Well here we go again the 2021-22 Premier League season is about to get underway and Everton host Southampton at Goodison Park on Saturday.
Like I suspect many Everton supporters, I am not feeling very optimistic about this coming season after yet another difficult summer of upheaval and the loss of the club’s fifth manager in the past five years.
Carlo Ancelotti’s sudden exit at the beginning of June completely undermined whatever strategy the Toffees were implimenting for the summer transfer window and this upcoming season.
His eventual successor of course was Rafa Benitez. The Spaniard was not a popular choice given his background and the initial reaction to his appointment was predictably and understandably very cool among many Blues supporters.
The former Liverpool manager has been saying the right sort of things and working hard to overcome the scepticism about his taking the job at Goodison Park.
So far the new boss has added three players for a few million pounds in Asmir Begovic, Andros Townsend and Demarai Gray.
These are not exactly earth-shattering signings and as we watch other clubs bringing in expensive, top quality talent it makes Evertonians wonder what is happening at our club.
The ongoing issue with Financial Fair Play and a squad of fringe players on hugely expensive salaries, means the club’s hands seem to be tied. All of which points to a difficult transfer window and potentially a long season ahead.
There are still three weeks to go before the transfer window shuts and hopefully Everton can shift a few more unwanted players out and bring in two or three more to improve the squad.
On top of all that so far underwhelming transfer business, the Blues slumped to a 4-0 defeat at Manchester United in their final pre-season match.
That defeat re-awakened fears about how ordinary and underperforming this collection of players really is, something that we saw evidence of all too regularly last season.
One thing that Benitez is supposedly good at and perhaps a significant reason why Everton eventually hired him, is that he has a reputation for improving mediocre footballers. Well he’s got plenty of those in his squad!
So we come to Saturday’s season opener. At least fans will be back, although the reaction to seeing Benitez on the home team bench will be interesting to see.
It doesn’t look like Benitez will get any new signings in before Saturday but he has got his Brazilian forward Richarlison back from the Olympics having won the gold and it’s possible he may start against the Saints.
I’m not absolutely sure whether Dominic Calvert-Lewin will also be fit after he hurt himself and missed the United defeat last weekend.
If Calvert-Lewin is absent then that will be a big blow for Benitez in his first match, a game he needs to win to start what many expect to be a difficult reign at Everton.
As for his tactics he’s generally lined up in this pre-season in a 4-2-3-1 formation as he has often done in the past in previous jobs.
This is sometimes perceived to be a more defensive system and there are questions about if this tactical approach is going to be successful and relevant in the modern Premier League as more teams play a high-tempo pressing game this days.
More from Prince Rupert's Tower
- Everton 0 Arsenal 1: Blues fall to third home defeat
- Further chaos in Everton takeover as other lenders not keen on 777 Partners
- Everton need repeat of Arsenal win to kick-start their season on Sunday
- More madness at Everton as Moshiri now agrees to sell club to 777 Partners
- Everton takeover talk cools after UK govt doubts and further questions
His back four in the pre-season matches has included Michael Keane and Ben Godfrey starting together at centre-back with Seamus Coleman at right-back as Benitez still doesn’t have a new full-back signed.
In midfield it does look as though Jean-Philippe Gbamin is available and he will probably stick to Abdoulaye Doucoure and Allan so will Gbamin miss out or perhaps Gbamin and Allan will play. This is also an area of the team that ideally the club should strengthen before the window closes.
Up front will he go with a three behind his centre-forward? And will that mean Alex Iwobi gets yet another chance in his team? Or will he start with a front three of say Moise Kean, Calvert-Lewin and Richarlison? All these are questions we will see answered, at least for the moment, on Saturday.
Both new wide signings Townsend and especially Gray have shown enough to start and anyway Benitez doesn’t have any other natural wide options anyway if he wants to go with that.
Anyway, assuming Calvert-Lewin does make it and Richarlison isn’t too tired, I would pick this team in a 4-3-3 to start against Southampton: Pickford, Keane, Godfrey, Coleman, Digne, Doucoure, Gbamin, Allan, Gray, Calvert-Lewin, Richarlison.
Obviously let’s hope whoever plays on Saturday, Benitez can get three points and a winning start as this is going to be so important for the new boss and of course the team, in what I feel at the moment will probably be another testing and hard campaign.