Michael Ball tackles the big issues at Hill Dickinson Stadium following Everton's 1-0 defeat at Leeds United
This week, Finch Farm has to buzzing and full of hard work, along with a lot of tough talking. It’s not panic stations, but there is a lot of stuff that we have to work on. Brighton & Hove Albion have been absolutely fantastic since they came into the Premier League and it’s not a given that we’re going to win against them. David Moyes has come out and said to the Everton fans that he wants to bring the noise of Goodison Park to Hill Dickinson Stadium to intimidate the opposition, but the players need to stand up and take accountability and the manager needs to do the same by having a style that gets the supporters on their feet, like Leeds did.That’s what gets the Evertonians up and behind their team. We need to be getting the ball out wide and crossing it in, winning corners and getting the ball in the final third, not trying to pass the ball around the back only to lose it, which happened far too many times against Leeds.
Charly Alcaraz came in and did well last season but when he’s out wide, especially on that right hand side, he often doesn’t have the best of games. He didn’t get involved much at Leeds, was loose in possession and didn’t look composed when receiving the ball.
As a player you get asked to play in different positions and you grab the shirt and put it on and do your best, but you can see his doesn’t like being out there. He doesn’t know where he needs to be and his standing position is all wrong.David Moyes needs to find a solution where he’s not putting square pegs in round holes. Alcaraz, Jake O’Brien and James Garner were all playing out of their favoured position at Leeds. The manager has been very vocal throughout pre-season, being open and honest with fans about what he wants but that puts the club in a difficult situation when you’re trying to get deals over the line as you don’t want to appear desperate as that causes the money to go up and makes negotiations harder. Whether it’s going to be Beto or Thierno Barry playing up front, we need a right winger to give them service, it’s an absolute must. We had Jack Harrison last year who was a trier, and he worked hard but didn’t beat his full-back or get enough crosses in. Moyes has said that bringing a right winger in has been a priority throughout the window so I hope that the club go out there and get a deal done as soon as possible, otherwise it’s going to be a struggle.