Crystal Palace, Everton and Sunderland are sleepwalking towards a relegation battle if they don’t get their act together. The warning signs are there. The managers either find solutions and turn things around, or the clubs need to make a change.

Wrote this back in April. The arguments are even more relevant today when it comes to Moyes and Everton. Give it a read or have a listen.

Whether it’s Arsenal or Hull, Everton keep showing the same problems. Moyes hasn’t addressed them, Friedkins have stepped back from the club, there’s little sign of accountability from anyone. The result is the same cycle of stagnation, with nobody driving Everton forward.

Why is Röhl chasing the ball over to the left instead of getting back into his position? George has to cover, but Röhl is completely abandoning his area. The lack of positional discipline and basic understanding is schoolboy stuff.

Pickford panics and takes out Armstrong, Mykolenko flaps at it, then Johnson allows Konsa to get the run on him. Three errors in one move. A terrible goal to concede so early.

Everton’s recruitment is perplexing. We’ve lost Gana’s defensive work rate and Iroegbunam’s physical presence, only to sign Hackney, a technical midfielder who doesn’t fit the manager’s approach, and a physically declining Nørgaard. If Garner and Armstrong are already leaving gaps in the press, we’ve signed two midfielders who do little to address the very problems we have.

Reminder: never put Man United and Emery in the same conversation. Villa X has gone absolutely nuts 😂

Manchester United should make Unai Emery their number one target. Look at the job he’s done at Villa, building a side capable of competing in the Champions League and improving players within a clear structure. The blueprint is there. Go and get him.

I find it strange that the narrative is shifting towards Moyes potentially leaving Everton in a better place than he found them. What has actually improved? - Same centre back core - No improvement at full back - Huge money spent on the Grealish loan - No development of Dibling - Average tactics - No clear identity -Underlying metrics not improved - Poor recruitment overall - Wanted Balogun for £40m despite not suiting the system - Wanted 29 year old Richarlison to replace Ndiaye Since Moyes arrived in January 2025, Dewsbury-Hall is the only player I’d confidently say has established himself as a genuine improvement. The Friedkins may have abandoned ship now, but that doesn't excuse the lack of progress on the pitch. £200m+ spent. Again, where is the improvement?

Been watching a good amount of Lequincio Zeefuik. At 6ft 6, his physical profile is elite, but consistency is the big question. His finish against Groningen here shows the quality, while his movement to score in both Netherlands U21 starts was excellent. One to keep following.

Watching Spurs here and the role De Zerbi wants Maddison to play, I can really see Josh King fitting into that role next season. Xavi Simons will come back from a bad injury, but it's one to keep an eye on.

Too many people confuse a centre forward’s xG with their overall performance. xG measures the quality of the chances they take. It doesn’t measure their link-up play, hold-up play, movement, ability to bring others into the game or contribution to the team’s attacking structure. A striker can generate good xG and still perform poorly overall. Equally, low xG doesn’t automatically mean they’ve played badly. Don't just judge on a single metric, assess the performance.

An interesting exercise for Everton fans. How many players from our starting 11 against Chelsea would get into Brighton’s team? Be honest with yourself. It’s a good test of how many of our players are genuinely at the level Everton should be aiming for.

Moyes prioritises defensive discipline and work rate off the ball. George and Hackney will struggle to get into the starting 11 while others offer that balance. Until Moyes trusts their work without the ball, their attacking threat alone won’t be enough.

I don’t want to single out players after that performance, but the abuse I got in the summer for questioning the Nørgaard signing was something else. Honestly, Yakubu would have more mobility playing on one achilles. He’s not displacing Armstrong or Garner, and if either gets injured, Everton have a serious problem.

To play the way Everton did in the first half and then produce that after the break is shocking. We got caught cold with Chelsea first goal and never recovered. Every change Moyes made seemed to make things worse. Not the performance you want to see with Arsenal next week.

Everton have gone up a level since the Armstrong tackle. Grealish has turned up today too. Could see George or Johnson coming on down the right in the second half to add another threat, but overall, a really good half from Everton.