Merlin Röhl expects to play a versatile role in this Everton side

Here is a little snippet of what he is capable of:-

https://youtu.be/1LPVk9GyG6A?si=QbrHQB4lZRX09gQU

And with Beto and Barry misfiring, it might be worth trying Alcaraz as a 'false 9'. With Merlin playing just behind him, we would have a physical presence in the box. And then around the 70 minutes mark, bring on Beto or Barry to run at tiring defences.

Starting XI:

Pickford
O'Brien Tarkowski Keane Mykolenko
Garner Röhl Gueye
Ndiaye Alcaraz Grealish

With the closing XI looking something like this:

Pickford
Garner O'Brien Tarkowski Mykolenko
Iroegbunam Röhl Dewsbury-Hall
Dibling Barry McNeil

When we have a proper right-back (say Juanlu) and Jarrad is back and Aznou comes good, we could look like this:

Pickford
Juanlu Tarkowski Branthwaite Aznou
Garner Röhl Gueye
Ndiaye Alcaraz Grealish

Not a bad XI, if things 'click' into place.

Hope springs eternal for a Ballack-esque player, as long as he doesn't turn out to be a Ballsack! Impressed thus far with this guy although limited to cameo roles.

I would like to see more of Dibling and Alcaraz. Dewsbury-Hall, who I like by the way, should have been hooked on Sunday and was basically a spare part.

I like Dewsbury-Hall but he seems to be a bit of a lightweight. He runs around a lot but he doesn't have the physical presence (he's a short arse) to influence games.

Röhl, on the other hand looks like he's got what it takes to influence games. Saying that, I'd like to see him in midfield next to Jimmy Garner. Sorry Gana, your time as a regular starter might be up.

Nothing against any other team member but he looks like he can be flexible to differing positions.

Colin, I'm not sure how you see Dewsbury-Hall as a light weight. He seems well-balanced to me. But I would be interested in more detailed thought from you.

I also think Dibling needs a few starts so he's ready for when Ndiaye goes with Gana.

I wish Moyes would stop with trying to shoehorn Alcaraz into the side on the wing, he's a Number 10 not a winger, and for me deserves a decent run in his correct position.

Maybe he wasn't great at Leeds (who was?) but his reward for his second-half performance against Palace was to be shunted into the team out of position. His reward for not doing that well whilst playing out of position was to be dropped back down to the bench and given the last few minutes when his team was losing 2-0.

I said after the game on Sunday that Dewsbury-Hall was very poor, and he shouldn't have automatically got his place back after his suspension, at the expense of Alcatraz.

I also believe Röhl deserves a start in midfield.

He is not my idea of a Number 10 unless you had a dynamic goal scoring Number 8 alongside, Patrick Viera behind him, plus a decent striker in front.

Merlin as Ballack 2.0 sounds wonderful. Fingers crossed.

Attacking full back play is the order of the day except if they don't have the ability. Jake is not a bad footballer but certainly no comparison to Seamus at his best.

The back 4 sits far too deep and has no synergy but we will have to live with that until Jarrad is back.

The midfield lacks attacking threat and goalscoring ability. The solution is to put Garner at right-back and bring Rohl in and park Dewsbury-Hall and give Alcaraz a run.

Our Number 9 is not only failing in front of goal, he is struggling to hold the ball up, so it comes right back at us. Alcaraz may improve the type of balls Beto is given (usually long punts from Pickford) but I would consider switching Ndiaye to false 9 and give Dibling a chance.

All the pretty football in the world is no good if it doesn't produce an end product.

I'm just pinning all my hopes on our players, and I do think we've got a decent squad overall, getting the results despite the lack of vision, or variation, from the techy area.

Referee Apps Win% Lose% Draw% Point pg
1. Oliver 55 32.7 29.1 38.2 1.36
2.T aylor 45 42.2 40.0 17.8 1.44
3. Marriner 38 31.6 42.1 26.3 1.21
4. Mason 35 51.4 25.7 22.9 1.77
5. Atkinson 33 33.3 30.3 36.4 1.36
6. Moss 31 32.3 48.4 19.4 1.16
7. Friend 31 41.9 22.6 35.5 1.61
8. Pawson 30 20.0 53.3 26.7 0.87
9. Attwell 29 37.9 37.9 24.1 1.38
10. Probert 23 39.1 34.8 26.1 1.43

Pawsons points per game (less then 1) / lost games percentage (over 50%), stand out for me. I would request Lee Mason officiates all our games from now on. Interesting.

I just see Dewsbury-Hall not having any particular influence on games. He works hard but his contributions to games are barely noticed -- maybe that's his secret power.

Like Kieran @12 says, he's a Tom Cleverley type player, ie, hardworking but ineffective. I remember seeing him play for Leicester and Chelsea and thinking, meh.

I think our whole game changes once we get Jarrad back. it's the low block that's killing us.

Okay, I'm going!