Six matches without defeat had put a spring in every step around Bramley-Moore Dock. Saturday brought Chelsea, Xabi Alonso and a bench stacked with expensive talent, and the mood changed within an hour.
Nothing happened before the break. Nothing at all. Everton stayed compact, stayed patient, and stayed hopeful. Chelsea scored in the 46th minute before they had even found their shape, and Pedro Neto added a second in the 90th. Two-nil, and the unbeaten run ends there.
Look at the Everton bench, and the story writes itself. David Moyes has just 18 outfield players, a number that turns every hamstring twinge into a crisis. The summer window finished with a shrug, and The Friedkin Group hasn’t loosened the purse strings. At 63, Moyes keeps stitching results together from whatever’s left in the cupboard, and some of the L3 faithful are getting restless about the dull football.
What Pat Nevin expects in January
Goodison News reports that former Everton attacker Pat Nevin expects Moyes to green-light three or four signings the moment January opens. Nevin called Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall Everton’s main man, and few fans would argue.
Speaking on BBC Radio 5 Live on 17 October, the former attacker said, “Dewsbury-Hall still for me is the main man, the stuff will mostly come through him, and I think he’s been great for Everton during his time here. “But if you said to Moyes, ‘Do you want three or four players in the January window?’ He’d say yes.”
Thierno Barry cost a reported £27m and owns six goals and one assist in nine games across all competitions, three of them in the Premier League from seven appearances and three in two EFL Cup ties. Good numbers. Saturday brought more wasteful finishing, and that habit is getting loud. Strong, sharp over ten yards and a menace in the air, the 23-year-old still drifts out of games and snatches at chances.
Dewsbury-Hall, a £25m signing from Chelsea, has two goals and an assist in nine appearances, all in the league, and carries their press and passing. Jack Grealish, on loan from Manchester City, where he earns a reported £300,000 a week, has eight appearances without a goal or an assist. He calms nervy spells with the ball glued to his boot, though ninety minutes of pressing isn’t his game.
Barry is Everton’s only recognised number nine. Moyes wants a second striker who wins duels and holds the ball, a different job from Barry’s running, plus a full-back to share the load with Vitaliy Mykolenko. Decent options cost £15m to £25m each. The manager’s own deal expires in the summer, which makes every pound of that money a gamble for him.
How badly does Everton need January help?
HULL, ENGLAND – OCTOBER 11: David Moyes, Manager of Everton, looks on before the Premier League 2026/27 match between Hull City and Everton at MKM Stadium on October 11, 2026 in Hull, England. (Photo by George Wood/Getty Images)
Critical. Chelsea exposed them on Saturday because Moyes had no way to change the game, and 18 outfield players can’t absorb a suspension, let alone a winter of fixtures. Barry is Everton’s only recognised striker. Six goals in nine tells you he works, but the chances he wasted against Alonso’s side tell you a lone forward needs rest, competition and a partner to share the load.
A 23-year-old chasing every long ball alone burns out by Christmas. Dewsbury-Hall covers too much grass for one man. Grealish brings calm and veteran touches, though Everton can’t ask him to press for ninety minutes every week.
A full-back behind Mykolenko is just as important, because one injury there forces a square peg into a round hole. The ideal striker holds the ball up, wins headers and lets Barry run in behind, which is exactly the sort of forward Moyes has trusted for years.
The owners won’t hand Moyes a blank cheque, so he should target two sharp signings, a striker and a full-back in the £15m to £25m bracket, and not chase four. Wages of £50,000 to £80,000 a week are affordable. A midfield loan on top lets the squad breathe.