Everton got off to a roaring start in the Premier League with the addition of several new players and the move to the Hill Dickinson Stadium spurring plenty of optimism on the blue half of Merseyside.
Lately, though, a tougher run of fixtures and some bad results have left Everton in 14th place, with visions of Europe seemingly miles away. To be fair, those were likely pipe dreams given the state of the squad, but hoping for a higher position in the table is far superior to fearing relegation.
Still, David Moyes has essentially retained the same starting XI for most matches this season, with just the suspension of Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall and Jack Grealish's inability to play for his parent club forcing the manager's hand. Otherwise, once Vitalii Mykolenko returned to full fitness, the lineup has remained the same.
And yet there are decent options for Everton to change things up against a surging Sunderland side that currently sits 4th in the table heading into Matchday 10, an incredible feat considering the other two promoted sides, Burnley and Leeds United, find themselves in 15th and 16th respectively.
These are not changes we expect Moyes to make, but it is a good exercise to consider what the manager could do to provide a spark for his side for the trip to the Stadium of Light on Monday.
No.1: Insert Merlin Röhl into the starting XI
Moyes hasn't given much, if any, time to many of the more youthful players that Everton brought in this summer, with Tyler Dibling seeing sparse minutes and Adam Aznou yet to see the pitch for the senior side.
But Röhl seems to be the exception to the Moyes' "Premier League experience" rule, with the young German having been integrated into the side as a substitute almost immediately upon his arrival on Merseyside.
He suffered a slight injury that held him back a bit, but outside of Thierno Barry, Röhl is the young summer signing who has seen the most time on the pitch despite his late arrival on deadline day.
And so maybe it's time for the 23 year old midfielder to get a start in the league and see if he can provide something new for the starting XI.
There are plenty of ways to make this work. He can replace either of Moyes' preferred starting midfielders (Idrissa Gana Gueye or James Garner), although that seems unlikely, or he could slide in for Garner, forcing the second move here.
No.2: Give James Garner a run at right back
This isn't a perfect solution, as Garner's better fit was when Nottingham Forest's new manager was at the helm for Everton. Still, depending on what you want Garner to do, it could work in a pinch.
Jake O'Brien has worked hard as a makeshift right back, but it's often clear how his size works against him, as he can't keep up with the smaller, quicker wingers he's generally up against in the Premier League.
To be fair, Garner isn't a speedster either, and he's likely to be a downgrade in one-on-one defending compared to O'Brien, while adding the ability to get up and down the right side, something the Irish international cannot provide.
This, of course, opens O'Brien up to slide into a more natural position.
No.3: Slide Jake O'Brien over to center back
Jarrad Branthwaite's surgery puts a damper on Everton's depth at center back, especially because Moyes insists on using O'Brien at right back.
This, combined with James Tarkowski not looking his best this season (maybe due to Branthwaite's absence), suggests there's a way to shake up the center back pairing. Unfortunately for Tark, this probably means he's the one to give way.
Michael Keane has been good deputizing for Branthwaite, and there's certainly a case to be made that adding O'Brien next to Tarkowski might be good too, but for now, you stay with the player who is showing more in Keane.
No.4: Provide more flexibility for Grealish and Ndiaye
This is less of a lineup shakeup and more a question of rigidity of Moyes' system.
When all of his players have been available, the manager has opted for Dewsbury-Hall in the middle, Grealish on the left, and Ndiaye on the right. While this takes advantage of Grealish, it limits Ndiaye by keeping him on the right.
The idea here is just to let this trio move around a little bit, particuarly Grealish and Ndiaye. Maybe that forces KDH out to the right a bit to help cover, but the main point is fluidity up front, which won't allow the defense to get comfortable with where Everton's two key attackers are on the pitch at any given moment.