The Autopsy?

[Bluedylan1]

As awful as the last week has been, I don't think the squad is terrible at all.

I think George and Hackney are excellent players, and we've only seen a fraction of their quality so far. Hackney hasn't even been able to play his actual position yet, as an 8, due to the needs of the team. They are exactly the kinds of deal that Brighton/Bournemouth/Brentford would be, and have been doing for years. Barry and Armstrong are both making significant development, and may well be having breakout seasons. The Norgaard injury is very annoying but I still think that will prove to be a shrewd deal. Merlin Rohl is going to be a very good player. Hopefully Branthwaite is able to play the majority of the season, and remind everyone that he's one of the best young defenders in Europe.

But they've been set up to underachieve, not to thrive, by the recruitment team. We should have added to those strengths and given those talented players the best support and platform around them to kick on and achieve something this season, with good squad building and depth. Instead we're going to have to rely a lot on luck, and the manager juggling his resources intelligently, for them to get anywhere near showing their full ability and potential.

And that's criminal for a business that's probably not all that far away from being a billion pound operation now.

Personally think don't think we'll be anywhere near relegation worries unless we get like 6/7 key injuries at the same time, for an extended period. That's not to say that can't happen, but hopefully (the dreaded word again), it won't. Crazy that hope is a key part of our strategy.

[Matt1878]

Just had a look at the lineup for our match against Man UTD 2 seasons ago just to see how the squad compares.
2024 / 2025...

A 1 off match day squad hides a list of injured players who were still part of the squad.. Ndiaye, DCL, Mangala, McNeil, Harrison, Coleman.

What puts it in perspective for me is...look at our squad size compared to the rest this year... 21 players, next lowest is in PL is 24.

https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/premier ... bewerb/GB1

[AjaxAndy]

A 1 off match day squad hides a list of injured players who were still part of the squad.. Ndiaye, DCL, Mangala, McNeil, Harrison, Coleman.

Look at our squad size compared to the rest this year... 21 players, next lowest is in PL is 24.

https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/premier ... bewerb/GB1

Ah yes good point and I hadn't considered that tbh!

I had Harrison in there but definitely missed Ndaiye, DCL, Mangala and McNeil (did Coleman play much that season, I can't remember).

I still think our current squad is better and the first 11 stronger, but definitely less so than I thought when looking at that one isolated game.

[Matt1878]

Ah yes good point and I hadn't considered that tbh!

I had Harrison in there but definitely missed Ndaiye, DCL, Mangala and McNeil (did Coleman play much that season, I can't remember).

I still think our current squad is better and the first 11 stronger, but definitely less so than I thought when looking at that one isolated game.

Yeah agree 1st XI is stronger. Add a couple of injuries and it could get embarrassing though, plus bad luck follows us like a raincloud.

[UnsyisaRhino]

We're essentially banking on making it to Jan without too many injuries, so we can plug the gaps there. The problem is selling clubs will know we're desperate, and the same idiots who got us into this mess will be in the driving seat.

[NomadskiEFC]

We really cannot absorb any injuries this season. We have zero wiggle room. Tiredness is just going to be a thing players put up with this season because there is almost fuck all scope to rotate most positions.

And sod any idea of changing things to get back into a game we start poorly in. We are going to look back on the days of bringing on Beto for Barry or vice versa as those halcyon days.

Grim, basically.

Everton Squad.jpg

[sam of the south]

I mean, it’s not like Moyes even comes close to utilising a full squad anyway.

Marcus Bent was pretty much ever present when we made the champions league.

[Cozzie]

Outrageously bad isn't it.

Presume we have a recall option for Aznou?

[kramer]

The lack of depth is undeniably poor but I don’t know, I think we’re going to ride this and be quite good in spite of it.

I know I’m stupid for being even remotely optimistic but the midfield and wide options are quality, Barry is good even though the lack of a senior CF behind him is scary, and the defense is fine even though I’d rather see Tarkowski phased out.

Injuries could be quite problematic with a squad that size but it’s not like Moyes is rotating or using subs well when everyone’s fit. If fitness becomes an issue at a thin position, this could be the making of someone who hasn’t really established themselves yet, whether it’s Dibling or Graham or someone I’m not considering.

This is not a defense of the transfer team which ultimately didn’t do enough to build a complete squad. But the games are ultimately played on the pitch and we have a bunch of players I quite like and who I think work well together. Looking forward to being back to football and not worrying about ins and outs.

[The Doc]

Great thread, but the title gives me vibes of years ago when I made a tactics discussion thread called Silva's Playbook and got pelters for it.

Good times.

[toffee_scot]

What is clear to me is a complete lack of alignment on transfer strategy and targets plus a very narrow minded and unimaginative view of who to go for which basically came down to who had English or PL experience and then experience from the French, German, Italian or Spanish top flight leagues while trying to avoid for a long time selling players to then buy some extremely late in the transfer window.

The sales or loans of Patterson and Aznou made complete sense and to be honest Moyes wouldn’t have utilised them much anyway if they were still here as he’d rather flog the same experienced players but our defence is so laughably threadbare and I’m sure Moyes would rather than 2-3 goalkeepers on the bench than promote any fullbacks from the U23 and U18s

[TheRam]

We’re not competing. I get people want to try and look at what positives there may be, but look at it realistically.

Players will get injured, we’ll be playing players out of position who aren’t even that good in their proper position, and we’ll be going into a lot of games with next to no options on the bench to change a game.

We have eighteen outfield players, a decent proportion of them the manager doesn’t even want.

One striker, one defensive midfielder who can’t get fit, two full backs in the entire squad, our best centre half can’t go a run of games without breaking down and the cover for him is a huge drop off.

It’s a disaster waiting to happen. Limp to January and see what we try to do at 10pm on January 31st.

[Lazarou II]

The issue of decent subs has been a problem for us for a long time, possibly all of the PL era.

With 5 subs you can obviously change half your outfield players and if you can do that like for like you are at a massive advantage.

That is what is going to do us going forward. Moyes is a player flogger as it is, the starting 11 will be in all sorts of trouble by Winter.

[Bumble]

Chelsea have just signed 2-3 older players who probably won’t play a handful of games all season but they just needed a few more experienced bodies around the place and help to fill a bench. Just in case.

We should be looking at 1-2 free transfer options like that. If we can.

[Trowel]

Chelsea have just signed 2-3 older players who probably won’t play a handful of games all season but they just needed a few more experienced bodies around the place and help to fill a bench. Just in case.

We should be looking at 1-2 free transfer options like that. If we can.

And the thing that often gets overlooked is professional teams need a large squad for training - we haven't got enough first team players to make up two teams in an 11-a-side match!