Everton’s promising season is starting to unravel | OneFootball

Cast your mind back to just over a month ago. Everton had beaten Nottingham Forest 3-0 on home turf, picking up their fourth win in five games and climbing to fifth in the league table.

The Blues had defeated Manchester United away from home for only the second time in 32 years and picked up their first-ever Premier League win over Bournemouth at the Vitality Stadium. A long-anticipated return to European football seemed increasingly closer.

There was a sense of rejuvenation and optimism at the club after a great start to the league campaign following the summer rebuild and a move to their new home on the banks of the River Mersey.

Those dreams and hopes, however, are fading quickly, if they haven’t already.

Since the first week of December, the Toffees have lost several key players, picked up just one win in seven games, endured bizarre refereeing decisions, struggled massively on the pitch, and on Saturday, any sliver of hope of winning a trophy this season came crashing down after getting knocked out of the FA Cup by Sunderland following an insipid performance and an embarrassing penalty shootout at home.

Everton’s campaign started to go awry following the trip to Stamford Bridge. The Blues lost Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall to injury while Iliman Ndiaye and Idrissa Gana Gueye left to join the Senegal national team for Afcon.

Dewsbury-Hall and Ndiaye continue to be the team’s top scorers with four goals each and Gana Gueye, despite not matching the highs of last season, brought experience in the middle.

Everton have also missed Jack Grealish and Michael Keane for a game or two over the festive period and have lost Charly Alcaraz to injury. The squad is stretched woefully thin and David Moyes is having to rely on players who haven’t received many minutes this season and are clearly rusty and lacking chemistry.

Meanwhile, all of the Blues’ existing problems have only been exacerbated. Thierno Barry and Beto aren’t finding the back of the net, the full-backs have offered very little going forward, and there’s been little in the way of chance creation.

While it’s easy and rather convenient to hide behind excuses for some of the poor results, there also needs to be a sense of accountability. It’s not the losses against Chelsea, Arsenal or Brentford that worry the Blues faithful; it’s the inability to beat the likes of Burnley and Wolves, the two lowest-ranked sides in the Premier League.

Even against Sunderland in the FA Cup this weekend, the Blues chased the shadows of their opponents all game long. The hosts were pegged back on home turf, struggling to build up and stitch together five decent passes in a row. There was no cohesion between the midfield and the forward lines, the flanks looked dead, the team’s Number 9 couldn’t win an aerial duel to save his life, and the players’ shoulders were slumped, afraid to show for the ball or make a committed challenge.

Yes, the side is missing nearly half a dozen key players and that context is extremely important, but at the very least, the club and its supporters expect the players to fight for the badge, for a half-decent performance, and for the fact that it’s been three decades since the club last lifted a trophy. Patience is starting to wear thin.

Reader Comments (24)

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Eric Myles 2 Posted 12/01/2026 at 15:11:49

"The side is missing nearly half a dozen key players and that context is extremely important"

So, given that, what's the point of this thread?

Ian Wilkins 3 Posted 12/01/2026 at 18:28:11

I think the kit thing was part of the lucrative sponsorship deal with Castore.

If you want the better deal, it seems you have to sell part of your soul.

Ashley Krotosky 4 Posted 12/01/2026 at 19:06:11

Alister (1),

The respective strips weren't the only thing that made me wonder which team was playing at home.

Jim Bennings 5 Posted 12/01/2026 at 19:08:57

The shocking kit and the way they threw it at us last minute was a disgrace.

If you are bringing out a one-off Cup kit, at least make it blue and maybe it would have worked if it had been old school 1966 retro look with the old badge.

But throwing some dark blue (black upon my first impression and still is) and frigging pink monstrosity... you really wonder what goes on in their heads.

Christy Ring 6 Posted 12/01/2026 at 19:18:02

I can't disagree with the heading, Anjishnu, our last 3/4 games at home, I definitely thought we'd get at least two wins, and the draw against Burnley has put a handbrake on our improvement.

We have a massive problem playing without a proper No 9, the elephant in the room is that neither striker is good enough to find the net on a regular basis.

Even getting Grealish, Dewsbury-Hall and Ndiaye back won't fix the problem; we need to sign a striker this month.

Bill Fairfield 7 Posted 12/01/2026 at 19:28:21

I remember the 5-0 thrashing of Colchester at home in the 5th round after Colchester had knocked out the mighty Leeds in the previous round.

We changed our strip that day.

Mark Murphy 8 Posted 12/01/2026 at 20:04:03

I was at that game... stood on a wooden stool my dad made for me.

Some random bloke lifted me above his head when Alan Ball scored! I was 12!!!

Neil Cremin 9 Posted 12/01/2026 at 20:25:31

Christy, I'm not sure that, with that full midfield back and a new striker, it will solve our problems.

The difference between us and Sunderland, Brentford and Wolves (2nd half) was speed of play. Our passing speed, even with out best midfield, is way too pedestrian.

Les Callan 10 Posted 12/01/2026 at 22:20:15

Bill @ 7, wouldn't that have been because Colchester ordinarily played in blue, we as the away team had to change kit?

Phillip Warrington 11 Posted 13/01/2026 at 05:46:58

Look at every manager who has replaced Moyes the first time, all were the next best thing and look what that got us. Funnily enough, most of them doing alright since leaving Everton.

Garner's penalty was iffy but Beto's and Barry's penalties just show how badly we need a striker. People think this team can be world beaters, but their inconsistencies show how average a team we have when we don't have our better players playing.

We have a long way to catch up in the transfer market due to our debts; none of the so-called big managers would touch Everton because they can't buy their way out of trouble.

People blame Moyes but can he really control how many chances our strikers miss, or how many times our players self-destruct or miss passes when they are not under pressure?

The one thing you could criticize him for is not playing the younger players enough. When Dibling comes on, he shows glimpses but that's it, but he loses the ball a lot and doesn't seem to be that committed.

I think the club itself has been so downtrodden for so many years it's forgotten how to stand tall and fight. Stand up, board... question every bad call and demand answers and show everybody no one can walk all over Everton FC!

Derek Thomas 12 Posted 13/01/2026 at 07:00:08

Neil @ 9: Exactly; Barry Beto (if you put the 2 of them together you wouldn't get a decent player)

Anyway,

However good or poor they may both be...even when all the missing players were there, they weren't getting that many chances due to the way the team is set up - this is the real problem.

Jim Bennings 13 Posted 13/01/2026 at 07:15:08

We have the misconceptions that getting players back will all of a sudden transform things. The reality is very different and experience has told us that over the years.

Branthwaite has been missing for a year basically; when he eventually returns, the challenge for him will be to stay fit, the remaining games of this season will be his pre-season.

Obviously Dewsbury-Hall has had less time out injured but again, with a hamstring injury, you can only hope that he stays okay. Grealish and Ndiaye obviously give us something else but the lack of pace in the side, particularly out wide, is still there, the lack of overall movement and how slowly we move the ball is also still prominent.

They always say the way a team plays and has its style set should not be reliant on individuals, whoever comes in should be expected to play the same way, and you only need to watch Brentford for a great example of that.

Mark Murphy 14 Posted 13/01/2026 at 07:38:00

Ah come on Jim! How can it be a “misconception” to think that the return of quality players like Ndiaye, Grealish and Dewsbury-Hall, to name just three, won't improve the performances and results?

Of course we're a better side with our best players playing.Our best XI is good enough for Top 8, in my opinion.

Mal van Schaick 15 Posted 13/01/2026 at 08:12:21

It’s been a bit of a rollercoaster season so far with highs and lows, injuries, suspension and Afcon.

When I look at the teams at the top of the league, they do have more consistency and less player issues to deal with and strength in depth. I suppose that is something that Everton have to address if the owners have ambitions for Europe, but at the moment we’ve been dumped out of the cups and only have a reasonable league position. Things might improves when we have all the players fit and available again.

Jim Bennings 16 Posted 13/01/2026 at 08:35:46

Mark

We struggled in many games they've appeared in though right?

How about the West Ham home game?

The Spurs and Newcastle home games when we barely created anything?

All I'm saying is we haven't exactly looked unreal even with them fully firing.

Ray Jacques 17 Posted 13/01/2026 at 09:02:56

I've read all the posts above. I agree with some, disagree with some.

I remember the Colchester game but the semi final tie that was next up I still believe is a game that defined Everton for the next 15 years to a sustained period of failure and disappointment.

We are a mid table team from 10th to 14th, we are no better than this. It is however progress from the last 5 years of constant struggle near the bottom. Injuries, suspensions etc are all part of football and have to be accomodated and dealt with as the season progresses. AFCON didnt just happen from November, it was known about for months so complaints about missing those two players are not a viable excuse from the club.

The most distressing aspect of the good ship Everton is that despite the above and complaints about a threadbare squad and the quality of players used as replacements, there is a deathly silence on potential transfers. The ridiculous penalty efforts by Barry and Beto must surely set alarm bells ringing.

"unreal" no, Jim, not even potent, in those earlier games. But those 3 players in a settled line up make us a much better team than weve seen since Afcom and KDH' injury.

I fully agree that even our best 11 is not going to threaten the top 6 places but then surely none of us imagined that so soon?

I DO believe our best 11 can qualify for Europe and we can attract better players on the back of that. As I've said before, the new stadium is a massive game changer for us, European qualification would boost that.

I also believe our current best eleven will NOT be our best eleven this time next season. A whole new back four (Branthwaite and O'brien included) at least one pacy winger who can cross the ball (I don't think Jack will be with us beyond this season, nor am I sure he is the answer if we want to change - and I'm worried NDiaye will move on to "bigger and better") and, of course, a striker who can beat a stationary keeper from 12 yards at least.

For the record - I don't want Moyes as manager from the last kick of this season but I do think he's the best man for the job in hand and I do think he's done a good job since he came in. I was livid on saturday but when the dust has settled, saturday wasn't his fault.

My worry is, and I think this is shared by many, is that David Moyes will simply continue to sign steady eddies (eg, Soucek ) and isn't the man to take us forward. We need to radically change our approach to the modern game and that, to me, means a change of management AND recruitment. There's no point signing fast attacking minded players if we still have a safety first, percentages manager. Similarly theres no point bringing in an attack minded coach and expecting him to work with most of the current squad. Bring in an attack minded, progressive coach and give him the lead say on transfers in.

Les Callan 20 Posted 13/01/2026 at 10:04:35

Yes that’s right Bill. In those days, in the FA Cup, the home team had to change.

John Collins 21 Posted 13/01/2026 at 10:13:02

I'm going with around 12th ish finishing position.

Improvement on recent seasons but not good enough for this football club and its fans imo.

We need progress up the league next couple of seasons,8th-9th next season minimal.

Following season we should be looking to push for European football.

Wont happen overnight.

Bill Fairfield 23 Posted 13/01/2026 at 11:56:02

The full back Emil Holm has an injury record on a par with Patto. If the reports are true,why are we looking at him?

Mark Murphy 24 Posted 13/01/2026 at 13:15:08

"Everton played in a yellow (amber and blue) change strip in their 1971 FA Cup quarter-final match against Colchester United due to a competition rule that required both teams to change their kits if there was a colour clash, even though Everton was the home team.

The FA Cup rules at the time stipulated that in the event of a clash, both sides must wear an alternative kit. Colchester United's primary kit was blue and white stripes, which clashed with Everton's traditional royal blue home kit. Colchester United played in red for the match, while Everton wore their amber and blue away kit. "