So what is our best eleven?

Pickford
Coleman
Mykolenko
Keane
Godfrey
Allan
Van de Beek
Doucouré
Gray
Richarlison
Calvert-Lewin

I think the important thing for Everton going forward in the medium term is to have a squad flexible to adapt to playing 4-4-2, or 3-5-1, or 5-32 etc.

In that situation, I agree that broadly we do now have a squad that whilst not yet a top 4 challenger should certainly be looking for top 8 and then build from there.

Pickford
Coleman
Holgate
Keane
Godfrey
Allan
Van de Beek
Gordon
Gray
Richarlison
Calvert-Lewin

But onto Van de Beek, I wouldn't go overboard just yet. Firstly, he couldn't get a game at Man Utd, and they've looked at him all season. Secondly, I went into overdrive to praise Schneiderlin and Gomes, both similar type of players to Van de Beek and both looked like Rolls-Royces when they first arrived only to find that there was sawdust in the engine.

Finally, Jonjoe Kenny: He was my MotM on Saturday despite a case being made for just about every other player. But it's his second outing at left-back and he looks quite tasty.

So, just like Van de Beek, the jury's still out on Kenny, but I'd be surprised if he was replaced by Mykolenko vs Saints.

I am not saying who is who because I think that is unfair on them. But the honest question is if you were Pep or Plopp, which player would you sign, if any?

It is somewhat hit and miss this transfer lark but it is noticeable that virtually all £40m players play for the Sky Six. The rest of us have one each (Check out my article in the archives from December). The policy needs to be to keep what who we want to keep, let the contracts run down on those we don't or get lucky with a sale of two. We not longer need a scatter gun approach with loads of players each season but a sniper's rifle to buy one really good world class player each season.

Then we will be a team of 7 Porsches and 4 BWMs

Remember - Both back up goalies, JJK, Delph, Sigurdsson and Tosun are all out of contract in the summer.

As regards our first 11, it's impossible to tell right now. The more important thing is that, for now, players are working hard and pulling in the same direction.

Pickford; Coleman, Mina, Keane, Kenny; Allan, Van De Beek, Gray, Richarlison; Alli, Calvert-Lewin.

Pickford; Kenny, Holgate, Mina, Godfrey; Allan, Doucoure, Gray, Townsend; Van der Beek, Calvert-Lewin.

The first one has more flair but the second has more industry.

Gray is in both because of his form this season while Richarlison is in one based on reputation and return from previous seasons. Dele Alli is only in one despite me thinking if he gets back his mojo, he will be an automatic starter.

I've completely left out Gordon which is no reflection of my opinion of him. I think he is doing great. But he plays in a position where we are well stocked. If he starts matching Gray and Richarlison, then he goes in.

I would say that because we have splurged out in the transfer market so much that while we've failed a lot, we have also accrued a lot of talent.

They just need coaching and setting up properly and then we should definitely be in the top half with this lot. Yikes, Silva had many of them there without Gordon, Gray, Doucoure, Allan and he had a developing Calvert-Lewin alone up front.

What is clear is that we have several very good attacking players that just can't fit into the same XI - Gray, Gordon, Calvert-Lewin, Richarlison & Alli – you can't really leave any of them out but you must.

The one I would always play is Gordon as he is the one that is not selfish and is improving at a rate of knots. Nice problem to have, but add anymore top strikers in the transfer window and squad discontent will follow.

As for my first XI, I'd go for:

Pickford
Coleman
Mina
Godfrey
Mykolenko
Doucouré
Van de Beek
Gray
Richarlison
Calvert-Lewin
Gordon

Pace and balance.

I think you're a bit optimistic to say the least with that unproven back four. I'd say as far as best 11 goes: 3 from four of Calvert-Lewin, Richarlison, Gordon and Gray, Allan, Pickford and the other six much of a muchness.

I don't really care as no one stands out other than Van de Beek who may not be here long. Gomes and Iwobi have occasional great games, Davies has slightly more often okay games, Doucouré is probably the best running at every other game good or crap. Not sure on Alli yet, Gbamin and Delph are finished, Townsend is solid but the fifth best option for the front three.

All the defenders have about the same mix of pros and cons. Maybe Mykolenko, Patterson, Branthwaite and Nkounkou will prove themselves, maybe not. All the seniors are more miss than hit.

So, Pickford, four full-backs (Nkounkou or Coleman as one), five central defenders, Calvert-Lewin and Richi as strikers which assumes Alli, Gray, Gordon & Townsend as midfielder-cum-striker which would mean three others to make up a midfield.

Best eleven seems a luxury, or is it the five juniors, but whatever it needs to be over at least two seasons.

It's so hard to tell now until we see who can maintain the levels shown on Saturday and which system or formation Lampard seems to prefer.

The likes of Calvert-Lewin, Mina, Allan, Pickford and possibly now Gordon (or Gray?) would seem to pick themselves when fully fit and the rest is still to be seen.

It will be interesting to see who is sold this summer. Richarlison must be itching to join a team challenging for trophies and must have been given assurances that he could leave at some point. Calvert-Lewin is another who might have fancy suitors if he recovers his form of early season. Will Mykolenko and Patterson prove up to the job or will they be the latest in a long line of overpriced deadwood?

Everton will lose the hefty contracts of Delph, Sigurdsson and Tosun this summer whilst losing very little on the field. Who will be making the transfer moves? Will a new DoF be brought in? Or will Moshiri and Kenwright once again be picking targets and negotiating deals?

Most people say Keane and Holgate can't play together, but our two best defensive displays imo this season, have had both of them playing in the middle of our back four (Saturday & Brighton away).

Van de Beek was very good on Saturday, but once the style is in place, maybe there are even better players than Donny to implement it, is how we should be feeling. There is always someone better somewhere, and that's got to be our long term aim if we are to become a successful football club!

Pickford
Coleman, Keane, Mina, Godfrey
Doucoureé, Allan, Van de Beek
Gordon, Richarlison, Gray

Second string:

Begovic
Kenny, Holgate, Branthwaite, Mykolenko
Gomes, Allan, Townsend
Alli, Calvert-Lewin, Iwobi

Note : Allan is in both teams because he is irreplaceable.

Subs: Davies, Patterson, Rondon*,

* I know I will be in the minority but I reckon Rondon still has a part to play in the second half of the season.

Observations:
We are spoilt for choice up front.
We need another ball-winning midfielder, but most of all...
We need an experienced centre-half because unfortunately our best centre-half, Mina, cannot stay uninjured.
I think Dele Alli will be challenging for a starting spot before very long. Competition is good – maybe there will be a bit of rotation.

Assuming we keep the centrebacks, we have enough to rotate around. The main issue I see, is our full-backs. We need a ready first-team replacement for Seamus if Patterson is not ready. On the opposite flank, I think the jury is still out on both Mykolenko and Nkounkou.

I think upfront, while we can have Alli and Richarlison where needed, Calvert-Lewin is quite unreplaceable a target man. The wide players have enough competition, which I think, only bodes well (Townsend, Gray, Iwobi, Gordon), and the centre of the park can still be very promising.

If the double-no 6 pivot against Leeds is a sign of what's possible, then I think Gomes can operate there quite well too.

Like what many say here, our players are nowhere near the world-beaters that the top few clubs have, but it's about getting them gelled together in a system, tight enough to string passes together, press etc.

We can go somewhere with this squad.

As for Van de Beek, I would suggest he's probably the best footballer at the club right now. By that, I mean as a pure footballer with a footballing brain and the ability to back it up. I know it's early days and most people in the UK haven't seen much of him, but the kid is a class act.

He was seriously good at Ajax – ignore his time at Man Utd, they're a mess and he was caught up in it.

Ajax fans LOVE Donny van de Beek, and with good reason. Lampard should be the ideal coach for him, Alli and Gordon to learn from.

Isn't this just another case of players' credentials being enhanced when they're not playing? Lots of people were calling for Gbamin a short while ago despite the fact that he has hardly played.

I'd like to see the likes of Mina and Coleman replaced but I'm not confident (yet) to propose that any of the above prospects is good enough. I sincerely hope they are.

To do that, you need depth. I think we've made a positive move last window in doing that. Still work in progress, but getting there and we have options.

In our last era of glory, it was easy. The team, when fit, picked itself. We still sing a song about it on away days. I don't think it's like that now.

Personally I can't be bothered wondering about next season, and which personnel may be involved, until this one comes to a satisfactory conclusion, and I can't fathom those who are mentally prepping for season 22-23.

How the next 16 games go will have a huge impact on who we keep (and who I'd want to keep), never mind who we might recruit (Donny will have some sort of clause no matter what might be pre-agreed).

I don't think I'm being a sour puss but ‘counting chickens' being a bad idea has always seemed like sound advice to me. For now, it's up to the manager and who can stay fit to decide who represents us on a game-by-game basis. Youngsters can have the FA Cup for development purposes until we are definitely safe.

Anthony Gordon doesn't make me automatically think of Trevor Steven any more than any other from a range of positive, back yourself, fleet-footed types I'm just thrilled that his current form seems to be of the upward trajectory type. Who knows how good he could be?

Pickford
Coleman
Mina
Godfrey
Mykolenko
Gordon
Van de Beek
Doucouré
Richarlison
Calvert-Lewin
Gray

That said, I could easily put several other names in there and I don't think we'd miss a beat. Again, having all of our players healthy would make a difference and give Frank an awful selection headache.

Seems like PSG is the only place where he can be happy... but what if he is forced to come back – would Frankie put an arm around him?

His stats this season are nowhere near as good as PSG with limited success at the start of his loan spell back at Juve, scoring just 2 goals in 10 appearances, 6 of them from the subs bench, before he was out for a month with 'muscle fatigue'.

Things weren't that much better when he came back, with only 2 more goals, even though he has been involved in every squad, mostly from the subs bench, but also subbed in the second half whenever he started. He has still to play a full 90 minutes since he returned.

One strange thing though: Transfermarkt says he was suspended for Juve's Italy Cup games because of a red card. But there's no sign of any red card for him in Italy.

Keener memories than mine will recall that he was sent off for Everton early in the season, at Huddersfield, in the League Cup. Uefa rules must mean such things are not easily forgotten, although I thought the punishment stayed within the competition?

When Kean went to Juventus it was a 2 year loan deal with an agreement for him to sign for them for a fixed fee. But it also said in that agreement provided certain criteria is met, yet nowhere was this criteria specified.

I thought at the time "I wonder why this caveat was included?" And just wondered: did it include a career-threatening injury? As I can't think of any other criteria that Everton would allow Juventus to withdraw from the deal.

subs; Kenny, Doucoure, Keane, Rondon, Gray, Iwobi, Pickford, Dobbin.

Although I don't know the exact details, one of the criteria was Juve qualifying for the Champions League. Not sure whether that was for the first season, second season, or both.

http://sportwitness.co.uk/everton-defender-offered-new-club-toffees-wont-block-exit/

So Lampard will have to perm a team (11 out of 20) to suit the game, or series of games to be played.

As such, I'm going to focus on what we have now, and who (currently) we'll lose at end of season (marked *):

Good luck, Frank and Everton

Goalkeeper
Pickford, Begovic* and Lonergan* (Virginia on loan, unless bought by Sporting CP)

Right-Backs
Coleman, Kenny*, Patterson

Left-Backs
Mykolenko, (Nkounkou on loan)

Centre-Backs
Mina, Keane, Godfrey, Holgate, Branthwaite (Lewis Gibson, U21 on loan currently)

Midfield
Doucoure, Allan, Alli, Van de Beek*, Gomes, Davies*, Delph*, Gbamin; [Sigurdsson** ~ suspended]

Forwards
Calvert-Lewin, Rondon, Tosun*, Richarlison, Gordon, Gray, Townsend, Iwobi, El Ghazi* (Kean on loan) (Ellis Simms on loan) (Nathan Broadhead U21 on loan currently)

U21s included in Premier League Squad
H Tyrer (GK), R Welch (DF), C Whitaker (MF) ~On-Loan, T Onyango (MF), L Dobbin (FW)

Now for the rumour mill;

Flamengo are interested in taking Mina on loan before April 12th, for a £1.6M fee, plus option to buy and a 50% sell on clause.

Calvert-Lewin may still move in the summer, with Man Utd and Arsenal both apparently willing to meet the current £60M asking price.

Also an agent has claimed that Richarlison sees this as his last season at Everton. See here;

Richi to leave?

He's currently valued on Transfermarkt at £49.5M, but our valuation apparently is closer to £80M.

The question here, is do we sell one or either of them in the summer? Mind you, that is dependent on Premier League survival still.

I also agree with Si Cooper's post at #22, with one caveat; play some youngsters versus Boreham Wood, and then draw dependent play them again, though it would be nice to 'target' the FA Cup for some silverware. However, if our league position dictates at any time that avoiding relegation becomes the precedent, then we should definitely focus on the league.

My last is for our American colleagues, and Danny O'Neill;

I follow a lot of football in Germany, and I was wondering what anyone's thoughts (Robert Tressell, Sam Hoare) are on the following players (all centre-back's):

Chris Richards (Bayern/Hoffenheim)
Robert Nemeth (FSV Mainz)
Nico Schlotterbeck (SC Freiburg)
Felix Uduokhai (FC Augsburg)

Yes, Kean is banned for three games in the Coppa Italia/Super Cup, because of his red card vs Huddersfield.

Here's a link;

Kean's Italian ban explained

Also, regards his loan deal, Juve are stuck with him, unless they can negotiate with another club for the loan to be picked up by that club. Currently, the only club that have even responded is PSG. Yet, they haven't agreed; presumably as they want to see what happens with Mbappe?

Do you know anything of Chris Richards, the USA centre-back, currently on loan at Hoffenheim? Would he, could he be a good fit at Everton? A 6'-2" (188 cm) two-footed centre-back, and a Bayern protege.

Lots of players you listed there...

"U21s included in Premier League Squad
H Tyrer (GK), R Welch (DF), C Whitaker (MF) ~On-Loan, T Onyango (MF), L Dobbin (FW)"

Not quite sure if you're saying Charlie Whitaker is out on loan? I don't think he is…

Slight error in your departures. For better or worse Tom Davies is here until summer 2023

The only three who come close to meeting that would be Gray, Gordon and Richie. I'm as excited about VdB's performance as much as anyone but I need more than one very good game to really enthuse. With the rest of them, you never know what you are going to get.

Pickford
Godfrey
VDB
Doucoure
Gray
Gordon
Richarlison (still not sure about him)
DCL
Ali (hope he comes good)

The rest can get lost.

Yes, I listed the current squad, so we can see easily, who is available to Frank for selection.

Other than that, it felt like enjoyable homework for me :D

Hi Kieran, well spotted, it wasn't an intentional error to test people unfortunately. I meant to say that he'd been dropped from the EPL squad due to injury and rehab.

Apologies for the errors.

There are however what we should call first names on the sheet and for me that would be Pickford, Richarlison, Doucoure (when fit) and Calvert-Lewin (when firing on all cylinders) with an honorable mention for Anthony Gordon.

The rest can be permutated depending on the manager.

I am surprised you left Allan out of your first names on the sheet.

Honest question: Who do you think could he be swapped out for?

Udokhai and Richards both look like athletic centre-back who could do well in the Premier League, I'd say the latter is in better form at the moment.

Schlotterbeck looks one of the best centre-backs in Germany and is a real prospect. I'd expect him to move to a Champions League team this summer.

Other good centre-back prospects in Germany might be Hincapie, Lacroix, Ndicka and Gvardiol.

Plenty of good centre-backs should be available this summer.

I think Rondon looks a lot sharper now. To come back from the Chinese league back to Premier League level, the fitness gap must be huge. It's not unusual to take 6 months or even more to adapt. He did get into good position to have shots but just need a bit more luck. I think as a freebie he offers good value.

1. If he continues as well as he has started, Man Utd will welcome him back with open arms or will price him beyond our reach.

2. If it goes pear-shaped and he starts to perform like Klaassen, then we will send him back.

Either way, he won't be with us next season.

As for Patterson, well who knows, he may be great, he may be no better than the lad in the U18s. To say he will start next season, seriously.

If we aren't able to get him to throw a fit, we've at least opened the door for some other frustrated talent to land on his feet here.

Fair enough although I have included him in my pick above with Doucouré and Van de Beek because I think the three of them together all bring something different.

Having said that, if were to reach the FA Cup Final, this would be my team versus West Ham United:

Pickford
Coleman Holgate Keane Kenny
Allan Doucouré
Gordon Gray Richarlison
Calvert-Lewin

Pickford
Coleman Mina Godfrey Mykolenko
Doucouré Allan Van de Beek
Gray Calvert-Lewin Richarlison

Begovic (new contract), Virginia, Branthwaite, Holgate, Keane, Kenny (new contract), Patterson, Gomes, Alli, Gordon, Townsend, Iwobi, Davies, Nkounkou, Simms, Rondon.

Released end of season:
Delph, Tosun, #10

Purchases (or similar ilk):
Ampadu or Zagadu
Ginter (free agent)
Van de Beek
Nketiah (free agent)

Sellable:

Keane or Mina (would keep Yerry, but he can't be trusted with injury – we need some continuity)

Moïse Kean (though would be interesting to see him under Lampard)

Gbamin (shame, but just can't see him being relied on at all with all the bad injuries. Maybe a loan if there's no decent fee?)

That causes a very tough decision between Gordon and Gray, and gives no natural home for Alli to start though (wish he could convert back to box-to-box). However, match days need 3 subs too, so let's duck that for now.

This season (if all were fit):

Pickford
Coleman Mina Godfrey Kenny
Doucoure Van de Beek Allan
Gordon Calvert-Lewin Richarlison

Next season, keeping Van de Beek and getting a central midfield destroyer like Kante needs to be the goal (assuming no miracle of finding a central midfielder who can do it all). Proper left-sided centre-back (assuming Branthwaite can't step up like Gordon has), proper competition for Pickford (assuming Tyrer or Virginia are not ready), and bring through Simms or Dobbin to replace Tosun and Rondon ideally.

Not much to ask…..

We have gone through years with nailed-on starts and all it does is lead to a shrug of shoulder and “Ah well, it will be better next week. It's looks like noone can get complacent or revert to type – if so, they I hope are out on their arse.

I find the whole Gbamin situation baffling and I'm not far off being convinced that his football career is effectively over once his contract with us expires.

He has been off the injured list for months and yet not at all used when the centre of midfield has been crying out for an imposing figure. Not transfer listed but now not even making the matchday squad.

I honestly wonder whether we somehow messed up the insurance cover and have had to keep up the pretence that he could ever get back to the basic standards required just to save face.

It’s still a lot of money but the lad was unfortunate with his injuries and if he is on this wage now it should be a lot easier to move him on, although if he is literally finished then he is likely to hang until his contract is over.

About 99% of the population I would have thought.

For me that then gives us a squad good enough to be challenging the top places.

My expectation is that we'll be spending proceeds of Richarlison, Kean and Mina sales on the likes of Bremer, Min Jae, Caleta-Car and Elvedi. These are the bunch repeatedly linked with the Premier League. Joe Rodon and James Tarkowski may well move too (the latter is out of contract) and there's even, brace yourselves, Phil Jones, if Lampard feels like we're missing some proper experience and leadership back there.

These are all a bit older than those you name and probably make for a better immediate partner for Branthwaite (who will need a right footer for balance).

Like Jay, I'd love to see us buy Bissouma but cannot see it happening. Connor Gallagher is a non-starter too unfortunately.

It's going to be an interesting, competitive market with Man Utd rebuilding (again) and Newcastle a very attractive destination all of a sudden.

But the players are always out there and don't need to come with a big price tag or reputation to be a success.

I'd actually rather see us go after another US player Bill mentioned at #57 -- Miles Robinson, 24. Like Richards he has size and pace, and also a muscular, aggressive edge the Goodison crowd would like. Coming from MLS, he'd be a hell of a lot less expensive than Richards. And the time to go after him is this summer, before he shows his stuff at the World Cup -- where he will almost certainly start ahead of Richards. By this time next year, he'll be at a Prem or Bundesliga club. I wouldn't mind if it was us.

Real Madrid hierarchy angry at Carlo Ancelotti approach, Dani Carvajal in PSG loss - sources

After Saturday's performance things are looking a lot rosier, but we have plenty of tough fixtures to negate before we are sure to stop up.

I'm very confident we will though, you can get 9/1 for us to go down now and the odds are saying they think we finish 14th which I agree with.

At the moment if all players were fit there's some difficult choices to determine our best team.

My picks: No 1 Pickford, 2 Kenny – I think he's underrated –or Patterson; I have not seen play. 3 Godfrey – has to be in the team somewhere or Mykolenko – again not seen enough of him. Mina and Keane centre-backs.

Midfield: Allan, Van de Beek, Gordon and Gray. Up front: Richarlison and Calvert-Lewin.

Bench: Begovic, Iwobi, Dele Alli, Coleman, Townsend, Branthwaite, Rondon, Doucoure, Holgate, Mykolenko.

That's leaving out Patterson (for the moment), El Ghazi – I have feeling he is going to shine given a chance, Gomes, Onyango, Gbamin – we've yet to see him probably fit which is a shame, Davies, Tosun and Dobbin.

All of a sudden, we are looking strong and should be a match for all of the teams bar the top 3, although we generally raise our game for those too.

He then played Gerrard in a free role between midfield and attack; this would be our Dele Alli. Torres upfront, Calvert-Lewin for us. Two hard-working wingers; we would choose 2 from Richarlison, Gray and Gordon.

They would need to work back like that dirty Dutch bastard Dirk Kyut did and whoever they had on the other flank, quick google search suggests Garcia.

Calvert-Lewin
Richarlison Alli Gray
Van de Beek Allan

4 defenders and a goalie. Gordon as likely to start as Gray or Richarlisone. Would love to see Patterson, Mykolenko, Nkokunkou, Branthwaite establish themselves.

First - Does ‘the system' take precedence? And ought the manager choose the players that fit the system?

Or is the system dictated by the players available to the manager.

For me, I think it is more the latter. By my logic, the best players have to start and then you go from there. This will comprise in terms of priority:

A) Ability and form
B) Ability
C) Form and lesser ability
D) Potential and Form
E) Potential

It's a simple hierarchy.

DCL and Richarlison are our best 2 players. The building of our team starts with them.

The keeper is Pickford.

According to my hierarchy. Donny Van Der Beek is the next on the team sheet. Form and ability.

Anthony Gordon next.

So there are 5 players to build around initially.

The rest for me could be anybody. Which worryingly includes the entirety of the back 4. If we survive the season then I fully expect to see a centre back joining the club this summer.

Patterson and Mykolenko remain unknown quantities.

The others, their job and the job of Lampard, Clement, Cole et al. Is to show us something we haven't seen before. These players have a point to prove and within 3 games the management have demonstrated an ability to get a top class performance out of a number of players who many of us had given up hope on.

Therein possibly lies the key to success.

I lost count of the posts that disagreed with his starting 11 before the Leeds game.