Kean strikes to give Everton narrow win over Pumas

Anyone know how good these pumas are?

Play like wild cats, Paul.

4 changes to the starting team, with Keane in for Holgate, Davies and Gomes for Doucoure and Allan and Gray for Rodriguez.

No idea what Pumas will be like, though I believe they have started their domestic league, so should be sharp and fit, like Millionarios and will hopefully give us a good test. Going off Twitter they have a slightly unusual asymmetric formation, kind of a 4-4-2 with one forward deep and to the left of the main striker, the right winger advanced and one of the midfielders sitting deep. If they actually setup that way it should prove interesting!

Reports are it's hot again though not quite as bad as Sunday. Pretty sure James will come in at h/t, he's the main draw so will surely play a full 45.

Interesting team with Townsend, Gray and Iwobi behind Kean.
Hopefully I can stay awake and find a stream.

David #5 I'll post a link before kickoff.

No Rodriguez. Injured again?

James is on the bench.

Thanks Kevin, appreciate that. I'm in Cyprus at the moment with no ac. It's a struggle.

Any links?

https://fpstreams.weebly.com/

Mainly interested to hear how the attacking link up play goes.

Can Mo Kean show he's the real deal?
Can our new wingers provide the width, pace and creativity?
Is Iwobi a nobody?

I know the rest.

Great stream, thanks a lot Kevin!

No problem. It was very stable for the match the other night, stopped about 3 times but a refresh of the page and it resumed fine.

Iwobi starting at no.10, Gray on the right, Townsend on the left.

The games on UK SD:Premier sports if you have a dodgy box.
So I've been told!,,, ahem.

These should change their name to pussy cats.

Started well but they are in the game now. Cracking strike from range from their no.9 there.

Great play from Gray on the counter to play Kean in, keeper saves 1 on 1 but slots in the rebound. Thought we'd lost our way at this point too!

Looking dangerous with Gray.

Early days but Gray is really impressing me, fast, agile, great close control and can pick a pass.

He and Townsend swapped wings about 18m in.

Iwobi struggling to impact the game centrally. Davies won a couple soft fouls, the way he does.

That cracking shot from the Pumas forward was about the last bit of action on Everton tv. What a class shot and a decent save Hopefully Gray and Townsend will provide what we haven't had for donkeys years, decent, fast wingers who can play a bit. Good start!

What a waste of space Iwobi is unfortunately

Halftime and we've been the better outfit. They've tested Begovic a few times but he's looked comfortable.

The defence has been solid, Digne the standout. Coleman hasn't got forward much on the right. Midfield has generally controlled possession without doing much damage. Davies has bought several really weak fouls, clever but risky if the ref doesn't buy it. He got away with one when replay showed he coughed the ball up: a worry. Gomes, neat in possession but can't recall anything incisive from him, just recycling possession. Gave a couple of cheap FKs away. So pretty typical from those two

Townsend quiet, not poor just not involved, on both sides. Gray very impressive, primarily on the left. Iwobi, played through by Kean, should probably score, or hit the target. Otherwise he's dropped deep to collect the ball, but aside from a few nice passes out wide nothing spectacular. One sloppy giveaway. Kean leading the line well enough and looks interested again. Quick and strong. A bit lucky to get a second chance for his goal. Nice interplay to set up Iwobi at the end of the half.

Expecting 3-4 changes for the 2nd half.

I agree, the wingers gray and townsend are having a positive impact.

Amazing what a bit of pace and direct running can do for a team. Kean a little lucky with the goal, but its still a goal. He's done OK but runs away from the ball to often.

Iwobi and Gomes just not doing enough. Everyone else decent.

Watching on ESPN3 in the US.
Decent stuff from Moise Kean and we should have been awarded a handball penalty. Agree that Gray is looking good.

Just seen the handball Ed. I think the Kean overhead kick is heading for the top corner if it doesn't hit the hand. Would have been a wonderful goal! Nailed on penalty too,

All change except for Keane and Digne. Sloppy start to the half. Looks like maybe a 4-3-3?

Agreed Ed, clear pen 1st half, the Pumas defender's arms were all over the place.

Scrappy affair but cant believe how poor Allan has been looks a shadow of the player he was before his hamstring injury last season!!

Thought on the whole we did ok.
Moving the ball around faster.

Using my expert lip reading I could tell that Ben was saying we will win the league by at least 10 points and probably win the FA Cup as well.
Who could possibly argue.

Very mixed performance but it is only preseason and job done. Possibly very good preparation to go up against teams well into their league program.
Good to see the youngsters and new recruits properly involved, and JP looking comfortable. The manager also seemed to be enjoying himself.

Overall a sloppy 2nd half from us, looked to be getting things together but after the water break on 70m we never got going again.

Of note: Allan was poor, one good long pass to Broadhead aside, he gave away the ball in poor areas a few times, looks nowhere near the required level as yet. Probably needs a good hour against United in the last preseason game. Doucoure was much better than Sunday, got forward a few times. Gbamin was OK, just great seeing him on the field, should be an asset this season, touch wood. Rodriguez, couple good passes and great chance, point blank but hit it right at the keeper. Coughed up possession a couple of times early in the half. Spent the last 10m playing as a false 9 where he was ineffective. Doesn't look match fit yet. Broadhead didn't look out of place again, worked hard and good speed, done himself a few favours so far. Gordon was much better than Sunday, direct, taking on defenders and got in a couple nice crosses from the byline, James should have converted one. The rest of the youngsters did fine. Holgate was composed. Kenny, linked up well to almost get on the end of a pass from Gbamin but the 'keeper beat him to it, just about. Otherwise a couple of mistakes and still don't think he has a place in the 1st team going forward.

Agree with Kevin re JJK. Nothing terribly bad but a couple of poor clearances and nothing special going forward. Agree too that Gordon played well, at least for the first 30 minutes. Plenty for Rafa to digest.

Watched a bit of the stream (thanks Kevin!). The American announcers were enthusiastic, but it was hard to get past them constantly saying "Moyesie" Kean and Tom "Dave-ease."

Need to sort out the Kean/another striker issue

I don't think Kean is good enough but we can't let him go again and not get any reinforcements in

Yeah, Bill... and "Deen-yay".

Just back to the hotel after the match. My two cents:

Gbamin looked really good as did Gordon. Gordon needs to shoot rather than try to get into a better position. Iwobi better in the middle, he isn't a winger. Gray solid again. James ok but again, not at full fitness. He grew into the match though. Townsend didn't see enough of the ball. Coleman great. Kean dangerous on numerous occasions and deserved his goal. Broadbent good. Gomes better with several good one touch passes to break pressure. Virginia in the second half with several good saves.

Pumas in preseason as well but overall, they did well. Their GK played very well in the second half denying Everton chances.

Great to see Everton in the USA.

Watching Broadhead frustrated me in reference to last year when we had games with DCL isolated and Richy rolling around. I don't think Broadhead is EPL regular starting quality but he's brave, he dribbles, he causes problems. If nothing else as a Hail Mary sub he might win a penalty. But he's better than a token 2 minutes off the bench.

Bill #37, actually Pumas isn't in preseason... they started their league season on Sunday with a 0-0 draw with Atlas.

And like us they played with their backup keeper... the starting keeper is Mexico's #1 and is playing in the Gold Cup.

Just getting back from the game (and a number of beers in,) we we're by far the better team. Even when we switched at half time to the youngsters, it seemed we didn't really want to punish them. It felt like we didn't want to get out of 1st or 2nd gear. Physically we were huge against them. Even players like Gordon seemed like giants up against his opposite number. Once we got that first goal, it seemed we just sat back and took it easy. Also, not too sure why Kean got motm, other than the goal he did absolutely nothing.

If we can keep Gbamin fit, he'll be our most important player this upcoming season. He's an absolute beast in midfield. He's bulked up since the injury but as the supposed Gana replacement, he's so much more. Allan does the Gana stuff, but Gbamin is a different kettle of fish. He probably reminds me most of a better Loftus-Cheek type player due to his size, and an number of other blues tonight said he reminded them of a Jan Molby type due to his size and build/play. Along with JPG, what we've seen from Grey, he can play anywhere in the 3 behind the number 9 and cause a ton of issues. I'm hoping he'll finally step up to the potential he once had.

Now going off fan/player interaction during the evening. James had no interest in the traveling contingent. James was again pandering to the Colombian contingent, not our fans. I firmly believe he'll be gone within a few weeks after this trip. The club used him to get their money's worth out of South American fan base as a marketing tool. Sunday's game he paid no attention to the large section of blues, only focusing on the Colombian fans in the opposite end. Again today he only really interacted with the sections with Colombian shirts on.

Many of the players enjoyed the positive vocal interaction from the fans (which they really haven't had for 18 months). Unsurprisingly Iwobi was the only player who didn't respond back from cheers and chants from the fans tonight. Even Kean had a half hearted wave when his name was sung.

Overall, these two games have shown that our style of play is basically going to be the same as last season, only with some more speed from the wings. It's not going to be pretty, but the commitment is there.

Once again I failed to make it past the 10 pm news and woke up with the dogs at around 2 am!

Just had a look at the highlights. As always, not getting carried away with a pre-season, but from the glimpses I saw, Kean looked lively.

The next 2 weeks will be interesting in terms of comings and goings; if any? I personally don't think that's it, but let's see what happens.

Another fairly informative work-out, which should have yielded more goals, yet gave nearly everyone a chance to shine, ironically it was the same ones who stood out against Millonarios who did again. Allan and Doucouré have been very poor on both outings Gbamin could just be what we have been missing, as he cuts an imposing figure in the middle.

Still not sure about Moise Kean, he seems to lack commitment in front of goal at times expecting the ball to be teed up, and wanting too much time, which you will definitely not get in the Premier League. Broadhead and Gordon did enough second half to show that could be valuable squad members if retained. I have a feeling Anthony may go on loan again. Seamus and Digne were the pick of the defenders with Godfrey being solid as expected, Begovic proving that he is a safe pair of hands if called upon.

Be interesting to see in the Man Utd game next week what the nucleus of the team is, which should give a clue as to the starting eleven a week later. Apart from the International absentees, I still think we need at least a couple more quality players through the door to bolster the team and squad.

Gray and Townsend look to be very good acquisitions with minimal outlay already, and haven't put a foot wrong in an Everton shirt. Still need to ship a few out but it is a slow process unfortunately, 'new lamps for old', works in Aladdin, but not with us.

Watched the game which gave us a few clues for the new season.

Rafa has his ideas of what he expects. We did use the wings in the first half and zipped the ball around trying to create chances. Sorry to say Davies doesn't look good enough for all his effort. Doucoure and Allan picked up where they left off from last season.

Moise Kean has to control the ball better, but unless there are some ins and outs, I fear a repeat of last season.

We can't build a team around any player who can't stay fit. Get James off the books and that should trigger the bid for the full back and winger with a little help from Gomes and Davies departures plus the errant ice berg hopefully.

Early days, but no signs of anything other than incremental change from last season so far. Kean and James both look like they're gone from the club mentally in my opinion. Both offered hope when they arrived, but neither will go down in the club's history as great Evertonians will they?

Gray and Townsend both look lively, but too many players seem to be picking up from where they left off last season - sluggish, inaccurate passing, lots of huff and puff but not much end product.

Mal, a bit cautious of your view on Kean.

I observed many Evertonians complain about Lukaku's touch and control but the guy consistently scored 20+ goals a season.

Ideally, I'd love the complete striker, but if we have someone who can score goals but lacks a bit of a touch, I'd take that. And he's only 21. Don't get me wrong, I don't anticipate him being here next season, but I'd like him to be to give us other options. It's like Calvert-Lewin. He's a good "in the box" striker, but not the complete one in the sense Harry Kane is.

I've said many times, Linekar was not the greatest footballer in the purist sense. But he scored 40 goals in one season.

@Bill. I would like to keep Rodriguez. Again, I don't think we will and we're looking like we're going back to "dig in" Everton. But unless we break that mould, we'll never break the glass ceiling.

City are a good example. You can accommodate players like that if you surround them with better ones and have depth. That's our problem. We can have a player like James who only manages half a season, but when he plays is influential. City done it. Aguero spent much of his time there on the sidelines, but when he did play, he was influential and will always be remembered for that magical moment.

If we want grafters, we'll just keep grafting. We need better players and we need winners.

Si (31) JP looking comfortable ? Who is JP?

Dave A, Gbamin, he has looked really strong and useful in midfield, he has two years to make up too !

Dave. JP Gbamin mate. Jean Philippe. JP for short.

Derek (48) and Brian (49), thanks lads, spent a few minutes trying to figure out who JP was, Jordan Pickford? No he wasn't there,Justice of the Peace? Anyway glad to find out it was Gbamin and like most Blue noses hope the lad stays fit and helps us to have a great season, remember the name JP Gbamin!!

And your name is Dave, Dave. ;-)

Brian (51) with a capital D? Thanks again Brian.

Personally I don't get this idea that Kean and James aren't committed and should be got rid of.

Kean obviously has something or are you telling me that Italy, Juventus and PSG are all wrong?

The big difference between his form for us and PSG is that they actually played him for more than 5 minutes a game

As for James, he is clearly the most talented player to wear the blue shirt in many a year.
He's played all of the preseason games so far which suggests to me he might just be with us for next season.

I believe we offer him a great opportunity to play regularly and get himself back in the national team and possibly a decent offer when his contract expires next year.

Chris (53) I agree with you on that. I've just been looking at Paul the Esk's explanation of the financial situation we might well be in. It might mean that we have to sell, and perhaps that's why PSG are reluctant at the moment to buy him.

Your right, Kean has talent and if we can't buy better then he could provide us with a good option in attack. As for James, it's unlikely we would find anyone with talent anywhere near as classy as him. Then there's Gomes. He might well be able to give us performances like he showed when he first came to us.

It look like it is going to be a very fine balancing act regarding transfers this summer and maybe future ones. Interesting times, as they say.

I guess we all realise that if we go into the new season with the 20/21 line up, we can expect no less nor more than last time round. This may be what is expected of Benitez in the context of the desperate need to stay in the Premier as BMD gets nearer.

Not quite what Evertonians would find acceptable but it may well be the reality !

I agree with Kristian- James has been retained for PR purposes on the US trip and will be gone within two weeks. We can't carry a luxury player and he really doesn't seem that bothered based on last season.
JP is a huge bonus as is Gray on what we have seen so far. Hopefully Brands can move a couple on now and make a couple more astute purchases. It would be nice to see a youngster come through - maybe Gordon or Branthwaite- but looks like young Whittaker was there for experience as I don't think he had any game time?
The Man U game puzzles me- why risk a blow to confidence by playing them away the week before the season starts? We struggled with them last season and we will have to be well at it to avoid damage.
Maybe I am being too pessimistic too early!

I personally don't like the term luxury player. There was nothing luxury about James' take and pass to Richarlison that set us on our way to a first win at Analfield since many can remember. There is nothing luxury about those sweeping switch play passes he has the ability to execute. Or the left peg that can bang in the odd goal or two.

Get it out of him every game? No. But then that's partly down to the nature of the modern squad rotation oriented game.

To label players like that as luxury means we want to accept mediocre grafters who try hard. Now I appreciate every player should try hard and give their all. I believe James does when he's on the pitch.

To get the most out of players like Rodriguez, you need better players throughout. That's our problem, not James. If we are to progress, we need more of that type of quality, not less.

As always, in my opinion.

Agree Dave, seems strange playing a fellow Premier League competitor a week or so before the season starts. Did I see them play Brentford last night?

Danny, spot on mate well said.

Chris #53 I agree with you. I haven't seen any lack of effort or interest from Kean or James in preseason. I thought Moise was completely unprofessional and immature before his move to PSG and also nowhere near the standard to contribute meaningfully. I've see a different player in these two games. He is far more direct than DCL, wants to take a quick touch and get into position for a shot, I don't see him dwelling on the ball at all. He's quick and strong and looks to have come on a lot the past 12 months, learning from an assortment of high-calibre players. I think he's grown a bit mentally also, doesn't look sulky and wants to get involved.

As regards Rodriguez, he's not match fit yet, that's clear; some players just get fit faster than others. He has the touch, vision and passing range that the rest of our team will never have, however. I kind of believe that, whilst not transfer-listed, the rumours that we will consider reasonable bids on him are true. I do not believe the player is agitating for a move and I also don't believe we'll push him out the door on the cheap either. If we can add another 2-3 quality players I think this will have a strong motivating factor on him. Right now I'd say it is better than 50-50 that he'll stay. I big pointer will be if and how much he plays against United.

Jim #54 I haven't read Paul's article yet so you'll have to excuse any incorrect assumptions, but the EPL's Profit and Sustainability rules mean we need to prioritize selling players for maximum profit, to have meaningful effect on our position. So, for example buying Kean for ~ £27m and selling him for ~ £30m would make little sense, as would selling Richy for just a small profit (I think Marca suggested something like £45m last week, which would be pointless).

Obviously accepting a big bid for DCL would transform our financial situation, as we only paid £1.5m and he'd go for north of £50m, I'd imagine. £20m for James (a free transfer) would I think be tempting, but obviously the usefulness of the player is a big factor. Holgate would help, if we could interest a team in him. Guys like Gomes, Iwobi, Keane etc were all brought in for high fees and would be sold at a loss.

The wage that the player is on would be important too, as it reduces our overall spend, hence why Bernard is gone. I think Rodriguez is only considered to be our 7th (or 9th) highest-paid player, interestingly.

Dave #56,

Whitaker came on for the last 10 minutes. Played in an advanced role on the right. Showed one nice collect and turn, but also hit a pass out of play to an invisible runner! It was actually a good idea, a quick turn and long pass to the left flank but looked bad as there was no blue within 20 yards.

Could it be that Kean is trying to over-egg things to impress Rafa Benitez instead of playing his natural game?

I'm thinking that given, the chance to gain in confidence, he could be a very important element in our bid for a Top 6 slot.

Watching Kean's goal exemplifies exactly why PSG aren't coughing for him and the notable absence of suitors at circa 35-40m.

A proper finisher would take the ball closer to the goalie and commit him then slot the other way - or simply go round him - he lacked the skill to do either. He has pace to get there just not the ability to execute on arrival. Massively ordinary he was fortunate the ball fell nicely to rectify an amateur strike.

Noticeably the congrats from the other players were very perfunctory.

We need to get real with this fella he is a 25m player, tops, and needs shifting asap.

Barry I wouldn't read too much into goal celebrations during a pre season game, ditto a strikers sharpness in front of goal.

Playing Kean and James shows they're fit and healthy and ready to play. PSG can easily pay for a permanent transfer if they want Kean. We'd probably even allow them to pay incrementally to oil the wheels. If not he stays and we work on him to be better. He needs polishing for sure, but 17 goals for PSG last season shows he has an instinct for goal however he scores them. I wouldn't be disheartened if he stays and we improve him. His desire to move may force the issue though and lead us to make concessions.

James is a win win situation for us. He's an asset to EFC. We keep him and we get all the associated media attention and boost our reach and profile into Latin America. Don't forget he can change games with a moment of brilliance against any club from the bench or as a starter for the first 60 minutes. Some of his passes create goals that change tight games. If he goes it will be on our terms which at around the quoted 10m sounds reasonable.

The three new boys Gray, Townsend and Bergovic who cost us a combined 1.6m is looking excellent business. It's early days but I think we have strengthened the squad very well so far for no net outlay, whilst simultaneously trimming the wage bill. Good work.

What I think, if Kean and James are to stay and get fully motivated, we need is a big signing and another decent signing, so they can see there is a hope of improvement to the new season.

I think there is more to it with James' displays yesterday, ine the first game Colombians rooted for him against Colombians and he got up to it, in the second game against Mexicans he took it too easy - lack of mental preparedness imo. So my bet is he'll step it up against Man United in a week or so.

Latest rumour is Moise Kean has put in a transfer request.

The game results and fitness of the players were good and we cannot complain about the effort at this stage considering the heat in Orlando.

One or two players were a little lacklustre but hopefully Rafa has everyone well tuned in to what he wants in time for the Soton game.

Kean may be needed for that first game as Richarlison will still be in Japan but then again Rafa has one or two options.

Andrew Ellams 63

I saw Kean's discomfort with a ball during his Juve show-reel the clumsy finish of the Puma game is nothing new. The token gesture congrats from his team mates tells you his non-existent relationship with the club is beyond repair. He needs shipping out, pronto

The sooner he goes the better for all, he might be here in August, but I doubt he'll be here in September. If we break even on him we'll have done OK...the guy who signed him in the first place however, done less good.

There are enough rumours out there that Kean wants away, so I'm assuming its true. In fact, looking at Rafa's comments, there can be no doubt that Moise is angling for a transfer before the window shuts.

That being the case, it's hardly worth talking about him or his performances for us really, is it? James's future may be less certain, but again, I think we might as well forget about him. If he stays, fine, but it's pretty unlikely. And if he does, it's unlikely he'll be very motivated come the winter when he starts getting his poorly calf again.

Derek, we will make a considerable profit on Kean when we sell him.

With FFP isn't it a case of reducing the deemed cost of a player by the period already spent at the club? If Kean cost £25m on a five year deal for example and has two years under his belt, then his cost is reduced by two fifths down to £15m. We then sell him for say £35m giving a profit for FFP purposes of £20m which works much better for us.
I'm sure I will be corrected if I have this wrong!

Danny- to me a luxury player is one who has loads of ability but relies,on others to put in the graft for him. James has the ability but doesn't appear to me to have the heart or guts to put in the graft. Ball and Harvey for example had both the ability and the heart and guts. The luxury players are great to have if the rest of the team is good enough to carry them and we all wait then for the game changing moments which you rightly say James can produce. We are not currently good enough to carry him and his “ moments” are not frequent enough( in my opinion). No one would be more delighted than me if he could increase the number of game changing moments but I think he will be on his way.

I understand Dave and think that we both think along the same lines in a roundabout way.

The examples you use both played in a championship winning team surrounded by equally minded winners, so they didn't look like luxury players. I would add Kevin Sheedy to that. In this team, I'd argue we'd be labelling a modern day Sheedy a luxury player.

The problem we have now is that anyone of that standard looks like a luxury player because the others are not of similar standard or quality. It's what you surround them with.

I do get what you're saying, and a successful team takes a mix of players. I just don't think the answer is to get rid of players like James even though that is probably out out of our hands. We need more of a better quality if we want to be successful.

To put it simply any player who wants out let them go
I for one think only players who wish to play for Everton should be cherished.

Kevin (59)
It's very complicated but it seems to be that we're already about 45 million over the danger limit (but don't take that from me as gospel !!!)Paul's article is very informative about what situation we're in.
It looks like the Transfer market, as far as we are concerned, is likely to work against us and that's why PSG will only offer to take him on loan. The likes of Iwobo, Gomes, Kean himself, Richarlison, should we want top sell them, we might well find we get paltry offers, or nowt but loan deals. Also, we're not likely to be able to buy in top class players because of the financial straight jacket. The article is well worth a read...it's eye opening and gives a realistic assessment of our chances of "getting rid of "dead wood" we might bwe lumbered with it; and have to make do and mend.

There is something different about this pre season. Players being tried and a core of a team being built. It was a good idea to go to Florida.

Dave #53 " Carry a luxury player" who can't be bothered" James is a squad player who is by far our highest quality asset. Far from not being bothered as you put it, the exact opposite is true, he has been exemplary on his attitude and professionalism. He has done more for this clubs world wide profile on and off the pitch than any player currently here. If he was not bothered as you say, please give an example or two.

Dave (78) Absolutely spot on! If he's willing to stay then we have a world class footballer on our books. He didn't play much towards the end of the season. but I seem to remember in the deby match, him getting a nasty calf injury from that delicate, r/s wallflower centre half of their's. Before that, his goal return and the number of goals he set up was outstanding.
I'd love to see him live, so just for that, I hope he stays; but I also think he'd be a useful member of the squad.

Kevin 59,
Not sure it works that way re transfers.

I think from an accounting perspective players transfer fees are amortised over the length of their contracts. So, for example, we buy someone for £50m offering a 5 year contract. The £50m is the players value day one. However, every year into the contract the players value is reduced by £10m (I.e. £50m/5years).

So in your Kean example, his value in our books today would not be the £27m we paid for him, but proportionally less depending on initial contract length and how long he's got left.

Things get a little complicated when players have contract extensions and you get the bizarre situation that players who come through the youth academies have no value, as we never bought them.

These were the rules from an accounting perspective a few years back and I'm not sure they've changed since. Essentially it means the official books of clubs don't really reflect reality. (Extreme example going back to the 90's. The Man U class of ‘92 all had no value in the clubs accounts as they came through the youth academies).