Everton have not won a Premier League game in August since 2021 - David Moyes will be desperate to get off to a good start at the Hill Dickinson Stadium
LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND - AUGUST 17: Idrissa Gueye of Everton looks dejected during the Premier League match between Everton FC and Brighton & Hove Albion FC at Goodison Park on August 17, 2024 in Liverpool, England. (Photo by Chris Brunskill/Fantasista/Getty Images)
Everton players look dejected after their 3-0 home loss to Brighton & Hove Albion on the opening weekend of last season
(Image: Chris Brunskill/Fantasista/Getty Images)
We need to get off to a good start. A mantra for supporters of every club in every league in every conceivable situation.
Whether you're going for the Premier League title or trying to stay afloat in the Football League, a good start helps. As you stand on the brink of any season, it always feels vital.
For Everton? This year it feels even more significant. The urgency is elevated.
As of yet, it's not quite clear what the ambitions are for David Moyes and his squad. Yes, the team avoided relegation at a canter last term after the Scot's reappointment. Those concerns, it is hoped, are not expected to be on the agenda in 2025-26.
Beyond that, who knows? With a squad in transition and numerous new players to be added, it's not quite clear where Everton will stack up in the Premier League food chain.
But there is a new home to get to grips with. And the Hill Dickson Stadium will feel a cosier a lot quicker if the Blues can hit the ground running down on the waterfront. Brighton & Hove Albion on August 24 will be their first opportunity to do so in a competitive game.
Starting a season well has not been straightforward for recent Everton teams, though. Indeed, the visit of Brighton last season to Goodison Park on the first day of the campaign summed up their August plights - losing 3-0 in a ramshackle display.
That defeat started a run of four losses to start the season, including surrendering two-goal leads in consecutive games to lose 3-2.
Under Sean Dyche, the Blues were remarkably sluggish out of the traps. The former boss took charge of six games in August in the Premier League and lost them all.
Of course, he had off-field factors to contend with at Everton. But overall as a manager, Dyche has only won 12 per cent of his Premier League matches in the month, which is the second-lowest of any coach to take charge of 10 games in the competition.
Dyche would famously put his squad through some hellacious physical work during pre-season and potentially that would dull sharpness in the early weeks, albeit cultivate a strong fitness base for later in the year.
"It's horrible," said Everton and former Burnley winger Dwight McNeil of Dyche's infamous Gaffer's Day sessions. "Two hours of just running, mentally tough. If someone doesn't touch the line they add time on. I think I've done too many of them now."
Thankfully for McNeil, those days appear to be behind him. Not that Moyes will give the players an easy ride of course, but there is perhaps a better balance to strike.
And this is a problem that could be traced back to before Dyche's appointment. In the 2022-23 season, Everton played five games in August and were still unable to get a win, with Frank Lampard steering his side to two defeats and three draws.
In fact, Everton's last win in August actually came under Rafael Benitez. The opposition? Brighton again, curiously.
This year the Blues will hope a tweak in training and a more balanced schedule can yield better results.
Everton have a lot of work to do in the transfer market in terms of incomings, but they have retained the core of the squad that performed well in the second half of last season. With Jarrad Branthwaite and Idrissa Gueye signing new contracts, any big departures now look unlikely.
The pre-season in itself looks better suited to a sharper start, too. The Blues will be playing three Premier League teams and a Roma side who were the best outfit in Serie A in the second half of last season. It is a significant upgrade compared to recent summers.
Moyes' Everton sides in his first spell were typically slow starters before finding their form later in the season.
But this year it feels like the training needs to be geared more towards those early months. If the Blues' season is an 800m race, the tactic should be to get out quickly on the first lap and cling on for dear life during the second.
We need to get off to a good start after all. This time, we really do.