Thierno Barry
Thierno Barry
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It has been a good start to the season.
As I wrote in my match verdict on Saturday, I did not expect such a serene introduction to the campaign as this when I found refuge from the pouring rain on a miserable Saturday morning in Bournemouth a few weeks ago.
The weather was horrendous but the storm engulfing Everton was more violent. The proposed sale of Harrison Armstrong had already gone further than it should have done. A few dramatic hours later and the club had been pulled from the brink by a stunning show of unity from the away end at the Vitality Stadium as they sent a message heard loud and clear across the Atlantic in Houston.
READ MORE: Everton boss David Moyes has 'smiley eyes' as Tyler Dibling starts to purr
David Moyes, too, seized the initiative, telling me his message to supporters as the commitment and the thoroughness of the Friedkin Group’s efforts to understand the club fell into question was this: ‘Tell them their manager is an Evertonian.’
Those comments were made in the aftermath of a show of belligerence that has been a satisfying characteristic of the start to the season.
A stoppage time equaliser by James Tarkowski was followed, eight days later, by a stoppage time leveller and wondergoal from Ainsley Maitland-Niles against Manchester United. They should have won at Spurs but held firm under an early barrage and could take solace from a useful point at a destination that haunts them. In the battle of ‘Spursy’ v ‘Everton, that’, the Blues (playing in green) avoided becoming the ‘right team at the right time’, a role they took on at Tottenham Hotspur on the final day of last season.
Maybe that fight and spirit should not be a surprise and maybe it should not be considered unusual that Everton have delivered one of their best starts to a season this century while operating under huge pressure - the turbulence around the squad has pushed Moyes into the type of underdog, world-is-against-us scenario that he specialises in.
But there are more positives to take from an unbeaten start to the season, a run that includes safe passage to a home draw in the last 16 of the Carabao Cup.
These are the main ones, for me:
Chance creation
Scoring goals remains an issue and, after the failed bid to sign Folarin Balogun on deadline day, an awful lot of pressure has been placed on a group of attackers who are used to being supporting acts rather than main characters.
Thierno Barry had a reasonable haul from his first Premier League season but remains raw. Tyrique George and Tyler Dibling have not been prolific in their short top-flight careers while Brennan Johnson can be reliable, but was far from it at his last club. Jack Grealish had two goals and six assists before his injury in January but is used to playing with quality around him, while Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall will need to hit the outstanding heights of last season to provide the foundation for the others to grow.
It is far from ideal and the six goals Everton have in the league so far is the joint lowest, with Hull City, of the top 12.
There have been frustrating misses - Brennan Johnson should have scored in the early stages against Ipswich Town and he and Dewsbury-Hall missed good chances in north London. Barry should have scored headers against Ipswich and Manchester United and Dorde Petrovic made superb stops from him and Jarrad Branthwaite at Bournemouth.
But the chances do keep coming. Everton have outperformed their opponents on xG in three of the five league games this season.
They are only one shy of their season xG of 7.32 goals but that only tells some of the story given half the goals they have scored - Dewsbury-Hall’s against Crystal Palace and both strikes against Manchester United were from unlikely positions (and so the contribution of their combined xG to the overall will be paltry).
If the attacking unit can become more ruthless then there are good signs given the creativity so far seen from the team.
Clean sheets
At the other end of the pitch, the Blues remain solid.
Jordan Pickford made an excellent save from Eddie Nketiah against Palace and the defence has thrown itself at shots and crosses all season.
Even when things have been tough, Everton’s bedrock over recent seasons has been their stinginess at the back and while they have ridden their luck - Palace should have scored in the first half of the season opener and Ipswich missed good chances on Saturday - they have held firm.
Vitalii Mykolenko has had a decent start to the season while Jarrad Branthwaite was excellent against Man Utd and Spurs and came up big again late on Saturday. James Tarkowski, meanwhile has a goal, an assist and has won 39 of the 47 duels he has contested - the best success rate of any player in the Premier League to have contested more than 15 duels, according to Squawka.
His challenge to stop Matheus Cunha from doubling Man Utd’s lead at Hill Dickinson was just as crucial as his last-gasp equaliser against Bournemouth in protecting the unbeaten start to the season.
Ainsley Maitland-Niles has improved Everton from right-back, too.
It is now three clean sheets in five in the league and five in seven in all competitions - impressive stuff.
Home form
Speaking of hot streaks, Everton enter the international break unbeaten at home after four matches at Hill Dickinson Stadium this season.
Moyes targeted improved home form as a key metric to improve on after years of failing to make both Goodison and, in her first season, the new stadium a fortress.
It would be easy to say the Blues have had a kind start in terms of the fixtures they have faced on the banks of the Mersey but it was exactly the type of mid-table-and-lower opposition like Palace and Ipswich that caused so much frustration last season and the season before.
Relegated West Ham and Wolves claimed points here last year, as did Leeds, while Brentford, Bournemouth, Newcastle United, Spurs and Sunderland all won.
Edging out 10-man Ipswich was tougher than it should have been, but that does not mean it does not represent progress. I found it promising how the crowd kept backing the team against Wolves in the cup last week, too. Even though the goal came late there appeared to be some recognition Moyes had gone strong, the team was largely in control and that the goal would probably come.
Jarrad Branthwaite’s fitness
This is such an obvious one, but even while Everton have good centre backs on the bench, no-one does more to raise the ceiling of this squad. His recovery pace allows Everton to push up the pitch - it has been notable that the glaring chasms that repeatedly opened between defence and midfield last season have not been as prevalent so far.
It is what he can do once he is on halfway, too - he can carry the ball forward but he can also play through the lines. He and Hayden Hackney, when given the opportunity, are such positive players and it makes a difference.
Branthwaite has not just been back, he has been excellent, and deserves his England call-up. There are few developments more important than his return to fitness and Everton have reaped the benefit so far.
Growing confidence as starlets step into the spotlight
Barry has his drawbacks but he still has five goals in seven games, was a bit unfortunate to have a good header chalked off on Saturday and, at the very least, is reading the game well enough to get more chances. I have said this a few times on our Royal Blue podcast but I think he is *missing chances better* than he was last season. That sounds like such a strange thing to say, but I do think he is assessing the game better and that is positive.
Tyrique George has had a good start and had the wonderful moment of his first goal, while Tyler Dibling has suddenly emerged as a genuine option for Moyes after his best week in Royal Blue.
Harrison Armstrong has played almost every minute in the Premier League and I am mystified at how he has made the England U20s squad and not that of the U21s with George and Dibling, two close friends of his.
Hackney, too, has looked good when he has played. The squad Moyes was left with after the window closed was problematic partly because it relied so heavily on players taking more responsibility than they had previously shouldered. So far, the signs have been good on that front.
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