The Blue Frontier - American Everton Analysis

Everton's summer may have finally found a pulse. James Shan break down the 3-1 preseason win over Newcastle United on August 12, a friendly that offers some encouraging evidence without falling into any kind of preseason delusion. Thierno Barry's renewed confidence, Harrison Armstrong's two assists, Tyrique George's directness and Tyler Dibling's flashes all sharpen the competition for places before the Premier League opener, while questions remain on the gaps left in the team. The discussion turns to Everton's straight swap of Dwight McNeil for Brennan Johnson: the financial logic, the trade-offs in creativity and set-piece delivery, and why Johnson's pace, movement and finishing give David Moyes a more natural right-wing profile. Tim Iroegbunam's possible £15 million move to Hull City raises a different question about selling athletic potential from a crowded midfield. The pod closes on the right-back choice between Héctor Fort's upside and Daniel Muñoz's immediate reliability, plus Christian Nørgaard's short-term value as a true #6.

LINKS: https://linktr.ee/thebluefrontier

The Blue Frontier brings the full trio back for Part Four of its 2025/26 Everton Team Assessment, turning to the front line and the club's stubborn inability to create enough chances or put the ball in the old onion bag. James Boyman, Shan Khan and Ryan Williams carry forward four recruitment priorities: open-play creation, progression, ball retention under pressure and athleticism.

They test Beto and Thierno Barry against Wyscout and SkillCorner data, debate whether Everton should extend Beto or reset at centre-forward, and weigh the romantic returns of Richarlison and Romelu Lukaku against the actual market. Attention then shifts to Iliman Ndiaye, Tyrique George and the increasingly complicated Jack Grealish question. Right wing is the real battleground, with Tyler Dibling's development, Dwight McNeil's future and a sprawling shortlist assessed through film, data, fees and David Moyes' preferences. The conclusions are not unanimous, but the squad-building logic is clear.

Recent transfers and free agents: Gonçalo Ramos, Álvaro Rodríguez, Callum Wilson, Raúl Jiménez

Reported targets: Folarin Balogun, Franculino Djú, Christian Kofane, Dušan Vlahović, Gabriel Jesus, Liam Delap, William Osula, Troy Parrott, Santiago Castro, Alexander Sørloth, Ayase Ueda

Free agents: Che Adams, Danny Ings, Enner Valencia, Jordan Ayew, Jamie Vardy

Relegated-club options: Tolu Arokodare, Taty Castellanos, Zian Flemming, Lyle Foster, Ashley Barnes, Armando Broja

Potential loans: Evan Ferguson, Tammy Abraham, Joshua Zirkzee

Data and alternative profiles: Lucas Beltrán, Jonathan David

Wild cards: Richarlison, Romelu Lukaku

Current squad and recent business: Iliman Ndiaye, Tyrique George

Market comparisons: Anthony Gordon, Yan Diomande, Crysencio Summerville

Reported target: Jack Grealish

Recent transfers and free agents: Harry Wilson, Abdul Fatawu, Karim Adeyemi

Reported targets and options: Jacob Murphy, Roony Bardghji, Assane Diao, Esmir Bajraktarević, Ethan Nwaneri, Jarrod Bowen, Jamie Leweling, Dario Osorio, Matías Soulé, Dwight McNeil

Free agents: Adama Traoré, Riyad Mahrez, Krépin Diatta

Previous targets and possible opportunities: Dilane Bakwa, Johan Bakayoko, Edon Zhegrova, Maghnes Akliouche

Wild cards: Tim Weah, Christian Pulisic

Data targets: Yankuba Minteh, Mohammed Kudus, Stanley Mills, Nestory Irankunda, Diego Moreira, Tom Fellows, Takefusa Kubo, Konstantinos Karetsas

The Blue Frontier brings the full trio together for Part Three of its 2025/26 Everton Team Assessment, turning a long-running full-back problem into something slightly more useful than another list of rumors.

James Boyman, Shan Khan and Ryan Williams carry forward the four major squad needs identified earlier in the series: more open-play creation, better progression, stronger ball retention under pressure and improved athleticism. They apply that framework to Everton's current options, starting with Vitalii Mykolenko, before using Wyscout data, physical metrics, film study and reported fees to assess the market.

Hugo Bueno and Kellen Fisher stand out as realistic left-back options, while Rico Lewis, Djed Spence, Brooke Norton-Cuffy, Raoul Bellanova, Lutsharel Geertruida, Devyne Rensch, Guéla Doué and Héctor Fort lead a wider right-back discussion. The episode ends with each host building an ideal plan and a more Moyes-shaped version, separating attainable upgrades from inflated fees, tactical mismatches and the players Everton probably should have found a year earlier.

Left-back targets

1. Jayden Oosterwolde 2. Hugo Bueno 3. Nathan Aké 4. El Hadji Malick Diouf 5. Rico Henry 6. Oleksandr Zinchenko 7. Darlin Yongwa 8. Matt Targett 9. Mika Mármol 10. Ali Maamar 11. Kellen Fisher 12. Martin Luciano 13. Joaquín Seys 14. Adrien Truffert 15. Samuel Iling-Junior 16. Vanderlan 17. Lucas Esquivel 18. Nathaniel Brown 19. Román Vega 20. Caleb Wiley

Right-back targets

21. Rico Lewis 22. Djed Spence 23. Brooke Norton-Cuffy 24. Raoul Bellanova 25. Aaron Wan-Bissaka 26. Neco Williams 27. Lutsharel Geertruida 28. Wesley 29. Zakaria El Ouahdi 30. Óscar Mingueza 31. Joel Veltman 32. Thomas Meunier 33. Ricardo Pereira 34. Sacha Boey 35. Kyle Walker-Peters 36. Jackson Tchatchoua 37. Alberto Costa 38. Alidu Seidu 39. Anton Gaaei 40. Héctor Fort 41. Iván Fresneda 42. Vanderson 43. Jordan Teze 44. Wilfried Singo 45. Joe Scally 46. Guéla Doué 47. Tiago Santos 48. Devyne Rensch 49. Marc Pubill 50. Agustín Giay 51. Givairo Read 52. Juanlu Sánchez 53. Timothy Weah 54. Alex Freeman

EVERTON 25/26 SQUAD ASSESSMENT PART 2: MIDFIELDERS. With Hayden Hackney's move from Middlesbrough finalized, Shan and Ryan dive straight into Everton's CAM, CM, and DM positions. In true Blue Frontier fashion, they build on the four needs laid out in Part 1 — more open play creation, better progression, stronger ball retention and press resistance, plus greater athleticism — then run the current squad through Wyscout indexes and on-ball metrics. We get into the rankings of Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall at CAM as well as James Garner at CM, and illustrate how the absence of a disciplined, ball-progressing six stands out clearly. They give a full breakdown on Hayden Hackney, balancing his elite progression and activity against high turnovers, risky decision-making, and what he will need to adjust from the Champtionship to the Premier League. Rumors around targets like Mandela Keita are weighed alongside free agents, relegated options, and data-driven names such as Hugo Larsson and Pablo Maia. With David Moyes locked into the 4-2-3-1, they assess fit, budget reality, and whether recruitment is finally targeting the right gaps.

LINKS: https://linktr.ee/thebluefrontier

At long last, The Blue Frontier heads into the offseason with its annual Everton squad assessment. James, Shan, and Ryan break down the team from every angle, using overall results, attacking and defensive outcomes, physical data, style-of-play metrics, and individual performance numbers to get at the real question: what does Everton need to fix before the summer transfer window?

The trio looks beyond the surface of 49 points and a -3 goal difference, digging into David Moyes' direct attacking approach, Everton's struggles against pressure, league-low substitution usage, defensive drop-off, transition-heavy attack, and the need for more ball retention, progression, open-play creation, and athleticism.

Beto, Barry, Iliman Ndiaye, Jack Grealish, Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, James Garner, Jarrad Branthwaite, and Jordan Pickford all come under the microscope. The episode ends with four key areas Everton must improve, setting the foundation for future position-by-position transfer analysis.

Links: https://linktr.ee/thebluefrontier

Everton close the Premier League season with a flat 1-0 away loss to Tottenham on May 24, 2026, helping Spurs secure survival and giving Everton supporters one final grim data point in a month-long collapse. James and Ryan try to rise above the obvious frustration, reviewing the match with a fair but unsentimental eye before turning to the bigger question: was this just late-season recency bias, or a warning about Everton's actual trajectory?

The episode covers Iliman Ndiaye's central role, Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall's struggles, Jake O'Brien's rough matchup with Mathys Tel, João Palhinha's match-winning influence, and the late energy from Tyrique George, Charly Alcaraz, and Harrison Armstrong. With Everton finishing 13th, just one point better than last season, the discussion widens to David Moyes, squad building, youth development, transfer value, and whether "stability" is progress or just a nicer word for standing still.

LINKS: https://linktr.ee/thebluefrontier

Everton's Premier League home campaign ends with a 1–3 defeat to Sunderland on May 17, and with it, any remaining hope of European football next season. The Blue Frontier breaks down a match that told the same story in ninety minutes that the last six weeks have been telling: a fluky lead, a predictable collapse, and substitutions that answered nobody's questions. James, Ryan, and Shan walk through a first half that produced a Merlin Röhl opener courtesy of a Granit Xhaka deflection, a second half where Brian Brobbey and Enzo Le Fee punished an aging and exhausted backline, and a third Sunderland goal that Tarkowski and Keane couldn't track down. But the match is almost secondary. The bigger conversation is Angus Kinnear's mid-week statement backing David Moyes, published two days before Everton shipped three at home. Was it a loyalty declaration, a PR misfire, or both? Ryan runs the numbers on squad value creation (the results are not kind), Shan makes the case for Andoni Iraola, and James asks why Everton keep spending serious money on players who never see the pitch. If you want an honest, data-literate reckoning with what this season actually produced (and what it means for the summer) this is the episode.

LINKS: https://linktr.ee/thebluefrontier

Everton continue their tale of two halves approach with an uneven performance at Selhurst Park that took a point from a Palace team with nothing to play for coming off a midweek match. The Blue Frontier pushes past the disappointment and into the game analysis to figure out what went wrong and how Everton can still keep in the European race for another week. Shan and Ryan get in a ton of listener comments and take a deep dive into David Moyes' influence on the performance as well as his future at the football club. The duo takes a hard look at his utilization of the current talent as well as whether or not he should be the one to take the club forward.

LINKS: https://linktr.ee/thebluefrontier

Everton 3-3 Manchester City was one of those matches that earns its own Wikipedia entry... and The Blue Frontier is here to unpack it in full. James and Ryan break down a game that had the Toffees 3-1 up with 20 minutes left before Jeremy Doku's stoppage-time equalizer yanked the draw back for City. A suffocating first half (26 Everton passes in the opposition half to City's 210), David Moyes' halftime tactical shift that unlocked Everton's best second half of the season, and the chaos that followed: Thierno Barry's brace, Jake O'Brien's near-post flick, Marc Guehi's catastrophic back pass, and Doku converting 0.11 xG into two worldies. Referee decisions, listener reactions, and a second-half xG figure that barely seems legal also make the agenda. Five points dropped at the death in three straight Premier League matches. The European window is still cracked open. It's very Everton. LINKS: https://linktr.ee/thebluefrontier

Everton travel to London and make club history... the bad kind. For the second straight league game, they concede a stoppage time winner, a first in the club's existence. The executioner is Callum Wilson (naturally), now at nine goals in his last eight against the Toffees. Final score: West Ham 2-1, and with it, Everton's most winnable remaining fixture gone.

Discussion points include: the tactical mess that let Pablo and Castellanos disrupt the build-up, Summerville's full dismantling of Everton's right flank, the "natural grappling motion" handball call that beggar's belief, and Charlie Alcaraz's 14 electric minutes that raised more questions than they answered. The trio also get into the European math, the damning tally of how long this summer's signings have sat unused, and the usual thoughts and prayers for the relegation battlers.

LINKS: https://linktr.ee/thebluefrontier