I had started an article following the Brighton game, then life got in the way so it wasn't finished, then we had the Mansfield game and then this past weekend we went to Wolves and walked away with a victory from there for the first time in a long time. It should've been more convincing, Wolves were poor if we're honest but they still put two past us, concerns me to an extent, I think though, missing Branthwaite played a part, that's not me knocking Michael Keane because I think he has done OK.
We all knew Jack Grealish coming to Everton was a big deal, outsiders were looking on wondering why he came to us, fans of other clubs wonder why he didn't go to them, Spurs being the main one, especially as they lost James Maddison but what these other clubs don't realise is Grealish is already in the North West, has a young family and by playing at Everton, he won't need to relocate them, plus, we're Everton, we have a brand new stadium and we're massive, joking aside, I'd like to think there was something in what he said in his interview after signing, he said after speaking to the manager he realised, Everton was the place for him. There have been some who were thinking he was just there to coast along but he still thinks he has something to offer for his national team and there is a world cup next year, they are yet to qualify of course but I am sure they will and he wants to be a part of that. We have seen in the games he has been involved with, which all 4 games, only came on in a sub in the first game, the loss away at Leeds, that he seems to be rediscovering his past form, of course, he won't be right up there with his Villa form that got him a 100m move to Man City but one thing is for sure, he is not just coasting along, 4 assists already while at the club, all we need now is him to get on the scoresheet himself, hopefully that will be in the next game who just happens to be his former club Villa after the international break on September 13th. I am based in the Midlands so the Villa games are always big for me. Looking forward to going back to Hill Dickinson for that one, up in the corner of the North Stand above the away fans.
So, let's look at our transfer window, we knew there would be a massive turnover, we had players out of contract and players on loan going back to their parent clubs. One of the loan players we did decide to keep was Carlos Alcaraz, did well for us when he came in last season and as we didn't get it done straight away, there was a bit of fear someone else may jump in and sign him but we got it done in the end. One of the out of contract players was Idrissa Gana Gueye, he, along with Abdoulaye Doucoure and Dominic Calvert-Lewin were offered deals to stay on, we thought Ashley Young had too but apparently that is not the case. While Calvert-Lewin and Doucoure decided not to stay on at Everton, Gana Gueye did, I am not alone in thinking it would be very bad for us if we couldn't keep him for at least one more season, but of course, luckily for us, he agreed to the terms offered and he, for this season at least, is a blue.
We brought in a couple of goalkeepers, Mark Travers from Bournemouth and Tom King from Wolves. We brought in young left-back from Bayern Munich, Adam Aznou, striker Thierno Barry also came in, we lost Calvert-Lewin so only had Beto and Youseff Chermiti (who also since left to join Kevin Thelwell up at Glasgow Rangers) as recognised first team strikers. Barry is young, been in various clubs/countries even at such a young age, but did OK really at Villareal in Spain last season. The jury is still out, we have only had 3 Premier League games, hopefully, he'll bag a goal soon and be off to the races as the saying goes.
On the attacking front, we have known for a long time we have needed a recognised right-winger, Anthony Gordon uses to play out there for us but we really haven't had a player out there who is an out an out right-winger, we have players that can 'do a job' out there, like on Saturday, with Grealish on the left, Illiman Ndiaye played on the right (and scored of course, as he did in the Brighton game). I won't say we have been linked with a number of wingers over the summer but names have been mentioned, Kubo, Fatatwa, Forfana to name a few but a name that was mentioned at the start of the window was young Southampton winger Tyler Dibling. The club eventually went in with a bid, well, you know the rest, it wasn't what Southampton wanted, we wouldn't pay what they wanted so we came to a stalemate. The player wanted the move, he was training alone for a short while but he eventually was reintegrated back into their squad and even came off the bench in one game for them. he didn't ever really throw his toys out the pram to get his move and eventually it happened. He has only featured off the bench for us in the Mansfield cup game but hopefully he has a bright future with us.
We also signed a winner in Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, did really well in the Championship under the now Chelsea Manager who then took him to the team from West London and although he didn't get much Premier league minutes he did feature heavily in their Europa League Conference campaign, which they won and in the Club World Cup, which they also won. He is a very good player but with the volume of players Chelsea bring in he was just surplus to requirements but we have been the beneficiaries of that, along with playing well fo us so far, he also scored a blinder of a goal on Saturday (which turned out to be the winner) following a sublime assist from Grealish.
And that was that, the Monday after the Wolves game was transfer deadline day and like fans of any other club we were waiting to see if we were going to bring anyone else in and if so, how many would it be. I think most were hoping for 2-3. 3 would've been ambitious but it was done by some other clubs. There has been a clammer for a new right-back all summer, Nathan Patterson looked to be going out on loan and unless he gets in the team before January, he may go out the club then. We currently have Jake O'Brien playing there who by trade is a centre back, Seamus Coleman is still on the books and played the whole game against Mansfield, can he do it in the PL, that's the question? And also, although I prefer him in midfield, James Garner can also slot in there if O'Brien was injured or had to fill in at centre back so for me, it wasn't a must this window. I said to my mate at the game on Saturday, because of the above, I think we may have not bothered this window (not that there was long to go in the window at that point) and then if Coleman hangs up his boots at the end of the season and Patterson goes (or has already gone) then we will go big for that position next summer.
Some, and I'll include myself in this, thought we may need another centre forward, especially when it became evident Chermiti was leaving, that would only leave us with Beto & Barry. I thought Moyes may want an experienced forward to call upon, this may have been the case and we may have tried/failed to bring one in but alas, that didn't happen but one we did get over the line, on loan with an obligation to buy next summer was young German centre midfielder Merlin Rohl. He has played at the under 17-21 levels for his country including the Under 21 Euros this past summer as Barry did for France. He'll be a good addition, I hope he can bed in because we'll be relying on him in December/January when Gana Gueye heads to the Africa Cup Of Nations, Ndiaye will also be off, both players play for Senegal and I believe they are favourites for that competition so they could both be away a while if they go all the way and even after that they will probably get a break before joining up with the Everton squad again, you never know, could be as much as 6 weeks we are without them.
So that's it guys, what are your takes on the window, good, bad, indifferent? With what I have said do you still think we should've gone for a right back? Do you fear, with just two centre forwards and Ndiaye going for possibly 6 weeks at the end of the year we will have enough fire power?
Let me know your thoughts.
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