Another tumultuous campaign at Goodison Park has come to an end and members of the ECHO sportsdesk are offering their thoughts on proceedings with a review of Everton’s season.
A two-part special sees Chris Beesley, Matt Jones, Connor O’Neill, Joe Thomas and Paul Wheelock give their conclusions on the Blues’ offerings from 2022/23. Here’s the second instalment…
Who is your Everton player of the season?
CB: I don’t think there’s much competition for this one to be fair. James Tarkowski was consistent as the only outfield player in the Premier League to play every minute and the likes of Dwight McNeil and Abdoulaye Doucoure both upped their games considerably after Sean Dyche was appointed but in terms of performances over the season then England’s number one Jordan Pickford was Everton’s saviour again.
Only that age-old naivety over the importance of goalkeepers to a team – Neville Southall was the FWA Footballer of the Year during the most-successful season in the Blues’ history while Pickford still made a string of world-class saves in the 5-1 win at Brighton – would tempt anyone within Goodison’s corridors of power to be tempted to cash in on him this summer when it comes to attempting to raise potential funds to rebuild the squad. All of his 52 Three Lions caps have come as an Everton player and we’re very fortunate that he enjoys life at the club.
READ NEXT: Man City and 'the greatest story in club football' remind Everton what might have been
READ NEXT: Everton-linked striker El Bilal Toure tops Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Erling Haaland in key area
MJ: Jordan Pickford remains Everton’s best and most consistent player by a considerable distance. While there were a few peculiar moments – going for a walk as Mohamed Salah scored at Anfield perhaps the most noticeable – Pickford has matured into a dependable option between the sticks.
The rash moments that had punctured his game a couple of years ago have long gone. Pickford is a settling presence and a leader at the base of the team who is also capable of pulling off spectacular moments.
It felt fitting that even in Everton’s best performance of the season – a stunning 5-1 success on the road at Brighton & Hove Albion – Pickford’s string of stops in the second half arguably made him the Blues’ Man of the Match.
CON: Jordan Pickford. Boring and predictable, I know, but who knows where Everton would find themselves if it weren’t for the England international?
Even against Bournemouth on the final day, he made two vital interceptions that were crucial in terms of the club staying up. Special mentions go to James Tarkowski and Dwight McNeil, but it has to be Pickford.
JT: It has to be Jordan Pickford, consistently superb – again. His save from Willian at Fulham still plays in my memory but when you look at what he did in the heat of the relegation battle for a second consecutive season it is difficult to quantify his impact. The penalty save from James Maddison might be the most important in Everton’s history.
PW: If we’re going on form shown at the end of the season, Dwight McNeil and Abdoulaye Doucoure would be in the running, but looking across the whole of the campaign, it has to be Jordan Pickford. He is England’s best goalkeeper by a long chalk, despite what some supporters and journalists say.
Who was the biggest disappointment for you?
CB: Neal Maupay. After scoring on his full debut against West Ham United there were high hopes for the French striker but that proved to be his solitary strike in 29 outings.
The former Brighton & Hove Albion man was supposedly Premier League proven but it just hasn’t worked for him at Everton. A lot of that isn’t his fault though as the team seldom played to his strengths and he’s anything but a like-for-like alternative to Dominic Calvert-Lewin.
Maupay was just one of several questionable transfer decisions. While Tarkowski was no risk coming on a free and McNeil came good eventually, Idrissa Gueye kept his former club hanging on for a number of weeks at the start of the season only to come back looking like a shadow of his former self at times.
One can only wonder how bad Ruben Vinagre looked in training not to get a Premier League outing after August and even the Conor Coady loan which at first seemed inspired and a shoo-in to be turned into a permanent deal, ended with the Blues not taking up their option.
Amadou Onana was the kind of exciting prospect you love to see Everton take a punt on but while he’s a precocious talent, who might go on to blossom in a better side, given the huge ability he possesses, he should have been dominating matches much more. It’s all well and good for director of football Kevin Thelwell to be plotting 120-point plans to overhaul the club but the Blues need to start with a strategy of how to reach 40 points next season.
MJ: It has to be Neal Maupay. Everton signed a striker who was in no way a suitable replacement for Dominic Calvert-Lewin.
Now, in terms of the skills needed to play up front in a Sean Dyche side, he arguably has none of the characteristics required. Even the snarl and spite he played with at times at Brighton was absent in a royal blue jersey.
Yet another poor bit of business from the club’s recruitment team.
CON: Well, there are plenty to choose from. Neal Maupay, the failure to bring in a forward on the final day of the January transfer window, the exit of Anthony Gordon and the way the club became engulfed in a civil war that could have had a catastrophic end.
However, the biggest disappointment for me was Frank Lampard. After the end of last season, hopes were high; however, what transpired was nothing more than a disaster.
In truth, Lampard should have been sacked after the back-to-back defeats to Bournemouth and, certainly, after the defeat to Brighton. However, he somehow survived.
In the end, the decision to part company with him was an easy one. It simply had to be done. But as he left, it felt like he never quite learned his lessons from last season.
JT: I think my biggest disappointment was the misfortune of Nathan Patterson with injuries. At the start of the season he looked good – particularly in the derby.
He’s a player I want to see do well and with Seamus Coleman to tutor him he has every chance. But he needs to have some luck with injuries because it’s been a real shame to see him pick up so many issues at such key stages of his development.
PW: Neal Maupay. Even before the arrival of Sean Dyche, Maupay didn’t seem to fit the profile of what it is to be an Everton centre-forward.
So the recruitment department have to take a fair share of the blame for his performances. But a return of just one goal all season – particularly given the chances he missed – is just not good enough.
What’s your verdict on Sean Dyche?
CB: Even before his appointment, the former Burnley manager seemed the most-obvious replacement for Lampard and most likely candidate to keep what looked like a sinking ship above water. His long-term record in charge of the Clarets for almost a decade suggests that he deserves a chance in a bigger job like Everton, even if they only turned to him when they’d hit rock bottom but I’m sure he’s now well aware that expectation levels are quite rightly much higher at Goodison Park than Turf Moor.
With seven managerial appointments since 2016 under Farhad Moshiri, the Blues have lost their way in terms of identity with a patchwork quilt of a squad assembled by those varying bosses and they need to re-establish a clear way of playing that their supporters can latch on to. Dyche can do that and after often having to try and make a silk purse from a sow’s ear when funds were tight at his previous job, it looks like he’ll have to attempt something similar here to revive Everton’s flagging fortunes.
MJ: I think there have been some big red flags in terms of tactics and substitutions, but overall context is important – he’s done a fine job. Everton felt like a lost cause after Southampton and were arguably in an even worse position after selling Anthony Gordon and bringing in nobody later that.
Kindling some fan unity and getting semi-regular competent performances from an awful squad is an achievement. He has been an upgrade on his predecessor and a calming presence when all else around him resembled a circus.
I doubt he will be an Everton manager for the next three to five years, but if he can drop anchor in lower mid-table for a season or two – a decent margin away from the relegation places – then it could be considered a solid job.
CON: Sean Dyche was dealt a tough hand when he arrived at the club. A club engulfed in a civil war.
He was then let down by the Goodison Park hierarchy on transfer deadline day when they failed to land him a forward, despite majority shareholder Farhad Moshiri promising supporters the Blues would secure the services of one.
Initially managing to get a boost from his side, Dyche then made a number of questionable calls as his side battled to avoid the drop. However, he ultimately got the job done and ensured Everton would be playing in the Premier League next season.
And for that, he deserves the chance to lead Everton next season. Also, Dyche’s comments post-Bournemouth were refreshingly honest, and it is clear that he understands the job at hand.
JT: He came in to do a job that looked incredibly difficult and he did it. He found a way to turn Everton into an attacking threat without Dominic Calvert-Lewin, which looked nigh-on impossible.
He didn’t get every call right and I think there were times when fans had justification to be confused or frustrated but the chaos of what he inherited was a significant factor in that. He deserves every chance to build on his initial achievement.
PW: He did what he had to do – keep Everton in the Premier League. That he achieved that with being the only Premier League manager not to be afforded a single signing in the January transfer window is testament to his managerial abilities.
Yes, he could and should have brought Yerry Mina into the team earlier, and there were at times when his substitutions, or lack of them, raised eyebrows. But then you take a look at the bench and that becomes more understandable.
And while his wait to throw Mina in was questionable, you can flip that and point to the fact that two other players who played such a pivotal role in the run-in – Dwight McNeil and Abdoulaye Doucoure – were transformed under him.
Everton need stability and I think Dyche is the right man for the job. But he needs support from the powers that be.
READ MORE
