Great to see our players expressing themselves

Paul Traill on what was a fun afternoon at a much happier Goodison Park

Everton 4 - 1 Brentford

Last weekend I bought some new trainers from a shop in Birkenhead, and when I got home and tried to put them on, I found that the security tags had been left on. I therefore had to return to get them removed and jumped on a bus to Birkenhead yesterday morning. Dan then kindly picked me up from Birkenhead, and we were quickly through the tunnel.

While in the car, out of nowhere Ste suddenly gasped. It was the sort of gasp that is usually reserved for when someone runs out in front of you when you're driving, and we all thought something serious had happened. And then he broke it to us. “I forgot my ticket, so I'm going to have to go to Goodison first to get a new ticket printed”. Phew!

We got to the pub pretty early, though as it got busier you really felt a palpable sense of optimism and excitement, while we watched West Ham United make extremely hard work of their fixture with Kidderminster Harriers.

Just on around 2pm Gary and Sue also joined us, and we got the much anticipated team news on our phones. Three central defenders began the game in Ben Godfrey, Michael Keane and Mason Holgate. Vitalii Mykolenko began at left back, with Seamus Coleman preferred to Nathan Patterson on the opposite side. We were a bit surprised to see that Frank had gone for two in midfield, especially given the problems this caused for his predecessor. It was great fun in the pub. For various reasons its been quite a while since many of us have been there together at the same time, and it was really great to see everyone.

We arrived at Goodison Park slightly earlier than usual which was just as well as it was pretty busy at many of the turnstiles. We got to our seats well in time for what was a very lengthy play of the sirens, which was followed by a long pause to build up anticipation that little bit more, before Z-Cars rang out. Frank Lampard received an excellent applause from the crowd.

Everton began the game a little edgy, and there was nothing really between the teams in the opening sparrings. It actually took Everton a little while to click into gear. This wasn't helped by the early injury to Ben Godfrey who appeared to pull a hamstring, and was replaced by Yerry Mina.

While the old problem of not having enough bodies in midfield continued to hamper us as we conceded a lot of the ball in the centre, Frank did something about that and made a tactical tweak, and asked Demarai Gray to drift into the centre to pick up the ball. This gave us more of an out-ball and allowed us the opportunity to get up the pitch. Once we started doing this, the pendulum swung more in our favour, and we were soon ahead via a pretty routine corner kick. Demarai swung it into the mixer powerfully, and Yerry rose highest to quite easily head into the goal. This was met with jubilant scenes throughout Goodison Park. Yerry the man to christen our new era with a goal.

This settled our players and we seemed to have more of a calmness to our play. Brentford weren't without opportunities though. Jordan Pickford made a relatively straightforward save from Sergi Canos following a somewhat defensive lapse. And just as the resultant corner was about to be taken the wind really picked up quite suddenly, and Jordan had to be alert to keep the ball out just under his own crossbar. Though we got to the break a goal to the good.

At half time, one of the lads around us travels down from Middlesbrough every game, and was saying how Middlesbrough away would suit him fine in the next round. It was nice to welcome Donny van de Beek and Dele Alli to the club at the interval also.

The second half was vastly enjoyable. It certainly helped that we doubled our advantage early in the half when Allan dinked a lovely ball through for his compatriot Richarlison, who finished very well past the onrushing David Raya. He reeled away in celebration before the ball had crossed the line which to us looked slightly premature but he obviously knew it was a goal. Brilliant work by both.

Everton flirted with the idea of ruining the day when Ivan Toney found himself away in the penalty area and was felled as he attempted to round Jordan Pickford. With no real complaints from any Everton players, it didn't take long for Ivan to step up and put the ball into the corner kick, and at 2-1 you couldn't help but get a little nervous.

These nerves were settled only eight minutes later when Mason Holgate nodded the ball in at the back post from another Demarai Gray corner kick. With the two goal cushion now restored, the supporters regained confidence, and Goodison Park became its raucous best. Everyone singing with a smile. Its been a long time since we've felt so positive about Everton. The players by this point were beginning to play with an arrogance and a swagger, and were popping the ball around smartly, a lot of the good work coming through Andre Gomes.

Frank Lampard used up his full quota of five substitutes (it's five in the FA Cup rather than three), and three of them combined stylishly to add some gloss to the scoreline. Cenk Tosun had an easy ball to Seamus Coleman available, but instead picked up an intelligent run inside by Alex Iwobi who flicked smartly inside for Andros Townsend. With Brentford long since given up by this point and no pressure on the ball, Andros didn't hesitate and pelted the ball into the net at pace. Goodison Park jubilant. Desperate for the toilet by this point I darted off with a minute or so to spare and so missed the applause for Frank at full time. We then all convened at the statue and headed back home.

Doesn't it make such a difference when you give players the freedom to express themselves? We'd never have seen Allan for example dink a ball through for RIcharlison like that a few weeks back, and the way Anthony Gordon ghosted around the field was nothing short of remarkable. The players seemed to have a freedom to go and do what they do best. Obviously I haven't been privy to the coaching of Rafa Benitez at Everton, though he has been well-known for giving players so many instructions and I wonder if this has stifled many of their abilities. They certainly seemed more expressive, and wasn't it enjoyable to watch? Hopefully Frank can continue to instil this, and as he has spoken about, continue to raise their confidence levels. And with Bournemouth or Boreham Wood at home in the next round of the FA Cup, there's a real opportunity to make the quarter finals. The FA Cup could become a great opportunity for Frank.

False dawns…we've had many. But there is a real excitement about having Frank on board which I don't think has really been there with any Everton manager since David Moyes departed. Let's hope this is the beginning of something special as Lord knows Evertonians deserve it.

Player ratings:

Jordan Pickford: He was very vocal out there. He didn't have loads to do but he didn't overcomplicate anything. If you remember back to the first few months of last season, Jordan was all over the place and made several costly mistakes. Since Carlo took him out of the firing line for a while and have him see a sports psychologist, he's been excellent for club and country. He's now never an issue. It's not something you have to worry about or talk about, which really highlights how remarkable a turnaround its been for Jordan. 6

Vitalii Mykolenko: He didn't do anything wrong as such and had a steady enough game. He doesn't strike me as the most confident of players. It's very early days of course and hopefully that will improve as he settles. He's going to be in for quite the examination from opponents these next few months I imagine, as its surely an area they will target. With Jonjo Kenny now the only back-up full back, he's going to have to stand up to the task. 6

Ben Godfrey: It's unfortunate for Ben that he limped off early and will likely be out for at least six weeks. I can't really give him a rating.

Michael Keane: He did pretty well at the back and brought the ball out of defence quite well. 6

Mason Holgate: Had a very good game and it was nice to see him cap it off with a goal. I've been listening to a few of them Twitter Spaces with some Everton fan groups over the last few weeks, and I've found some of the comments on there about Mason to be a bit unfair. Some were saying they would drive him to Brighton for free if it meant he was leaving, for example. I can understand if people are frustrated with his performance levels, but Mason always tries his best and doesn't deserve that. He's been with us across all our managers now since David Moyes and from Ronald Koeman right through to now Frank Lampard they have all used him, and he's actually captained the team on a number of occasions. The point I'm trying to make is that he must show a lot of character and commitment to the cause at training and in and around the club, because our managers all feel they can count on him. This tells me that he tries and cares. There's others who consistently haven't tried their best, so I don't think its fair to go after Mason. 7

Seamus Coleman: Did quite well. Got up and down the pitch. Seamus can still do a job, just his body won't allow him to do it every single game. He needs to be intelligently rotated. 6

Allan: He grew into the game and made a very good contribution with his assist. 7

Andre Gomes: Well done to Andre, who really made the most of his opportunity in the middle to give Frank some foods for thought in that position. Like Allan, he grew into the game, and by the end was playing with a real nonchalance. 7

Demarai Gray: He put in two corner kicks which resulted in goals and made a good contribution throughout. 7

Anthony Gordon: Anthony was excellent and is really beginning to look the part. He's full of confidence. I didn't realise what a brilliant ball carrier he was until yesterday. He's an excellent dribbler and is full of commitment. He needs to improve his end product but is surely on the right track. I didn't think we did, but it looks like we've got a real talent there. And I suppose if I have to give Rafa Benitez credit for anything, it would be for how he has given Anthony games and improved his output. My man of the match. 8

Richarlison: A constant thorn in Brentford's defence. He took his goal very well and kept them busy throughout. 7

Substitutes:

Yerry Mina (for Ben Godfrey): I wanted Jarrad Branthwaite to come on instead of Yerry, as I felt Jarrad would slot seamlessly into that left side centre back position, as this meant Mason had to shuffle across. However, fair play, the reorganisation wasn't a problem and Yerry had a good game, and scored of course. 7

Andros Townsend (for Anthony Gordon): He's a very good professional to have and has made a very good contribution in his short time at Everton, also scoring twice in the FA Cup. He took his goal well and had good involvement throughout his 20-odd minutes. 7

Jonjo Kenny (For Vitalii Mykolenko): With Ben Godfrey now injured it is even more likely that Vitalii will be playing games. This makes Jonjo potentially our only recognised full back cover for Vitalii, so Frank probably wanted to keep Vitalii fresh and give Jonjo a bit of game time. Jonjo did quite well and didn't let anyone down. 6

Cenk Tosun (for Richarlison): He also got involved and had a good impact on the game with a few neat touches, and then had a big hand in our fourth goal. Well done Cenk. 7

Alex Iwobi (for Demarai Gray): Also got involved and it was a very nice assist for Andros's goal. 7

Follow @PaulTraill

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