Turf Moor stalemate

It's a big loss Grealish not being fit, maybe rolling out of a club in Mayfair at 4 in the morning after the Arsenal game wasn't such a good idea after all?

The other half knows he's not been given anywhere near enough game time by Moyes to be properly integrated with the group, and spends too much time when he does play trying to emulate Grealish... but I'll stop now.

Good luck to the lad. He's gonna need it!

It's ridiculous that even our own supporters want to have a constant dig at our own players.

By definition you're meant to support (supporter) our team and our players, not deride them at every oppportunity.

So come on, Tyler -- show us what the club paid £40M for. COYB

Sometimes it's this type of scenario that gives a player the chance needed to show what he can do.

But let's face it, Moyes wouldn't have him in the 11 by choice!!!

Or could that be of the jippy hamstring?

I'm teetotal and wasn't out with Grealish last weekend, but no doubt people will blame his party lifestyle on him being ill!

The team as set up looks to be easily overrun in midfield. Just hope I am wrong. COYB.

Man Utd brought a couple on last night; ours can't even get in the squad.

I was trying to be seasonally festive and not think the worst of our wonderful manager...

But you caught me.

Reading about their team as well though, they are all over the place too, so what the result will be your guess is as good as mine.

They bet - 6/5 Everton 13/5 Burnley 11/5 a Draw approx odds.

Keep taking the meds.

Three points really important today. Come on you lesser-spotted Blues!

um. hello mr Moyes. boss. I'm not well. cough splitter/ fk me says mr MOYES. YOU AINT BIN DRINKIN AVE YEE. UM. NO BOSS. THE DR SAYS IVE A TOUCH OF VODKARITIS. he saYS I AVE TO STAY IN THE PUB. UM I MEAN IN BED. I hope ye gots me a nice pressie. says mr Moyes. sorry boss. says J G ive drank it all.

If I was the manager, I'd be making sure the players passed the ball a lot quicker and a lot more often to Dibling in this second half.

We need a striker badly in January.

The fellow with "flu" who was all over the trabloids this morning after a 4 am bender at the "Platinum" strip club.

The squad is stretched wafer-thin, but at least we came away with a point, which is not the worst result at this point of the season.

I can't put it down to just the players missing for this match. When players are unavailable, the manager must adapt... but that performance suggests more in hope than know-how.

If there was a winner in the dugout who wanted a win, we would have won; but we haven't... and we never...

Rinse and repeat at Forest!

You are reminded of the lower standard of football we had become accustomed to.

Yo!

But about right if a trick lucky. Give up on hope but equally, on total misery of previous seasons. The team is average as we know and manager same.

But in 2026 I expect the experts here to react as little boys and keep their egos just about, alive.

As for the club, oh yeah, Top 7 next season.

He does what it says on the tin. To be fair, though, outside our fully available first eleven, this squad needs some fattening up with quality players.

The modern game involves rotating quality footballers.

No doubt there'll be some who can provide knowledgeable analysis of what was basically a random knockabout with neither team able to string together more than about 3 passes before they gave the ball away.

Such is so-called elite football in the Premier League these days. I'm going to start sounding like Tony Abrahams here but so much awful possession bollocks, so much playing it backwards to (supposedly) retain possession, so hard to score because all managers (well, our manager) care about is defending at all costs.

And if someone does score, out comes the micrometer to measure offside by a gnat's ass, with so many decent stars stolen away for some bollocks competition in Africa – exactly when they should be peaking for the clubs that pay their humungous salaries here at home in the all singing-all dancing Premier League.

But it's the best league in the world, you know!

Two goalkeepers, two so-called full-backs.

We are down to the bare bones and we all know we need more quality players. If we don't get them, we will see more of the same.

Absolutely. We only had Rohl and Barry on the bench.

The rest of the bench was dead wood.

A truly very poor game and, let's be honest, whether they were regular players or stand-in reserves, they should all be able to pass a ball to a player with the same colour shirt.

Bleedin' woeful... although that goalpost was terrific.

Of those, only one was available today, and it's a bit much to expect too many goals or assists from Pickford.

We need a fast winger to come in to replace McNeil's place in the squad.

Aside from the fact that Dibling looks uninterested, he certainly has quality in him, especially given his age. Maybe not £40M worth of quality, but certainly the potential to be a top player in a couple years.

The true test would be to see him starting alongside a central midfield and forward better than what we had out there today. Hopefully his demeanor is a reflection of his age and just a more serious, introverted personality — like Barry — and not that he hates being out on the pitch.

We'll be lucky to get a point moving forward against anyone other than Wolves playing like that and with those players. But 11th place at mid-season certainly represents progress.

We learned nothing from this game, it just confirmed that the squad players are not good enough for the Premier League.
Please buy/loan a centre-forward at 00:01 hrs on 1 January. He could play next weekend.

He looked bored, he looked tired, and it looked to me like he feels that nobody has got any real confidence in him.

I've just been sent a video of my 18-month-old grandson playing with a ball on holiday, Michael. He kept picking it up, running the wrong way, and he also fell over when he kicked it, but I got a lot more enjoyment out of watching that 2-minute clip because at least he had loads of energy!

The players used to have an excuse for the lack of quality that was produced over Christmas because they played too many games but I suppose the excuse for a few of our players today is that they simply haven't played enough football.

It's like the chicken and the egg scenario, I don't know what came first, but unless players get more game time on a regular basis, then some will say they are not good enough whilst others will blame the manager, because he's stuck in his bygone era ways.

The U21 sides in the Top 4 of PL2 would beat these.

Even if we somehow did, can you imagine the strain on this squad next season?

We need at least 6/7 players just to stay where we are.

Moyes's supporters are right. We will be comfortably clear of danger and gain a respectable position. But we can forget about taking the scenic route to get there.

Awful, awful game from two really not very good sides. At least we had the excuse of missing our 4 best players (5 if you count Gana). We totally lack any pace to speak of. I thought Dibling was bringing that but he's actually as slow as the rest of them. Most of the time, we passed it around aimlessly, then someone at the back, usually Pickford, hoofed it up front.

Any redeeming features? Not too many. Our 5th/6th best player, Garner, has another tidy game. Dibling, despite his attitude and sloth, deployed more skill than hitherto seen.

And Barry added a bit more quality upfront, Michael K, I think missing his well saved shot, perhaps our best chance. Mind you, he only had to add more quality than Beto and I, at 65, might have a chance of doing that.

Personally I don't think we are likely to be a top-half team based on what I've seen recently. Probably good enough to avoid another relegation scrap, assuming few injuries to the better squad members.

Europe? No chance.

Burnley are rubbish but so are we for that matter.

How he could start McNeil and leave Rhol on the bench is beyond me. He takes Charly Alcaraz off who was one of the few trying to create.

McNeil continually runs in circles with the ball on his left foot, he frustrates the life out of me.

Moyes needs to find a way of getting the most out of Alcaraz, McNeil and Dibling. A change of formation maybe?

Rohl looks a mile off it. I'd bring back Armstrong to free up Garner. Again Garner was my MotM, not that he did anything great, he just showed more urgency. Pretty low bar this week.

If he wanted to win, he could have at least put the two bumbling buffoons we call strikers on together, even for 15 minutes.

We collectively as as football club and fans should call out mediocrity because, make no mistake, we are equipped with a manager who will deliver just that. Would Klopp or Ferguson have settled for that today???

We need to start reaching out and grabbing what's there for a change. Make no mistake, as has happened a few times already this season. Burnley were on a plate today but we were too conservative to realise it.

We had the better half of the team missing today and we are not great even when we have a full team playing. So who is surprised about the performance?

It's a point away from home, so it could be worse. Yeah, I know we want some success but, until we have a better class squad, we will stay with the also-rans.

I expected more from Dibling but he looked as if this was the first time he had met any of his teammates so I am not sure what he does in training.

I hope everyone had a nice Xmas as it's no surprise that Everton can try and put a damper on it. As far as the manager goes, it is getting harder to support him with some of the decisions he makes, as he is responsible for team selection and tactics.

This game was against a team that is at the bottom of the Premier League with very little chance of surviving in it, and yet on today's performance, It was difficult to tell which team that was.

The only positive from this game is: Surely we can't play this bad again.

Burnley had a very depleted team playing today with 3 of them at the Afcon and a few more missing.

Although a point is better than none, it was still a dreadful performance by both teams who should have done more to try and win the game.

And a massive welcome to our happy band of Evertonians. It's great to know that you have started watching Everton -- I think from your IP address, you might be in Canada and perhaps have not been able to watch too many Everton games before...?

But when you say "Surely we can't play this bad again?" — I do have a little bit of bad news for you. I hope this doesn't put you off but...

Altogether Now: "Oh yes we can!"

But if you want some positive enlightenment, hang tight for the news item that will tell us just how well Tyler Dibing did on his almost full-game debut.

I didn't think we were that bad. Forced 6 saves out of their goalie. Dibling should have had a penalty for a clear handball.

String a few successful passes together, play with intensity and aggression, look like your interested in winning, play as a team, talk to each other.

Pickford had nothing to do but concentrate on kicking the ball out... but he couldn't even do that, control the ball and keep hold of it —- in other words, try and play football.

It's so easy when you know how to play. Most of the players today could have done better but they made a mess of it throughout the game.

He nearly had an assist with some clever footwork to put it on a plate for Beto. There were other times too where he showed some nice touches. He offered much more than McNeil did on the opposite wing.

Young Tyler just needs more game time because the talent is definitely there. Maybe his work rate and desire could be brought into question at times but hopefully with enough game time, he will get that fire in his belly and come out of his shell a bit more.

The best part of £40M has been spent on him, and I for one, couldn't stomach another match with McNeil being shoehorned out on the right wing.

So anything that happened in the second half had to be better.

It was last year's football, Pickford wobbled but got lucky, Tarkwski and Keane just about fudged it.

Dwight McNeil is one foot short. Tyler Dibling has a bit more about him but looks lost. Charly Alcaraz is a real tryer and sometimes it works for him, but the three of them failed to click.

Tim Iroegbunam tried, he had good moments and bad. The subs did nothing, it was only Mr Consistent, Jimmy Garner that was above average in a very low poor team. Jake did okay, but he is not a right-back nor wing-back.

Take the point and go figure how to get a better performance out of those available, Mr Moyes. I want so much more from Everton than this.

Also, let's see if we could get Brennan Johnson out of Spurs. But I'm stumped for a right-back.

“None,” Moyes said when asked for his thoughts on the game. “I wouldn't have wanted to come and watch that myself.”

“We're missing Iliman and we're missing Kiernan so we know we're losing creativity and without Jack as well it doesn't help, so it was always going to be a bit of a challenge,” Moyes added.

“But I really hoped we'd play much better than we did. That was probably as poor as we've played in some games. Our football wasn't good enough, lots of bits just wasn't at the level I would hope it would be.

“But, look, you get a clean sheet, you take a point away. Burnley's never been that easy to come to so we'll go away with a point any maybe it'll prove important later on in the season.”

McNeil in particular... it's amazing to think that, just 12 months ag,o he was our star player. Garner and Iroegbunam both did well but, let's face it, we've got big problems if we had to field this team every week.

Dibling was promising, could have had a couple of assists today with another ref.

Sorry for your assumption of me and my support of Everton, or as you seemed to think, my lack of watching them.

I first started to watch Everton in 1952-53 after playing on Goodison and getting changed in the home dressing room. After that, I started off watching from the bear pit (aka Boys Pen) until I started working and watched from the Gwladys Street end.

I was a season ticket holder and, as a member of The Liverpool and District Sunday League, I met Harry Catterick on a couple of occasions and talked with him.

In the 1975-76 season reached my ambition of not missing a game home and away and at the end of that season I moved to Canada.

My last visit was in April 2023-24 season, Nottm Forest, Liverpool and Brentford played at Goodison that week seen all 3 games

So I have some news for you, not trying to be a know it all but I have seen worse than this last game, but thank you for your dedication and comments.

Nice one Bill!

All the best for the New Year, mate!

As each game goes on O'Brien looks more reluctant to move the ball forward. The moves break down and the ball gets played back to the centre-back.

Grealish will hopefully be back on Tuesday but not sure he will make that much of a difference when most the rest of the team treat the ball like a hand grenade.

I said this at the end of last season that I think he has played his last game for us. If he had been fit, he would have been sold and, as soon as he can play football again, he'll be sold.

Still, as long as we have two goalies on the bench, we have to keep the faith, right?

I sadly agree. We'll buy a right-back and O'Brien will replace Jarrad Branthwaite. If the money is used wisely, I guess that makes sense (I'm an O'Brien fan) but it's sad we are still that club.

Hopefully I'm wrong and we'll build a decent squad but God knows we need some positivity on the pitch. We're just so fucking tentative!

"Usual nonsense decisions by Moyes"

Yet you opted to illustrate this by referencing a player who was irrelevant to today's game...

Garner stated well but seemed to fade, McNeil did well on his preferred side... Grealish was not really missed -- which is a bit of a worry.

Hand on heart now, who was thinking... "If only he wasn't sick or carrying a hammie, or rested or dropped or whatever, this left-hand side is crying out for Grealish"?? Dibling might yet get better and more productive

In a midfield that collectively set a low bar, I gave my MotM to Tim Iroegbunam. I think Alcaraz was also there... I'm sure I caught a glimpse of him, could be mistaken though.
I like the little bits of Rohl we do see.

Can't score, won't score 0 - won't score, can't score 0

When you play badly and get a draw, it's time to be thankful for small mercies and move on.

As for his motivation and interest in the game, good to see some have added mind-reading to their repertoire! I just saw a quiet, introverted lad who was nervous about getting a game.

If Dibling and others were not 100% ready to step into the team, that is due to the manager refusing to give them game time for half a season.

One thing: Dibling isn't is quick; he is similar to Ndiaye and Grealish. We need pacey full-backs, so TFG need to deploy their “world-class analytics and recruitment” (lol, Mr CEO) to recruit in January so they can influence the rest of the season.

We are only 4 points off a European place, so show some ambition.

On the basis of being Southern, fairly eloquent and a former Spurs player, this guy has made millions under-delivering when compared with Howe, Dyche and Silva at yo-yo clubs.

Once he's sacked from Burnley, he's a shoo-in for Southampton or Leicester City. Must be nice work if you can get it.

That's now 2 goals between our two dud 'strikers' in 32 league appearances. It's all becoming a bit comical in the 'Wolvesy' way, except that I would much rather have Strand Larsen -- or perhaps last season's Strand Larsen -- than either Bozo or Chuckles.

Both teams were missing key players today and it showed in a game that lacked any imagination, inspiration, or dash. But it was as strong an argument as I have seen recently for why we need a festive break.

Whoever the genius was in acquiring those two wants a public flaying and pickling in gorilla's piss!

Dear God, Biley & Ferguson were better in 1981-82, and we also had Eastoe, O'Keefe, and young Sharpy.

I don't know if part of the problem is O'Brien playing at right-back; even our most skilful player often seems to become isolated playing on the right-wing.

My own view was that, for every single time Dibling could or should have gone looking for the ball, I thought there was another occasion when the ball should have just automatically got sent out to the right earlier?

It looked like at times that the players didn't want to pass to him, and, just like when the ball isn't coming to Ndiaye, I often think we are playing with a very rigid system, which doesn't allow for much interchanging between the footballers in the team.

You can't fault O'Brien for getting on with the job he his being asked to do... but using a central defender out wide playing full-back has definitely become detrimental for the team.

I can imagine the reaction after a bad loss or a big win but I’d be fascinated to know what the reaction to a could’ve would’ve should’ve won game like that is around the actual football club itself.

Do the professionals in the camp see and feel the way we “bums on seats” do?

I certainly wouldn’t blame Moyes, for yesterday, but I’ve been saying I don’t think he knows how to integrate more players into his team on a regular basis, and this is something I instinctively believe brings about a lot more togetherness in the changing room.

His statement which Michael has written about @62, is a point in case, regarding the players who have been on the periphery of the team and have suddenly been given a chance. I’m certain they will have been shaking their heads after hearing the manager say this, because it will definitely sound like it has come across as a criticism to the players, who have rarely played, rather than a criticism to the ones who play every week?

They haven’t been playing because the manager thinks others are better, and I honestly think that most players can live with that, just as long as they are kept involved, and not ostracised, because when this happens, the thing that usually happens is that players lose interest and confidence, and suddenly no longer look like they’re good enough.

I think it’s clear to see this has already happened to a couple of players this season, but maybe not everyone will have this same view.

It's not the objective anyway. If you just tried 'stringing passes together' you'd end up with 100% possession, no attempts at goal and the game would be a farce.

We forced their goalie into 6 saves and he was voted man of the match on the BBC report page. We couldn't have been that bad.

Also, Dibling had a blatant penalty turned down by that dodgy ref that seems to hate us.

How do “they” see it. They might well be sitting there thinking everything is going to plan? Or as well as expected?

Will Moyes be angry at the loss of two points? Or content with one? What about the players?

What, in your experience, would the mood have been at Forest after such a game and result?

We all know the flaws in this squad that need filling. Surely everyone can also see that we have no pace whatsoever, slow and ponderous. We need to add some pace.

He knows his best 11 or preferred 11.

His subs never really change a game and once injuries and suspensions bite he can't integrate the squad players into the same way of playing.

Takes time to build a squad I know, but even a couple of loans or frees to give him options to change games would help.

Yesterday Dibbling was crying out several times for an overlap by a full back or midfielder, he would benefit so much to have that option, to use as a decoy or an option to pass.

A goalscorer is obviously our big miss but a RB with ability to cross and overlap should be easier to get in Jan.

Try not to dwell and move on, but this might not be easy for the players who are only getting minutes because so many players are missing.

This is when you need good management, especially for the players who might already have a feeling that they are not really part of it, because they are going to be needed on Tuesday night

They created 31 shooting opportunities between yet the goalpost saved more shots than Pickford— strangely one real piece of skill was provided by the man who gets more abuse than most, Beto with that little flick which their ‘keeper made a very good save from— if one of the ‘ stars ‘ who never played had done something like that the praise would have been loud and lavish.

But I texted an erstwhile contributor to this website, someone who is balanced, neither negative nor overly positive, and who attends every game home or away, for his feelings on our performance and any positives?

His one word reply read simply “shite”

You expect to see some exciting football by the supposed elite of the game, where this was 2 teams who couldn't string more than 3 passes together.

Without Ndaiye, Dewsbury-Hall, Gana and Grealish, we look like a team who would be fighting relegation rather than trying for a European place.

For those who criticize Moyes for lack of rotation of his squad, well, yesterday was a prime example why none of the replacements for the missing players made a statement of why they should get more game time.

But, with virtually no other options, it will be the same team to play Forest on Tuesday and, unless there is a dramatic improvement, we will struggle to get anything from that game.

Kinnear suggests there probably won't be any new signings in January... well, I can tell him, even with the Afcon and injured players back but without a proper striker, this team will struggle.

Both teams played percentage football. The suggestion that they "created" 31 shooting chances between them is miles away from what actually happened.

I appreciate we're a bit short on squad just now but sometimes we have to change things just to give the opposition something different to think about

Next season, we need to get someone, anyone, capable of putting the ball in the net. Equally important, we need pace in the team.

I appreciate most are disappointed in recent results, however, realistically after the last few seasons, just keeping clear of relegation is a plus.

A comfortable mid-table finish and a good next pre-season transfer window for me is good enough.

Rome wasn't built in a day.

A normal team, when they lose a player, recycle the fee into the new player. But we had Calvert-Lewin and Doucoure, both key players, leaving for nothing. Replacing them cost us £60M. And that was for a team that was already in trouble with PSR.

Add in the fact the new regime wanted to invest in youth, so this situation didn't happen going forward; it meant that the actual first-team squad is little improved in the here and now, despite the £100M spend: £60M to replace like-for-like, plus another £60M on potential with Dibling, Rohl and Aznou.

In fact, we got lucky, we've had Dewsbury-Hall over-perform, as has Grealish for the outlay, and the unexpectedly good performances by Michael Keane replacing our best player.

The encouraging thing is that this team has capacity to continue to be significantly improved, once we get Jarrad Branthwaite back and a couple of full-backs in. But we can't do it all at once.

PSR is the barrier, until that's scrapped, the likes of Newcastle and us will stay as we are.

He could have risked a few minutes to get these integrated into some operative system. Instead, they played like replacements thrown together to make up the numbers.

The selection was decent but no previous effort was made to install it. We don't know why O'Brien did not overlap but it wasn't helped by his lack of play with Dibling.

Alcaraz always tries to do too much, possibly because of his lack of time with forward partners. Play marginally improved when McNeil and he switched.

These players were worth some time preparing for their eventual and entirely predictable appearance together. Moyes let them down and spent too much time developing narratives.

Moyes still has to try some arrangements to unlock the defence. Overload left with Alcaraz and McNeil to isolate Dibling... something. There was little in the way of managerial creativity at Turf Moor and Scott Parker's side had the better opportunities.

Moyes got a lot more points with the team that Dyche was running into the ground, I know, but he has also got a few more points with that team, than he's got in the same amount of games, with this supposedly much better team.

It's a squad game but we have got a manager, who doesn't really want to use that many players and when they come in from the cold, you can see why the manager doesn't use them, because even though they might be a little bit rusty, they're also shite!

I thought Dibling looked like a player, who has got a lot of talent, but I did question his desire. This worried me because I'd expect a young player who had finally been given his chance to be chomping at the bit.

He looks ready ability wise, but it didn't look like he had enough belief or desire in himself though, and looking at how we played, it didn't look like his teammates had that much confidence in him either.

This tends to happen when teams play with force, rather than have a desire to create, which makes me think Darren, has already picked up on some of the things he witnessed yesterday?

It will tell us a lot about TFG and their ‘cracking' recruitment team, amongst other things, including our much heralded long-term plan.

Now I know that SCR replaces PSR in the 2026-2027 season, so I am assuming that PSR will still rule the roost in this next summer window, or am I wrong?

From what I saw, Dibling has got talent. I particularly like the way he was prepared to take his man on when the opportunity presented itself. I think he will get better and better the more he is played. I really like the look of him.

That is why I would start him against Forest. However, it does beg the question how do you fit him in when Ndiaye and Dewsbury-Hall are fit?

My answer is move Grealish into the centre, play Ndiaye on the left and Dibling on the right, and Dewsbury-Hall back into his favoured position as a central midfielder. I think Grealish needs to be given more responsibility. Alcaraz can replace him if, as I suspect will happen, he runs out of steam after 60 minutes.

I will also mention Iroegbunam. I think he is improving and, like Dibling, will get better and better the more he is played. I don't think Gana will be an automatic starter from now on. That would also let Garner move into the right-back position.

As for our two centre-forwards, I think they can both come good if, as you suggest,Tony, Moyes adopts this more creative approach:

Pickford
Garner, Tarkowski, Keane, Mykolenko
Iroegbunam, Dewsbury-Hall
Dibling, Grealish, Ndiaye
Barry

For the Forest game, I would still move Grealish inside and play McNeil on the left.

Rohl is hopefully going to stay fit and improve. Alcaraz can play in a couple of midfield positions, same with Dewsbury-Hall, and James Garner is also beginning to prove himself as a vital cog in the team.

The common denominator with the four midfield players I've just mentioned is that they have all got loads of energy, and this is something I have always believed is such a vital commodity, especially playing for a club like Everton, because Evertonians always feed off energy.

I'd play Beto up front and Barry on the left wing, where he has played before, with McNeil and Alcaraz sharing the right wing and centre midfield positions. Garner would have to play midfield if that happens, and if Garner can play full-back, then so can Rohl.

If Moyes picks those players in those positions, then I'll become a fuckin' Liverpudlian!

Tony, we have got options if we are right about Dibling. Full back might very well be the key position(s) we have to sort out in the transfer window because, with that set-up, Barry and Beto have got more chance of getting the type of service they need.