Ipswich Town v Everton: Toffees profiled ahead of Portman Road trip

It's only four years ago that Everton had Carlo Ancelotti and James Rodriguez. (Image: PA)

YEARS OF DECLINE 

Everton were supposed to kick on and mix it with the best when Farhad Moshiri took over the reins in 2016. It’s not worked out that way though. 

His chaotic eight-year reign has included seven different managers: Ronald Koeman, Sam Allardyce, Marco Silva, Carlo Ancelotti, Rafa Benitez, Frank Lampard and Sean Dyche. There have been several big money flops along the way, including the likes of Davy Klaassen, Gylfi Sigurdsson, Jean-Philippe Gbamin and Moise Kean.

The Toffees secured safety in the penultimate game of the season in 2021/22, then stayed up on the final day of 2022/23. Last season saw the club hit with two lots of points deductions, ultimately totalling eight, for breaching profit and sustainability rules. Dyche still managed to guide the team to a 15th place finish.

This is the Merseyside club’s 70th consecutive season in the top-tier of English football and their final one at the historic (but no longer fit for purpose) Goodison Park before moving to an impressive-looking new 53,000 capacity home at Bramley-Moore Dock.

After three years of circling the drain, everyone associated with the club will be desperately hoping this is not the season they slip down the plughole.

Everton slapped a £70m price tag on defender Jarrad Branthwaite in the summer. He could return to action this weekend. (Image: PA)

SUMMER BUSINESS 

Everton were forced to sell midfield powerhouse Amadou Onana to Aston Villa for £50m, but managed to see off interest in centre-back Jarrad Branthwaite after reportedly slapping a £70m price on the rising star. 

Tricky Senegalese left-winger Iliman Ndiaye, a £17m purchase from Marseille, has made the biggest impact of the new signings thus far. 

Midfield duo Tim Iroegbunam (£9m, Aston Villa) and Orel Mangala (loan, Lyon) and winger Jesper Lindstrøm (loan, Napoli) are yet to nail down starting spots. 

It's still a squad packed with experience. Jordan Pickford, Seamus Coleman, Ashley Young, Michael Keane, James Tarkowski and Dominic Calvert-Lewin alone have close to 2,000 Premier League appearances between them.

James Tarkowski and Michael Keane react after Everton's dramatic 3-2 home defeat to Bournemouth. (Image: PA)

NIGHTMARE START 

Everton played well in the first half against Brighton on the opening day. Late errors, including a red card for Ashley Young, saw them beaten 3-0 on home turf though. A 4-0 thrashing a Tottenham followed. 

Dyche’s men were 2-0 up against Bournemouth heading into the 87th minute at Goodison Park. Remarkably, they lost 3-2. The same happened the following weekend. After going 2-0 up at Aston Villa, the Toffees lost 3-2. To be fair, Jhon Duran’s winner was a screamer. 

Southampton dumped them out of the Carabao Cup on penalties. A lead was let slip again in the game after that, this time resulting in a 1-1 draw at newly-promoted Leicester. 

The goals against were largely a mix of individual errors, scruffy set-pieces and poorly defended crosses.  

Dwight McNeil's brace helped Everton beat Crystal Palace - their first Premier League win of the season. (Image: PA)

TIDE TURNING? 

In September last year, Moshiri agreed to sell his majority stake in the club to American investment fund 777 Partners. That deal collapsed in June though. 

The takeover saga continued when the Friedkin Group, owned by US billionaire Dan Friedkin, ended talks in July. They came back to the table though and, on September 26, an agreement was reached. 

Dyche’s side ended that week by securing their first win of the campaign – 2-1 at home against Crystal Palace. They then went into the recent international break three games unbeaten thanks to a gritty 0-0 home draw against Newcastle (Pickford saved an Anthony Gordon penalty). 

Long-suffering Evertonians won’t be getting too carried away just yet, but there is certainly a lot more positivity around the club than there was four weeks ago. 

Armando Broja joined Everton late on transfer deadline day after Ipswich pulled the plug on a deal. He's currently out with a foot injury. (Image: PA)

THIN SQUAD 

Dyche has been forced to operate with a thin squad due to the club’s financial situation and that has been compounded by a series of injuries in the early part of this season. 

Having two keepers and two inexperienced academy graduates on the bench for the last game highlights that fact. 

Midfielder James Garner has been filling in at right-back due to Seamus Coleman (calf) and Nathan Patterson (hamstring) being injured. He's a doubt for this one (back), but Coleman could return.

Branthwaite, a player unfortunate not to be selected for England’s Euro 2024 squad, has managed to play just one game so far due to groin and thigh issues. Dyche says he’ll have to make a late call as to whether he can play at Portman Road. 

Ukranian left-back Vitaliy Mykolenko has missed games due to illness and a calf problem, but has recovered now and is set to replace 39-year-old Ashley Young at Portman Road. 

Up front, there are issues too. Dominic Calvert-Lewin has refused to sign a new contract, while Beto hasn’t lived up to his £26m price tag and could depart come January. Youssef Chermiti and Armando Broja (both foot) are sidelined. 

Broja, of course, had been set to join Ipswich on a season-long loan from Chelsea – with view to a permanent £30m switch – back in August. Town decided to pull the plug after discovering his injury at the medical stage though. It’s still not clear when he’ll be fit to play. 

MAN IN FORM 

Converting Dwight McNeil from a winger into a No.10 has looked a masterstroke by Dyche. 

He has got three goals and two assists to his name already this season (including a fine match-winning brace against Palace). Only two players – Bukayo Saka and Cole Palmer – have created more big chances than him (7). 

“Me and the staff spoke about could we get him [McNeil] inside?" said Dyche. "Iliman [Ndiaye] has done well enough in the wide (left) area to allow us more freedom to move Dwight. As long as we can get the ball in there, it brings him to life more than out wide." 

It means that Abdoulaye Doucouré now plays a deeper midfield role. 

Sean Dyche is hoping a takeover will bring more stability to Everton. (Image: PA)

SOME STATS 

A worrying stat, from an Ipswich point of view, is that only two teams - Arsenal and Liverpool - have kept more Premier League clean sheets than Everton since the start of last season (14).  

An encouraging one, however, is that Everton haven’t won away from home this calendar year. They are currently 15 games without a victory on the road (D6 L9).