David Moyes picked an unusual Everton team, and he admitted in the post-match press conference that he had struggled to find enough players to field, resulting in him selecting a makeshift backline.
One consistent problem position for Moyes, and his predecessor Sean Dyche, has been right-back, and again the issue resurfaced in New York.
Nathan Patterson played in a sort of hybrid full-back/wing-back type position against Bournemouth, but once more, he looked out of his depth and performed poorly.
Despite the high hopes that had accompanied Patterson when he left Rangers and moved south to Merseyside in January 2022, things have not worked out for the young Scottish international defender.
Patterson has had a terrible time with injuries, and that has not helped his cause. But even when he has been fit, he has been very inconsistent and underwhelming, and does not appear to have the confidence of Moyes.
Everton have been finding it very difficult to secure the new players they need to strengthen what was already a small squad, and one that also needs new talent to replace a host of players who left the club once the season ended.
One position among many that Moyes wants to improve is full-back, and it appears as though the Blues are closing in on a deal for Bayern Munich's young defender Adam Aznou.
Aznou is certainly highly regarded, but he is still quite an inexperienced player and, of course, has not played at all in the Premier League.
He may well push hard or even take a starting place in the Toffees team next season, probably at the expense of Vitalli Mykolenko, but regardless, Aznou is a left-back, so he will not solve the issues on the other flank.
With all the other transfer priorities he has, Moyes may well struggle to sign a new right-back before the window closes, leaving him reliant upon Patterson or 36-year-old Seamus Coleman.
In truth, given the pressure the club face, I am getting very concerned there will still be several positions lacking adequate players when the campaign begins. And the temptation then might well be to turn to lesser talents, such as Jack Harrison returning, in order to boost numbers.
Several players who could have been signed have already gone elsewhere, in particular Manchester City's Kyle Walker and his virtual namesake, Southampton defender Kyle Walker-Peters. There do not appear to be too many other viable options available.
The other alternative, if a new player cannot be found, is to continue with Jake O'Brien in that position, one he filled well enough during the second half of last season after Moyes took over from Dyche. Although he too struggled in the Bournemouth game.
Last season, O'Brien often operated in practice as a third centre-back alongside James Tarkowski and Jarrad Branthwaite, with Everton effectively using two wing-backs. He looked strong and assured alongside those two stalwarts.
The Blues are fortunate to have a centre-back in Branthwaite who is genuinely two-footed and so can operate comfortably on the left side of a back three.
Such a fluid system allowed Mykolenko to push up and provide more attacking support from the flank. Overall, he did well in this role, and it also helped to mask his defensive deficiencies more effectively.
Additionally, this sort of formation would enable a more flexible style of play, with Everton able to use either a more counter-attacking approach or press higher up the pitch, or both, by switching from something like a 5-4-1 system to maybe a 3-4-3.
At the moment, though, Branthwaite is injured and there are fitness issues with both Tarkowski and Michael Keane. But assuming they are healthy, then it at least, in theory, gives Moyes another tactical option.