Talking points in the aftermath of Leeds United vs Everton | OneFootball

A 1-0 loss to newly-promoted Leeds United isn’t how most fans would’ve expected Everton to begin the season.

The result following the performance at Elland Road on Monday night was a brutal reality check for the Toffees. They are far from the level that was envisioned at the beginning of a busy, turbulent summer.

With just a few days remaining before the end of the transfer window, there’s still hope that the club hits the nail on the head and fills pivotal positions on the pitch.

Harsh penalty call, players slotted out of position, and late cameos, here are all the major talking points from Everton’s 1-0 loss to Leeds United:

“Bizarre” penalty called against James Tarkowski

The biggest talking point from Everton’s season-opening misadventure stems from the controversial penalty call against James Tarkowski towards the closing stages of the match.

Charly Alcaraz slipped while trying to turn with the ball in his own half, paving the way for Leeds attackers to threaten Jordan Pickford’s goal. Tarkowski threw himself in the path of Anton Stach’s powerful strike but the referee adjudged the ball to have come off his arm, awarding the hosts a penalty.

Despite Tarkowski’s arm being in a natural position, referee Chris Kavanagh’s decision survived a VAR check and Lukas Nmecha slotted home from 12 yards to score the only goal of the game.

The decision was labelled ‘scandalous’ by pundit Chris Sutton while being defended by Jamie Carragher and Gary Neville. “I’m obviously going to say it’s not a penalty and I believe it’s not a penalty,” said David Moyes.

“I’ve been to see the referee. The referee sort of took nothing to do with it, he thought it was to do with VAR, the decision they’ve made. I don’t know what else I can say.”

The Premier League matchday centre and live commentary believed Tarkowski “leaning” into the ball gave the referee the benefit of the doubt, while the Everton vice-captain told Sky that it was a “bizarre” decision. “I can’t understand it really,” Tarkowski added.

David Moyes’ lineup selection and changes were puzzling

The contentious penalty call should not distract fans from the fact that Everton didn’t deserve to win the match anyway. Their first 45 minutes at Elland Road was one of the most appalling halves of football with the Blues pinned deep into their box.

Injuries to Jarrad Branthwaite and Vitalii Mykolenko led Moyes to experiment with James Garner at left-back. While Garner provided suitable defensive cover and was able to keep Dan James quiet on his flank, Everton’s buildup suffered because of the changes.

Unable to build from the back or string a few passes together to get out of the intense Leeds press, they had to resort to Jordan Pickford and Tarkowski playing long balls to find Beto. Both the quality of the passes as well as Beto’s attempts to win his duels left a lot to be desired, while the likes of Iliman Ndiaye, Alcaraz and Dewsbury-Hall were unable to help the number 9.

As a result, Everton registered just two touches inside the opposition box with no shot on target in the first half.

While the game became more fluid in the second half, primarily due to Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall dropping deep to create numerical superiority in their build-up, Everton created little in the way of meaningful chances. Alcaraz registered the Blues’ first shot on target after 75 minutes and Moyes waited until the 70th minute to make any changes in the way of personnel, with Grealish coming on to replace Iroegbunam.

A team without full-backs

The fact that an injury to Vitalii Mykolenko forced such a major shakeup sums up Everton’s transfer window and how much work they have left in the remaining days. While the Toffees did bring in left-back Adam Aznou as an understudy to Mykolenko, Aznou seems too raw and young for the Premier League at this moment.

He looked out of sorts in the friendly against Roma the week before, which led to Moyes playing Garner at left-back.

On the other flank, too, Everton still don’t have a trustworthy natural right-back. Seamus Coleman is injury-riddled and past his prime, while Nathan Patterson is not reliable enough. As a result, central defender Jake O’Brien has been entrusted to play that role under Moyes. While he has done a sufficient job so far, it’s the equivalent of fixing a Band-Aid on a bullet hole. Sooner or later, it will come off.

Right wing remains a problem position for the Toffees

With just over 10 days remaining before the transfer window closes, the fate of Everton’s season hinges upon them nailing this signing. Signing a right winger should’ve been a priority since Day 1, but instead, the club has had to begin the season without one.

While the Toffees have been linked with several quality players like Francisco Conceicao, Johan Bakayoko, Ben Doak, Omari Hutchinson, Abdul Fatawu, Takefusa Kubo and most notably, Tyler Dibling, they have failed to get a deal over the line.

Any Everton XI looks disbalanced without a wide player on the right and the lack of pace and trickery on that flank hurts the side immensely.

It cannot be overstated how imperative it is for Everton to acquire a pacey right winger capable of taking on his full-back before the end of the transfer window.

Thierno Barry deserves a nod

For 85 minutes, David Moyes saw Beto struggling to win aerial balls, to shake off the attention from Joe Rodon and Pascal Struijk, and to hold up the ball and have an influence on the game but opted not to do anything about it.

It’s true that the Everton number 9 didn’t get a lot of service either but it was the kind of game where a 6’4” Thierno Barry with quick legs and a physical presence probably could’ve made a difference.

Instead, he only came on for the final 10 minutes. One of the first things he did after coming off the bench was to win an aerial duel and lay off the ball - something Beto failed at repeatedly.

While Barry may be young, he’s certainly no novice. The French striker registered over 2300 minutes for Villarreal in La Liga last season, scoring 11 goals and assisting another four, bettering Beto’s statistics in the same categories.

Last night has got me thinking that a decent 6 might be more important than a right-winger. No point having good wingers if they never get the ball in decent positions.

We really struggled in the middle and though Gana can play better I think Iroegbunam is not yet ready for the Premier League.

How I'd love a play-dictating maestro like Wharton in there alongside Gueye. Garner is okay but not high level. I would love someone like Angelo Stiller from Stuttgart or Agoume. Even Hayden Hackney could help.

Me too, Sam, we absolutely require a couple of wingers and a versatile full-back.

But we are in desperate need of a midfielder in the Mangala mould (with Doucoure energy) or we'll be getting pumped rather often.

Grealish should be playing at 10. No point in our best player being wasted on the left.