The first weekend of Everton's future began with a dismal reminder of their uninspiring past in a 1-0 defeat to newly-promoted Leeds
_**Leeds 1-0 Everton** (Nmecha 84’ pen)_
ELLAND ROAD — David Moyes has made little secret of his grouchiness at Everton’s inactivity this summer, so what better way to prove that he needs more options than to produce a performance of so little intrigue and excitement that his seniors may well spend £100m just to give themselves something to feel.
With Jack Grealish deemed insufficiently fit and Thierno Barry deemed insufficiently better than Beto, Everton had all the flair and panache of a shop-soiled pork pie. They completed 16 passes in Leeds’ half in the first 40 minutes of the match, a piece of performance art it was so disjointed. Their opponents completed 109 in theirs over the same period.
The aim, presumably, was to slow down the tempo and take the sting out of a heady, earthy Elland Road atmosphere. But the problem with doing that is that you simply invite pressure that only increases the noise. And then when you do need or want to up the tempo (it is unclear whether Moyes actually did), everybody is used to camping in their own half.
Defensive pragmatism can work, but only if you do the basics at a level beyond wretched. Players in blue repeatedly played the wrong passes or misplaced the right ones, forcing their teammates to dash to avoid an emergency. Jake O’Brien took three throw-ins in five minutes and sent them all directly to a Leeds shirt. What actually happened in pre-season?
The most infuriating aspect, certainly by the judgement of those in the away end, is how deliberately stunted the strategy appeared. Iliman Ndiaye is a dynamic, enthusiastic dribbler, so maybe making him drop 40 yards from his own goal just to be in the same postcode as the ball is a waste of that talent. Just a thought.
Moyes is right to be disgruntled about the lack of full-backs, forcing James Garner and Jake O’Brien into makeshift roles with Seamus Coleman on the bench. But he must also accept that the strongest suits in this squad right now are the wide midfielders. Picking three central defenders and five central midfielders is an odd method of putting them on display.
You tend to make your own luck and the same applies to misfortune. The handball decision against James Tarkowski was touch and go; had it not been given I doubt that it would have been overturned. But if you roll a dice six times, eventually you’re going to land upon a one.
After going 1-0 down – you’ll never guess – Moyes brought on his new £40m striker, Everton pushed players into the final third more often than once every five minutes, got attackers close to Beto and played directly. Grealish was on to run at players. It’s almost as if Moyes considered this to be Everton’s best chance of scoring a goal and might have tried it earlier.
There will be Everton supporters who insist that an opening weekend draw away at the [perceived strongest promoted team](https://inews.co.uk/sport/football/leeds-goldilocks-season-tactics-3860817?ico=in-line_link), in an atmosphere such as this, would have been a perfectly reasonable result. They’re right, too. But when you risk taking nothing through your own passivity, you don’t get to expect sympathy.
Does this not all represent a paucity of ambition? The conventional wisdom is that Everton will not be relegated. So what are we going through this daft annual charade for if not to try to provide some entertainment and maybe try to beat the team that has just come out of the Championship?
We are one game into a new season. Everton supporters wanted 2025-26 to be different: new owners, new stadium, new start. The first weekend of the future began with a dismal reminder of the uninspiring past. That’s on the [manager’s lack of ambition](https://inews.co.uk/sport/football/david-moyes-wrong-noises-evertons-new-era-3834823?ico=in-line_link) as much as the club’s.