Analysis by Christopher Beesley from Everton's 3-1 defeat to Stuttgart
Iliman Ndiaye and Chema Andres battle for the ball during the during the pre-season friendly match between VfB Stuttgart and Everton at MHP Arena on August 8, 2026
Iliman Ndiaye and Chema Andres battle for the ball during the during the pre-season friendly match between VfB Stuttgart and Everton at MHP Arena on August 8, 2026(Image: Harry Langer/DeFodi Images via Getty Images)
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Jake denied centre stage
Even Prime Minister Andy Burnham waded into Everton’s search for a right-back this week when proclaiming in an interview that the Blues simply had to make a signing in their long-standing problem position and saying: “Poor old Jake can’t do another season there.”
Well, after there being light at the end of a tunnel this week when it came to Celtic’s Alistair Johnston over a still fruitless search that has now lasted for over 18 months with Martin O’Neill revealing David Moyes had been in touch to tell him to expect a bid for the Canada World Cup star who indicated he fancied the switch to Merseyside, Hill Dickinson Stadium chiefs have still been unable to agree a suitable price with the Scottish champions.
Even if, and that’s an if bigger than even the aforementioned 6ft 6in O’Brien, Everton do finally manage to draft in a right-back before the Premier League kicks off, are they going to be ready to hit the ground running against Crystal Palace in less than a fortnight’s time? While the other business the Blues have done this summer has looked astute, as the nation embraces ancient Greek literature on the big screen with Christopher Nolan’s adaptation of The Odyssey, Everton’s right-back search feels almost as long and is in danger of becoming their Achilles heel.
Moving to more recent history, Benjamin Franklin once wrote: “In this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.” Well, he didn’t have a season ticket at Hill Dickinson Stadium or he could have added: “And Jake O’Brien being shunted back to right-back.”
This should have been the Irishman’s big opportunity to strike up a central defensive partnership alongside Jarrad Branthwaite rather than the pairing of Everton’s two 33-year-olds, James Tarkowski and Michael Keane but Tim Iroegbunam’s early injury prompted Merlin Rohl to go back into the engine room and saw O’Brien once again forced to be what looks like the squarest of pegs in a round hole.
Everton player ratings from Stuttgart defeat as 4/10 Blues star has miserable afternoon
Moves in the middle
While Everton have a paucity of natural options at right-back – over than late substitute Nathan Patterson who despite playing for Scotland at the World Cup remains surplus to requirements – central midfield is looking rather congested at the moment. The Blues’ latest signing Christian Norgaard wasn’t even involved in the squad in Stuttgart but there were still plenty of candidates in the engine room.
With Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall rested to the bench, Moyes went with what looked like more of a 4-3-3 than 4-2-3-1 shape as youngster Harrison Armstrong joined new recruit Hayden Hackney and Iroegbunam in the middle with yet another candidate Charly Alcaraz cutting inside off the left wing. The experiment was quickly ditched through Iroegbunam’s early injury that might prove costly for Everton given that he has a clutch of suitors among this season’s newly promoted Premier League clubs and just a year left on his contract.
Armstrong and Hackney both showed encouraging bits and pieces but the competition for places looks like it will become intense once Norgaard is up to speed and James Garner, who played virtually every minute in all competitions in 2025/26 on his way to becoming Player of the Season, returns to fitness. Rohl, who moved into that area of the pitch has done well this pre-season but there are no guarantees that he can force his way into the side on a prolonged basis in the centre of the park.
Perhaps, the Blues could show more tactical variety by exploring different combinations for various challenges? However, they also need to get the balance right and find the right blend and rhythm in a key area.
Ndiaye return
This was the moment that many predicted we wouldn’t see, Iliman Ndiaye back in an Everton shirt. The man who will always have a unique place in the Blues’ annals after netting their final goal at Goodison Park – although no longer the last one in a men’s senior game at the ground after Preston North End’s Carabao Cup tie against Huddersfield Town on Saturday – and their first at Hill Dickinson Stadium, returned to action.
When Moyes’ men went down 1-0 at Stoke City, many were still expecting Ndiaye to abandon Merseyside for the riches of Al Hilal. However, since then his father declared the winger is “not going anywhere,” having received a phone call from his son assuring him he had no intention of going to Saudi Arabia, and that he is not the type to prioritise money over his career.
Ndiaye subsequently joined up with Everton’s squad at their German training camp last Monday following his post-World Cup break and his Senegal team-mate Idrissa Gueye, who called time on his own Blues career this summer after seven years’ service over two spells, replied to a club post marking the event with the message: “Here to stay.”
With almost another month to go before the transfer window closes, only time will tell, although Everton insist the player who has rejected several new contract offers this year is not for sale. As Blues FA Cup-winning hero Anders Limpar told the ECHO last week: “These guys are already multi-millionaires so why go to Saudi Arabia when you’re 26? You got to Saudi Arabia when you’re 36!”
However, Ndiaye, who has spoken of his ambition to play Champions League football, could still attract interest from leading clubs who can offer that closer to home. He might have been playing European football of some ilk with Everton now had his finishing been a bit sharper in the final weeks of last season and after coming on as a substitute in Stuttgart it was a similar story as he was twice denied with efforts cleared off the line in stoppage time.
Wearing the armband
Just as the last senior men’s football game at Goodison Park – unless they have more – is now the Carabao Cup tie between Preston and Huddersfield with 6,120 watching, rather than Everton’s raucous farewell party against Southampton with the streets of L4 filled with a mass of humanity and blue smoke, so the final international match played at the Grand Old Lady was equally low key.
Goodison of course holds the unique distinction among British club stadia of hosting a World Cup semi-final, just one of five fixtures she staged in the 1966 tournament, including all of holders Brazil’s group games. The Samba stars were back some 29 years later for what proved to be the last senior international at the ground when Roberto Carlos scored and a young Ronaldo played in a 3-0 victory over Japan, less than a month after Joe Royle’s side had lifted the FA Cup in 1995, but when it came to the very last meeting of nations, far fewer were inside.
Just 7,890 watched Lee Carsley’s European Under-21 champions defeat their Northern Ireland counterpart 3-0 on November 21, 2023, on a night that Everton’s very own Jarrad Branthwaite captained the England team. Fast forward to Stuttgart on August 8, 2026, and the ‘Carlisle Kaiser’ was leading the Blues out.
Following Seamus Coleman’s departure after 17-and-a-half years at the club, Everton have yet to make a formal announcement over the club captaincy. Of late, James Tarkowski has been wearing the armband, just as he did for most of the past couple of years while the sixty grand bargain buy from Sligo was not in the side.
But while the former Burnley man will be an on-field leader regardless of his captaincy status, perhaps this summer presents Moyes with the opportunity to pass the baton on to a younger man with his best years ahead of him rather than another veteran. If Branthwaite could keep fit, perhaps he’d be a shoo-in for the role but while he lasted 80 minutes here coming through unscathed in his second consecutive start in Germany, there were the usual heart in mouth moments each time he pulled up.
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