I didn’t think I was mentally prepared for the season to start as it’s been a shortened summer and the way last season finished, I was, like a lot of Evertonians, emotionally drained but getting back to Goodison on Friday night brought the excitement flooding back for me. It was a great touch from the club to invite Dynamo Kyiv and all the Ukrainian fans over, reminding us that there are more important matters going on in the world but the 3-0 victory for Everton gave us plenty of positives.
Pre-season has been far from ideal for a lot of teams, trying to get the necessary minutes for their players and four games is probably not enough but the team played in a way that Frank Lampard would like and it was good to see so hopefully they can continue like that when the Premier League starts. We need competition for places and strength in depth in all departments and with five substitutes allowed now, you need five options coming off the bench who are as good as those in the starting 11.
Ruben Vinagre came in last week as another left-back to keep Vitalii Mykolenko on his toes and those two can battle it out, which is great to see. Whoever impresses in training will get the nod and you want that kind of competition for places in all positions.
