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-sm.jpg>) Everton wrapped up their pre-season tour of Germany on Saturday, going down 3-1 to Stuttgart at the MHPArena. This was a step up in the level of opposition. Stuttgart are a Champions League team, and have built up steadily under their highly rated coach Sebastian Hoeneß. But for Everton, it’s a second defeat of pre-season, taking the overall tally to two wins, two losses and one draw. Here’s a few things we learned. DIBLING SHOWS PROMISE Starting off with a positive, Tyler Dibling had a particularly impressive first half. He was driving into space, he was taking players on, releasing the ball at the right time and creating chances. Dibling faded slightly after the interval, but he must now take that first-half performance and use it to instil some self-belief. The ability is there, and Dibling can’t be scared. David Moyes must have more faith in him, but Dibling has set the standard he must now hit. MYKOLENKO IS A BIG PROBLEM We can’t keep sugar-coating it, Vitaliy Mykolenko simply isn’t up to scratch, and Everton’s leadership are being negligent if they don’t think they need to address the left-back position this summer. Why oh why they had to hand Mykolenko a 3-year deal, rather than just extend his old contract by a season, only they know, but Everton’s attack breaks down time and time again down that left flank, and it’s tough to see what the Ukrainian is really bringing defensively, too. Everton need to wake up, these full-backs just aren’t up to it. EVERTON ARE WEAK IN BOTH BOXES Everton had their opportunities, especially in the first half. Beto missed a hatful, Carlos Alcaraz could have done better with a chance teed up by Dibling. Late on, after Stuttgart had gone 3-1 up, Michael Keane and Iliman Ndiaye had successive chances cleared off the line in a goalmouth scramble. But they couldn’t capitalise on their chances and their only goal came from a Thierno Barry penalty. At the other end, Everton’s defence continues to underwhelm, especially once the Keane - Tarkowski axis of doom returned late on. Worrying. MOYES JUST CAN’T HELP HIMSELF Everton’s starting XI was an exciting one littered with young players. Harrison Armstrong, Tim Iroegbunam and Hayden Hackney in midfield, Dibling and Alcaraz on the flanks and most importantly, Jake O’Brien partnering with Jarrad Branthwaite at centre-back. Yet when Iroegbunam went off with a knock less than 20 minutes in, Moyes just couldn’t help himself. He moved Merlin Röhl out of right-back and into midfield, and chucked on Keane into the centre of defence, with O’Brien then moving out to right-back. It’s hugely frustrating. Everton had options. Even if the answer was to move Röhl into midfield, which I certainly have no issue with, just put Nathan Patterson at right-back. Let O’Brien get a good hour under his belt at least alongside Branthwaite. It’s pre-season, that’s what it’s for. Branthwaite almost certainly won’t play the full game against Newcastle United on Wednesday, and so it’s another chance missed to see how he and O’Brien could dovetail together. Reader Comments (14) Note: the following content is not moderated or vetted by the site owners at the time of submission. Comments are the responsibility of the poster. Disclaimer () 1 Posted 09/08/2026 at 11:56:33 It shows how conservative he is, bringing on Keane instead of a midfielder. He should have given Aznou 45 minutes as Mykolenko was so poor. I still think it's shocking that we haven't signed a right-back and given him time to gel before the season starts. And looking at our two strikers yesterday, we definitely need a new No 9. Seeing a fit Calvert-Lewin for Leeds yesterday, be careful what you wish for? 2 Posted 09/08/2026 at 13:11:04 I thought that was a very encouraging game. I\\\\m not bothered that Travers conceded a couple, or that Keane and Tarkowski look off the pace, that won't be relevant hopefully when we get down to business. The key stuff yesterday was Dibling, and to a lesser extent Alcaraz and Armstrong. Also, Dewsbury-Hall and Barry look ready to go. 3 Posted 09/08/2026 at 14:26:39 Some good play but a lot of uninspiring stuff in the mix as well. We had chances but Stuttgart also had good opportunities to score more than the 3 they did get. Dibling looked very good at times -- and it was overall a step in the right direction -- but then seemed to nose-dive a bit. To be fair, Stuttgart seemed to have him on their list of players to be routinely doubled-up on (something we never seem to do) but he has to learn when it's best to lay the ball off quickly under those circumstances. He also got verbally blasted by both O'Brien and Branthwaite, on separate occasions, for not dropping back further / quicker to help out when necessary. We are getting as much as we are ever going to get from a number of the squad, so better options are still definitely required. 4 Posted 09/08/2026 at 14:35:32 It makes no sense unless he's being told to play the Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dumb to keep their values up?! Insisting on Jake at right-back is the opposite of insisting upon Beto and Barry up top!! Why can't he apply the same logic up front and play someone out of position there also? Beto and Barry should ride the bench, just like Patterson has to… what's going on? Patterson is a better right-back than Barry and Beto are centre-forwards. So why can't the same logic be applied up front, unless defending is the main priority and scoring goals takes a back seat! Patterson rides the bench because he's not good enough, so get Alcaraz up front for fucks sake and make Barry & Beto ride the bench too!!! Why make all that effort around the defence with square pegs in round holes, then just keep lumping two pricks up front every game??? Apply the same logic upfront and play Alcaraz!!! Do you think we are stupid??? My opinion is that he's being told to play Beto & Barry in the hopes they score a few goals and keep their values up (which actually did happen last season)…. But fuck that! Play Carlos up front! He would be no worse than Jake at right back!!! I'm baffled by the entire thing…. but if Alcaraz comes in and lights it up, scoring goals for fun, then Beto and Barry are worth a fraction of what they got signed for! This falls on our owners… Moyes used to play Cahill up front when our forwards were shit, and he did the same thing with Bowen at West Ham. I can't believe he wouldn't do the same thing now only he's being told not to… There's no way a manager with the 3rd most games in Premier League history would persist with two absolute ass clowns up front… This is also why Glasner, Howe, Iraola etc probably wouldn't come to us. The owners probably told them they have to play certain players to retain their value, and those managers kindly told us to do one… No manger who actually wants to succeed would agree to such terms. But Moyes would. Beto and Barry got bought for around £30M each; realistically they are worth around £15M each! If they get benched for a season, they are definitely worth only £15M each. If we persist with them and they bundle a few goals, maybe we get £20-25M but we finish lower in the league!!! Make it make sense… and to think we let Jonjoe Kenny leave on a free!!! We are a shambles. 5 Posted 09/08/2026 at 14:49:16 I was watching Rohl at right-back and did'nt think it really suited him; certainly when he moved up he was very much more in the game. Maybe Moyes thought the same? But not having a quality right-back is shocking. We were weak in both boxes, Beto has no quality despite all his effort, and Barry has no presence though he can finish now and again. We don't have a credible Premier League first choice back four[ until we do, our "best pick" will be less than we want and need. No way are we addressing all our needs this window; we are absolutely crying out for full-backs... Oh for a peak Kyle Walker and a Cucarella, dream on... 6 Posted 09/08/2026 at 16:42:43 Rohl can run for ever but needs to work on decision-making. Dibling showed first-half confidence but lazy tracking back. Alcaraz looked a decent forward support and threat. Good to see Branthwaite get 80 minutes. Travers is decent cover (though it's said he wants away for more game time). Negatives: defending corners is worrying, we're useless at zonal marking and everyone knows it. We have no Premier League quality full-backs, right or left, still, after all this time. Midfield lightweight, needs experienced head, hopefully that's Norgaard. We have one forward who works his socks off but unfortunately someone put his feet on the wrong legs, the other who is half arsed. Neither good enough for the Premier League. George was rather anonymous. There's so much work to do to get this squad into decent shape…have we got the team and the financial scope to do it…??? 7 Posted 09/08/2026 at 17:50:11 His biggest problems are his tendency to fall back on what used to work in the days when he had a stable squad, and his inherent caution and inability to trust people -- especially young players. At 63 it's very hard to suddenly expect to change from one behaviour and style to another, and Moyes is clearly struggling to adapt, a factor not helped by the ongoing failure of the club to attract new faces. Maybe it's time to quit and bring in someone more dynamic and enthusiastic, like Eddie Howe, who is not only a Blue from way back, but a proven motivator willing and able to kick start a group of decent, but currently frustrated, players. 8 Posted 09/08/2026 at 17:55:57 Whether he could take the battering from Premier League centre-backs is another question but it's worth a try, especially in pre-season. Why we gave our set-piece coach a new contract is beyond me cos we have gone backwards on set-pieces at both ends of the pitch. One other point is how outstanding Harrison Armstrong looked yesterday. I only hope he gets a fair shot from Moyes and is not seen to be the "easy" one to drop. 9 Posted 09/08/2026 at 19:05:46 The elephant in the room is Mykolenko at left-back, which is getting overshadowed by the lack of a right-back. I never want to see Keane and Tarkowski as the centre-back pairing again, it has to be Branthwaite and O'Brien but, if circumstances dictate, just one of them. Never again should we have to sit and watch O'Brien at right-back. No more fannying around, Moyes... and leave O'Brien in his best position. 10 Posted 09/08/2026 at 22:31:22 coach McKinally, proud of yeh, coach Irvine, why didn’t you think of that? But 15 minutes in, a midfielder gets injured, yes a midfielder, with 6 different midfielders on the bench what do our forward thinking, risk taking,coaching staff do? Shit themselves and go back to last seasons failings, Jake go to right back, Merlin midfield, Keane centre half, we learnt an awful lot yesterday We’re fooked with this coaching team, no vision, no trying different formation's, strategy or players, same old stale tactics,same old disjointed performances. One up front..yes Everyone back for corners..yes Lump it up front for the lone striker to head it onto nobody..yes It’s going to be a long, boring season. 12 Posted 09/08/2026 at 23:16:45 Lucas Digne at 33 Returns to PSG If only I could chant in French 13 Posted 09/08/2026 at 23:48:00 14 Posted 10/08/2026 at 03:05:08 15 Posted 10/08/2026 at 04:39:27 Add Your Comments In order to post a comment, you need to be logged in as a registered user of the site. Or Sign up as a ToffeeWeb Member — it's free, takes just a few minutes and will allow you to post your comments on articles and Talking Points submissions across the site. How to get rid of these ads and support TW