Everton manager David Moyes.
Photo by Robbie Jay Barratt – AMA/Getty Images
Everton were dealt their first defeat of the season by Chelsea on Saturday afternoon.
Everton suffered a 2-0 loss at the Hill Dickinson Stadium, with Chelsea wing-back Pedro Neto scoring a brace.
The Toffees didn’t create nearly enough chances to really test Xabi Alonso’s side, who ultimately had more quality in the final third.
Toffees supporters took to X, formerly known as Twitter, and pinpointed exactly what went wrong in the game.
It's a first defeat of the season for Everton as they lose 2-0 to Chelsea 😡 Give us YOUR reaction 👇
That’s bit harsh on Moyes imo. They were there for the taking but I’d lay this at the players. Barry missed a sitter and then they conceded after 60s in the 2nd half. The subs were a bit garbage mind
His distribution after Martinez went off was terrible. It’s like the break completely blew his concentration and he never got it back. All the balls he just kicked out he had short options too
Everton fans very critical of David Moyes’ subs vs Chelsea
Everton fans had their say about the game, and interestingly, they all came to the same conclusion on what the issue was.
David Moyes’ substitutes were heavily blamed, as he failed to bring on Tyler Dibling and Hayden Hackney, instead opting for Brennan Johnson and Christian Norgaard, who offered very little.
“Moyes again painfully slow with the subs.”
“Norgaard and Johnson? Horrendous substitutes. On Moyes this.”
“Strange from Moyes again. Why not Hackney? Also Dibling surely instead of Johnson?”
“Norgaard is definitely not ready to play and should’ve stayed on the bench. Mistake by Moyes cost us.”
“Completely deserved. Moyes played for a draw at home and we’ve offered absolutely zilch.”
“Two bad subs by Moyes. Trying to rescue a point with ‘experience’ rather than actually putting on young players who cause a threat.”
Dibling has impressed during his limited opportunities this season, but for whatever reason, the 20-year-old wasn’t given a single minute off the bench.
The England under-21 international had a superb cameo against Hull City last weekend, so it’s hard to understand the thinking behind Moyes’ decision to bring on Johnson instead.
Moyes must evolve this squad and allow the young players to develop, because at the moment, Dibling will surely be planning for a January exit.
The £40m signing has played just 29 minutes of Premier League football since January – which is just staggering.