EVERTON'S MAKE-OR-BREAK MEN:
STEP UP OR STEP ASIDE
Everton finished the 2025/26 campaign 13th in the Premier League on 49 points, but the number that stings most for us fans is 4.
That was the margin by which we missed out on European qualification after taking just 3 points from our final 21 available. This was a team that beat Chelsea 3-0 in March and sat firmly in the European conversation only to collapse, failing to win any of their last 7 games. That’s so bad.
Absurd falloff.
Year two at Hill Dickinson Stadium, with the Friedkin Group's patience already running thin, and Moyes needing to hit the ground running, we can't have another season that dissolves in the spring.
I’ve singled out 3 players who will decide whether 2026/27 will be a step forward for the football club, or reveal more signs of stagnation. Will the glaring need for a teardown of the squad become more apparent? That’s still up in the air.
We’ll start up top.
Thierno Barry:
Coming from Villarreal and a promising stint at Swiss side FC Basel, fans (myself included, as I always am) got excited about the prospect of a young French forward coming in to fill the giant gap left by Romelu Lukaku.
Barry has shown glimpses of the player he can be, but hasn’t kicked into full gear just yet. They say patience is a virtue, but in football, that patience runs thin quickly.
8 league goals in his debut season seems fine until you remember the start he had. No goals in his first 16 appearances, with it taking until December against Nottingham Forest to finally open his Everton account. While he’s not going to beat you one-on-one, and that first touch could use some work, Everton isn’t asking him to play that way.
The raw skill and intangibles are certainly there, though.
I’d like to see more from him in the build-up, laying balls off when it’s hit into him and darting off the defenders towards goal to get on the end of something swung into the box.
15 successful aerial duels against Manchester United (Nov 24) set a single-game record for the season, and Moyes has consistently praised his work rate while still demanding goals. It’s all well and good getting stuck into a match like that, but you’re up top for a reason. To find the back of the net.
A 2-goal cameo against Manchester City in May hinted again that he does indeed have that goal-scorer's instinct, we just need it more often.
Now the ‘give the kid time to settle’ excuse is gone, and we always seem to be in the market for more forwards. Moyes has been fixated on signing a new number nine since January, so Barry’s leash is getting shorter and shorter. He’ll need to figure it out quickly this preseason and win the starting role outright. No more sharing the position. Where’s the assertiveness, the ambition, the tenacity, the initiative?
Evertonnians appreciate and will always clap off players who give it their all for 90 minutes. This will be a big year for our No. 11.
Vitalii Mykolenko:
Fresh off a contract extension, Vitalii needs to prove he’s our guy at left back. Another player who signed with high hopes and an attacking mindset, but hasn’t proved to be what’s needed at the position.
It may be a bit harsh to single him out since he is pretty solid defensively, and ultimately, we’ve played that way at times under Moyes, but having pacey wingbacks suits the way I want the Toffees to attack next season.
We’re in the market for a forward-thinking right back, with Guéla Doué being one of the more exciting names to be floated out there. If we get someone of that caliber and play style, however, I’m afraid we’d feel a bit off balance in some phases of our game.
Idk, maybe that’s the idea, but everything can’t always filter down the right side. That’s not practical.
He’s typically pretty disciplined, hard to beat one-v-one, and a key reason Everton stay locked down for the most part on the left. So again, it’s harsh to throw this at him, but in a Moyes system that operates in little moments all over the pitch, a full-back who can't contribute in the final third is a big loss.
Adam Aznou is waiting behind him and should probably get a run in the team if Mykolenko can’t add that attacking dimension necessary to cause problems for the opposition.
We need overlaps, end product, the odd goal here and there. Our fullbacks need to be more involved is the bottom line.
Iliman Ndiaye:
For all the rumors going around about his departure this summer, I’m still expecting him to stay. If he really wants to be the ‘Star’ he thinks he is, we need to see his dynamic ability on the ball and clinical execution more consistently for the Toffees. He’s undeniably talented. Probably one of, if not the best, dribblers in the Prem, and one of the brightest players to come through the squad in recent years.
So, coming back from a relatively successful World Cup run with Senegal, mostly off the bench, I’d like to see this confidence build and take hold all season for the Blues as the main man.
Everything good Everton does still runs through him. He finished with 6 league goals across 32 starts, solid but down on the 9 he managed the year before. The eye test always tells us he’s capable of a whole lot more.
He's the only attacker who can create a chance without a perfect pass into him, and the difference-maker on the pitch that can wriggle his way out of tight areas and make it look easy while doing it.
If he stays, mid-table output just isn't enough. He’ll need to push toward double figures and drag Everton through those tight games we’ll inevitably be in at the end of the season.
We kept drawing and losing when it mattered most during that final push for European football, so Ndiaye will be a big part of how we get on next season. He needs to do better, contribute more, and live up to the self-proclaimed Champions League caliber player he wants to be.
These 3 aren’t the only players I could have singled out because, quite frankly, the entire team needs to figure it out too, and fast. A few new additions and more to come (hopefully) will get much-needed competition for places back into the squad.
I’m optimistic, of course, but I won’t be sold until these 3 get going early.
Let me know who I missed. ↓↓
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Would love to see more of Adam Aznou. Barry needs to fix up quickly, I think the incident with the Arsenal fans in the Everton end (that allegedly had tickets through Barry) signalled a sea change in thinking towards him. I think he can claw that back if he shows some promise early on.
Iliman Ndiaye needs to leave. He wants to play else where and after watching him at Sunderland last season he was easily the most undercommitted player I've ever seen in an Everton shirt on any given pitch. His talent is undoubtable but I can't stand lack of commitment. It was like the Playstation controller was broken. Even my 8 year old son was going mad about him. If he stays he better not have an attitude about it! Hope we get Spence, seems to be some interest in him from our end. I think he'd be a decent signing. Key player for me is Rohl, he needs to be given a key role this year. He is absolutely class in my opinion.
Good piece btw too 💙