Michael Ball tackles the big issues at Hill Dickinson Stadium following Everton's 1-0 defeat to Manchester United
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LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND - FEBRUARY 23: David Moyes, Manager of Everton, gestures during the Premier League match between Everton and Manchester United at the Hill Dickinson Stadium on February 23, 2026 in Liverpool, England. (Photo by Michael Regan/Getty Images)
David Moyes gestures during the Premier League match between Everton and Manchester United at the Hill Dickinson Stadium on February 23, 2026(Image: Michael Regan/Getty Images)
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Coming away from Hill Dickinson Stadium, I felt it wasn’t a poor performance but once again, Everton have not got the result we wanted in a home game.
David Moyes will probably get criticised for picking what seemed like a negative line-up, but I can understand why he went that way.
I was umming and ahing myself before the game over whether a natural right-back like Nathan Patterson should be picked. Even though he’d done well in his last outing, to bring him in from the cold and expect him to be 10 out of 10 is a lot to ask.
We know how David Moyes thinks and you imagined he’d rather go safe, trying to make it more compact. It looked like that’s how we’d set up but the way Manchester United started, it was like they were trying to slow the tempo down and quieten the home fans after the fantastic display courtesy of the flags in the South Stand from the 1878s.
United started making a few sloppy mistakes but I felt we were too set in our ways when it came to looking after ourselves and staying in positions, forgetting to go and press the ball. We never punished United when they were doing this and let them off the hook.
There were several occasions when Harry Maguire had the ball and ran 20, 30 even 40 yards unchallenged because we were too focused on trying to keep our positions when in truth we needed to go and get the ball. When we did start doing that, our confidence rose a little bit.
There was a lack of quality and what felt like a lack of belief from Everton. Another game has gone by without Thierno Barry really testing the opposition keeper and he makes runs that have me scratching my head at times.
I want him to spin centre-halves. As I defender, I don’t like players running in behind against me. Harry Maguire isn’t the fastest, make a run in behind him. We played in front of them and made it too easy.
United did defend well, especially in the second half and the goalkeeper was commanding for all the set-pieces as we let ourselves down. We did the same thing time and time again though, which had me wondering whether we could switch it up a bit.
In the second half we were the better team but not for the first time against a Manchester United side over the years, they’ve caught us on the counter-attack. We know that they’ve got a far more expensively assembled squad than ours, but there’s a chasm in terms of the quickness and the movement from their players.
The likes of Casemiro and Bruno Fernandes were playing first time passes forward, being direct and popping the question and causing us problems. While we did defend well in moments, you could see the danger signs were there and that counter-attack was on.
I thought it was great that the lads were being brave and trying to get bodies into the box but we didn’t cross it in. There were numerous opportunities to put the ball in, but we chose not to do it, even when Michael Keane was staying up front, going backwards and sideways instead.
I think Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall has been fantastic since he came to the football club, but I felt he was off against Manchester United. He was trying to do everything he could, but too many times he took an extra touch.
When we did try and be a bit more basic, even Harrison Armstrong just pushing down the line, United backed off, I smelled a bit of fear.
I’m made up that Harrison stayed, rather than going back on loan to Preston, but I don’t want to see him outside on the wing. I thought he was brilliant again, he did absolutely fantastic in what was a tough job.
Hopefully the miss doesn’t knock his confidence. Rather it can show he can get in these positions now to be a threat.
It was a huge chance for him though, and it felt like he was trying to make sure he hit his shot on target. It’s one of those moments – and I’ve been there as a footballer – where you don’t expect to be there and all of a sudden you are.
When you’re not used to it, it’s a bit of a nose-bleed situation and you’re too safe or caught in two minds. You can see the difference in quality with United’s goal that was concise and powerful with Benjamin Sesko knowing what he wanted to do.
James Tarkowski ended up picking up another daft yellow card late on, but he could have risked a booking earlier with what looked like a perfect opportunity when United had their counter-attack for the goal as he could have just ran across his opponent and brought him down. Instead, Michael Keane was left alone as Jarrad Branthwaite also got caught out.
It was great to see that we were pushing for the win, but we need to understand situations. I’ve said it throughout my whole career, every time you get into the final third, you’ve got to finish with a cross or a shot.
I was pleased with Tyrique George’s introduction. He showed what we’re missing and what we were asking for in the summer.
We needed someone with pace who is direct and when George came on, United started backing off. He gets the fans on their feet.
End product is needed, though. We want to see shots and crosses and the same goes for Tyler Dibling if he gets on.
Wake-up call for Mykolenko
As a former full-back myself, it's intriguing to see where David Moyes goes now with this Everton side.
If you’re Vitalii Mykolenko, the decision to drop him to the bench should be a wake-up call. We had our best centre-half playing left-back in front of him.
He hasn’t been in the best of form over the last few weeks, so he must realise that he needs to do more. Not only does he need to improve defensively, stopping crosses, he also needs to get involved in the attacks a bit more, showing some quality.
Mykolenko hasn’t had competition, so no matter what his performances have been like, he’s always been on the teamsheet. Now he’s got that concern, and he needs to up his game.
James Garner has been great in the middle but then he puts in a fantastic performance at right-back, putting in some fantastic tackles on dangerous opponents and reading the game really well. While he’s done a job, I want to see him back in midfield, I want players in their natural position, especially the best ones which Garner has been this season.