Everton FC correspondent Joe Thomas sifts through the rubble of the disaster against Newcastle United
David Moyes on the sideline during the Premier League match between Everton and Newcastle United. Photo by Ed Sykes/Sportsphoto/Allstar Via Getty Images
David Moyes on the sideline during the Premier League match between Everton and Newcastle United. Photo by Ed Sykes/Sportsphoto/Allstar Via Getty Images
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Everton’s lack of depth was exposed with ruthlessness by Newcastle United. The suspension of Idrissa Gueye weakened the Blues in an area where the Magpies are one of the strongest in the Premier League and the hosts were dominated in the middle as a result.
The limitations of Everton’s squad have been clear this season - but some of the cracks have been papered over through the versatility of the likes of James Garner and with the resurgence of Michael Keane.
The absence of Gueye was one setback too many and is an issue the Blues will have to deal with for two more matches as he sees out his three-game ban. Working through that is just one problem for David Moyes right now - here are some others that need addressing.
Tarkowski and Pickford’s troublesome dynamic
Jordan Pickford will take most of the heat for Lewis Miley’s goal, Newcastle’s second on the night and the one that killed the match for the visitors. The midfielder’s strike was hard but it was straight at the England number one, who could only parry it through his legs.
Pickford has been in fine form this season and was pivotal to the win at Manchester United days earlier, his late save from Joshua Zirkzee the best in another important performance.
But one concerning feature that returned to the fore after Miley’s goal was the problem he and James Tarkowski keep having when attempting to stop shots from the edge of the area.
The pair could be seen remonstrating with each other after the goal and the most likely topic of conversation is the centre back having disrupted his line of vision as he sought to block Miley’s effort.
This has been a recurring theme when Everton have conceded through open play this year, with Tarkowski’s tendency to drop deep and into the path of the ball hindering Pickford when he has tried to stop goals scored by Sunderland, Manchester City and now Newcastle.
It was also an issue in the penalty the Blues conceded in the opening game defeat at Leeds United, when the defender handled a goal-bound effort Pickford looked destined to save.
Quite how this is resolved is unclear - Tarkowski’s bravery is often a valuable asset. Whether he would be better attempting to close down the effort rather than block it is becoming a valid question, however.
Set-piece blueprint provided to upcoming opponents
Tarkowski’s positioning when Everton are defending from open play is one issue, how the team defend from set-pieces is becoming another.
Like against Tottenham Hotspur, when Micky van de Ven scored two headers from corner kicks to inflict the Blues' first home defeat on the Liverpool waterfront, Malick Thiaw twice rose highest to meet dangerous balls into the box.
Size is not necessarily the issue here - in Tarkowski, Keane, Jake O’Brien and a few other players, Everton have men who can attack the ball.
But their ability to clear the danger is coming into question, with the organisation at set pieces and Pickford’s approach to dealing with balls under his bar now issues that must be considered.
This is clearly a season in which a lot of attention is being paid to weaponising set pieces - the Blues have shown a frailty others will no doubt now look to exploit.
A re-think is unavoidable in central midfield
The loss of Gueye is not a short-term issue. While he could, in principle, make a return for the trip to Chelsea, in reality any reprieve will be temporary.
The centre midfielder is expected to be part of the Senegal squad that departs for the Africa Cup of Nations across Christmas and into the new year. His country are one of the favourites and a run to the final could see him miss up to seven games across the league and FA Cup.
Add that to the three he is currently suspended for and Everton are just one match into a potential run of 10 games without him.
Throw in Moyes’ revelation on Friday that summer signing Merlin Rohl is set to be absent until January following surgery on a hernia issue, and that teen starlet Harrison Armstrong cannot be recalled until the opening of the transfer window, and the Blues have a problem.
Garner has generally been impressive in the middle this season but he cannot do the job alone. Tim Iroegbunam has had good moments this campaign and Newcastle were well set up to make his exposure to more responsibility a tough one, but his performance raised clear concerns over his ability to plug a gap that will exist for a while.
Moyes, therefore, needs to be willing to consider another look at how he is lining up in the middle.
Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall has two goals in two and looked good in a central attacking role. He has historically played in a deeper position and dropping him back to help Garner makes a lot of sense.
Everton do not have to play with a number 10 and reverting to a midfield three could ease the pressure on Iroegbunam should he start or provide the potential for Carlos Alcaraz to join the fray.
Alcaraz sat deeper amid the central midfield problems the Blues had at the start of Moyes’ second reign and was excellent as he orchestrated the win at Crystal Palace from that position in February.
Maybe a midfield three of Alcaraz, Garner and Dewsbury-Hall might not be what Moyes wants, but it is hard to see many other options in a problem position Everton need to find a quick solution to.
Squad needs to step up as transfer policy set to be tested
Greater use of Alcaraz is just one area in a big month for Everton’s summer signings. The Blues had to adopt competing approaches in the summer rebuild, with attention required on improving the squad in the short-term while investing in players who could sustain that improvement in the long-term.
Given how exposed a handful of absences have left Everton, questions over some of the deals of the summer are starting to become valid.
Dewsbury-Hall and Jack Grealish look like good signings but, while Thierno Barry appears to be improving, the Blues' lack of a ruthlessness up top has cost them points this season.
Rohl’s injury issues have followed him from Germany, Alcaraz has been under-used and Adam Aznou and Tyler Dibling have received such little exposure it is becoming an issue.
Everton have little choice but to start raising expectations on several of those players over the coming weeks, particularly when Gueye is joined by Iliman Ndiaye at AFCON.
This will be a big six weeks for Everton’s summer transfer strategy and some of the new signings clearly need to step up - though they also need Moyes to be willing to give them the chance to make an impression.
Message need to be sent over discipline?
Finally, Everton did what they could to brush away the fallout from Gueye’s spat with Keane at Old Trafford but the situation it has left the squad in this week cannot be downplayed.
Moyes said on Friday that he was yet to decide whether Gueye would face internal disciplinary measures for his loss of control and the suggestion was that any sanction would be an informal one, for instance paying for a team meal.
Maybe the Blues boss should wait until the end of this week before deciding whether to act and, if so, how severe to make the punishment.
It will only be then that true scale of the damage caused by the red card will be possible to assess and the feeling as Everton were sliced apart by Newcastle was that the sending off looked worse and worse with every goal that went in.
The Blues cannot afford lapses of discipline like that and Moyes may need to make that clear.