Full backs for the future

Obviously, if finances and regulations allowed, it would be great to replace most of the team; in which case, there are some good candidates in your article.

However, in my view, Patterson will prove to be better than any of them.

And that fella who scored a worldy against Everton has just scored another cracker for Villa tonight.

It was scary in that first half against Palace and that ''penalty'' refusal was really good for us in the end.

Whilst Branthwaite is back and maybe one or two more soon, there may be a cause for a little more optimism.

We don't really have strong full-backs or wingbacks no matter who is fit and it remains for other outfield players to become better defensively if we are to become more competitive.

If Young plays against the Barcodes, it will be interesting to see if Gordon targets the ''old guy''.

Regarding left-backs, ever seen young Miguel Gutierrez at Girona? I saw him twice last season when they did the double over Barca, and he was an absolute star in both.

Not sure I agree about Coleman and Patterson. Both are sick notes and Coleman's best days are far behind him.

I'm not sure Patterson is up to Premier League standard but I'd really like to see him have a run of games to see what he can really do, or not do, as the case may be.

He sounds like a proper Scouser.

Could we find a Wagg for the left back slot?

I am just curious (and this is not meant to be a dig at you), have you tracked how many of your scouted players have Everton actually signed?

On the full-backs situation, I agree that we do absolutely need a decent quality left-back to give Mykolenko some competition. Do you think going back for Nkounkou would be an option?

I think you're misunderstanding Robert's articles. He's never claimed to have some connections at the club he can flag players to and I doubt the club look on ToffeeWeb for tips.

Forgive me if I'm wrong, Robert, but I'd guess outside of players we've been linked with in the press, the answer to Ajay's question is probably zero. But I think the point of Robert's articles is not predicting who we will sign but highlighting the kind of players we could sign.

It's no secret the likes of Brighton and Brentford unearth cheap diamonds we and others overlook. And I think that's the point Robert is trying to make. Correct me if I'm wrong.

Eintracht Frankfurt has clearly reached the conclusion -- as Everton, St Etienne, Cardiff and Standard Liege did before them -- that the kid can't play defense.

When we had aspirations to make Europe from 2016-2021, we focused on buying squad players from top clubs for inflated fees and salaries in the expectation it would accelerate our progress. It killed the club financially and had the opposite long-term effect. Gomes, Mina, Digne, Sigurdsson, Walcott – we should have targeted young talent early in their career who cost £5-10M rather than the £25M plus we signed for these players.

Back to it, I think we need two fullbacks but right-back is the priority for January.

Right back:– Patterson has to develop his defensive game. If we had a squad with any depth at all, he would have been sent on loan shortly after signing for us. He has potential and good athleticism, but his defensive positioning and concentration needs work. We cannot rely on Coleman as he is now in the cycle of suffering recurring injuries as he reaches the back end of his career.

Left back:– Mykolenko is average defensively and below average going forward. His contribution to our offensive game is limited and his inability to get forward restricts us tactically. Ideally, he would be the back-up squad player for the position. Ashley Young will leave at the end of the season, but he does give an option as cover at left-back (not right-back).

I agree with your points, we need a quality first-team ready right-back and a back-up left-back with excellent potential.

I do agree with Mr Gaynes re: Patterson, I personally like him and still have hope he can be the player we need; sadly, unless Sean Dyche gets the push, I just can't see it being at Everton. He needs a run of games and an arm around his shoulder. It could save us a fortune though.

In addition to your comment about Girona's Guttierez at left-back, in our dreams! Some player.

Even within our own U21s surely the coaches can convert a winger to be a fullback. This just highlights how poor our coaching must be at Finch Farm.

Patterson isn't good enough, I have seen enough of Dixon to say he is already a better full-back.

Also sadly, I don't share the optimism around Patterson. He's very injury prone and just hasn't developed beyond the player he was when we bought him in January 2021. A club with any money or decent squad depth would have shipped him out on loan or just sold him by now. We need an upgrade.

For a bit of fun (and to address Kieran and Ajay's point) I had a look back at the Link

A high proportion of the players noted there did move this summer - and for reasonable fees too. In loose terms, they were "available" to us (albeit often more complex than that). The players who moved were:

Right Backs

- Dest to PSV
- Walters to Luton
- Norton-Cuffey to Genoa
- Gendrey to Hoffenheim
- Bogle to Leeds

Left Backs

- Burrows to Sheff Utd
- Taylor to Saints

Centre-Back

- Greaves to Ipswich
- Koulierakis to Wolfsburg
- Adarabioyo to Chelsea
- Kelly to Newcastle
- DeWinter to genoa
- Toure to Udinese
- O'Brien to Everton!
- Wood to Saints

Midfield

- Ugochukwu to Saints
- Barranachea to Villa
- Veiga to Chelsea
- Keita to Parma
- Patino to Deportivo la Coruna

Wing / Forward

- Iling-Junior to Villa
- Asprilla to Girona
- Ndiaye to Everton!
- Nelson to Fulham
- Hamilton to Middlesborough
- Rowe to Marseille
- Sosa to Forest
- Tillman to PSV
- Shoretire to Salonika

Striker

- Beier to Dortmund
- Broja to Everton!
- Fofana to Goztepe
- Bierith to Sturm Graz
- Saldhana to Ferencvaros

- Breretonm-Diaz to Saints

I don't think it's Dyche that has held Patterson back, every time he gets a chance, he gets injured.

My main concern and focus is doing well and finishing as high as we can this season. The influx of funds and money to spend is critical to now and the future; however, none of those listed appear at first glance to have any Premier League experience.

This means they are unlikely to play, let alone start a game for maybe four weeks at best. Then they start gaining experience. In an ideal world, we'd bring in a player who could hit the ground running, quite literarily. This is a big ask whomever we bring in.

I don't have any counter recommendations, which I'd normally do. Hopefully whoever comes in will fit in really quickly.

Although I think most of the right-backs named would hit the ground running quickly, especially Sildillia and Rensch as (probably) the most defensively disciplined options.

Who is available from other Premier League clubs?

Sadly, the player who would be brilliant for us is Connor Bradley – but I suspect Liverpool would want £35M(+).

Other than that, it's probably nearly men, has-beens or those on a downward trajectory – but would still be expensive in fee and wages. Examples include:

- Trippier (old, injury prone and hit and miss)
- Walker-Peters (not in the same league as the players mentioned)
- Aarons (not kicked on at Bournemouth and now lost his place to Araujo)
- Spence (Spurs - but hardly played in the Premier League)
- Lamptey (last year on contract and not played yet this season)
- Tete (Fulham - okay but pretty average really)

All of these players represent terrible value and would rob us of transfer funds for genuinely good players.

I remember commenting when we signed him that his tackling technique was reckless and, if not corrected, was going to get him injured. It's still reckless and is getting him injured.

He doesn't seem to have learned or progressed and that is the worrying thing. I'm sure the coaching staff at Finch Farm have been working on his technique, but it doesn't seem to have made any difference.

For me, I'd sell him or send him out on loan to learn the art of defending.The problem with that is it only then leaves Coleman or Young and that is scary!! Dixon is very promising but throwing him in the deep end could do the lad more harm than good.

Mykelenko on the other side has his limitations, but with no specialist cover and that is also scary.

People think that TFG will be able to throw money at the problem in January, but that is not the case with financial restrictions still hanging over us. Anybody out there still got their boots?

Full credit to you that three of the players on your list did come to us (congratulations on your perspicacity!), but your list didn't include Iroegbunam or Mangala, both of whom look like great additions, or Lindstrom, who I believe will work out beautifully by midseason. In retrospect, Lindstrom was an obvious target, a quality talent whose career had fallen off the rails somewhat. We seem to specialize in those.

Seems Thelwell's lists are even better than yours! ;-))

I agree with Andy (1), we have enough options to get by this season. In regard to Patterson, he has been with us for nearly 3 years. He has yet to stay fit for a sustained run in the first team. That's what he needs to prove he is good enough for this level. If he can't do it between now and next May, the writing will be on the wall.

Whoever our next right-back signing is, it needs to be a player who will not only be better than those we already have but also one who can be regarded realistically as a long-term fixture in the team.

Premier League experience, reasonably good all round if not spectacular and a steal at that price given our current full-back circumstances.

How long Dyche would want to continue playing this type of system is another question. Beggars can't be choosers when money is tight but hopefully soon Everton's football will begin to evolve, although I'm already worried about Saturday, if Branthwaite is injured again.

He'd played only a small handful of games when we signed him and should have gone right out on loan. He still needs to be sent out on loan.

Instead, right into the fastest, most physical league in the world. No surprise his legs started giving him problems. This on top of how his inexperience stood out.

Patterson is 23 in a couple of weeks. He has this season and next left on his contract and, for me, he'll never make it. Not with us, he won't.

Andy@1, I'm afraid I have to disagree with you. In my summer transfer article I said that I thought that full back was a significant area of weakness and so it has proved. Mykolenko is very limited and has not even shown the defensive solidity he did last season, at fault for a few of the goals we have shipped already and neither Young or Coleman should be starting every week. Patterson has simply not progressed in his time here and Dyche clearly does not like what he brings.

I'd say we have the weakest collection of full backs in the league and their deficiencies are hurting us most weeks.

Lots of good options from Robert with Locko and Sildillia being my favourite, though finding someone who can ably play both sides might be helpful when building slowly. My summer list had Kadioglu who can play both sides but proved too expensive and went to Brighton. Sabbe at Brugge is a young Belgian who can play either side and has good potential though maybe not ready to come in and start.

You can have all the money in the world but without a plan, you’re simply going to create a lot of pain and lose a loads of fucking money.

And to be honest, it might end up being for the best if we get someone like Sildillia or Rensch etc. Generally better to get someone on the up, than on the down. It's also fair to say that Wan-Bissaka got found out at Man Utd and is below the standard of the rich 8 clubs.

Obviously no idea whether we actually will spend any money in January but it's nice to at least have some optimism back after 3 very lean years.

Our finances are the bare minimum in the whole Premier League. They are all spent on players that have to be in the first team straight away, there's none left for development players.

Hopefully the takeover and new stadium will give us a shift in not only finances, but thinking. I'm a fan of Thelwell, he is not doing his job at the moment the way he'd like, he's fighting fires, filling voids, selling to buy, and balancing the books.

With a bit more freedom and an ability to think longer term, I'm excited to see what Kev could produce.

On another note, does anyone know what Jonjoe Kenny is doing these days? Has Tom Davies finished with football?

Tom Davies only made 2 starts with Sheffield Utd last season, and 7 runs off the bench. Seems he had a lot of injury problems, which may have continued into this season – he hasn't played a single game so far, but appears to still be on their books.

This is from last week:

Tom Davies opens up on Sheffield United injury struggles ahead of crunch "pre-season" in exciting fitness bid

I would put all our effort and funds into finding a top class goalscorer.

I wonder if we also couldn’t do a cheeky deal for Richy.

Robinson and Iwobi at Fulham along with Digne at Villa who now have Barkley (after a good spell at Forest) and arguably Onana.

The fullback situation could be better at Everton but injuries to Mykolenko, Patterson and Coleman have not helped and Young has proved to be a liability despite a decent game against the Barcodes.

Our main problem is getting hold of midfield where we always seem to be second best and up front where DCL has limitations these days after a good spell a few seasons back before getting injured.

Having said that Beto is not rated much by Dyche and the others don't seem to contribute much in the way of support for DCL although Ndiaye has shown up well in some games.

I am not sure we will see much improvement with the current squad until all are available when we can judge things better maybe.

I missed this news a couple of weeks ago but Andre Gomes joined Lille on a free. In his last game he was subbed off at halftime.

Godfrey has played exactly 22 minutes for Atalanta. Zero in the last six games.

Dobbin was loaned by Villa to West Brom in the Championship, where he's a late-game sub every week. He's made 8 appearances but for only 87 minutes total. No goals or assists.

Since the glorious day we sold Holgate to West Brom, he hasn't budged off the bench. Seven games, zero minutes.

Harry Tyrer's loan to Blackpool seems to be going great. He's started their last six games, with four wins and a draw. One clean sheet.

Billy Crellin just won the starting job October 1 at Accrington Stanley. Two games, a win and a loss.

Any others you want me to check on?

Richarlison on loan maybe realistic but I think we've used up all our loan spots. The focus will be on getting Broja fit and playing probably.

It'd cost £40M plus to re-sign Richarlison and I can't see us spending that on one player for a couple of years, yet.

In a heartbeat: I'd even drive him (mind I used to be a paramedic 😁)

Transfermkt value him at around £35M – which will probably fall further by the end of the season. Usually I'm not fan of re-signing former players – but I'd make an exception for Richie.

He's not been fully fit for 12 months or more and going back rarely works, a try-before-you-buy would've been nice though.

Different position but I really like the look of Tom Fellows. I feel he would be an upgrade on Jack Harrison in the long run especially. What are your thoughts on him as a player?