Everton goalkeeper Jordan Pickford screams with frustration during the Premier League match between Everton and Bournemouth at Hill Dickinson Stadium on February 10, 2026 in Liverpool, United Kingdom. (Photo by Simon Stacpoole/Offside/Offside via Getty Images)(Image: Offside via Getty Images)
After the glorious start in the sunshine against Brighton & Hove Albion, followed by the dramatic last-gasp comeback victory over Crystal Palace and then what now seem ridiculously routine successes over Fulham and Nottingham Forest, the honeymoon period is over for Everton at Hill Dickinson Stadium as their winless run extended to six matches.
While all clubs can experience teething problems when they make the momentous decision of relocating to a new ground, anyone attempting to point the finger of blame for the current malaise on their magnificent new home and suggesting that it’s anything other than a huge asset for the club, would be badly misguided.
The switch to the Mersey waterfront is a game-changer for the Blues both on and off the pitch, but it’s up to the team to take advantage of the opportunity that’s been presented to them, and this fixture was a considerable opportunity to kick on that was spurned. As manager David Moyes wrote in his programme notes: “If the game was at Goodison on a Tuesday evening, the opposition would know exactly what to expect and as the home manager I would also know what to expect.
“I hope we can do enough on the pitch to make sure you supporters are fully behind us. How we play has always been the key to getting good support but while we are finding our way into the new stadium, that little bit extra from you all can go a long way to helping us.”
For all the summer reinforcements, this was an issue that has continued on from Goodison where Everton won just five league games in their historic final season, the joint lowest in the club’s history. Moyes has won 11 times away since returning, but he and his players are still searching to replicate that form in front of the vast majority of their fanbase.
**George the second**
After an encouraging debut at Craven Cottage on Saturday as his introduction helped turn the tide against Fulham, Tyrique George’s inclusion here for his first Everton start appeared to be a positive move as Moyes’ men looked to get on the front foot against Bournemouth. However, it didn’t work out this way as the on-loan Chelsea player, who the Blues have an option to sign permanently in the summer, showed that he still has a long way to go in his development.
George, who has already made 37 senior appearances for the Stamford Bridge outfit who he helped to win the FIFA Club World Cup last summer – alongside Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall – failed to build on his early promise back in west London at the weekend. Here, like so many of his team-mates, his passing was way off with what should be routine balls for Premier League players, not controlled properly or not delivered with suitable weight.
When Moyes was asked ahead of Fulham how he’d feel over George’s acquisition if he was his most expensive summer signing Tyler Dibling, he replied: “I better get my finger out and show the manager what I was really all about.” However, you get the feeling if the £35million purchase from Southampton had produced the kind of first half display that George put in, he’d have been primed to be hooked, just as we saw in home games against Crystal Palace and Brentford.
Although Moyes says George can also play off the right, or even down the middle, it seems that he has been signed as a replacement for the injured Jack Grealish. Given that he’s a decade younger than the first £100million English footballer, he brings a rather alternative skill-set and as Pat Nevin observes: “He’s a wide attacker though, not a winger – they are different things.”
However we want to categorise George, he’s a precocious talent who can bring a new dimension to Everton’s play. However, this was not one of those occasions.
**Cherry-picked**
What is it with Bournemouth when it comes to Everton? At least the Blues won the one game when it really mattered, as a single Abdoulaye Doucoure goal on the final day in 2023 spared them what would have been a first relegation in 72 years despite posting the lowest equivalent points total in the club’s history.
As EFC Statto (Bradley Cates) pointed out, Everton have now lost 50% of their league games against Bournemouth (9 out of 18), the highest loss rate against a single opponent in the club’s history against opponents where there have been at least four meetings. Match-winner Grealish might have been missing from the Blues’ maiden Premier League triumph at the Vitality Stadium at the start of December, but this should have been a golden opportunity for the hosts to ‘do the double’ over the Cherries after inflicting such treatment on Marco Silva’s Fulham just four days earlier.
Instead, despite being given the foothold of Iliman Ndiaye’s penalty late in the first half, Everton conspired to collapse after the break with a capitulation that had shades of their chastening late surrender in their previous home game against Bournemouth when they led 2-0 until the 87th minute but somehow were still beaten 3-2. To add insult to injury, given the travelling distance and time of the fixture, the Dorset outfit brought by far the smallest away contingent to a Premier League game at Hill Dickinson Stadium to date with gaping holes of empty sections in the North East corner of the bowl for the first time.
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