Moyes Addresses Oldest Weakness as Everton Secure Comeback Win

Everton 2 - 1 Crystal Palace

I think it’s fair to say at this point that Everton can claim the accolade of being Crystal Palace’s bogey team. Aside from two consecutive defeats in quick succession under Rafa Benitez and Frank Lampard a few years back, Everton’s record is unblemished against Crystal Palace since 2014.

In that time, we have secured victory in just about every fashion you could imagine, including 3-0 demolitions and the infamous late winning Dominic Calvert-Lewin header to secure Premier League safety, having been 2-0 down at half-time.

Sunday afternoon’s win at the Hill Dickinson Stadium meant we continued this record in our new surroundings, in typical fashion for this fixture. As fortunate as it may have been, Jack Grealish’s first goal in Everton blue in the 93rd minute topped off a deserved comeback catalysed by some shrewd substitutions at half-time.

Palace probably should’ve been out of sight before Everton clawed their way back into contention, the first half from David Moyes’s men arguably being the worst 45 minutes of the season so far. New signings Tyler Dibling and Thierno Barry failed to assert their influence on the game at all, somewhat concerning given they cost a combined £75M.

However, Evertonians can expect performances like this to be the norm as the new signings acclimatise to the team, the Premier League, and their new careers. It’s easy to forget they’re only 19 and 22 respectively, with both having meteoric rises in professional football.

It wasn’t all smooth sailing for the more established members of the team, either. The full-back area once again proved a problem for the Blues, with Jake O’Brien once again failing to offer enough composure offensively. However, the Irishman looked assured once forced to switch to centre-back following the injury to Michael Keane.

Vitalii Mykolenko kept his place on the left side, but I think serious questions need to be asked about Adam Aznou if he isn’t yet deemed ready to be given his baptism in the first team given the Ukrainian’s recent performances.

The 26-year-old was constantly hesitant whether defending or attacking, as if he needed to give himself a few seconds to make any decision at all. He did play the through-ball that led to Everton’s penalty, but the result flattered the left-back who appeared to misplace the pass to Beto.

The determination and intelligence of Tim Iroegbunam forced the error and perhaps slightly recovered the report card for Mykolenko, who had endured another mediocre afternoon. That said, there’s a fair chance he may not be fully fit yet, in which case, questions should be asked of Moyes for playing his men through injury unnecessarily.

James Garner shifting to right-back actually gave the team some much-needed dynamism down that side and instantly balanced the team out. But a big reason why the transition was so seamless was the performance of Tim Iroegbunam.

The 22-year-old has had his critics since his arrival on Merseyside but has shown ability and potential in moments – his second-half against Palace was certainly one of the highlights.

An intelligent run off the ball drew the foul from Maxence Lacroix for the penalty, converted by Iliman Ndiaye to draw Everton level. He also looked more assured in possession and made better decisions than he has done in other appearances this season.

Although registering neither an assist nor a goal, I would say that Charly Alcaraz was actually the key substitution who shifted the momentum most noticeably in Everton’s favour. His introduction immediately increased the tempo and purpose that the Blues played with, which allowed the quality to start shining through.

He set out to eliminate the lack of movement in the attacking areas, the barrier which prevented Everton from creating anything of note in the first half, and managed to drag his teammates along with him. Individual moments of quality, like a dribble past several Palace players early in the second half, gave the crowd something to cheer about, while other moments of ambition frustrated on occasion.

But the Argentinian’s effort and grit cannot be faulted and a case could be made to suggest he deserves a chance in the starting 11.

David Moyes has quite a big selection headache across the field at the moment. Let’s start with the bad – it feels like there aren’t many positions on the pitch where someone has stamped their authority on it, and arguments could be made to suggest that many options have fared better from the bench.

It is understandable that Moyes may get the starting 11 wrong given that so many players have impressed in a brief cameo, then floundered the next game when they’re given the chance to start.

However, one thing that can’t be excused and something that Moyes has been overwhelmingly guilty of is failing to lean on substitutions. The West Ham game last Monday should’ve been a victory even after the visitors drew level, if some more timely changes had been made to get the right players on the pitch at the right time.

The Scot clearly learned from his mistakes against Palace, hooking Dibling and Barry at half-time, which transformed Everton’s attacking play. He must continue to do so when his starting lineup fail to meet expectations and, crucially, he cannot wait too long to do so.

Impacts rarely happen in the first few minutes of a cameo as a player gets used to the flow of the game. Players really need to be given more opportunity to influence the game than a brief run-out at the eleventh hour, either defending leads late on, or pushing for a goal at the other end.

Despite a fantastic victory for the Toffees, Moyes and the players have a lot to learn from what went wrong and where the improvements were found. What was once Moyes’s main weakness proved to be his saviour this time around and is as good evidence as any that the veteran manager still has areas where he can better set up the club for success. 

Follow @matthew_parry1

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