Everton were on a roll before this irritatingly early international break, with the Blues winning three on the trot, including impressive Premier League victories against Brighton and then Wolves away.
The attacking football being played by the team has been excellent, with Jack Grealish playing a key role, orchestrating things, and others such as Illman Ndiaye and Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall also excelling and getting in among the goals.
But while the Blues' attack has considerably improved and already looks a huge step up in quality over the recent past, the side's previously rock-solid defensive solidity has suffered.
That defensive strength was the foundation of recent Everton campaigns and eventual Premier League survival, albeit too often by the slenderest of margins.
However, early-season injuries, particularly to Jarrad Branthwaite, have undermined that resilience, and the Toffees look more vulnerable at the back than they have for a while.
Alongside this, there are increasing doubts about the form of James Tarkowski and whether age and the demanding physical effort of competing could be catching up with the veteran centre-back.
The other constant defensive issue is at right full-back, where Everton have been struggling for years to find a replacement for another aging player, Seamus Coleman, who can provide consistency and replace the Irishman for the long term.
Overall, the Blues' summer transfer window was considered a successful one, and David Moyes got most of what he wanted and needed. But the one position he did not get to add anyone new to was at right-back.
That might have to wait for the January window in four months' time, which back in 2021 was incidentally where the club found two of its other current full-backs, Vitalii Mykolenko and Nathan Patterson.
Mykolenko has largely nailed down the left-back position, but Coleman is 36 and clearly past his best, while Patterson does not have the confidence of Moyes (or his predecessor Sean Dyche) and has also been plagued by constant injuries.
One short-term solution would be to move James Garner to right-back, where he has previously played for Everton and England Under-21s.
Garner, of course, has filled in this season for the injured Mykolenko, too, so it would seem the most sensible option to go with for now.
There is, though, the issue of who replaces him in midfield alongside Idrissa Gueye, but the arrival on transfer deadline day of Merlin Rohl could well solve that potential problem.
The young German is a powerful and highly versatile footballer with very similar stats to the departed Abdoulaye Doucoure, and his favourite position is operating in central midfield.
Rohl has impressed in training this past week, and if he is able to come straight into the Everton team, that would be a real bonus.
It would then give Moyes the chance to move Garner into the right-back position, hopefully solving this ever-present problem, at least until January.