, Peter, because it's a long time since I've felt the players really cared, and they couldn't be faulted in this department today.

Of course, this was his first game, so he's hardly going to hit the ground running and light the game up.

Maybe some observations will interest you. Firstly he played the Schniederlin role of taking the ball off the back four. The centre backs split on goal kicks and it was Gomes showing for the ball, in the way Schneiderlin (under Silva) does. First half his passing was quite safe and cautious, and then he grew into the game and started to open up a bit more.

His passing wasn't great, he is better than that. His footwork wasn't quite exhibited in the way expected.

Positionally, instead of vying with Sigurdsson for an 8 type position, he's playing more as a 6. He did do this at Barca (albeit badly).

He's been accused of being slow. Well you saw here that he isn't. He does have a turn of pace, but he never really tried to hit the afterburners.

He looks rusty, and whilst he has good vision, he seemed to play with blinkers on. I hope he recovers his ability to really pick a pass.

I'm optimistic that Gomes will come good. He's another player who we've signed who is at a turning point in his career, and this is a chance to rebuild and reignite his career. I believe he will be hungry and he will give his best. I think he will grow with some love from the crowd. Once he starts passing more ambitiously, and we see him cut defences open, then he will feel the love he needs.

I have no doubt that if he plays well, he will stay. I can't see Gomes returning to Barcelona. I do believe he is looking to put down some roots.

What impressed me most was that he consistently found space and time and was available for a pass. A couple of times he was even in shooting positions. To achieve this against a Palace side who set up solely to prevent us from creating anything is a positive thing.

What I like most though is with the system Silva wants to play, he is exactly the type of player that is required. Therefore Silva has signed a number of players already that suit what he is trying to do. I now have some confidence that any player we sign under this manager will improve the team.

I think we are still lacking a leader and a bit of aggression. We need someone to be in the face of the ref, and to encourage the others to be more assertive and to seek advantages, not wait for them to arrive. I'm hoping Mina could be that man...

You thought he played with blinkers on, I just think there is less time on the ball in the Premier League, and for a foreign kid making his debut, I thought he had a very good debut.

He's got vision, his little diagonal pass to Walcott showed us this; he's got two good feet, and he looks like he wants to play. Combine all these things and he could become a really good player, but it's obviously very early days just now.

I believe he has the right manager to coach him to do that, that he has teammates who can look to him for creativity and give him encouragement and then he can find that self belief.

In terms of vision, I'm not talking about him getting his head up and hitting the pass we can all see, but the rest of them take an age to make, usually passing it along the line to do so, whereas Gomes hit it direct on a few occasions. What I'm talking about is those passes like Rooney or Gravesen used to hit, where you would be like, wow, how on earth did he see that. This is the level this man is capable of. That's why I said he was playing with blinkers on. It was a very cautious approach from him and it may take him months of game time to really recover his very best form. When he does, he will make you sit up and think wow.

This guy is either a lazy stroller or he's world class. I think he's ready to forget his Barca failings.

You are right to advise we exercise caution, remember the start Tom Davies had? Perhaps on reflection, that was probably the worst thing he could have done, because that became the yardstick. Hopefully he can return to that kind of form.

We have Gana who for me is one of the very best ball winners in the world, we also have Schniederlin who does a similar job but to a lesser extent imo, that said neither of these lads will get anywhere near close to double figures in terms of assists.

Davies is a talented lad, he has loads of potential, despite what some of our fans like to say.

Rooney was the type of player we wanted/needed in the centre of the park, but he proved to be past his best and was unable to pull strings on a regular basis.

Hopefully Gomes may be that link to take the ball from the defence or Gana and find our flair players in dangerous positions.

I genuinely believe we have taken a little gem from Barca, the type of player we've cried out for for a very long time.

Today I think we seen the start of Silva's true Everton, with Bernard getting fitter, Gomes starting for the first time, Richalison playing through the middle and only one holding midfielder.

Back to Gomes though and I'd say for his first run out for a new club and being months behind everyone else, I'd say he was excellent, all signs point to a positive as far as I can see with Gomes.

And yeah, his hair is pretty special.

He's good with both feet and has a decent turn of pace. He can carry the ball forward and has the eye for a pass that can break down defensive lines. He could be just the player we need to play alongside one of our many defensive central midfielders.

I agree with you, Mike. He could advertise Head and Shoulders. I should imagine that he's very popular with our female Toffees... And probably a few male Toffees too.

Those five should now be exactly where they ought to be. First-choice back up for the first team (maybe 2nd choice in Holgate case). This allows them to come into the team when fatigue, injury or suspension hits, or when substitutions are required. This way they get the game time they need without the pressure of performing consistently to first team standards.

Some of the criticism levelled at these players has been awful. Hopefully now they'll develop as they should without a burden on their shoulders.

Davies should be watching Gueye and Gomes and learning all he can, likewise Lookman with Bernard and Walcott, and Calvert-Lewin with Richarlison.

We potentially have 5 great players for the next 10 years, of whom far too much has been expected of far too soon.

Whilst there were some rusty moments and understandable tiredness towards the end, I thought he looked very assured on the ball and quick-thinking off it. He has a good touch, two good feet, nice vision and a decent turn of pace which is something that we have lacked in the middle since Barkley left.

Whilst there is room for improvement and consistency is obviously key, he did remind me a bit of Moussa Dembele (the Spurs one) and I believe that to be a very high compliment. I think he could possibly show a bit more strength and relish in the challenge but perhaps he is used to being punished for that in La Liga whereas in the Premier League he'd be given a bit more leeway.

I think he can be our missing link.

It was one game. So, I won't get carried away, ie, Bernard v Leicester, against Bernard v Palace. It is a sign posting of the potential and not a guarantee of week-in & week-out standards. That's impossible.

For a guy coming off the back of a bad injury, two years of unhappiness and abuse, at a new club in a new country, new teammates, under all that pressure – it was a highly encouraging showing.

The Silva jigsaw is slowly coming together. If we're patient with the process, the rewards may be high.

If he didn't like the Barca fans grief, then I'm hoping he can develop thick skin for when the boo-boys do start piping up and the ‘Goodison groans' begin. But a decent start and I'm looking forward to better things from him and hopefully he can make a good home here.

Great hair too. But he's a long way behind Marcos Alonso at Chelsea who should really be in a shampoo advert.

Just to put my views into their proper perspective, I ought to add that, based on the YouTube extracts, I stated that Tosun reminded me in some ways of Alan Shearer. The jury is still out on that one, but I hear they have requested voting cards, and haven't asked for an evening meal to be sent in tonight.

He looked one of those players who has an extra half-a-yard of space around him, an extra half-a-second of time, because his decision making was so quick and the decisions he took so simple yet often very effective. He was positive in everything he did and it was often due to him that our transition from defence to attack was so much quicker and slicker than it has been.

On the important subject of hair, I think the respective barnets of Davies and Gomes tell you everything about the difference between them. Davies's hair is rough and ready, full of youthful exuberance and cheeky down to earth scouseness. Gomes has a maturity and a depth to his hair that you only get after spending a few seasons at a top top club like Barcelona.

Hopefully Davies can learn a lot from Gomes (and his barber) this season because, if Gomes does fulfil the promise shown on his debut, he's not going to be with us next season – the Sky clubs will be circling soon.

I wonder how easy Gomes and Zouma will be to prise away from their parent clubs. I always assume that an option to buy will have been asked for and that if none is given it indicates that Barca and Chelsea either see a future for those players or intend to screw us royally over the price!

Early days for both of them (Gomes especially) but they look like useful additions and both at good ages. Up to Brands to work his magic. In Zouma's case it may be that Mina can do what he is doing but if Gomes carries on (or improves) from last night then I'm not sure we have anyone else capable of matching him. Davies has a way to go before looking that assured and technically sound.

Okay, we stood up to Chelsea re John Stones but to be fair to him, he didn't make a big deal of it. And he eventually left. Lukaku also. It is up to us as a club to make Gomes in particular, sufficiently welcome that he would want to stay. He looks to be from a different planet to Schneiderlin. The planet of Pass Forward.

The other point is, Mina is OUR player, not Zouma. I have been quite impressed with him (Zouma) but Mina and Keane are the future and as soon as Silva sees fit that should be the starting pairing. No use helping develop Zouma for Chelsea's benefit.

Get Mina and Keane settled as soon as possible and use Zouma from the bench, unless, of course, there has been some encouragement that we can buy him at the end of the season.

But, when Everton play Chelsea in a few weeks, I think we will miss Zouma far more than Keane. Zouma was massive against Crystal Palace yesterday, much better than Keane, in my opinion.

I thought to myself he looks a class act and never seems to panic on the ball. I never thought I would see an almost identical re-run of that YouTube clip less than 24 hours later. I hope we can get him on a permanent basis next summer.

I think it would be an idea to get Mina in the team now, especially for when we play Chelsea, it would be a bad idea to have him dropped into the side against them without some match practice.

Sam #
There's only one way to find out and that's to give him a start, probably against Brighton. Next week might be a bit of a test for him, away against a Man Utd side that's finding some kind of form.

At Barcelona, he played as deep as he did yesterday. Gaynes saw more of him than me for Barca but he struggled to the extent that the Barca fans were calling him all kinds. They were delighted to see the back of him.

I asked my Portuguese friends if they thought he could play the Schneiderlin role and they scoffed. They pointed out that tackling and holding position is not his game.

Essentially, Davies, Gueye and Schneiderlin have all featured as a “6”, Sigurdsson as a “10” and Gomes is an “8”.

With his defensive failings, it seemed more likely he'd play to his strengths as a “10”, although this is not his position either. Or Silva would change things up and play one 6 and two 8s.

Silva did what we didn't expect and played Gomes as a 6. I don't think that is his best position. He's clearly not a tackler and in his enthusiasm he was a bit clumsy in his attempts to win back the ball.

The key thing though was the positional sense, Gomes clearly had it drilled into him where to be, and where to stand. Two examples are him splitting the centre backs when they pull short for the goal kicks and he offers the central pass. And second, when the full back overlaps he was covering the channel and also offering himself as the backwards pass, which with his ability could see him switch the play rapidly and so going backwards wouldn't be the big negative it would if the ball went to Gueye.

once the gloss comes off, you'll either think Gomes is world class or a lazy stroller (there seems to be no middle ground in football these days). Passing-wise, he can get a lot better. He got more confident and more ambitious as the game went on. Expect this to continue.

Ideally, you would want to select the best player and option for every position regardless of whether they are here for a single season or are permanent.

However, the obvious counter to that is why give valuable game time and experience to those players who we already know will not be here next season, namely Zouma and Gomes? That benefits their home club more long term than Everton.

It was categorically stated by all parties that there is no option to buy come the end of the season.

Indeed, Zouma almost immediately on joining us stated he fully intends returning to Chelsea to compete for a place in their first team.

Knowing that, logic suggests that if Mina is to be accommodated into the side, it should be at the expense of Zouma rather than Keane, whereas there are a number of alternatives who should be prioritized ahead of Gomes.

Of course, an alternative-alternative is that by continuing to select Zouma and Gomes potentially helps improves Everton's performances and chances of success more than playing a contracted option.

Not only that, but by being a fixture in the side, being made welcome and appreciated by the management and supporters alike in - hopefully! - a successful, progressive season at Everton, both Zouma and Gomes may wish to determine their own futures and opt to sign permanently for Everton.

Quite a dilemma as I said in my opening paragraph for all concerned.

Always finding space, making himself available and linking up play in a way that Schneiderlin even at his best could only dream of.

I thought our central midfield was the best I've seen since McCarthy and Barry at their best.

I also think Gomes will be available to buy. They were desperate to offload him in the summer. That said, after the negotiations for Mina, don't be surprised if we end up having to pay more than the €29M Barca paid for him.

I think I understand why Silva was playing Tom every week! Perhaps Silva views André and Tom as very similar players. Having Tom in the team for the start of the season will make André's transition into the First XI smoother.

Very shrewd if true.

I will be delighted if he can maintain that.

And ecstatic if he can better it!

Without needing to run all over the pitch, they control the game by finding space and time on the ball to receive and more often than not pick the right pass, long or short, it's all the same.

Mind you, when under the cosh, they can appear laboured and lazy but hopefully that will improve with fitness, form and the will to win for the team. Only saw briefly what he's capable of but definitely a class player, better but similar to Arteta.

Does need legs around him and if he does play against the top teams he may have Gana and Davies to do his chasing.

Silva is a smart dude and things are looking up

Was he ‘played as a 6' or just played?

Gana provides adequate cover and I think Gomes goes where the space is and moreover where he knows his legs will carry him, early in his return.

I expect to see Gomes play as ‘an 8' (to use the parlance we are all so keen on) and ultimately for us to have Gana behind two more progressive, attacking midfielders in Sigurdsson and Gomes, the same way as most of the Premier League's other contenders do.

The deep two was an attempt to get the best players on to the pitch and, certainly in my opinion, not where we want to be, most weeks, tactically.

Gomes and Zouma could both realistically be Everton players next season, and it is far more likely to happen if they're happy, first choice players. That means if they're the best option for the next game, play them.

Secondly, Tom Davies's future at the top level is as a Gana-type, not a Gomes-type.

I thought Gomes had a good first game, probably has had an advantage of getting to know the squad and the style of play before having to make his debut. But even taking that into account he was very assured in everything he did.

I would also give Tom Davies a mention, left out of the team after captaining in the last 2 games and must have been disappointed. But at the final whistle he raced on to the pitch and greeted those that had played like we had won a Cup final, maybe the late goals added to Tom's excitement.

Funnily I think collectively that was the worst performance all season from our front 4, all seemed for one reason or another just a bit below par. Which makes the win even more important.

It's what we have been lacking for a long time now, someone with the vision to see a penetrating attacking forward pass and play it.

A scarce commodity.

I agree about playing contracted players before loanees generally but, in order to sign this fellow, we have to make him believe that he belongs. Oh how we need a new Martin Dobson.

Zouma's a more interesting case. He's been vocal about his desire to make it at Chelsea, but he's been loaned out two straight seasons now and the odds of him forcing his way into Sarri's plans seem unlikely. If he enjoys playing under Silva and feels like the club is on the right track, he might very well be persuaded to make a permanent move.