Everton’s predictable offensive setup crying for a reset in the wake of the Merseyside derby

Get rid of both, I say.

I totally agree with all your points and said so on Michael's post on the game.

Harrison and Doucoure will never produce or score enough goals to help us challenge for trophies. I am sure Moyes will be weighing up his options regarding his front 3 for next season.

I think long term probably Chermiti is the best hope — we can't ask a young lad to lead the line for all next season. I haven't seen enough of Broja to know whether to try and extend his loan. And Beto, though a willing worker, just doesn't have the quality to be the long-term answer.

The problem is the, most expensive problem to fix in a side is that of attackers, they come at premium rates that at the moment we can't afford. So Moyes and his scouts will have to try and come up with cheaper alternatives. But for me anything would be better than Harrison or Doucoure.

He's a good un and a great attitude and application. He loves us too. Many of us love him back. Ole Norberto!

Most missed chances this season: Haaland and Salah.

He surely also must now realise Harrison and Doucouré are not up to it.

Stop playing them, for fuck's sake, they are a liability on the ball.

We have a strong developing squad that needs improving mostly in the finishing area; defensively we have players that their age shows their weakness is starting to show in their timing in tackles and positional play.

David Moyes has a difficult job before the start of next season and let's hope that the new director is as good as his reputation. We definitely need a finisher but he has to be part of the team as we may loose players in the off-season, preferably the two that keep getting mentioned.

It's a team game in that it does not matter what position you play, you still need your team to help, but it would be nice having someone that could put the ball in the back of the net during a game and not just in training.

I reiterate what I've said for many weeks: an overhaul will happen this summer… if it doesn't, then I'll be very surprised.

Dominic Calvert-Lewin will leave as a free agent, injury prone that he's been these last 4 years.

Harrison will go back to Leeds with no chance of us loaning him back and even less chance of a permanent move.

Broja will go back to Chelsea with the expected injury record that we all feared bearing fruition.

Unless we can orchestrate a second loan for Jesper Lindstrøm, then he'll be gone too, and it's up for debate whether he's even done enough while on loan.

Young and Keane must surely leave this summer.

Doucoure won't be getting kept on by the look of it and I'd expect him to find pastures new in the land of oil.

I wouldn't be at all shocked to see Patterson go back to Rangers in some capacity, another player that's not made a jot of impact in 3 years.

Then of course there is the saga that will no doubt be Jarrad Branthwaite's future.

Only sentiment would allow Seamus Coleman to remain here as, in my eyes now, he's no longer a player, just a fan favourite that remains in the foundations, his contribution to the playing side ended years ago.

It also remains to be seen if we can negotiate a deal to sign Charly Alcaraz.

It's going to be a summer of outs, I think; it would surprise me and probably disappoint me if it isn't.

But the whole of the left-hand side was wide open, it was easier to shoot to the left, a terrible miss.

It's probably going to be easier to upgrade the more versatile wing / forward options (the RS lined up without a conventional striker last night as they often do).

If we do that – and also bring in a quality right-back – then the whole team becomes more potent in attack.

I agree, because of circumstances, Beto is likely to still be here next season. In fact, if he had carried on scoring like he started under Moyes, we have got a good sized fee for him and possibly could still if he scores a few more between now and the end of the season.

He's playing upfront on his own mostly and creating chances, WIth eight more games to play, if he gets 5 or 6 goals in those games, he could get us the value we agreed to pay for him!

A good report of the game, Anjishnu.

Goes on a scoring streak, looks for more inspiration and watches the rest – Calvert-Lewin 0150 can't fuckin score in a brothel now!!!

It's all about quality. Obviously everything else that makes both a player and a team are very important, but quality wins the game most weeks.

Beto is an enigma: he worked hard, never gave up, but I never quite fancy him when he's in dangerous areas because he simply lacks quality.

I've said I'd play Doucoure out wide and not many people would agree with this but watching Harrison going down blind alleys before eventually getting bullied does become soul-destroying.

Doucoure would go down those same blind alleys but would rarely be bullied because nobody including himself knows what he's going to do next.

Back to Harrison, I was disgusted rather than shocked, when he never drove at the outnumbered Liverpool defence with enough pace to suck them in and then play Alcaraz in, but I was shocked that he hadn't been replaced by that stage!

Talking aboutaod Branthwaite's performance last night.

And I would go even further with getting rid of the Gana and Garner pair, who were also anonymous in midfield last night.

We need to aim higher and higher than the present squad.
Keep Pickford, O'Brien, Tarkowski, Branthwaite, Alcaraz and Ndiaye… a decent 6-a-side team!

He was villain or hero last night. Largely isolated, he scored, only to be ruled marginally offside (finished well; shrugged off defender well) – and then he shrugged off their central defenders but hit the post. Another day, he's a hero.

Beyond these scenarios, he can't hold the ball up, so doesn't give us a release option. All been said before but he's no good with his back to goal; he can be effective facing goal.

I don't think he's the guy to spearhead our attack at the new stadium, hold as a No 2 striker (he wasn't prepared to accept that, wanted a move) or sell if we can get decent value. I think it's the latter.

Let's invest in some young, hungry talent and, although many will not like this, retain a couple of the out-of-contract players. In regard to the latter, Gana and Young would be on my retain list.

For Beto's chance one one-on-one, the keeper dives to the right where Beto shoots, but the whole of the lefthand side was wide open, it was easier shoot to the left, terrible miss.

Someone on the Live Forum said that Beto did not miss this chance. Repeat, did not miss.

He's even ruined his barnet now with his Shogun hair bun.

In my opinion, Beto made it harder for himself by going to the keeper's right, because there was less room to work with from where he was shooting from, he was on that side of the goal himself.

Perhaps he was thinking something different might work. It almost did in that he managed to get it past Kelleher but not the post, unfortunately.

Perhaps the answer is to move Garner out to the right, and play Iroegbunam alongside Gueye and allow Alcaraz the freedom to flourish and to really impact the game.

Doucoure is leaving. Why persist?

No wingers and the backs going inside into an inverted wingback role. A return to Dycheball. Any of the chances forwards got were snap chances. There was little support play for forwards.

Doucoure can't pass so he doesn't provide support play and his flicks just result in losing possession. Harrison is a waste of space regarding support play, but selected due to his defensive effort.

Liverpool's poor defense provided more support for Beto than Everton. Unfortinately, he is not clinical.

The current low block and rapid counter-attacking seems to get more attacking opportunities but, at the moment, too many of them are being butchered.

Surely it's too early to give up on Chermiti? I actually thought their keeper did a good job of staying on his feet and causing Beto to slightly over-pull what was a pretty good effort.

With the players available, I don't think we would have stood a chance with anything other than a compact defensive shape and a counter-attacking approach.

Regrettably our players were not good enough to capitalise on the sporadic opportunities which arose. That's not a new thing. It's why our previous manager focused on the one thing the players can do effectively: defend in depth.

We have now played eight games in all competitions with only one win and no clean sheets. Not all of those teams have been of the top quality. Worryingly, bigger tests, on paper at least, lie immediately in front of us.

I see no viable option other than to focus first and foremost on defensive strength. That's what suits the players against the best teams.

Only one striker we've had in this century would have created those two chances by outmuscling defenders the way he did, and that's Rom.

Beto finished the first chance with calm and was denied by the flag, and he hit the second one sharply and was denied by the post. Bad luck both ways. Nobody we have could have done better.

But I can't wait for Chermiti to get his chance.

This is a great opportunity for Everton to reset a number of issues and build for a better future. Onwards and upwards. Coyb.

Unfortunately you are right, but Moyes's substitutions in the Man Utd match lost the game and persistence with Doucoure and Harrison make him increasingly look like Dyche.

Moyes in the derby stopped the wing play. Doucoure adds nothing to the midfield trio, which normally has more space to play in against the top half table sides.

The counter-attack does need support play to effectively function. A Premier League team has to have more depth going forward, or else their forwards are bottled up into unfavourable goal-scoring positions. Forward play needs more supported movement to avoid this.

Whilst a Premier League club can mark up, the more effective defence is to limit opportunities and push forwards into positions that a goalkeeper can effectively save from.

Moyes should be moved into this position to do what he's very good at, finding decent players. His time in the dugout is over, please employ a young coach with fresh ideas. If it goes wrong, Moyes can step back in as Caretaker.

It's a great role for him, it could be a 10-year position – a reward for coming back to the club and caring. We collectively need the excitement of a new name being announced as first team manager for next season.

Hurzeler, Iraola and Frank would be the three main contenders. I fear Moyes's ego, and any manager in his position, with his record, would not accept this though. They love the day-to-day coaching too much maybe?

It's a shame, because I think he would make a great Director of Football for Everton. It would give the club the stability it needs, while also being able to experiment with a more modern coaching style, until we find the right formula.

Will never happen, of course, but good post.

Generally, I thought our set-up was good. We restricted their chances and created chances on the counter.

Doucoure is no Number 10 but I guess Moyes wanted his physical presence in midfield. Harrison didn't have a great game (especially going forward) but with no McNeil, he's probably our best crosser and corner taker.

At the end of the day, Moyes can only work with what he has.

We generally lack pace and quality, Harrison being an example of someone who looks okay but can never beat a player and fails to deliver a killer pass or cross. Simply not good enough; if we must play him, only ever put him on the left, telling him to cross asap.

Doucoure is in the team for his athleticism. He is a poor player and is nowhere near Premier League standard. His passing and general play is poor. It would be interesting to see who out of Harrison or Doucoure had the worst passing stats.

The only loan player I would have kept was Mangala. Sadly, his terrible injury took away that chance.

There are many good, pacey players in the Championship and the Chelsea, City, Villa and other teams academies that would improve our first XI. We just need the right scout and recruitment team to bring them in.

Working hard is the bare minimum which I'm sure many players would love the chance to prove whilst not demanding the silly wages Dom and the above players would.

What about the rest of the statistic Peter? It's a fair bet that they missed the most chances because they attempted the most chances.

Jim #7 "It also remains to be seen if we can negotiate a deal to sign Charly Alcaraz."

We already have Jim, it's in the loan agreement, an obligation to buy at a set price after X appearances. I think he has 4 or 5 more to trigger that.

My understanding of this new fangled DoF position is that he sets the model for how the team plays and brings in the players to play to that model.

So you want Dour Davey to set the model in his KITNAP1 image and then what is an exciting manager going to do with that team? We'd need another Allardyce or Dyche to play that set up surely?

You said no other striker apart from Rom would have created the two chances by outmuscling the defenders the way he did.

I know you're not a fan of Calvert-Lewin, but was he not MotM last season against the redshite, scoring and giving Van Dijk and Konate a torrid time?

This is football — not that strange theatre that passes for sport in Trumpton.

I was against the Moyes appointment but I admit that he has done a sterling job so far. Most of us are aware of his limitations so I will reserve my full judgement until the beginning of next season.

My understand of good offensive play is a team that is effective in recovering the ball and then has effective supported and tactical attacking play to make use of the ball. Everton in the 1980s were masters of this.

This is the reason that I disputed the use of 'offensive' in this article, since Everton under both Dyche and Moyes (faded from early promise) do not have an effective supporting and tactical attacking strategy.

Any Premier League club can defend against this all day and every day, where the attacking players are feeding off scraps and hoping to get the right connection on the ball. In the Premier League, the percentages are against them. This is all analysed to death, with computer models to make sure that is so.

Soccer is not as bad as Rugby Union yet, where I saw laptops being used in the dugout.

"Ohhh, the Everton offence,
Yes, yes, yes, it's the Everton offence."

With thanks to Ray Davies.

My nephew is 12, he's on Everton's books and he's got a better first touch and is a better passer than any of those 3.

I think 7 of the current squad are worth keeping.

He even had a golden opportunity to stop the tidal flow against our goal at half time. It was abundantly clear that we were a threat with Beto and Alcaraz going forward. Even the dreadful Harrison and woeful Doucoure had moments which indicated that they were there for the taking.

Instead of taking off Harrison, Doucoure and the ineffective Garner at half-time, in order to attack and defeat them, he took his usual coward's pill. We had better and more skilful players on the bench, chomping at the bit. We have a strong, great, solid defence (excluding Mykolenko at times), weak and porous midfield, and a zero-rated attack.

Yet Beto was stronger, faster and better than their rearguard on the night. He scored a legal onside goal and beat Kelleher, denied by the post. Yet we didn't press on, playing to his strength.

So, when the evidence is presented the conclusion is Moyes failed. He chickened out. Yes, Moyes has rescued us from possible relegation. However, he clearly shows that he is too weak and scared to be positive. He has to be a very short-term buffer.

His goal in the derby was ruled fractionally offside and he hit the post after getting clean through their defence. A bit more luck and we could have been 2-0 up at half time.

Maybe if he had more help, something that has dogged our strikers for years, he might score more goals. Our strikers are always left stranded up the park waiting for the big hoof.

Until we start giving whoever our striker is more support, especially from the wings, this situation will never change. As it is, Alan Shearer in his prime would have problems scoring goals in our side.

Schedule
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Argh!

Simon #49, similar comment. Nobody else we have could have even gotten those one-on-ones. Limited? Definitely, but certainly less limited in that area than the guy he replaced. And we're some distance away from attracting top strikers yet. He will and should stay until we can.

Your ‘defences’ of Beto are getting more ridiculous by the minute. Might that have something to do with your inflated image of Beto in January which, to be fair, looked nice for four games, but since then have dwindled in 5 barren games in which Beto pitifully fluffed not one but five one-on-ones?

This amused me:

‘… and then rode two challengers and beat the keeper again, only to be denied by the post’.

‘Denied’. You mean the post saved it?

On the LF you said it was not - and I quote – a “miss” (Brentford/Palace similar – great saves not misses).

The post saved it.

How is a pitiful one-on-one not a miss?

Seriously, your idealised Beto and his idealised misses are, like Beto himself, way off target.

St Virgil completely missed his clearance and allowed Beto an easy one-on-one on Wednesday. The shite goalkeeper showed him half the goal and he still missed. How on earth can you try to give the big fella any credit for that ? It was handed to him on a plate... It's the 6th one-on-one he has missed in five games. "denied by the post" ?...WTF does that mean ?. Oh and he wasnt denied by the flag either. He was offside just as DCL has been when he has put it in the net.

You are applying double standards Mike. You obviously want to be proven right about Beto and DCL. Unfortunately your determination to separate the wheat from the chaff is leaving you holding a handful of chaff. Your claim that DCL has never scored a great goal was so roundly ridiculed because it was as one eyed as your defence of Beto's sitters.

How about supporting both players ?.. At least as long as they play for Everton

Calvert-Lewin: Relies on crosses. A hit-and-miss finisher. Good for 8 to 14 goals in a 38 game season.

Both are willing runners, hard workers and have good physical attributes. Neither are especially talented. Both have probably achieved more than was expected – largely down to hard work and good attitude.

Hopefully we can start to focus our attack around more talented players – and stop depending on a big man up top.