SO a 3-2 defeat to home to Blackburn Rovers on the opening day of the season. Disaster. At least that’s how it appears and how it’s been generally reported.
But if ever a bad result can have a favourable outcome then that should be it.
Because events at Goodison Park on Saturday only go to prove David Moyes’s point.
The Everton manager would have obviously been delighted if his team had hung on to their lead and closed out for victory.
We would probably have all been sat here today praising Moyes for building such a tight unit, instilling that great fighting spirit that enables them to overcome the odds time and again.
But you can only fall back on that for so long. It would have only been papering over some very big cracks.
As it is, the urgency for new players is more intense than ever and Saturday’s events will only speed up the process.
Which will be a good thing because there are so many reasons why this shortage of numbers will kill Everton’s ambition – if they have any left now, of course, and listening to Moyes, you’re not so sure any more.
First thing’s first, you can’t play 16 or 17-year-olds in the Premier League on a regular basis at this stage of the campaign.
You can do it towards the end of a season when you’re 3-0 or 4-0 up to give them a bit of experience and get used to what senior football at the top level is all about.
But when you heap responsibility on them on day one of a new season, that’s when it doesn’t work.
Bringing in new players is also important because – and Moyes has expressed fears about this already – there’s no competition in the team at the moment.
If you lose three of four players in the summer and don’t replace them, what are you left with? A starting line-up in which nobody is looking over their shoulders if they have a bad game.
If you don’t think your place is under threat you can get in a comfort zone, thinking, ‘well, if I don’t play well, he’s got no-one to come in and replace me, I’ll still be in next week’.
At Liverpool we only used to have a squad of 18 or 19 but there was quality in every position waiting in the wings. You knew if you had a couple of bad games you could be out of the side and not resurface for six months.
So players like to see new players coming in. It’s healthy because it gives you the immediate incentive to up your game and gives everyone about the place a lift.
And what about the manager? Moyes has just suffered a home defeat and wasn’t impressed with some of his players’ performances.
But what can he do about it ahead of the game at West Bromwich Albion on Saturday? Shake it up a bit? Change things round? Throw in even more kids? Not likely.
No wonder the conspiracy theorists have him walking off up the road to be Fergie’s number two at Old Trafford!
Even if he did have the means to alter his team with new players, throwing three or four in at once can bring its own problems as players try to adapt to a new environment and get used to each other.
Although, at least this is August and not January, so it should be no more disruptive to Everton than it is to all the other sides trying to bed new players in.
And that’s the main positive in all of this – it’s still early days. Everton will be working like maniacs behind the scenes to get these deals one and I honestly believe they can resurrect this situation.
Look at it this way. Selling clubs, in June and July will always ask you for ‘X amount for their player.
Come late August, that becomes ‘X minus whatever’. There’s still time for some bargaining to be done and for Moyes to save some money on landing his targets.
Not to mention the money that’s already been saved on new players’ wages in the past two months.
But they are just crumbs of comfort. The only time anyone at Goodison will be resting easier is when the squad is improved.
The loss to Rovers only underlined just how much Everton need more quality – and quickly.
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