Our Everton jury have returned to have their say on the Premier League draw with Leeds United and the upcoming game against Brighton & Hove Albion
Beto replaces Thierno Barry during Everton's draw with Leeds United
Beto replaces Thierno Barry during Everton's draw with Leeds United(Image: (Chris Brunskill/Fantasista/Getty Images))
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Thierno Barry continued his impressive form against Leeds United – but it wasn’t enough to secure Everton all three points. They paid the price for a lacklustre first-half performance at Hill Dickinson Stadium on Monday night.
David Moyes’ side fell behind when James Justin finished a fine Leeds move and the Blues were lucky not to be further behind at the break. However, Barry’s fourth goal in his last five games 14 minutes from time rescued his side a point.
Next up for the Blues is a trip to Brighton & Hove Albion and our Everton jury have returned to have their say on that game and the draw with Leeds.
Paul McParlan
Heading to the stadium on Monday, the news filtered through that our returning AFCON winners Iliman Ndiaye and Idrissa Gueye would be starting the game and even better, the bench featured Jarrad Branthwaite and Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall back from injury.
Despite the Arctic wind blasting fans outside the stadium, the thought of Everton having an almost full squad of players to call on lifted the sense of pre-match optimism and expectation.
However, the match against Leeds United served to emphasise the inconsistencies that have characterised the season. We were underwhelming in the first half and struggled to deal with a Leeds side who cut through our midfield far too easily with rapid passing movements and used the flanks very effectively to create chances. It was a relief to reach half-time only a goal behind.
Credit to David Moyes for making some tactical tweaks that turned the game back in our favour. I had my reservations about taking off a midfielder for an extra defender, but it worked. Switching to a back three with Branthwaite allowed us to use the wings to better effect and place the visitors on the back foot.
David Moyes and James Tarkowski following Everton's draw with Leeds United
David Moyes and James Tarkowski following Everton's draw with Leeds United(Image: (Matt McNulty/Getty Images))
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Dewsbury-Hall brought pace into the midfield and was a constant threat to the Leeds defence with his running and movement. The finish from Thierno Barry to level the game was simply sublime and who didn’t love his celebration afterwards? It has taken time for the young Frenchman to settle here, but with 4 goals in his last 5 games, he is finding his feet in the Premier League.
The momentum was definitely with Everton and when Gueye hit the bar, it seemed the second goal was coming, surely. Except it never arrived and as the minutes ticked away, instead of increasing the pressure, we allowed Leeds to see out the game comfortably.
At the end, the muted reaction from the crowd said it all. It was another missed opportunity to move into the European places. We have played the three promoted sides and failed to win any of our four matches against them; these dropped points will cost us.
In this congested league, there has never been a better time for Everton to return to the European stage, but we can’t keep blowing our chances to do so. The home form needs to improve; eight points from our last eight here is unacceptable.
The visit to Brighton and Hove Albion is a chance to maintain our excellent away form in a stadium where we have performed well in recent years and also been the victim of some eccentric refereeing decisions.
Another win on our travels will see us back in contention for European qualification. It is another opportunity that we can’t afford to miss.
Mark McParlan
The first half against Leeds just wasn’t acceptable. We couldn’t live with the openness of the game and the speed at which Leeds United were operating in the first half.
Make no mistake, if Dominic Calvert-Lewin had scored that chance instead of striking the post, the game would have been lost already and the crowd would have turned. I thought Idrissa Gueye and Iliman Ndiaye looked tired after AFCON and was surprised that both played the full 90 minutes of football.
But it was a game of two halves, with changes at half-time – the first time we’ve seen Moyes try something different to a flat back four. It gave us control over the game, if not much cutting-edge, given it requires sacrificing a midfielder or winger. It’s also pointless if the left wing-back is still Vitalii Mykolenko, who isn’t good enough on the ball and halts our attacking play.
James Justin of Leeds United scores against Everton
James Justin of Leeds United scores against Everton (Image: Getty Images)
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In the second half, Jarrad Branthwaite’s mere presence just brought the whole team up the pitch. He’s more mobile, has an ability to carry the ball forward out of defence, and has sufficient pace to allow a higher defensive line. It’s fantastic to see him back.
With full respect to James Tarkowski, who remains a top-class defender and leader on the pitch, every Evertonian must have allowed themselves thoughts of a Branthwaite and Jake O’Brien (aged 23 and 24) partnership for the future.
I wrote in my earlier pieces that whatever we thought, Thierno Barry and Beto were clearly going to be our two strikers for the season, and we simply had to give them all of our support. Blimey, that was tested to the absolute extreme. But Barry has turned a corner now.
The improvements in his general game and link-up play came first, and now have arrived the goals – five in his last nine games. It probably does take a younger, foreign striker half a season to get to grips with this league sometimes.
Let’s give him more chances consistently, with wide players who’ll actually cross a ball, rather than relying on a blue moon run and cross from Gueye. We head to Brighton on Saturday, boasting a strong away record generally this season and also a strong away record at the Amex in recent years.
They are below us in the table, and with players returning to our side in numbers now, surely every Evertonian believes a win is possible.