The Everton analysis after the Blues were beaten 4-1 by Newcastle United at Hill Dickinson Stadium
Nick Woltemade impressed in attack for Newcastle
Nick Woltemade impressed in attack for Newcastle(Image: Newcastle United via Getty Image)
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When it became clear that Dominic Calvert-Lewin’s time at Everton was coming to a close this summer, David Moyes had to search for a new centre-forward to take the club into Hill Dickinson Stadium.
It’s doubtful whether Blues history will judge Calvert-Lewin as kindly as tartan talisman Duncan Ferguson, whose winner in another famous 1-0 victory over Manchester United was this week picked by Duncan Ferguson as the game he’d most like to relive on the touchline, but the pair ended their time at Goodison Park with almost identical records.
Both played 273 games with Ferguson edging out Calvert-Lewin by 72 goals to 71 after netting with a penalty rebound in his final outing, and both delivered big headed goals in front of the Gwladys Street against Liverpool plus Man United twice a decade apart for the Scot and Crystal Palace for the Yorkshireman, but struggled with consistency and fitness. So, who could Moyes get to lead the line in a new era by the Mersey waterfront?
It’s understood that there were two up-and-coming options on the Glaswegian gaffer’s shopping list at the UEFA European Under-21 Championships. Thierno Barry, who they prised for Villarreal for £27million, a significant reduction on his £34.5million buyout clause, and Nick Woltemade, who remained beyond their reach.
The Frenchman gave up Champions League football to come to England but for the German, it was an incentive to move to the North East. Even then, his club record £65million transfer only came about after Newcastle United, the world’s richest football club on paper, had been forced to sell Alexander Isak to Liverpool for £125million and seen long-term target Hugo Etitike also go to Anfield for £69million.
Despite standing at 6ft 6in – the same height as Jake O’Brien – and an inch taller than Barry, appearances can be deceptive with Woltemade, who is no mere battering ram target man up front. Back in the Bundesliga he was dubbed ‘The two-metre Messi’ because of his skilful play, which was on show here with his delicate lob for the visitors’ third goal, while only one of his 17 strikes for Stuttgart last season were headers.
It’s unclear just how close Everton ever were to landing Woltemade, but they were linked with him as early as March. He still looks to be a level above the striker they did land as Barry’s travails continue.
There were bits and pieces of encouragement again here, and a cruel blow when what would have been a first goal in a royal blue jersey was ruled out for an accidental handball. However, while Moyes has landed many great bargain buys for Everton over the years, often in football as in life in general, you get what you pay for.
Pick that one out
Jordan Pickford has enjoyed his fair share of highlights against Newcastle United in recent times, but you’ve got to take the rough with the smooth. Always the pantomime villain in encounters against the Toon Army, the former Sunderland player showed he had come a long way from his 2019 St James’ Park nadir, conceding a penalty in a 3-2 comeback win for the hosts, with a masterful display at the same ground on the final day of last season.
Following on from his Anthony Gordon penalty save in the reverse fixture at Goodison Park, Pickford was at the top of his game as Everton secured a fifth away victory since Moyes’ return to ensure the surreal juxta positioning of jubilant Blues fans belting out his new terrace anthem at full-time while the Magpies celebrated Champions League qualification despite the defeat. This was not the 31-year-old’s finest hour against his old rivals though and while we can hope that the dinosaurs in the stands might now be extinct, the Travelling Toon Army made sure he knew about it.
Pickford will have felt his centre-backs should have done better with Malick Thiaw’s header just a minute in, the truth is that for a goalkeeper of his calibre, Lewis Miley’s second was soft in the extreme as he seemed to take his eye off the ball and just swat the shot to the turf and into the net rather than deal with it properly. Mistakes like that are now thankfully rare for this Everton stalwart, who rather than let the Geordie taunts get to him, should instead use them as an incentive to do better and return to his usual, stellar levels.
Repeat scoreline
From 99th minute Alex Iwobi winners, sendings off and protesters tying themselves to Goodison Park goal-posts – and that was just one game in 2022 – Everton v Newcastle United encounters have had their fair share of drama in recent years, but this was a repeat scoreline of a match that took place some two-and-a-half years ago. For many Blues, that was one of their lowest ebbs.
A raucous pre-match coach welcome and fireworks over the Grand Old Lady at kick-off, but still Sean Dyche’s side played like a damp sparkler that never lit up. The aforementioned Isak danced through the home defence at one point and the fear among loyal but long suffering Evertonians was that for all their passion, the team could not deliver on the pitch and a first relegation in 72 years was beckoning.
Despite posting what proved to be the lowest equivalent points total in their history, that potential catastrophe was avoided by a single Abdoulaye Doucoure goal on the final day of the season. Yes, Newcastle United have returned to Merseyside here and triumphed by the same scoreline, but everything else is different.
The Blues, with Moyes back at the helm, and now proudly playing in their magnificent new home by the waterfront that they fill every home game and matches St James’ Park for size, are now in a much stronger position, both on and off the field than they were on that chastening evening some 948 days earlier.
Progress this term was always going to have bumps in the road, and it’s galling when a third win in a row could have taken Everton fifth, but they’re still travelling in the right direction now, which until recently was not the case.