Everton fans have seen some good, bad and ugly debuts in their time at Goodison Park – but one player managed to somehow do both in the space of a few weeks.
Everton have been treated to some electric Goodison Park debuts in recent times. Romelu Lukaku is one that sticks out for his brace against Newcastle United over a decade ago, whilst Manchester City loanee Jo also bagged twice, before his loan spell was cut short by David Moyes.
Jack Grealish, to an extent, set the tone for the Hill Dickinson Stadium with two assists against Brighton in the stadium’s first competitive fixture. Equally, there have been some horror shows. Glenn Keeley was sent off against Liverpool at Goodison Park in 1982, in his only appearance for the club.
But Mohamed Besic, who made his Everton debut 11 years ago, divided a fan base with two opposite incidents in the space of a few weeks upon his Merseyside move.
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Muhamed Besic puzzled Everton fans via two contrasting incidents in his first two appearances
Everton fans were excited to see Muhamed Besic in action upon his move from Hungarian side Ferencvaros in July 2014.
Gareth Barry had been signed just weeks prior thanks to a solid loan spell, but Besic was next through the door – and as a relative unknown, anticipation was rife for his unofficial debut against Porto at Goodison Park.
With one of his first touches of the game, the Berlin-born star did a Cruyff turn before taking three Porto players out of the game, with a switch out wide. Fans were blown away in seconds, and Besic had the confidence to take that into his first official start.
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However, in a comical turn of events, Besic was introduced against Chelsea in the third Premier League game of the season, with the Toffees 5-3 down in a wild game of football.
With his first touch, he backheeled the ball straight to John Obi Mikel, who set Diego Costa up for a sixth goal in a nine-goal bonanza – much to the disapproval of the Goodison Park faithful.
From the joys of a superb debut just three weeks prior, fans couldn’t quite get their head around Besic and that largely stuck with him through his stint on Merseyside.
Muhamed Besic failed to make his stamp on Everton’s first-team
Besic joined Everton in 2014, and he looked to be an up and coming player at Goodison Park under Roberto Martinez, who had taken the club into Champions League contention.
The Bosnian was finally awarded his first start in the Premier League in the sixth game of the 2014-15 campaign, drawing 1-1 at local rivals Liverpool.
And, from November onwards, he was a regular fixture in a side that lost six games in 14 when he played, winning just three of those.
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The Bosnian struggled to get into the Everton team from there, barely making appearances towards the end of the campaign.
12 appearances the season after, followed by a brutal cruciate ligament injury, meant Besic only made two more appearances for Everton before an eventual departure in 2021.
He’ll always be remembered as a hard-working, aggressive competitor in the middle of the park, but the moment that will stick out is the careless backheel against Chelsea.