That's what Rafa is here for

Still early but doing okay...

This may turn out to be a win to cherish. I believe victories will be scarce over the next two months.

Glad you and your mates are able to enjoy the Guinness at the pub again. I envy you that weekly opportunity.

I think we were a bit flat throughout but even with Norwich having a good 20-minute spell early in the 2nd half, they never looked like really threatening us. Man Utd will be a hard test next weekend but 13 points on the board against teams where we should be getting results is a good place to be in.

We weren't great but we didn't need to be and we will absolutely need to be much much better at Old Trafford and certainly next time at Goodison against Moyes's ever-improving West Ham side.

It's a shame that pre-Rafa Benitez we wasted so much money on shit players for megabucks and only the likes of the marvelous Doucouré, Allan and one or two others are exempt from that list.

Benitez has worked a minor miracle plucking Demarai Gray for £1.7 million and the workaholic Andros Townsend for free. Townsend has a fantastic attitude and he's everything that we wanted Alex Iwobi to be but sadly never will be.

Gray constantly occupies defenders and when you have that kind of pace there's always a chance on the horizon.

Doucouré has been immense this season and it just shows that last season, it was clearly Carlo holding him back with ultra negative formations – at home in particular.

The reason so many of us don't rate or like Gomes or Davies in the heart of midfield is because when you see Doucouré, all pace, power, athleticism, you quickly understand that is exactly what you require in midfield to dominate matches.

Allan seems to compliment him so well. Here's one question, though: if Allan ever does score a goal, will we riot??

Great to see the younger players getting some time in even if it is through necessity.

I was very happy to get Rafa in as manager as I felt the Club has had a series of "soft" managers who were happy to toe the party line. He is a hard-headed pro who will not accept interference and will demand what he needs to succeed. If things don't work out under him, then I don't think they would work out for anyone under the circumstances.

A brave appointment (amazingly) and I still cannot believe he has had the balls to take the job on. This makes me admire him even more.

If Doucouré hadn't have been injured, I wonder if we'd have sneaked a European place? That was what I felt at the time anyway. Benitez is getting more out of him though.

Man Utd will be a test – it's a shame we aren't at full strength.

I fear for the Man Utd game. It has always been a difficult fixture and they are licking their wounds at a time when we have a dearth of players.

I will be watching this from behind the sofa with a bag of lucky rabbits' feet. Fantastic if we can get a result but happy to think we can move on to good results going forward if it is not to be.

Iwobi is a mystery to me. I have a feeling that he is the most talented player at the club and will prove it soon. But... could be I am the worst judge of a player on ToffeeWeb.

I have no doubt, though, that Mina is a really fine player. Agree, Paul's Man of the Match.

Have to say this, Tom Davies is a credit to our club. A really good player and a lad who strikes me as getting it. After Seamus Coleman, I admire no player more.

Dowell started but it was along with Pennington, not Connolly (who stayed on the bench as an unused sub). Kenny came on for Pennington when he suffered a hamstring injury.

But it was before that game in Nicosia that Paul mentions: last match of 2015-16.

I think we'll respond well. We'll have a decent season. Won't pull up any trees.

Obviously this will piss off those on TW with a pathological dislike of the manager and are wishing him to fail.

Before anyone chokes on a Sunday night glass of Creme de Menthe, that would not include Dalglish or Carragher!

Joe. I wanted Benitez instead of Silva and took a lot of stick for it. I think we'd be in a better position now if he'd been appointed instead of Koeman, with hindsight.

Hope he does well for us and the fans start to appreciate having him here.

Andy, IMO he's the biggest fraud I've ever seen on a football pitch. Arsenal pulled our pants down. He's a training ground maverick. Loses the bottle as soon as he steps over the white line.

Terrible decision-maker. Can't shoot. Won't tackle. Does okay as a sub late on but that's it. Add to the long list of massive failures Everton have had via the Sky 6 cast-offs and will get zero money back for.

If Moshiri had any interest in actually running this club, Brands would have been slaughtered for this signing and a few others. What does he actually do, the Dutchman? What's our return on investment here?

I thought he was well connected but our academy is even more rank average than our first team …. which, curiously is a 100% improvement over the rubbish served up last year due to two players who came in for basically nothing. Everton that.

But all things considered, Rafa has done well, QPR aside – the starting team was the wrong team in my view, it should have been a team to win the game in 95 minutes.

Next Man Utd. I'm sure when Bob the Pole done them in the 3-0 win there, back in 1992-93, it was his last starting game for Everton, due to form, injury, and Walker? That was probably the end of an era when Everton had a win at Man Utd in the league for years.

Enough said, but nows the time. Era, late 70s, BL, AK, etc, we'd skin them, early 80s, and by the 90s, it was tbh, like the last decade. But last season they were lucky.

Now to gain the victory; Man Utd are not as good as they believe, and why can't Everton go for the win?

As for academy players making their first appearance:

Nathan Broadhead – late sub at Brighton last season
Nkounkou got at start at Newcastle last season
Anthony Gordon was a half-time sub at West Ham in January BC and also a late sub at Chelsea in our last game BC (before covid).
Beni Baningime came on as a sub at Leicester, October 2017

All of these were away games when in Martinez's last season.

We used Keiran Dowell as a late sub in April 2016. Jonjoe Kenny, last match of that season when Tom Davies made his first start having been a sub a month earlier against Southampton, as did Connolly while Pennington played the last 4 games of that season. All of them had their first match at home.

So Lewis Dobbin's is first home debut game since that Norwich game.

Pretty sad state of affairs. Holgate and Calvert-Lewin were polished off at the academy but were brought in, as was Branthwaite. But at the moment, Tom Davies is the only regular player over the last 5 years, with still to be decided about 2, fairly certain 2 others won't, and 4 have already been sold or released.

He would make an outstanding 5-a-side player, doing short 3-yard passes and giving it back.

The trouble with Iwobi is that he's not fast enough to play on the wing, he doesn't go past players. He's not clever enough or doesn't score enough or get enough shots in to be a Number 10.

Again, I compare him with Townsend, a player that keeps it simple with one touch then cross or one touch, come inside and shoot; he always knows what he wants to do, whether it comes off or not.

The only solution I can see with Alex Iwobi is a move for a decent fee to somewhere like Crystal Palace; a fresh challenge and just maybe he may find a position he excels in.

How times change.

I was at that 3-0 win at Old Trafford in 92-93 and the Man Utd fans hated Fergie and wanted him out. Banners around the ground telling him to get back to Scotland.

History shows that, by the end of the season, he had become a god to them.

That kit. Enough said. I wish I'd taken my sunglasses.

I'd agree on your Man of the Match in hindsight. On some of the players I hadn't given mention to elsewhere. Amongst other things, one thing Townsend brings is experience and leadership. Alongside Allan and Seamus, we now have something we've often been void of in recent seasons; multiple leaders on the pitch. I would also add an encouragingly maturing Pickford to that bunch.

I too have not been concerned with Digne. I think we are less reliant on him going forward now as we are playing with proper wingers in Gray and Townsend. Maybe that explains it, but it would be good to see him on the overlap more often.

I'd forgotten about Kabak being at Norwich. I watched him play for Schalke – he played alongside Kenny. Still only 21, so very young for a centre-back. I think he'll develop into a very good player.

Great to see young Dobbin get on the pitch, having heard a lot about him. Obviously not enough to make any judgement, but he didn't seem fazed and made some nice touches.

I'm sort of with Andy on Iwobi. There is a talent in there. I think his problem is decision-making. He never seems to know what he wants or is going to do. As I've said elsewhere, sometimes that works in his favour as neither do the opposition!

On Europe, Jim, I would say probably bordering on definitely. Many point to the 10th place finish, but we were one game away.

Joe – we need to add Gerrard to that list!!!

I will riot, Jim.

Finally on Benitez. He is focussed and professional. He cares little for reputation or his own popularity. He demonstrated that by taking the job and, so far, he's doing a job. At the end, did he tentatively walk into the middle to applaud the supporters? I heard cheers and a few boos, but not sure who they were directed at. He seemed to get a good reception from the Enclosure as he walked off.

Not sure how you give both Iwobi and Godfrey a 6, seemed to me they were the worst two on the park for us. But it just highlights the fact that everybody sees the game differently – that's what makes football so fascinating.

I know Godfrey had Covid and that may account for his poor performances this season. Benitez has subbed him twice already this season, and he seems a shadow of the player he was last season.

I know many on here are always clamouring for Godfrey to be paired at centre-back with Mina but, for me, he isn't physically strong enough in the air and his positional sense is not the best, maybe that's why Benitez quite rightly prefers Mina and Keane as his centre-back pairing.

Doucouré and Allan look an excellent pairing in midfield – certainly the best we have had for many a year, and with Benítez's additions of the brilliant Demarai Gray and our hardworking new penalty taker, Townsend, who so far has never given anything less than 100%.

Norwich were poor and we should have scored more against them, but a wins a win and another home win. But I think we are all aware that we will meet far better sides than we have in our previous 6 games and they will give us a truer idea of our finishing position.

I can't get used to seeing Benitez in our dugout and probably never will but, even being a staunch critic of us appointing him, it would be churlish not to admit that he has made one excellent signing and one very good squad player for next to nothing, and has got us playing on the front foot more than we have for a while.

I am still to see a side dominate for long periods but again Benitez has only been here a short while and he will need time and patience to turn us into a side that can dominate games.

So a good solid start to the season which I am very pleased with as I feared a bad start and because of who was managing us, this might have made playing at Goodison a not too pleasant experience.

But that hasn't happened and, after a solid start, I think fans – even ones like me who didn't want him here – will now give him some slack should we have a dodgy spell... as I am sure we will. I also think that, given we have been missing our main strikers for a few games it puts what Benitez has done into an even better place.

Doucouré and Allan are an okay pairing.

Allan is nowhere near the level of Gana Gueye and as a pairing, these two have nothing on Barry and McCarthy of 2013-14.

Allan and Doucouré should rightly overrun poor opposition.

Against better teams, they will be chasing the ball for 90 mins. That's just the reality of where we are at. We have no ball players at all in our team and we are simply a counter-attacking outfit, capable of absorbing counters against us.

The pace and dynamism of Gray and Townsend has meant that, in the short term, we can offer a more potent threat. This is a distinct change in philosophy from Ancelotti who was the first man since Martinez to attempt to introduce players in midfield who are comfortable on the ball and will try and keep hold of it.

Now I'm not saying that Ancelotti managed to implement this but having a midfield featuring Gomes and James suggested to me that this was what he was attempting to introduce.

Under Benitez we will more often than not beat the teams we should beat and lose to those better than us. We won't be able to outplay the bigger and better teams and it will be scrappy hard fought victories by the odd goal if we do beat any of them. We might win the odd one but we will lose most of them.

And if you want to break the top 4 or win a cup competition, you need a hell of a lot of luck to keep progressing when being outplayed.

There'll be a few tough away days ahead of us I'm sure.

Aarons. Based on Saturday – is he a replacement for Seamus or has Brands been right not to go all out to get him?

He certainly fancied his chances in his one-on-one with Digne. It was almost like he knew he'd beat him, which is slightly concerning.

I am starting to get the impression that teams feel he is becoming a weakness for us defensively and want to test him. There's been a few occasions this season where fullbacks (not wingers) have just powered past him.

If he keeps this up, we could be looking for two fullbacks in the summer...

Nothing special, but then difficult to gauge a player in a poor team. Put them in a better team and they can look totally different.

I have to disagree with you that the pairing of Barry and McCarthy were a better pairing than Doucoure and Allan. They had a good first season during Martinez's first season but, while Barry was a very good defender, neither him nor McCarthy were much of a threat in and around the opponent's box. I thought McCarthy was average and you're right: Gana had a terrific engine and I would suggest only Kante has a better engine.

Do you think, if Benitez had been given any money, he would have continued with the distinct change that you claim Ancelotti made, or do you think he's happy with our current midfield?

A player who clearly has / had the class but we have him a the end of his career (Allan / Barry) and another with bags of energy and still young enough to get better (McCarthy / Doucouré).

The only thing was, McCarthy didn't push on and didn't improve. That may be harsh as the lad was plagued by injuries; one of them a horrific leg break. I'd say Doucouré especially is superior to McCarthy.

Tony, I'd say he would have added one to either compliment those two or at least be able to rotate depending on game volume and formation. I still think we're okay with Gomes (on his day and against the right team) and Davies (used correctly), but those two are good providing they stay fit.

Amongst other things, our season took a turn when both Allan and then Doucouré were hit with injury last season. Given he knew the limited spending resources, he obviously prioritised what many called for: pace and width.

We still need that centre-back! That's where I'd have put Benitez's money even though many disagree with me on that. Apologies for pulling out one of my many scratched records again!

I agree with you about Barry and McCarthy, they made a more solid pairing, but we're a bit limited going forward.

It's also rumored that Benitez wanted to swap Davies for Longstaff, which tells me that our manager was trying to engineer change, but obviously didn't have the money to do this.

I watched him quite closely during the game and my personal opinion just based on Saturday's game is that he's just average. I doubt he'd be good enough to do well at any team with Top 6 ambitions.

As it is, he is playing for perhaps one of the worst premier league teams l have ever seen come to Goodison. Having gotten rid of Buendia l have no idea what kind of ambition Norwich have... and that was really disapointing to see. As was how we sat back second half and invited them to have a go.

Looking ahead l'm not expecting us to finish any higher than 8th this season. Next season, let's see if our manager really is looking at Maupay and the like. How long before we can start spending again, and what kind of player will we be looking at?

I'm agreeing with Tommy as above, noting we have no ball-players left. We just gave away one of the best. Bernard was another let go who didn't hit the heights but could play. I don't know how long Benitez will be here and, if it's for a few years, the kind of players he will bring in, will they be to play counter or what? He has taken us back to basics. Perhaps it's what was needed.

In our game against Southampton, I thought Livramento was an excellent full-back. We definitely need cover in the full-back positions. Godfrey, who certainly looked as if he was still suffering the after-effects of Covid, has a big season ahead of him if he wants to consolidate the excellent start that he made last season.

I hope I'm wrong but I have some nagging doubts, largely because I'm not sure yet what his best position is. It should be centre back but, just like Holgate, he doesn't look commanding enough.

Mina and Keane, imperfect as they are, remain the best centre-back pairing in my opinion.

It's interesting Tony. I think Benitez favours a counter attacking type system and for that reason I think he would've changed up no matter what. I think even with money he'd have gone for the profile of players like Gray and Townsend, pace and direct.

They have had an obvious impact already. However agains the better teams, where defenders are better and more astute they will struggle to influence the game.

Against Burnley and Norwich etc they may get 5/6 opportunities to make an impact. Against the better teams this may only be once a game.

It is for this reason Gray did not make the grade at Leicester. As they seek to break from Europa League to Champions League places they needed players like Gray in the big games to produce when it mattered most. And he didn't.

We will see this as we enter fixtures against the better teams. It is just the way it is. So short term I think there is an obvious impact here that we will benefit from and we should beat the teams in and around us and certainly below us. However, long term this is no plan for success, unless the quality of the type of player he brings in vastly improves. And for that he'll need money.

Max Aarons - the exact kind of signing we need to stay away from. We don't need or should want this kind of player. A solid and consistent full back we need. Benitez has had success with Steve Finnan and Alvaro Arbeloain the past. This is the exact profile I want at the club.

Like Coufal at West Ham, Matty Cash, Lowton - these are good examples of solid premier league right backs who can be bought at decent value.

I think there must be many a right back out there that would do a solidly dependable job for Everton.

It's something that should have been dealt with 3 years ago I'm fairness, given the fact that Seamus Coleman didn't just jump from 22 to 32 in the space of a few weeks; we have seen his steady decline coming on and the injuries become more and more frequent.

I can't get my head around just how bad Jonjoe Kenny must be when you are forced into playing Ben Godfrey or Mason Holgate at right-back; neither exactly cut the mustard for that role.

I can't understand why Brands never sold Jonjoe Kenny to Burnley last January? Absolutely baffling why he never, and especially because he was sent to a team on the wane in Scotland.

That just helped continue his stagnation, which had began when he came back from Schalke. He never got into Everton's first team at a time when he had got used to and needed to play real competitive football.

Whoa there, Jim! I wouldn't pack Seamus off to Jodie Comer's guest house just yet. Still something to offer I reckon.

Now that the departure of Rodriguez has gone through we might well sign Maitland-Niles in January.

I wouldn't even be surprised if we got him and either of the two young Scottish RBs (Patterson and Ramsey) we've been linked with. This might allow Maitland-Niles to operate in midfield too a bit.

The only way we'd sign Aarons is if none of these deals came off in January and relegated Norwich are prepared to sell for more about £15m to £20m or so in summer.

The only problem is it needs an overhaul from the ground up and a new way of thinking but I think it needs doing as we're going nowhere fast with this hit-and-hope approach. Once you implement this and put the right staff in place, it permeates the whole club via the Under-16s to the Academy because we look for a type of player based on stats.

I'm actually amazed Moshiri never went with this but uncoupling the trainset from the Fat Controller was always the problem. I would be interested to know what The Esk thinks of this – cheers, Paul.

I agree with Tommy @39, a solid, dependable right-back who can be relied upon to do all the basics well will suit me. Easier said than done perhaps but a lot of mid-table clubs have managed to sign decent right-backs over the last few years so I don't know why we have struggled so much.

Answer is nobody and we should treat that with the caution it deserves.

Much better value to be had for Everton Football Club.

If we had a brilliant starting XI but needed a potential star full-back to augment the team, then this signing would make sense. But we don't. And it doesn't.

Although right-back is a priority position for us, there is no benefit on gambling on who could be a world class right-back for huge money, or, an expensive flop – when a solid and steady right-back of a good age will do the job.

Good callout on Brandon Williams. He's the first guy I've ever seen just do a burn on Godfrey. Left him behind.

He'll get a chance to play. And we'll find out then if he still can.

But on the other… my gosh, what's the issue now? How many injuries??? Toothache, Covid, what next? Ear infection???

On the issue of when we will be able to resume spending, I have no idea – but Rafa seemed to hint in the last pre-match press briefing that he expects some money to be made available in January. The exits of several highly paid players like Bernard, Kean and James and the disappearance of Voldemort ("He Who Shall Not be Named") would surely have resulted in savings of about £400-500k per week in wages, so that would have helped towards meeting FFP targets.

I expect quite a few good options to be available in January as clubs figure out who they don't need after the start of the season. For example, Danny von de Beek might be interested in game time and Man Utd may be okay with off-loading him. Similarly, Maitland-Niles from Arsenal.

Someone mentioned Sean Longstaff – he is in his final year of contract and he should be available for a bargain. (He scored a screamer and then missed an absolute sitter in last weekend's game.) Rafa probably knows him from his Newcastle days - so, it would be easy for him to fit in.

Most of the money should go to our primary right-back target – if that is Nathan Patterson from Rangers, then put in the bid that gets the signing done.

I would like us to get in a forward on loan as a backup. I really liked Mbaye Diagne when he was loaned from Galatasaray to West Brom in the latter part of last season. He made 16 appearances and scored 2 and assisted 3, but what impressed me most was his work rate and ability to get in the box and trouble defenders. He is a very Benitez type of player.

We don't have to play great. What we have to do is win consistently, then we can worry about playing great.

Right now, I would love an Everton team that consistently beats the sides below us and has a puncher's chance against those above us. That's the base you build from. The base that would probably get us into Europe. We've spent five years throwing money at players without remotely thinking of that base. That's why we're in the current financial & mid-table mess.

What we're seeing now is far better than what we've seen since Ancelotti finished our season prematurely by bringing back Allan, James & Doucoure from injury far too early and stuffing them for the rest of the season.