Everton manager David Moyes.
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Stoke City v Everton - Pre-Season Friendly
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Everton players.
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Everton’s Scottish manager David Moyes shouts instructions to the players from the touchline during the English Premier League football match between Newcastle United and Everton at St James’ Park in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, north east England on November 2, 2026. (Photo by Paul ELLIS / AFP via Getty Images) / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE. No use with unauthorized audio, video, data, fixture lists, club/league logos or ‘live’ services. Online in-match use limited to 120 images. An additional 40 images may be used in extra time. No video emulation. Social media in-match use limited to 120 images. An additional 40 images may be used in extra time. No use in betting publications, games or single club/league/player publications. /
Manchester United winger Marcus Rashford.
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Thierno Barry playing for Everton.
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Forget Thierno Barry, Everton’s unsung hero vs Newcastle deserves real credit
Everton v Newcastle United - Carabao Cup Fourth Round
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Thierno Barry and Hayden Hackney stole all the headlines from Everton’s big victory on Thursday, but David Moyes had an unsung hero worth crediting.
Thierno Barry, Hayden Hackney, and James Garner scored the goals as Everton overcame Newcastle 3-1 to seal a place in the last eight of the Carabao Cup against League Two Fleetwood Town. They were three of the several impressive performances on display.
Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall was the man of the match and was unlucky to have only one assist to his name when his night ended. But outside of these four headline grabbers, Merlin Rohl should get credit for his outing, as he was the unsung hero for David Moyes.
Everton reach the quarter-finals of the EFL Cup! How confident are you that we can win it? The Toffees will face Fleetwood in the next round 👀
Not a cat in hells chance.
COOOOME ON that felt massive
@jonathan.gorrie be careful what we wish for we could go down this season.
Merlin Rohl had a fantastic performance against Newcastle
Everton’s evening wasn’t as straightforward as it looked on the scoreline, and it took a real collective effort from the defence and Jordan Pickford to keep Newcastle to just their consolation goal late on at 3-0 down. James Tarkowski and Vitalii Mykolenko were both top-class, but so was Merlin Rohl as he continues to settle into his new role.
Rohl hasn’t been all good at right-back this season, but against Newcastle, he was impressive defensively. The German showed real passion, intensity, and aggression to get back, make some vital interventions, and looked a real match for whoever Newcastle threw at him.
Here is how Rohl’s outing looks in numbers;
90 minutes
11 defensive contributions
4 tackles won
2 interceptions
4 clearances
7 recoveries
5/6 ground duels won
2/4 aerial duels won
58 touches
It was a really busy game for Rohl, but he showed almost a dogged desire to defend, seeming to take joy in winning his duels and tackles, which hasn’t always looked like the case for him at right-back.
He nullified Harvey Barnes and Lewis Hall with limited help from Tyler Dibling, and it is a performance that inspires confidence in him making the position his own this season under Moyes.
Rohl didn’t offer much going forward, but he didn’t have to and did everything asked of him really well, which Moyes will be delighted with. A performance he can build upon.
Matthias Jaissle will dread seeing Rohl again on Monday
The double header against Newcastle now means a trip to the North East on Monday night, and the Magpies boss Matthias Jaissle won’t be looking forward to seeing Rohl at right-back again.
Barnes struggled, and so did Anthony Elang, as Rohl used his intelligence and physicality to handle both with relative ease, and he could do it again on Monday.
One caveat is that it will be St James’ Park under the lights, which is a daunting experience for a player, but if Rohl can repeat this performance there, we will know this was no fluke and that he is cut out for Premier League football as a full-back.