Late in the first half of a dire display Everton had somehow progressed to the edge of the Leeds penalty area.
James Garner, a makeshift left back, had few other options and sent the ball back to Idrissa Gana Gueye. He looked up, saw little ahead of him and moved the ball backwards again. Within two more passes the ball rested at the feet of Jordan Pickford.
Within two more passes Everton had lofted a ball lazily into the midfield, where Leeds had seized upon it and launched an attack.
A 30-second move was the perfect metaphor for Everton’s summer, in which shiny new CEO Angus Kinnear has done the media rounds doing double-page spreads on a stadium he had nothing to do with, all while neglecting the playing squad to a shocking degree.
Kinnear’s perma-grin was on display as he loftily told FC Business: “I’ve had good experience, not just operationally, of how you deliver a new stadium, but how you use a stadium as a catalyst for change across all elements of the club.
“What you realise when you walk through this stadium and you see the quality and the benchmark that we’ve set, this is a stadium befitting of Champions League football.”
There is just one issue. Kinnear, who employed his friend Nick Hammond as a ‘transfer guru’, has overseen a summer of chaos that makes a mockery of any sort of glib soundbite about the new stadium welcoming Champions League football.
Kinnear’s input has been mostly off the pitch. He has been busy hiking up ticket prices to some of the most expensive in the league, which match membership prices as the most expensive. He has overseen incredible concourse prices on beer and even the famous blue donut, while promising it will all lead to on-pitch success.
On the playing side Hammond has been an unmitigated disaster. Player after player has been approached and turned down the club. Those that were interested found themselves in protracted negotiations before eventually stumbling over the line. Every rejection has led to days and weeks of inactivity, almost as if the shock of not immediately getting a player to sign has frozen Hammond in fear until the shock wears off and he tries again.
Signings trickled in. It was mid-July when Everton added their third signing of the window – a back up keeper who promptly punched the ball into his own face on his pre season debut. Since then, a month later, Everton have signed two more players in Dewsbury-Hall and the loan of Jack Grealish.
The end results are clear to see. Everton have failed to add to an injury-prone left back in Mykolenko. Aznou’s arrival from Bayern Munich was seen as a clever move but a shaky performance in a pre season friendly against Roma meant he missed out on the squad entirely for the Leeds game.
Let’s throw him on the pile of Everton signings that were simply not ready or not a good fit despite much-needed funds going their way. He can share a spot with Chermiti and Danjuma on that particular list.
With James Garner forced into a left back role for the first time in his career, Everton were then left short in midfield. Moves for Douglas Luiz failed and since then Hammond’s trick of being frozen in incompetance has been glaringly clear. Since that July move Everton have not approached a single other midfielder.
Tim Iroegbunam took his place but delivered an insipid performance with sloppy passing and losing track of his man.
Next to him David Moyes’ tactics somehow resulted in Idrissa Gana Gueye being the most likely to have the ball outside the opposition penalty area. A shot blazed well over the bar and a fantastic collection of underhit crosses were the inevitable result.
At right back Jake O’Brien looked superb in a sort of hybrid centre half/right back role last year. This time out he’s been asked to work as a flying full back bombing up the wing. With the main issue being he can’t cross or beat a man. The club has already given up on finding a right back – Hammond tried to sign Tete only for the player to renege on an agreement. That was two months ago and no other bids have been forthcoming.
The gaping hole on the right wing is no closer to being filled. Everton have bid for numerous players but none since Southampton refused Everton’s approaches for Tyler Dibling two weeks ago. One can only assume Everton’s performance during pre season, where they scored two open play goals in six games, was deemed to be sufficient to begin a Premier League season.
Elsewhere, shoddy recruitment is being shown up everywhere. A £30m striker with a superb La Liga season has arrived in the form of Thierno Barry. He has already seemingly been deemed to be not ready by Moyes, who limited his minutes in America and waiting until the final few minutes to throw him on here despite Beto’s toils up front.
Jack Grealish at least provided a little width when he came on. But he found himself running into dead ends. A moment when he fired a ball into Beto was telling. The ball richoched off the striker’s shins and flew backwards, launching another Leeds counter attack.
The problem is not the quality of the players who have come in. Grealish is top class and Barry has all the attributes to be a top player. The issue is that they were not the signings Everton needed – and they are not nearly enough to fill holes that have the capacity to tank Everton’s season.
The leadership team have once again gambled with Everton’s season. Once again Everton have approached a Premier League campaign completely undercooked and barely able to field a coherent team. Nothing has changed. Everton are now seven games without a win in August, a run stretching back four years.
Kinnear and Hammond, who have overseen shambolic transfer windows at their previous club, are probably the main reason why Everton’s summer has been so catastrophic so far. But Moyes needs to take some responsibility too.
The manager has cut a sulky figure in recent weeks and the optimism is draining out of the club and playing squad. His tactics against Leeds were nonsensical. The rare time an Everton player found a blue shirt the team stopped dead. There were multiple times when Everton attacked with just two players in the Leeds half – a trend also seen at Roma were Dewsbury-Hall and Barry were often the only players moving forward.
The correct response here is to front up. Kinnear and Hammond need to face the fans, explain what has gone wrong and address concerns about fixing it. Everton need to move quickly, not just to fill gaping holes across the squad, but to satisfy fan’s legitimate concerns over the direction of the club.
Everton move into their stunning new stadium next week. The club is about to fumble a generational opportunity to change the narrative and herald and exciting new era.
The time for sulky press conferences, price hikes and inactivity is over. The Friedkin Group – and it is ultimately their responsibility – need to light a fire under our new leadership team. Or move them on entirely.