Brennan Johnson
Brennan Johnson
David Moyes is a good manager and the best to lead Everton across the 21st century, but there’s no question that he can get stuck in his ways.
The 63-year-old Scotsman was let down by the ownership this summer. The Friedkin Group have since put the club up for sale, casting gloomy clarity over a summer transfer window which weakened the Toffees first team.
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Moyes doesn’t have much to work with, but he does have something, and he needs to make better use of the tools at his disposal.
For example, see how he dishes out starting appearances on the regular for the underperforming Brennan Johnson.
What will Everton do about Brennan Johnson?
In all honesty, penny for Johnson's thoughts. The Welsh winger is beginning to have something of a nightmarish Premier League career, falling by the wayside last season with Tottenham Hotspur and then failing to make a dent over five months with Crystal Palace. The reprieve on Merseyside with Everton has yet to bear fruit.
The deal to give Dwight McNeil to Palace and replace him with Johnson in a direct exchange wasn't exactly terrible business. Neither side were getting the right tune out of their man - and the Eagles had explored a deal for McNeil back in January.
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Brennan Johnson's Premier League Struggles
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Johnson has not only failed to get directly involved with a goal this term, but he has also struggled to produce any kind of evidence suggesting a turnaround is forthcoming. He hasn't hit the target yet, has only created one big chance, and has completed just one dribble since signing for Everton this summer.
Against Arsenal, last time out, you can actually understand why Moyes started the right winger. Johnson is a combative defender when he needs to be, and the likes of Tyrique George and Tyler Dibling may well have been isolated and cut adrift by Mikel Arteta's suffocating side.
For now, Everton are likely stuck with the 25-year-old. If his fortunes don't pick up, he will surely struggle to find a suitor, and his big wages are bound to be prohibitive.
After such a frustrating period, the Toffees could do with a pick-me-up. Perhaps the emergence of a new academy sensation like Ross Barkley would do the trick.
Why Ross Barkley was so special at Everton
In the end, Barkley left Everton for just £15m in January 2018. It was a sour one, especially since a £35m deal with Chelsea had been agreed the summer before, only for the deal to fall through.
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The grass isn't always greener, and Barkley failed to rekindle at Chelsea the kind of form which led him to speak of "world-class" aspirations upon joining the Blues. At Everton, the attacking midfielder was a force to be reckoned with at times, so powerful and determined in front of goal.
Unfortunately, Everton can't call upon Barkley - not a veteran and with Aston Villa - to paper over the cracks created by Johnson's poor form.
However, there is a kind of magic about welcoming a homegrown prospect onto the major stage, and there is indeed just the prospect waiting in the wings.
The new Barkley could end Johnson's Everton career
Johnson is contracted to the Hill Dickinson until 2030. Understood to pocket a healthy £75k per week, it's clear that shipping him off any time soon isn't going to be realistic.
Brennan Johnson for Everton
Brennan Johnson for Everton
But in the long run, Everton can find themselves the perfect upgrade on the right flank - and Moyes can put that plan in motion this season, with Jonathan Nsangou doing all the right things at youth level.
Nsangou, 16, has already scored ten goals for the U18s this season, also featuring twice for the U21s. Clearly, he's not ready to be playing each week for Moyes' senior side, but that's certainly not to say that he can't earn an opportunity at the right time later this season - perhaps showcasing his potential following a favourable FA Cup draw.
A right-sided forward with the clinical edge to see him placed centrally when the moment demands, the Polish-born Nsangou is still one of the outfit's U18 scholars, but he has the potential to earn himself a senior deal and ruffle a few feathers as the Evertonian board consider how to plan for the future out on the right, surely in need of finding a long-term Johnson upgrade.
He could be just the player. Nsangou has more to prove, but there's a real sense that he's got the ability to emulate the likes of Barkley and become a mainstay on Merseyside when his physical development lines up with the potential that threatens to burst at the seams.