Blues weaknesses exploited as Hammers deny them a win

The grass is too green?
The lights are too bright?
The advertising boards have Archibald Leich drawings on them?

The Live Forum is now open for business!!!

ps: We've had some complaints about persistent negativity on the Live Forum, so please only post positive, encouraging and uplifting messages that will inspire our fantastic players to achieve another historic victory at the Hill Dickinson Stadium. Thank Yew!!

I presume Barry will have played with Magassa. Hopefully it will be our player who shows the best form tonight if he gets decent time on the pitch.

Three points would be a huge boost for us, keeping us firmly in the top half of the table and sweeping away the negativity that has bloomed with the last two games.

West Ham have been really poor so far but we all know there are no easy games in the Prem these days, and their players could get a real jolt from their managerial change.

Collected an ‘out of the blue' eBay purchase earlier today. A framed picture of Ray Wilson and Roger Hunt jointly parading the World Cup around Goodison Park, autographed by Ray, purchased from a charity shop auction. Not a player I ever saw play but certainly a reputable one of our greats and I was keen to secure this piece of memorabilia and ensure it was cared for.

Not decided on a permanent spot yet, so for tonight anywhere with a ‘view' of the game will do, hoping for a talismanic influence on the current players.

Performance and points necessary tonight. Come on, you burgeoning Blues!

By no means can the Everton of the last few years just expect to roll over this team. We need to hope for the best, but be realistic about the challenge.

He has a very mixed record. A few away wins at Goodison and some bad home losses in East London.

Brilliant on the road? Or dour and negative at home? What will the Moyesiah serve up tonight.

They were followed by Labby and Ron Yeats carrying the FA Cup and League trophy. Those were the days.

It's a force of nature! 😆

This is where we're missing an overlapping full-back.

I think Gerry Byrne and Ian Callaghan were included in some of the photos taken that day as they were part of the 1966 World Cup squad.

Great Header by Keane.

I'm actually quite relieved now it's half-time but it might just be because the mostly very pedestrian football has sucked the life out of me.

Let's hope the second half is a little bit more exciting, enjoyable even.

O'Brien my god!

New players... still the same old lack of goals, lack of end product, and a defence that went all Keystone Cops.

The early-season positivity is now ebbing away on a game-by-game basis.

Some will say we are still unbeaten at the new stadium but, let's be honest here, that's ending on Sunday the way we are playing and Palace are bang on it.

Then another international break before a trip to Man City awaits.

Looking like a classic Everton winter of discontent.

A little concerning how little chances we are creating, lots of huff and puff with very little end product.

He's clueless and negative.

He was not prolific, don't get me wrong, but we haven't got any kind of central midfielders now that look like cropping up in the box with tap ins etc etc.

We've got Grealish who I wish would start shooting more, he's slowing everything down too much right now.

Ndiaye too often blows hot and cold, and I love the guy but tonight he was cold all night.

Tarkowski and O'Brien were massive weak links in that defence, I think there needs to be a discussion soon on this playing central defenders at full-back and also maybe when Branthwaite comes back do we look at as replacement for Tarkowski temporarily.

Shit night, weak performance, we threw the Wolves game for a lethargic shit show.

I don't like picking on players but Beto isn't mobile enough and can't control his legs. His unpredictability has become predictably disappointing.

We play some nice stuff but it's about creating chances and goals and we don't threaten enough. Not sure if it is the cameras but it sounded quiet tonight. The nerves seemed to spread to our back 4 the longer it went on.

Grealish and Dewsbury-Hall are great but they need to shoot more often. Ndiaye was poor tonight making bad choices and holding onto it too long. Thought Dibling did well when he came on.

Same worries for me. Gueye takes risks. O'Brien isn't a full-back but does his best. Tarkowski is making mistakes and rash decisions. The biggest problem is up front. Both strikers aren't offering enough.

O'Brien isn't a right-back, not mobile enough. Feel sorry for him.

Beto... Jesus wept, but he is our best forward. How sad.

The two biggest issues of the past 3 years still not resolved, and again it costs us.

How long is he going to insist on trying this? We cannot play this system with one of those guys up top. It's effectively playing with 10 men.

He needs to put Ndiaye up top and then put two forwards around him.

Why does he insist on making so few substitutions also? There are players on the bench who offer different ways of playing. Not saying they're better, but fresh legs and different options should always be considered and used.

They targeted their left-hand side against O'Brien and Moyes did nothing to address it.

Our strikers are so poor, no physical presence. Calvert-Lewin was better than both of them put together.

Grealish also needs to vary his play a bit more. Starting to become a bit of a one-trick pony although he still is probably our most dangerous player up front.

And why doesn't Grealish ever shoot? Most talented player on the pitch, but never has a go.

As for our strikers, it's hard to judge which is shittest. I know they get few clear chances, but their all-around games just don't seem Premier League quality.

West Ham though looked to have the faster direct attack and it paid off in the second half. Moyes just wanted out with a draw to save his bacon. Could not sub to change the game, since the training ground performance against Wolves would have Moyes lynched.

Moyes's strategy for the two previous matches painted him into a corner in this game and it is going to be difficult to get out of it in the next run of fixtures. Everton were allowed to play first half and then stopped in the second half.

Substitute? No, it's not late enough yet... and anyway Barry always comes on first. I don't think he has an inventive bone in his body.

Something has got to change up front. Get someone out of the Under-21s if necessary. Just try something different!!

I never thought I'd admit so but you are right, as limited as Calvert-Lewin is, he's better than those two drunken giraffes we've now got.

I can't remember a worse time for Everton strikers than this last few years.

There's always been a decent crop over the years if not amazing we've had some that knew where the net was at least or could hold the ball up, even when Moyes first arrived we had Kev Campbell, Radzinski, Rooney etc etc.

But this? This is absolutely dross, let's have it right.

Poor Plan A, no Plan B.

West Ham will see it as 2 points dropped. Moyes will see it as a well fought-for hard-earned point.

I think Barry is (moderately) better than Beto at the little stuff (linking up play and whatnot), but has he taken an actual shot all season?

Will be interesting to see what happens when Branthwaite returns. Dropping Keane on current form would be harsh, though to be fair Branthwaite's mere presence seems to level Tarkowski up significantly.

We were lucky to get a point tonight. Once we scored, we started to plod along. No killer instinct at all.

Nice stadium though.

And he is only about to be 23.

New stadium. Same old crap.

Everton: you're an embarrassment, your football is atrocious, you shame the supporters who deserve a lot more than the shite you regularly dish up.

Again though, if you did sack him, whatever poor cunt inherited this lack of firepower, we'd still be stuck in the same boat.

Summer just gone was a massive missed opportunity for me, we failed to rectify so many problematic areas that have been so for a number of years.

West Ham will see it that way. That is the way I saw it. Even in that first half, a better final pass would have had them through.

Actually, I thought our forwards did not get passes to run on to. No movement in the attack. All very predictable.

Moyes with his pissing about has left the squad with no depth and no options.

I thought we scored out of the blue tonight, and on the way the game went, we definitely did not deserve more than a point. That good old new manager bounce.

Beto was pretty awful, but what can you do. We had a certain amount of money, people wanted investment in youth, so we wait.

We need a striker and right-back in January. O'Brien has been found out playing out of position, and we're seeing nothing from Beto and Baby Beto. Barry has his fans on ToffeeWeb, but I'm not one of them. We need to bring in a striker with a different profile. Francesco Dju is a realistic signing in the next window.

I'll try and look on the bright side and say we'd have lost that under Dyche which I believe would have happened, but that doesn't make it feel like the result is anything other than 2 points lost.

I think we have all got caught up with going in a new direction with the stadium and having some new players, but I think some of us, more than others, were getting a bit carried away with their expectations... That's why I think calls by some for Moyes to be sacked when we're sitting 9th are ridiculous.

We were poor tonight, and lucky to escape with a point.

It all combines to make us relatively easy to defend against.

Not hugely surprising because you could see these structural problems hindering us from the moment the summer window closed.

Maybe those calling for Ndiaye, Grealish and Dibling as a front three are onto something but it all still lacks pace, players running in behind and width from overlapping full-backs.

Whatever the manager does we're likely to be too slow, too deep (until Branthwaite returns) and too narrow.

But Moyes has frustrated us all plenty of times before eking out a decent-ish season. Hopefully we remain on track.

Well done, Moyes.

Piggybacking on your comments on the full backs, I'd say offensively we carry three passengers in every game: the fullbacks and the striker. Which means everyone else has to be flawless.

If one or two others aren't at the races, we are a six-man team. Realistically our other players aren't good enough to be perfect every week so we are hamstrung as we entirely lack players capable of playing in 3 key positions.

Moyes is still in love with WHU.

He caused us huge problems and O'Brien got no help on the right, Ndiaye very poor 2nd half.

So predictably pathetic.

Grealish needs to have a shot now and then, I'd like to see a little more of Dibling too.

If Gana has an off-day, so do Everton.

Especially come January when we will lose Ndiaye and also by some distance our most important midfield player in Idrissa Gueye. If you throw an injury to Grealish into that mix in January then any hopes we have of scoring a goal are extinct. Add to this we have no striker or right-back.

You'd like to think that right now they are undertaking a tireless amount of work to ensure that as soon as that January transfer window opens that we have some players coming in.

I just hope our people are already looking at that January window because we are looking at getting 4 in, that's no exaggerating the situation either.

Keane MotM -- and it wasn't close.

Let's hope Branthwaite doesn't end up more often in the treatment room with Röhl. No wonder Moyes wanted out of the Carabao Cup.

Things could get ugly as the season progresses.

Barry needs a run as he can't be any worse. Grealish is quality but slows the play down too much. Run at the full back!

We just stopped as soon as they scored. Ndiaye was knackered after 70 minutes, why wait until the 80th minute to sub him off?

O'Brien had a bad one tonight also and was shown up for the centre-back he is playing out of position. Keane did well again though. It would be harsh to drop him when Braithwaite eventually returns.

Maybe tonight change it to a 4-4-2 in the last 15 minutes with Barry and Grealish up top? But once again we shit the bed and nearly threw it away. Doesn't get any easier than West Ham at home with a new manager, but we blew it.

Very disappointed at lack of subs when we were slightly on top of the game; no, left to last minute again. I have been reserving judgement on Barry but it looks like he is another Beto with attitude.

We have some tough games coming up so 3 points tonight would have strengthened not only our table position, but confidence too. Poor Dibling, expected to change the game with minutes and seconds left on the clock!

Yes, our two forwards are shite but for fucks sake Moyesie, mix things up a little. Try and outfox the opposition once in a while.

He’s so fucking predictable with his game plan. It’s maddening.

I think it was very close, his very good goal would earn him the award between him and Garner who was outstanding for me and my MotM.

Best to talk of the good points tonight because Everton overall were not much cop against a team who are near the bottom of the Premier League, like Wolves were in the last game.

Mykolenko is also shocking, he offers nothing going forward and it's a myth that he's a good defender. He isn't fast and is positionally useless.

Garner blotted his copybook by not making a tactical foul on Diouf on the halfway line as he broke upfield for their goal.

Disappointing result and fortunate to get a point in that second half.

Agree with you about Ndiaye, Mike, and like a lot of people inside the stadium tonight, feel that Moyes has got to start trying to be more creative with certain players.

Nobody really swapping sides or interchanging positions, so a rigid formation not being aided because our centre-forward couldn't get a hold of the ball.

I thought this held us back tonight, along with the lack of substitutions once we began to lose our grip on the game.

Strikers we have are not the answer. I don't know if the rumours flying around we tried to bring back Richarlison back were true but, if we didn't, we missed a trick.

Like Grealish, the incentive to play well for the club and be in the World Cup squad is huge.

Hope he proves me wrong, but I just don't see any promise whatsoever.

What a difference a win in the cup would have been with a full strength side.

l despise the miserable bastard, I just hope the yanks aren't as thick as Kenwright who happily put up with this shit for 11 years.

Utterly embarrassing of Evertonians to be singing Moyes's name after we scored tonight. What short memories after last Tuesday's abomination.

There were some good bits, but the bad bits were shocking. Beto is up there with Mick Ferguson, Niasse, Sandro and The Stracq.

Now teams have sussed out our Plan A is to get the ball to Grealish, I have no clue where our goals are coming from.

Whoever scouted Barry and sanctioned the purchase should be sacked.

They got paid to sing!

The only good news is Dewsbury-Hall won't play next game and this proud asshole will have to change formation... the
miserable twat.

If we'd have got a good striker, we wouldn't have been able to invest in the youth which will hopefully pay dividends in 18 months. People need to be patient.

Just not being in a relegation fight is progress. Let's leave the tilt at Champions League until next season.

Grealish and Ndiaye are both terrific players but both like to come inside. They both need a galloping fullback to overlap and give them options. Dibling looks to have great quality on the ball but he is in the same mould.

O'Brien has done well as a stop-gap, but we are starting to see his limitations. He had easily his worst game for the club tonight… but there is nobody else you could trust to replace him. Wouldn't it be nice if Patterson had developed into a Coleman replacement? Mykolenko has a bit more going forward without ever really threatening.

As for Beto and Barry, yes, they both lack quality, but I don't even know what the plan is for them. They don't drop in and help in the build up. They don't run the channels. We don't get crosses in for them. Either they are clueless or their role is not clear. Very concerning.

You have up to 5 and the modern game includes them in the tactics and a way to change 1 point to 3 etc. We barely use them and, when we do, it's last 10 mins.

Alcaraz has a goal in him and drives forward and he never looked like coming on. [I'm not including Barry or Beto in this comment.]

Most strikers pick up goals and confidence from tap-ins. We don't create these chances. Hardly ever does the ball get rolled across the goal for someone to run onto and tap in. Haaland would struggle in this set up.

We gambled this summer on overloading / duplicating the midfield positions when we're so short elsewhere. Not looking like it's working out.

We've wasted a fortune on two donkeys as well as wasting a squad place and salary on Coleman.

We do indeed have a surplus of talent in midfield, except Moyes won't use them when we need him too. Alcaraz can't get a look in and currently behind Tim who in my mind is a waste of space (bought as a replacement for Gana but not fit to lace his boots). Tyler Dibling cost a fortune and can't get a game, never mind the mystery magician Merlin Röhl when he is fit.

Tactics, or the lack of them, will be Moyes's downfall and, unless there is a massive improvement, I can't see him lasting beyond Christmas. This is not the same club he was at before.

He has to mix it up, both in team selection and during games. He has to search for a solution that buys him time and points.

I thought we looked lethargic and susceptible to giving away the ball in promising moves against a poor side. 1-nil up, their fans were chanting "Sack the board". We regressed into our shells when 3 points were there for the taking.

We scored with our only bit of quality all game. The stadium was quiet in large parts, but that was as much to do with the poor offering.

Our right side was exposed all game. They had pace and quality, and it was only a matter of time before Diouf and Summerville exposed it.

Ndiaye is a good player, but I thought it was one of his poorest games for us. Nothing really worked, he left O'Brien exposed most of the game and gave away the ball a lot. I said all summer, we needed a right winger for the here and now. Dibling might be brilliant for us, but it's hard to see him be that player now. He should've been on at 60 minutes though.

Why weren't the wingers switched?

Yet another goal given away at right-back channel. Keane did well to head away the danger, but Mykolenko vs Bowen, is always going to be Jarrod's day. Mykolenko always loses those battles.

Beto was dreadful. He can't hold up the ball and link the play, and the midfield seem incapable of playing a ball into a channel for him either. Not that he offered to run into those spaces. Beto vs Barry makes no difference.

The tactical approach needs to be more than just give Grealish the ball. We are becoming way too predictable.

Not too many options from the bench. Alcaraz will feel aggrieved he didn't get on, Dibling and Barry offered little. Not clear who McNeil would have come on for.

I am a Moyes supporter, and a big part of the 2 points dropped and the Wolves defeat is on him.

But no, I guess there are a multitude of Blues fans out there who will cheer if he gets injured again. It will cost us £60M to get a quality striker we need and that's not going to happen anytime soon.

Firstly, we didn't blow that game because of our shape. We were cruising in the game because of it. Don't forget the last time Man City won the title, they did so with 4 centre-backs... and Arsenal will most likely win it this season the same way.

Secondly, our strikers were poor but that is hardly a surprise and the manager has options with Ndiaye and Dibling both able to play there if he wishes. Don't forget, everyone was crying all summer that we had no right winger because neither Dyche nor Moyes would play the Senegalese there even though that's where he excels for his country.

Thirdly, talking about players who were here who didn't accept new contracts which were offered or new wages is pointless and just ranting for no reason.

Finally, excusing that result and second half performance with "We have bought youngsters and it is to be expected" is a total cop-out from posters who want to give the manager a free pass and never hold the manager to any standards or account.

We didn't lose that game because of O'Brien, who didn't have his best game. All second half, you could see it coming. Diouf and Summerville were combining while Ndiaye was offering nothing, especially defensively.

Why did Moyes not switch widemen as Jack is better defensively? Why did he not bring Dibling on for Beto and put Ndiaye up top?

You could see all second half that this was their only way back into the game and we just let the inevitable happen. We don't need to score a goal, we didn't need overlapping fullbacks, we just needed to stop their only threat and they would have looked as impotent as they did first half.

I read posters saying we would have lost that game if Dyche was in charge. I totally disagree. We most likely wouldn't have been in front had he been manager but there is no way he would have watched us get done 2 v 1 time and again on that side. You can hammer Dyche for a lot of things but defending with numbers ain't one of them.

Alcaraz isn't behind Iroegbunam.

He's behind Dewsbury-Hall, who is definitely not a waste of space.

Posters above have it about right on squad weakness, for me we need two wing backs and a striker first and foremost. Money has been badly spent on poor players that could have gone some way towards solving this.

But my first visit to the dock was special, we just need to build a team to befit our new home.

We were given so much possession and then what seemed the inevitable goal came and that was it. We hadn't done much in the first half but the second half was even worse. The passing was so slow, almost completely back or square, barely reaching its target with any pace, and movement almost nil as though they only had to wait for the final whistle.

And what did Moyes do about it? Absolutely nothing. No screaming or animation, at best twiddling his wrists round and round as though it meant something.

We seemed to have just the one idea, give it to Grealish and West Ham had him and Ndiaye well and truly wrapped up while Beto was just a waste of space, albeit Barry was no better.

Then the inevitable equalizer which still didn't cause any stirring among the ranks. To do any better, the effort and variety has to seriously step up a notch or three.

I could mention the poor and completely inconsistent refereeing but it is now almost a given and what the hell is VAR supposed to be about? Yellows given for trying to get the ball and not for deliberate and persistent fouls... and if Tarkowski's was a penalty the other week, then that ball certainly hit the defender's arm which was away from his side -- but hey, he didn't mean it... bollocks!

Well, if that is the only fault you could see in Garner's game, he didn't play too badly. I could have mentioned when Keane dillied, dallied and dithered with the ball and lost possession to give West Ham a good chance on the break in the last few minutes of the game — but I've included it to even things up.

Man City up soon and Grealish won't be playing — let's see how much we miss him.

They sat back, wanting to hit us on the break until we actually scored and then we reverted back to type by inviting pressure and sitting behind the ball.

Our right hand side took a beating from their left-back and left-mid. Ndiaye and O'Brien combined for their worst games for the club.

I think both of their full backs cost less than £20M and both would walk into our team.

Ndiaye looked knackered after an hour and should have been replaced. Dibling looked composed for the short time he was on the pitch.

Our lack of pace all over the pitch was exposed last night. We have known this for years and keep buying players who can't run.

We must have the weakest strikers in the league. There is just no goal threat at all. If we don't score goals, we will be lucky to finish mid-table. Both offer very little and that's being polite.

I understood why we got Beto, we didn't have a striker as Calvert-Lewin was injured and we didn't have money. We had known for 12 months Calvert-Lewin was leaving and the best we could do was Barry for £30M. Someone needs to be sacked for that alone.

Callum Wilson on the bench for West Ham, on a free transfer. Walker-Peters keeping Grealish quiet all night on a free transfer. Both walk into our team.

Garner and Keane had very good games. Maybe keeping Keane was our best bit of transfer business during the summer.

As for O'Brien being a centre-back. I don't think the lad is brave enough and, going on last night's performance, he was out jumped to most headers by a lot smaller men.

Overall, a draw was probably a fair result. Both keepers not overly worked. On last night's showing, is Grealish getting back into that England team over the likes of Bowen?

The answer is: "They are both utterly clueless!"

We have to step up the pace of the interplay up front. We're not blessed with much natural pace as such, but you can speed up the movement of the ball. In Dewsbury-Hall, Grealish and Ndiaye, we have three players who can interchange and play slick balls but, the Wolves league game apart, have rarely done so. Instead the play goes backwards and sideways allowing the opposition to get behind the ball. For all their ineffectiveness, Beto and Barry rarely get any service to run onto.

Grealish has to vary his play. Permanently stuck on the left, he is in danger of becoming a one-trick pony. Great at receiving the ball and drawing fouls, he has to go outside more and, when he does cut inside, shoot occasionally. He doesn't always have to look for the assist.

Ndiaye needs to learn when to lay the ball off. Sometimes his runs are amazing but often he runs across the box and takes on one too many players. Quite often his runs result in sudden loss of possession, with his team then out of shape and vulnerable to the counter-attack.

Gana just had an off day. I'll forgive him that. As did O'Brien, who, despite playing out of position, remains, in my opinion, the best option for right-back for the time being. He won't always come up against a winger like Summerville, who was exceptional last night.

Keane and Garner were the only players who played well last night.

Perhaps time to give Dibling some more time? I'd like to see a bit more of Alcaraz too.

There are people on here who keep going on about Calvert-Lewin as if he was a great striker for us -- he simply wasn't. He was offered a contract based on his performances and injury record... he wanted more money, and the club were right not to give it to him because he isn't worth it.

He ended up at Leeds, for fuck's sake, and according to their wage information, he is earning less than he was taking home with us, although he is getting a signing-on fee over the 3-year contract.

Despite what Calvert-Lewin said, there was no scramble to sign him based on the money he wanted. He sacked his agents; he left Everton for more money and, in the end, he probably didn't get what he wanted.

Leeds were the only club prepared to sign him and already their fans are seeing what Evertonians have watched for years - he will score a few goals but, just like his last outing, he will miss more than he should.

Calvert-Lewin could have been here if he wanted; I won't argue his all-around game is better than Beto's or Barry's but would he have made a difference last night? Would he fuck!

Give it a rest.

They've spent a lot of money buying the club and in the transfer window. They won't give Moyes too much time to turn it around. Moyes needs a Plan B very quickly. Or he might be getting his P45.

I think, as the weeks go by, Tarkowski, who was never quick, gets slower and slower, and last night he had the chance to stop the cross going into Bowen but didn't. This isn't helped by him playing next to O'Brien who again isn't blessed with pace.

I thought Keane was our best player, getting his head defensively on most crosses as well as making quite a few blocks. His header for our goal was a lesson to Beto on how to head a ball. Certainly over the years, Keane has proved a goal threat much more than Tarkowski or Branthwaite.

I thought Ndiaye had his poorest game for quite a while and, while Grealish has made a huge difference to this team, I just wish he would shoot a lot more. I think, seeing his assist for our goal against Brighton, most teams now know Grealish likes to get down to the goal line and put in a cross, so most teams are making sure they have a couple of defenders at the near post to stop those crosses.

So, if Grealish isn't going to shoot, his only option is to roll the ball back to the edge of the box and hope someone can hit the target from there.

But to finish on a positive, I thought Dibling gave us flashes of what he used to produce at Southampton.

Disappointing result. For me we still haven't addressed the chronic lack of pace in the side. There is no outlet. When we get into the final third, there are no runners or players looking for pockets of space to run into.

We seemed to slow the game down so much, as if we were a couple of goals up. The extra one or two touches before delivering the ball into the box. Our general build-up play was cumbersome.

Barry and Beto? Where are the goals coming from??? Neither got into good positions. Neither are running into channels, and all our play inevitably seems to come down the left and through Grealish.

Ndiaye had a poor game, probably should have been subbed much earlier. I'm baffled why Alcaraz is not being given game time. He's the one player who can run forward with the ball. He should have perhaps been brought on to replace Dewsbury-Hall.

On to Palace. This will be a much tougher test than tonight, I fear from their wide areas in Sarr and Pino. Moyes is going to have to work on different formations and use the squad to get results until January but we most certainly lack pace in this side.

That referee was atrocious; the number of decisions he got wrong was mind-boggling.

"He's behind Dewsbury-Hall who is definitely not a waste of space."

He may not be a waste of space, Mike, but I'm starting to think he is a waste of a signing.

If you are playing as a Number 10, you need to have goals and assists -- as Mr Keane would say, "it's your job".

Dewsbury Hall was excellent against Brighton and Wolves, which were followed by 3 stinkers. Last night, his performance was better but, once again, he was pretty toothless at the business end.

Last season, McNeil had 4 goals and numerous assists at this stage, while so far in his Everton career, Alcaraz has 3 goals and 3 assists despite only playing effectively 11 full games and often being shoehorned into an unnatural wide position. When he plays centrally, he is much more potent.

Dewsbury-Hall describes himself as a box-to-box player. He effectively wants to play as a Number 8 in a 3-man midfield. He isn't good enough defensively to play as a midfielder and I worry that he isn't potent enough to be effective as a Number 10 when we have about five other players in the squad who want to play there and who could arguably offer more of a goal threat.

It will be interesting against Palace to see what Moyes will do. Like for like with either Dibling, Alcaraz or McNeil? Or does he rejig: play Jack there and get Ndiaye left?

He needs to be deeper, playing box-to-box with Ndiaye or Grealish in the Number 10 position.

If you drop Gana, and push Dewsbury-Hall back, putting Alcaraz or Dibling into one of slots, you'll look better going forward... but wide open on the counter.

Garner could play right-back, but I think he's our best player in centre midfield at the moment.

Bottom line is Beto, Barry, Ndiaye, Grealish and Dewsbury-Hall need to do more.

People are now writing off both Alkaraz and McNeil, which might be fair enough on the basis that neither of them can get anywhere near the team, but these two are both players who have got a goal in them, and are definitely both good enough to contribute towards the team if the manager was prepared to use them.

They were both apparently shite at Wolves, but with seven changes, and only one in the defence, then did anyone really expect any fluidity?

We have good players, we've been crying out for years for players with flair and ability. We get them, then employ a manager who either refuses to use them or doesn't know how to use them.

I've said it before... every team Moyes has managed has gotten rid of him for his style of play, except when he was protected by his mate here. He's a safety-first boring, frustrating and negative manager.

Sunday will be difficult, neither of our centre-forwards have contributed, so it has to be a change of tactics with Ndiaye as a false 9 and Dibling on the wing.

Also, it's taking us an age to get home (Wirral by car); the early season games were okay but, for the last two games, it has been a bore. Firstly getting out of the stadium is not quick, and then the walk along the Dock Road to the car park is slow, and finally the traffic doesn't move. Any tips?

Patterson is shite is what I keep reading... but has Patterson ever had the opportunity to play more of an attacking game?

O'Brien has done okay playing out of position but how much longer can it go on, especially as he gives us very little going forward?

Ndiaye worked hard at times but, the longer the game went on, the more he seemed to go into his shell and my view is that might have been because he's more suited to the left. Although, with the personnel that we currently have on the pitch, everything seems to be getting played left.

Dibling came on and did okay but I counted at least twice where he could and should have been given the ball to feet;
it seems like you have got to be on the other side if you want this to happen. This was one of my observations from watching last night's game plus the second half against Villa.

Dewsbury-Hall was doing okay and once again he seemed to be playing like an old-fashioned inside left. With 20 minutes to go and Grealish constantly drawing two or three players towards the ball, then playing that little flicked reverse pass like the one he set Garner up with towards the end would be tailor-made for a player who can shoot, like Dwight McNeil.

Top-level football is now a squad game -- or at least it fucking should be!!!

When Moyes came in, he enjoyed a bounce because we were slightly different from team Dyche, Beto had a purple patch, and O'Brien enjoyed some game time at last.

But where are we now, two useful additions in Grealishand Dewsbury-Hall, but we can't see what Röhl or Aznou bring yet.

Beto is not a Premier League striker; I can't appraise Barry yet.

We have lacked pace for ages, so slow in transition, limited vision and options on the park, not enough movement off the ball, we need players that want the ball and show for it.
We need more craft, width, speed, vision...

A striker, and full backs, oh boy, do we need fullbacks, give me younger faster guys that can run up and down all game.
I felt sorry for Jake last night, and Mykolenko didn't fair much better.

We are going to take a loss on a few players to rebuild this squad, and we have to bring in the right players; too many poor additions will not impress the owners or the fans.

A right back obviously, but I can't see a striker arriving in January. Maybe a bit of horse trading with Roma -- they've got a right-back to spare, haven't they?

He would have held the ball up, run the channels, and definitely won the aerial battles, everything that our two strikers didn't do.

I also believe he was asked to stay on a pay-per=play deal, the original contract taken off the table. I always believe, be careful what you wish for, definitely a mistake in letting him go, considering we spent £30M on a striker when all we had to pay Dom was wages.

He would certainly suit Moyes's games considering he was MotM in his 2nd game in charge,

Moyes has settled into the job now so we can expect more of the same. I rarely watch other teams play but, when I do, I remember what a great game football is. It's so easy to forget when watching us play.

Moyes will probably get us to mid-table but nothing more. With him in charge, we will be better than awful but we will still be mediocre.

Diouf, as an attacking left-back, had pace, passion and skill for West Ham last night and exposed our weaknesses. Our attacking play is so one-dimensional, just get it out to Grealish and hope for the best.

Also, while he's obviously a top player, why does he hardly ever actually take his man on in dangerous positions?

Our midfield is also powder puff light and was far too open last night, unusually for a Moyes team. The shape was all wrong. Much for Moyes to work on.

At times, he was pressing so far forward, nearly in their box, which left us exposed in the middle. Dewsbury-Hall was even behind him at times!

Last night, every time Grealish received the ball, there was 2 or 3 defenders around him and the same around our striker. We have to transit much faster than we are currently managing to let our wide players a start on the defenders.

Next problem is Barry and Beto. Neither of them look like they could score a goal if their lives depended on it. If they can't score individually I'd be tempted to play them both at the same time. At least then they would give the oppositions' centre-backs something to do.

Maybe go to a 4-4-2 or 4-4-1-1. Put Garner at right-back until we acquire a proper one and move Dewsbury-Hall into the centre midfield next to Gueye. As it is, we are simply not going to score enough goals to get us anywhere beyond mid-table at best.

Either Ndiaye needs to keep the width more often or we need to get the right-back further up the pitch. Dibling being left-footed will also tend to drift inside and require a right-back who can offer an overlap or at least the threat of it

Grealish is the same, he rarely beats his man outright, he slows the play for an overlapping left-back to be slipped in or to distract the defender so he can get the yard or 2 of space he wants to pick another pass.

Mykolenko at least looked to be attempting to be get higher up the pitch but it isn't his strength; however, he is the least of our issues right now. Dewsbury-Hall seems to prefer the inside-left area and provides some overload out there.

This tendency limits how often Ndiaye sees the ball and also if it's in areas and with options to make an impact. He has very little support out there, no right-back offering runs or decoys.

The Number 10 prefers the opposite side; when he receives it on the right, and being left-footed, he prefers to go inside or backwards, rather than work the ball forwards in sync with Ndiaye.

Add in the fact that the striker can't be played off for one-twos or relied upon to make runs and pull defenders all over the place to make space for him, it's a case of dribbling past 2 or 3 players every time he gets it.

Even playing it backwards to O'Brien will never result in a whipped cross and rarely receiving it back in a better position, if at all.

I have massive concerns about our scouting and recruitment team, knowing Calvert-Lewin was leaving and how limited Beto is, that they then recommended Barry for £30M.

Another I am struggling with is the use of Alcaraz. We sign Alcaraz as the lad looks like a natural attacking centre-midfielder. We then sign Dewsbury-Hall and freeze out Alcaraz. Makes no sense.

We lack goals; play lads who want to score. Wilson was on the bench for West Ham last night. Free transfer and is better than what we have.

The Wolves lad who scored the 2nd last week was top scorer in Belgium last season and cost £23M.

Without a goal threat, Moyes is signing his own P45.

No, I don't believe he would have made a difference -- bar what you have said.

How many years have we all watched him run the channels, hold the ball up, win a header, and then do fuck-all when it matters, nine times out of ten or more? He did it three times on Saturday!

Regards his contract, according to various reports, Everton had offered £80k per week plus performance-related bonus incentives based on his contributions and most likely factoring in his regular injury problems.

This offer was on the table for quite some time towards the end of last season; his people rejected the offer -- they wanted another £30k - 40k per week on top of the £100k he already was earning -- nothing less, end of story -- madness!

Moving into the new season, Everton decided to withdraw the new contract offer -- the right decision in my opinion. A week later, we learned Calvert-Lewin sacked his agents!

Calvert-Lewin decided to look after himself and run his contract down.

Yes, he can head a ball; yes, he can run the channels; yes, he can hold the ball up... but does he score the goals to justify the wage he wanted? No is the answer.

We were paying £90k per week for his now teammate Harrison who was fucking useless -- all this waste had to stop.

Personally, I believe Calvert-Lewin wanted to stay but was unrealistically greedy... so fuck him.

Why would Glasner or Iraola even touch Everton? They probably see the clubs they're currently at as better run than the car crash that is Everton.

The fact is -- and this might perturb Evertonians of a certain vintage -- we aren't a big club and haven't been for many many years; we are just an irrelevance -- just there to make the numbers up.

We don't do cup runs, we don't trouble the European places, we are there for the big teams to plunder points off.

I see on here people laughing at Spurs for pretending to be a massive club.

They've won a major European trophy, have repeatedly played in the Champions League, and even got to the final of that competition, something we can only dream of.

Going to be a long time before we ever get to them levels, and I won't be around to see it.

Everything you say is true, but we are a bigger club than Bournemouth and Palace.

You are right, it's going to be a hard slog ahead, the likes of these two managers could just make it more enjoyable for us!

But you're not young... let alone a player?

Yes, please:- Link

You're right in the respect that we are bigger than the two aforementioned clubs, but the truth is either of them two now are probably being considered by Man Utd's board to be their next manager.

I think the two of them are thinking they've got bigger fish to fry than us if they were to be linked with us.

We've got to get hold of someone who's going to take this club by the scruff of the neck and shake some life into it.

Unfortunately I honestly at this moment couldn't tell you who that is, but he's got to be out there, surely.

I mean, one of the biggest clubs in the world keep getting it wrong and they can't seem to attract the right gaffer, so what hope is there for us?

Both have been mentioned as possible next in line for Man Utd if they pull the plug on Amorim (which won't be before November apparently due to a clause in his contract) but only one can get it.

Moyes needs a result on Sunday, and it would just be like him and Everton to get one, but I for one won't be surprised if he doesn't.

Moyes needs to be braver with his team selection and try something new other than Beto or Barry -- it's not working. Sure, they might score... but most of the time -- say no more!

I also think the Grealish factor will begin to fade if he doesn't add more "unpredictability" to his game for us.