Analysis from Chris Beesley after Everton's 3-0 Premier League victory over Nottingham Forest at Hill Dickinson Stadium on Saturday afternoon
Jack Grealish in action for Everton against Nottingham Forest
Jack Grealish in action for Everton against Nottingham Forest
View 2 Images
When David Moyes first returned to Everton in January, a couple of his wide options were loan pair Jack Harrison and Jesper Lindstrom, who combined for the grand total of one goal between them last season. The Blues boss has managed to raise levels this term by bringing in Jack Grealish, the first £100million English footballer, a move that prompted last season’s top scorer, Iliman Ndiaye, to switch wings, but between them they have become the team’s two dangermen who opponents are now targeting on a weekly basis.
That often means doubling up, or with Grealish in particular, a string of crude challenges to try and chop him down – here the first arrived in the first minute, prompting a refreshingly early booking from referee Chris Kavanagh rather than displaying undue leniency in the opening exchanges – but Everton showed they can still perform even when their twinkle-toed wide men aren’t firing on all cylinders. Ndiaye did, to his credit, emerge from this contest with an assist following what was an unselfish pass to provide Thierno Barry with his first goal for the club, but either side of that moment, this was the third quiet outing for him in a row.
On the other flank, Grealish used his trademark patience and intelligence to pick out James Garner for an inviting opportunity, but what was unusual for a stellar talent, who Moyes says likes to be very "correct" in his play, was the number of times he made the wrong decision. It’s refreshing, though, that such nit-picking can be done after such an emphatic victory, and coming just five days after the on-loan Manchester City ace’s match-winner at Bournemouth, we can look forward to them both being back on form soon.
Author avatar
Author avatar
Keeping it clean
After no clean sheets in their previous five matches, Everton now have four from their last five, with the 4-1 home defeat to Newcastle United in their previous game at Hill Dickinson Stadium the glaring anomaly.
Fulham, Manchester United, Bournemouth and Nottingham Forest, a quartet of clubs who between them netted 14 goals against the Blues last season, have all been kept out.
At times that has been down to the brilliance we’ve come to expect from Jordan Pickford, making impressive saves in key moments – most notably Joshua Zirkzee’s header at Old Trafford – but it’s a collective effort from David Moyes’ men, and even the long-time England number one, who has made shut-outs the norm for his country, having broken Gordon Banks’ 59-year-old record, has required help from his team-mates.
After being largely untested for the majority of the first half, Pickford was called into action here in stoppage time just before the interval when he did well to keep out Elliot Anderson’s low effort, and after the break, in front of the same South Stand where he’d been guilty of his Lewis Miley blooper a week earlier, his failure to intercept a cross led to a messy scramble before James Tarkowski eventually hacked the ball clear. The £25million signing from Sunderland in 2017 rightly remains a firm favourite – supporters behind that goal had prompted him to respond with a twirling arm acknowledgement to their “Jordan Pickford is dynamite” terrace anthem – but those in front of him are also doing their job.
Michael Keane had started every game this season before missing the trip to Bournemouth through injury, and although Jake O’Brien excelled in the heart of defence in his absence at the Vitality Stadium, Keane was back in the middle here to thwart Sean Dyche with a partnership first forged by himself at Burnley.
The Royal Blue podcast logo
The Royal Blue podcast logo
Sean Dyche return
Speaking of Everton’s previous manager, this was obviously not the dream return to the Blues he would have envisaged after enjoying a shock 3-0 win over Liverpool at Anfield just a fortnight ago.
Indeed, after a strong showing of former Blues bosses at the World Cup draw the previous evening that resembled all of Donald Trump’s birthdays rolled into one as he became the first recipient of a FIFA prize seemingly created for himself before ending the ceremony dancing to a live Village People performance of YMCA, Dyche – a renowned gig-goer himself – could have been forgiven for wondering what he’d let himself in for.
While Carlo Ancelotti (Brazil), Roberto Martinez (Portugal) and Ronald Koeman (Netherlands) were all present in Washington DC, alongside Canada’s Evertonian prime minister Mark Carney, as the US president collected his gong, Dyche was left with a Bullseye-style ‘Look what you could have won’ as he saw his Nottingham Forest side torn apart in emphatic fashion by his former charges.
The 54-year-old deserves considerable credit for keeping the Blues’ heads above water during the most fraught period in the club’s history, both on and off the pitch, but other than a clutch of notable exceptions, his Achilles heel was an inability to harness the power of Everton’s passionate fanbase.
Sean Dyche during Nottingham Forest's defeat to Everton
Sean Dyche during Nottingham Forest's defeat to Everton(Image: (Richard Heathcote/Getty Images))
View 2 Images
That’s something that David Moyes, the man who has gone from being the youngest manager in the Premier League when he first arrived in 2002 to the division’s elder statesman now, has always been able to tap into, and such energy helped the Blues to boss proceedings here.
The Glaswegian gaffer, who coined the phrase ‘The People’s Club’ and steered them to nine top eight finishes, including a highest-ever Premier League placing of fourth in his first spell, remarked in his programme notes: “We are still at the start of our rebuilding process, and during that spell it won’t always go right for us, but the one thing you can do is stand by those players and keep supporting them.
“We have enjoyed some great moments together recently and we’ll need your support throughout the season, even in the tougher moments.”
Content Image
Content Image